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spk03: Welcome to Avangrid's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call. I would now like to turn the call over to Charlotte Ansell, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
spk08: Thank you, Eric, and good morning to everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss Avangrid's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings results. Presenting on the call today are Pedro Azagra, our Chief Executive Officer, and Justin Lagasse, our Chief Financial Officer and Controller. Also joining us today for the question and answer part of the call will be Catherine Stempion, President and Chief Executive Officer of Avangrid Networks, and Jose Antonio Miranda, President and Chief Executive Officer of Avangrid Renewables. Other members of the executive team are also joining us today and may be called upon to assist with the Q&A part of the call. If you do not have a copy of our press release or presentation for today's call, they're available on our website at avangrid.com. During today's call, we will make various forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from our forward-looking statements if any of our key assumptions are incorrect or because of other factors discussed in Avangrid's earnings news release, in the comments made during this conference call, in the risk factors section of the accompanying presentation, or in our latest reports and filings with the SEC, each of which can be found on our website. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Today's presentation also includes references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the information contained in the slides accompanying today's presentation for definitional information and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the closest GAAP financial measures. I will now turn the call over to Pedro.
spk01: Thank you, Charlotte, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to share with you our company's fourth quarter and full year 2023 results, which demonstrate our strong commitment to delivering sustainable value for our shareholders, customers, and communities. Throughout 2023, Avangrid has continued reaching important milestones on its projects at the forefront of the clean energy transition in the U.S. Our commitment to operational excellence and long-term value creation remains unwavering. Let's begin on slide number four. In 2023, we delivered our financial and operational objectives despite the challenges faced. We achieved an earnings per share of $2.03 and adjusted earnings per share of $2.09 above our outlook range. Year over year, we deliver an 18% adjusted earnings growth, excluding $181 million from the 22 offshore wind gain and $37 million from the Inflation Reduction Act upfront tax benefits in 2022. We also delivered on our dividend commitment by paying $1.76 per share in 2023. Turning to slide number five, 2023 has been a transformational year, which will set up the company for the future. We executed on our core businesses and removed legacy uncertainties. Despite the highest inflation environment in recent history, we received approvals for 9 billion investments, including multi-year rate case plans in New York and Maine, enabling more than $7 billion of regulated investments, and an additional $2.3 billion in incremental investments for Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA Phase II, authorized by the New York Public Commission. In New York, our NYSEC and RG&E three-year rate case Plans were unanimously approved by the Public Service Commission on October 12. The new rate plans have a positive after-tax impact of $136 million, or $0.35 per share, which was recognized in the fourth quarter in 2023. This includes $66 million of positive make-hold impact, which put the company in the same position as if the joint proposal settlement was effective May 1st, and $70 million for the mitigation of uncollectibles. We also received the approval for the first multi-year rate case for a utility in Maine in 15 years. The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved over $380 million of investments to improve safety, reliability, and resiliency. In Maine, there was also a positive outcome on the referendum on government control power, a reflection of the improved dynamics in the state. Voters rejected the proposed state ownership of Maine's electric utilities with a 70% of the vote. Approximately 400,000 people voted in the election, and 98% of Maine's cities and towns rejected this initiative. Also, in 2023, CMP was recognized as one of Maine's best places to work. These networks achievements occurred in tandem with our operational improvements in customer service and reliability metrics. In 2023, we have improved the majority of customer service metrics, 25 out of a total of 31. We also delivered our best reliability performance since 2019, exceeding seven out of eight regulatory targets. On renewables, we successfully terminated our power purchase agreement for Commonwealth Wind and Park City Wind, avoiding billions of dollars of potential write-offs. This allows us to maintain future profitable opportunities with these leases. We incurred only $29 million after tax to exit these projects, as opposed to our peers' multi-billion dollar write-offs, which continue to mount. We are also executing on our discipline plan for selective and profitable growth in onshore renewables with over 300 MW installed capacity in 2023 and 728 MW of new FIDs taken this year. We renegotiated three PPA contracts totaling 470 MW, increasing prices and avoiding more than $30 million of penalties. In addition, we have another 998 megawatts in new projects under construction or ready to build, all of them with PPAs. Notably, approximately 700 megawatts of these projects are to support data centers with clean energy from onshore wind and solar. This year, we also announced our plan to repower more than 4,600 megawatts of our existing portfolio in the coming years, which will represent in our March long-term outlook update. On Binger Wind 1, we were making significant progress in the project construction and successfully started the first turbine in 2023. Also, in 2023, we closed the first ever U.S. tax equity financing of $1.2 billion, and the first funding on that landmark deal has been issued. We also made a strategic decision not to proceed with our PNM resources merger due to all final regulatory approvals not being received by December 31st, 2023. Because of that decision, there is no need for an equity issuance previously announced for 2024. During the time of the merger pending, we have secured more than $9 billion additional organic investments above those announced in our 22 Capital Markets Day. This includes mainly the repowering plan, incremental regulated investments in New York and Maine, and transmission investments like CLCPA. Finally, we are continuing to reach cyber security successes and developing the about green team. Regarding cyber security, having agreed to score 97 out of 100 from Security Scorecard, a cyber ratings organization that evaluates threats, vulnerabilities, and risk mitigations to over 25,000 companies. This score surpasses average industry figures in network and application security. We achieved substantial gains in our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, including reaching our target of over 35% women in executive positions. We want to continue developing a workforce and senior leadership team that reflects the diverse communities that we serve. Turning to slide six, our 2023 rate cases and other regulatory proceedings secure $9 billion in new capex. We received final decision on the rate case for our New York companies, which includes over $6 billion of investments. Additionally, we also received authorization to invest more than $2 billion in New York CLCPA Phase II. These are critical transmission upgrades necessary for New York State to meet its climate action goals. Separately, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved over approximately $400 million of investments to improve safety, reliability, and resiliency. These multi-year rate plans provide predictable organic long-term growth. Moving to slide number seven, we are executing on our strategic plan on growth opportunities and selective investment in our onshore renewable business. Over the past year, we have commissioned 311 megawatts, increasing our operating capacity from 8.3 gigawatts last year to 8.6 gigawatts today. In addition, a total of 990 megawatts are at present under construction. This includes 472 megawatts of renegotiated PPAs and 523 megawatts of new PPA signs in 2023. As part of the growing partnership between Avangrid Renewables and technology companies, this includes nearly 700 to support data centers. Turning now to slide number seven and number eight, Avangrid continues to be recognized as a leader in sustainability and corporate governance. Most recently, Avangrid was ranked number one in the utility industry category in just 100, and number 12 overall. The Just 100 evaluates companies based on the issues that matter most in defining just business behavior today, including paying a fair wage, creating jobs, and supporting workforce retention and training. It is a huge honor to make this prestigious list for the fourth consecutive year, and this milestone reflects our values and also our vision. Additionally, Avangrid ranked among the country's top two utilities in the National Public Utilities Council 2023 Decarbonization Report. This report analyzes the decarbonization efforts of the United States' largest investor-owned utilities. Avangrid improved from its prior 22 ranking, with the highest possible score in fuel mix, total carbon emissions, emissions per customer, and low carbon investments. lastly central main power was recognized as one of maine's best places to work by best companies group with more than 1100 employees in maine the cmp team works tirelessly to ensure our customers have safe reliable and clean energy every day as we do in every state where we serve all these awards and accomplishments are a testament to the vacation of our team everything we do from serving our customers to build in renewable energy and assets, reflects our vision to lead the clean energy transition with a strong commitment to sustainability, community governance, and our employees. Now, I will pass it to Justin to review the results and discuss the outlook. Justin, all yours, and congratulations to become our CFO.
spk02: Thank you, Pedro, and good morning, everyone. Turning to our earnings performance on slide nine. For the fourth quarter of 2023, our earnings per share was $1.03 compared to $0.38 in the fourth quarter of 2022. And our adjusted earnings per share was $0.97 compared to $0.39 in the fourth quarter of 2022. Network's results were $0.94. This is higher by $0.53 quarter over quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The key drivers include $0.22 from rate changes mainly due to the implementation of our new rate plans in New York. This includes a make-whole adjustment back to May 1, 2023. Additionally, in New York, uncollectibles explained 19 cents from successfully receiving new regulatory treatment for the deferral of uncollectibles to match the amounts set aside in our uncollectible reserve. With the restart of construction of our NECC project in August 2023, we had an additional $0.04 of AFUDC earnings quarter over quarter. Additionally, we had higher costs quarter over quarter to implement our investment plans and to operate our businesses, including O&M and interest costs. But they are in line with our estimates for the quarter. Finally, taxes are lower by $0.09 quarter over quarter primarily due to the optimizing of tax deductions, which is in line again with our previously shared estimates for the quarter. Our renewable segment was minus 2 cents for the fourth quarter of 2023, lower by 23 cents quarter over quarter. We had higher earnings from our thermal operations and asset management of 7 cents, which reflects wider spark spreads quarter over quarter as a result of the demand and supply factors of cold weather and scarcity in the Pacific Northwest. Wind and solar operating performance, which includes the impacts of pricing, production, and tax benefits, explained minus 7 cents, which was really due to lower wind generation output and a decrease in merchant prices. And again, partially mitigated by tax credits and new projects and service. Our wind resource was low for the quarter, producing a lower net capacity factor. However, it's important to keep in mind that thermal and asset management operations are able to capture this value when power prices are high and gas prices are low. When the wind resource is low in times of high demand due to events like weather, our thermal and asset management capture this opportunity. O&M costs are positive one cent. to the optimization of our onm and cost savings and efficiencies offset by depreciation from new assets in place taxes primarily reflect a reduction compared against 2022 for the quarter from higher state tax rate adjustments which again is compensated by state unitary tax adjustments in corporate moving on to slide 10 to updates to our financing liquidity dividends and credit ratings During 2023, we have diversified our financing to fund investments in growth of our businesses. For renewables, we signed a tax equity transaction for Vineyard Wind for $1.2 billion to monetize project ITCs and accelerated depreciation. In addition, we executed a tax credit transfer agreement to monetize up to $100 million of tax credits from existing wind assets not in tax equity financing structures. The tax transferability transaction was very successful for us, and we will look to continue executing similar transactions in 2024 and beyond. For our utilities, we issued $1.3 billion of green bonds and $115 million of notes at our utility subsidiaries. And we also issued a $800 million 10-year green term loan with Evadrola. Our green financing emphasizes our strategy commitment of long-term stability and resilience. Cash and liquidity are key priorities, supported by our ongoing cash from operations and successful rate cases. At the end of 2023, we have $3 billion in liquidity, covering 15 months. Maintaining our solid credit ratings is a key objective. At the operating grid levels, all of our ratings are on stable outlook. and we continue to project stable credit metrics without the need for equity issuance in 2024 based on the successful outcomes of our major rate cases in 2023 and our continued discipline and selective growth in our renewables business. Finally, our dividend policy remains unchanged. We are targeting a payout of 65 to 75%. As Pedro mentioned, we delivered on our dividend commitment by paying $1.76 per share in 2023, And our board recently declared a quarterly dividend of 44 cents per share payable on April 1st, 2024. Moving now to the next slide, we are introducing our 2024 outlook ranges for earnings per share and adjusted earnings per share of $2.17 to $2.32 per share. On an adjusted earnings per share basis, the midpoint of our outlook for 2024 represents an 8% increase from 2023. Our ongoing focus remains on achieving these targets as we execute our investment plans with discipline and a risk management focus. Our 2024 outlook includes incremental revenues from our rate plans, primarily in Maine and New York. We target equity ratios and ROEs close to our currently authorized levels. We will also have additional production from 311 megawatts of wind and solar projects placed in service in 2023, including the related PTCs. For the rest of our fleet, we are assuming normal wind capacity factor. And further, our 2024 outlook also includes earnings using historical averages from our thermal operations and asset management. Bear in mind, as I previously shared, thermal operations and asset management capture the value when wind production is low, effectively acting as a natural hedge to complement our fleet. We remind you that in 2023, we receive favorable regulatory treatment to remove earnings exposure from uncollectibles by allowing us to defer our reserve balances, specifically in New York, and therefore have this assumption included in our forecast. Our NECC transmission project is also expected to generate additional earnings while under construction for AFUDC, and we are expecting additional CapEx spending of over $600 million in 2024 to consider this. We are also anticipating O&M optimization and higher depreciation and interest costs. Finally, there is no assumed equity issuance in 2024, and no extraordinary gains from renewable partnerships or divestitures in 2024 as we've previously committed. Our 2024 outlook assumes that we maintain our current annual dividend of $1.76 per share, subject to our board's approval. Typical with our opportunities and risks impacting our 2024 results, we have our renewables production and pricing, we have our rate cases and other regulatory actions, storms and weather-related events, thermal and asset management results, interest and business costs. As we have mentioned, we are very focused on delivering our results in 2024, considering many uncertainties were removed in 2023. Thank you for joining us today for our financial update. I will now hand the call back to Pedro.
spk01: Thank you, Justin. If we move to page 12, I think it's important now to think a little bit about 24, okay, and where are we focused in terms of priorities for the year. First, we're going to be focused on continuing to deliver results through demonstrating a strong financial performance on the core earnings, on the core business. Second, we will execute our commitments in the multi-year rate plans that drove our success in 23, including achieving our ROEs that Justin mentioned. Next, we will continue selective and profitable onshore growth. Turning to major projects, we will continue the steady progress in constructing Binger Wing 1 and NECC. We will remain focused on our balance sheet to ensure the financial health and long-term stability of the company and aim to close out the ongoing matters in Connecticut. In the last slide, slide number 13, I would like to thank, you know, our board and Chairman Gallan and the rest of our AvantGrid team, but also all the Iberdrola group, that without them we would not be here, and they have successfully helped us in many, many of the things that we have been able to achieve this year. We look forward to continuing to execute on our commitments, focusing on our balance sheet, and delivering results in 2024. We are excited to announce that AvantGrid will be holding a long-term outlook update via webcast on Thursday, March 21st. This will include an update on our multiyear strategic plan and financial outlooks provided by members of the executive team. I will now hand the call back to our operator for further questions.
spk03: We'll now begin the question and answer session. In order to ask a question, press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
spk00: hey good morning thanks so much for taking my questions um let's see you know i was wondering uh can we get an update just on how you're thinking about asset sales you know that's a financing approach that you've talked about before but i think the financing outlook has obviously changed quite a bit now heading into 2024 so how strategic um would you would you be your opportunistic on asset sales right i think the the approach is it has not changed i mean we were always keeping an eye
spk01: on potential divestitures, potential partnerships. I mean, since 2001, we've been doing that at the petroler group level non-stop. You can see the last two years, you know, how many, you know, partnerships and divestitures, you know, have been done as well. And in our case, if we have further opportunities to grow beyond, you know, what we'll be announcing in March, in the March's long-term presentation, we will continue to look for partnerships in order to dilute our financial exposure and be able to do even more. So that's not out of the table, but we want to focus on a budget for 24 and the guidance we have provided without any gain or any divestiture being contemplated. That's why I think we go back to how we always have announced guidance, which is focusing on the core business with our gains. But we will continue analyzing partnerships. We will continue analyzing opportunities of divestitures at the right price and at the right time if strategically we think, you know, that's something we should do. So that doesn't stop, you know, that approach as well.
spk00: Okay, got it. That makes sense. That's helpful. And maybe similar question just with PNM in the rear view now. You have been acquisitive in the past. How are you thinking about M&A as you look forward? Any interest in continuing to consider M&A opportunities going forward?
spk01: I think as we have done at Iberdrola for many years, there are moments in the cycles that when you have such a huge amount of organic growth, I think that's enough. I mean, I think the 9 billion investment above what we already told you a year and a half ago, I mean, that's that's that's a lot okay you know that's twice the size of you know a couple of you know four billion you know equal market cap you know company acquisitions so from that point of view when you already have you know you know the seven billion investment now you have nine billion more seems to me that you know let's focus on that organic growth i don't see that much growth you know you know in many parts of the world in many parts of the us from a regulated point of view I don't see, you know, I see a huge opportunity for them, you know, up to 2032 on the repowering side. So we have, you know, nice eight years ahead of us, you know, to benefit from that. Seems to me when you have the next three to five to six years with multi-billion investments that we didn't have, you know, even a year and a half ago on the table, I think let's focus on that. Okay, so let's get that done and then, you know, we'll go for further opportunities. When some of you ask about, you know, the consumption growth, et cetera, in some of the states, You all know that, you know, the stage where we do business, there is an absolute need of infrastructure upgrade. So consumption is second. You know, consumption may be an issue 10 years from now, 15 years from now. But now you need to upgrade those networks, and that's why the infrastructure need that we have in New York, the infrastructure need that we have in Maine, you know, that seems to me together with the repowering, just that I think is unbelievable, you know, huge, you know, for the years to come.
spk00: Okay, great. Thanks so much for the color. I appreciate it.
spk03: Your next question comes from the line of Julian DeMoulin-Smith with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
spk06: Hey, good morning, Gene. Thank you guys very much for the time. I appreciate it. Just wanted to follow up on a couple items here from the release and your comments here, if you can. Just first, on the near term here, Just how are you thinking about some of the items in 24, specifically the Vineyard Wind COD and specifically the ITCs, or presumably some amount of ITCs reflected in 24, as well as just can you comment, year-end 23 rate base came in $600 million above original guidance. It seems like it split out between New York and Maine. Can you comment a little bit about those factors as they pertain to 24? And then lastly, just how much O&M are you thinking about here when it comes to a positive driver in 24 as well? Thank you, guys.
spk01: Okay, thank you, Julian. We couldn't hear that well, but I'm going to try to answer the questions. I think in terms of being here when one, you know, I think there has been a piece, you know, I think there has been a piece.
spk05: Okay, can you hear me well?
spk01: Yeah. Okay, perfect, because I don't know if I was hearing myself or hearing somebody again. So, when you think about being here with one, what we have learned in the last 12 months is, you know, a focus sometimes on specific deadlines, which are not so relevant. You know, when you're doing these big projects, you know, NECC is another example. If you're going to have COD in November of a year or February the following year, it's totally relevant. The important thing is to finish the project. i think in binger win one you know right now you know we have you know turn turbines installed you know as of today which is beautiful out of 62 five of them in full operation right now 62 megawatts so that's you know a beautiful also outcome you know exactly today i mean you will see a pro you have already seen a press release by the governor in massachusetts very proud of of the status right now we have in the project. I think we have 48, 47 monopiles installed. I think we are on track right now for further transition pieces installment. I think we have the right contracts to terminate everything we need from vessels, foundations, monopiles, transition pieces, blades, turbines. so from that point of view what we need to do is finish the project and for me it doesn't matter if we finish in november this year or in february next year the important thing is to finish itcs as you correctly said is important that's what we are working on right now you know to to find out you know exactly the final amount of itcs that we think you know that you know we will be able to achieve and then you know as soon as we finish that work you know we'll come back to you in terms of the rate cases I think specifically, and you were concerned a year and a half ago, rightly so, and a year ago about the inflation potential impact in the rate cases and how very few people, nobody thought we were going to have more than a very low single-digit rate increases. I think I'm very pleased about the leadership in Maine, both in the administration, in the public commission, and the staff, both the leadership, you know, the commissioners, but also the staff in the public commission. I'm very pleased about the leadership in New York, in the administration, in the public commission, at the senior staff, the staff and commissioners level. because as you can see right now that they have a vision that infrastructure is needed but also you need to pay for the infrastructure you know this is something that comes together and you know sometimes you know you know when you know the the policy becomes okay you don't you don't want to pay right now and you will pay other you don't know when but you still want investments it doesn't work okay so you have right right now the right leadership in the states because that infrastructure is needed you want data centers you need infrastructure you know you want additional capacity you need you know investments in the infrastructure. So I think the roadmap, you know, especially in New York, of course, as well in Maine, it's clear for the years to come, you know, it's in the right direction to get those networks upgraded to the right level. And that's why, you know, we are very comfortable on the organic growth and the investments needed in those states to continue. I think the last one you said about the federal things going on in 24 will be more specific in our March presentation. But I think the key highlights, as I think we have been mentioned right now, is we need to be either at or very close to the authorized ROEs. That is something that's a legacy for many, many years. I think sometimes, you know, you are over-earning. Sometimes you have an explanation. But I think right now, with the work in the rate cases, you know, especially when you are in New York, you are Maine, You are our first regulated assets. You are, you know, more than 80% of our rate base. And with investments we're currently, you know, going to be doing in the years to come, you know, in New York, for example, you know, that's going to be, you know, those group of assets more than 90%. So, Connecticut is going to become a very small part of our business. So, I think when you focus on those ones, I think the ROAs achievement is a must. I think we are absolutely on track. If I move, you know, to the two projects that you mentioned, you know, you mentioned Binger, but I would like to add NECC. It's a must to us to make those projects profitable. I think we're working on NECC on the change of low cost, you know, at close that, you know, we have, you know, the right in the PPA. And I think in Binger, we just mentioned right now, ITCs and, you know, finishing the work is our priority for the rest of the year. And I think in renewables, let's just stay focused. You know, for two years right now, we have been able to deliver the budget, you know, in renewables and in networks. That's a must. I think predictability and delivery in the underlying earnings with no gains or anything like that is going to be our priority now, you know, for two years in a row. And I think we are delivering double digits in both years, you know, in the underlying growth. So that's a priority, you know, to continue, you know, delivering on our internal budgets. So I think that the focus is that one, to focus. And I would like also to remind and remember the other item we also mentioned. We're very proud of being a very green company. We're very proud of our ESG commitment. Even in times that that seems not to be on top of the list, we believe there is no comeback. That's why I'm very proud about our diversity, inclusion, parity objectives being achieved, and to continue with that to make sure that our team reflects the society where we work. And by the way, you know, we're focused on shareholders. I think, you know, the risk aversion that you know we have, we do not dare to take difficult decisions. And in the same way that we presented great cases that very few thought, you know, we were going to be successful, we also took the decision not to initiate some projects that otherwise would be here with a huge mess. And to avoid capital increases because of a mess. In our case, there was a capital increase because of a transaction. Well, we have avoided that. But I think we have avoided to be now here in front of you with a huge one-time loss that otherwise would have happened. So I think the team is taking difficult decisions, but the right ones, not only for us, for us, for the shareholders, for the banks, for the lenders, for the bondholders, for the society, for the leadership in the states. And we're going to continue doing so.
spk05: Excellent. Thank you, Pedro.
spk06: Is there a specific range that you're thinking about for those ITCs? Just to go back to the vineyard question. And then separately, when you think about the long-term that you're going to be providing next month, how many years forward are you thinking about rolling forward? And is there a potential to raise that dividend at last as part of this bigger long-term outlook or at least address the dividend?
spk01: I think on the first one, I think we are comfortable. We have secured 30% of the ITCs. I think we're working right now on the opportunities we have on the IRA, you know, to seek, you know, some additional ITCs. That's why we need to finish the work. And in terms of dividends, I would like to say that the dividend we have, you know, maintained is very strong. And when you see the underlying growth of our earnings, the complementation, you know, to have such a nice dividend, you know, to be complemented with such a nice growth in our earnings, I think that's the right story, okay? And especially if you have interest rates right now on the way down as opposed to the way up, I think that that should deliver in terms of, you know, value in creation. So I think, you know, we'd like to stay there, but again, that's subject to the board to take the decisions.
spk05: All right, guys. All right, team, thank you very much. All the best, and we'll see you next month. Thank you.
spk03: Your next question comes from the line of Anthony Crowdell. with Mizuho Securities. Please go ahead.
spk04: Hey, good morning, team. Just hopefully a couple of cleanup questions. I'm just wondering if you're able to disclose what AFU DC rate you're assuming in 2024 for the NEC EC line?
spk02: Yes, we can disclose that. So that's an 8.5%, which again is a publicly filed document as well as part of the NECC stipulation agreement. So that's a public document, but that is the rate that we're using for NECC.
spk04: Great. And then I appreciate the slide six. You give a nice break out of the jurisdictions. And I know Connecticut's only 19%, so it's a smaller jurisdiction for you. But I think there's two very small rate cases going on in Connecticut right now. Staff had recently recommended maybe a rate decrease. Just curious if you could comment on just interactions with the Connecticut regulatory environment and also ability to maybe deploy capital from Connecticut into the other jurisdictions.
spk01: I think, you know, we have made it clear. You know, Connecticut, it was very disappointing, the Ray case. You know, we are in litigation right now, in appeal, you know, in different fronts. I think, you know, we're very happy with, you know, the leadership in the state, the governor. you know, instructing everybody to work together. I think even some of the legislature right now are actually requesting also everybody to work together. We've been saying so for a long time. And again, even if it's a small part of our business, you know, we care about that. That's why, you know, we are defending, you know, our employees. We are defending our unions. We're defending, you know, our investments. And I think the only thing we can do here is, you know, to continue being on top of it. I think that great case that you mentioned, the gas, we believe, you know, we have presented a very strong case. And I think we're going to argue that until the very end. So from that point of view, I think we just need to continue, as always, to be very professional, very transparent. This is not personal. You know, we never make any comments about any person in particular, but we defend, you know, the results of the company, the investments, because otherwise what is in danger is, you know, reliability in the medium term of the company. So we've seen this many, many times in our experience in many other places, you know, where a similar approach was taken. So from that point of view, the only thing we can continue is to put our case very legally and to request that people comply with law, and that's a fundamental key criteria when you do investments and when investors and banks and bondholders invest, which is compliance with law. And if law is going to be changed, which may be okay, that's why you have stranded costs, and you have many ways to do that. But, you know, what is not acceptable is, you know, to change in the middle of right cases or suddenly, you know, what has been already the case and the way things have been done, you know, for many years in accordance with law. That's why we will continue to, you know, to litigate as needed. But, you know, we think, you know, the words recently by the governor... requesting, you know, to work together and to have conversations even with the legislature as soon as, you know, two days ago. That seems to me, you know, the right direction because, you know, there is nothing to hide here, okay? And you see how supply, you know, rate increases are out of control. I think you see how, you know, decisions by legislature affect also the rates. And in our case, the UI rates were not increased for seven years. So I think we have a very strong case that we can defend, and we're doing so. And we are a very important employer in the state. We are doing a lot of economic development. And the most important thing here is to comply with law and to deliver what we have to do.
spk04: Great. And just if I could squeeze one last one. I think Julian touched on it. I may have missed the response. Just when you provide a longer-term guidance range or an EPS growth rate on the call in March, Are you able to disclose now how far out you're going to go to, was it 26, 20, 27, or you're not willing to state that right now?
spk01: No, I think, you know, at least we will go to 25, but what we're considering right now is whether we will also mention 26. Okay, so that is what we're discussing. Great, thank you for taking my question.
spk06: Thank you.
spk03: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Sullivan with Wolf. Please go ahead.
spk10: Hey, good morning. Just following up on how to think about the timeline of the financial outlook at the investor days, is it fair to think of this 24 guide as a clean base to guide long-term growth off of?
spk01: Yes, I think that, you know, we started July last year. You know, I think, you know, we heard so many times that, you know, why to give guidance with, you know, including gains, et cetera, that back in July we already decided, you know, that we were going with and without the gains. So that was the first time we communicated, also in October. And now, as you can see, we continue that trend. So we want to be very simple year to year, and in this case this year, we're not, you know, for that, you know, proposal of range, we're not considering any gains. You know, so if there was to be any gains because there was to be any transactions, you know, so be it. But I think the guidance is without any gains. So I think the answer is yes. I think the guidance we're proposing right now, we started back in July, is that way.
spk10: Okay, great. And can you just comment on where Epifoda debt finished for 2023 and what you target on that?
spk02: Sorry, can you clarify? Are you asking where the debt position ended? Is that what you asked?
spk10: FFO to debt. Oh, FFO to debt. Yeah.
spk02: Yeah, so FFO to debt, you know, obviously this is a key priority for us from a financing point of view. Keep in mind, you know, as we said, 2023 was quite a transition year for us with the closing of the rate cases. You know, in particular, New York finalized, you know, in October, and ultimately we saw the results from there. So, in addition to that, we also have the NECC project and the Vineyard Wind 1 project with high capex that we have that do not have cash flows yet. So, from an FFO to debt from 2023, if you perform those adjustments, you're looking somewhere around 14%. However, keeping in mind these caveats that we have. So I think from there, we want to build from that point forward. I think we have had very successful rate cases that have been focused on cash, which will improve our FFO. And so really looking towards the next couple of years of improving those and getting the metrics back to the levels that we would expect and are showing the growth that we are anticipating here.
spk10: Okay, very helpful. And then one last quick one. I think someone asked, but I'm not sure I caught the answer. The O&M optimization in 24, can you quantify what that is and whether you see potential to do even more beyond that?
spk02: Yeah, so for O&M, you know, I think two comments to make there. One, you know, as Pedro mentioned for our you know, reaching our authorized ROEs that embeds in it, you know, achieving certain, you know, efficiencies that we have. For example, we have AMI in New York that we're looking at, as well as other technology advancements that we have, whether it be in our IT space or otherwise. So, again, I think the key priority for us when we consider O&M is trying to be at a rate lower than inflation. So, that's what we target for our O&M efficiencies. And just looking at all, all avenues that we're able to do that on the renewable side, it's more based off of process and prioritization of tasks, you know, for example. So, looking at, you know, really doing own end that provide a production uplift or an earnings uplift from that point of view. So, keeping that priority. So I think that's really what we look at. I think we'll come back to you with more detail at the 2020 Investor Day in a month from now with more specificity around that of what we target. But these are some of the general themes that we're looking at, particularly in 24 and beyond.
spk10: Okay, very helpful. Thanks for all the callers.
spk03: Your next question comes from the line of Angie Storzinski with Seaport Research Partners. Please go ahead.
spk07: Thank you. So first on the wind repowering, I understand that you're going to talk about it at length during the analyst day, but I'm just wondering, so you mentioned obviously attractive returns, but we're also hearing that You know, older wind assets are starting to see some, you know, diminished profitability from a cash perspective because of higher OPEX and CAPEX. And I'm just wondering if this plan, the repowering, is driven by basically an attempt to retain the current earnings power of these assets or if there's, you know, a true cash benefit associated with that.
spk01: The answer is yes to both. I think when you see the accounting, you know, path of assets in the, of renewable assets in the U.S., because of makers, accelerated depreciation, ITC, there are many, many explanations. I think in the last part of the years, you know, those earnings are negative. It's not that you lose value, you know, it's just, you know, the way it is. So from an earnings point of view and cash flow point of view, the answer is 100% yes. That's one of the main reasons why, you know, repowering is very, very important. And we are lucky that we have now, you know, an old fleet. that allows to do such a material amount of repowering.
spk07: Okay. But there's also this, you know, earnings benefit, right, associated with the sale of the tax credits and how that basically trickles into earnings. And I'm just wondering if, again, that's the main driver of those repowerings or is it that, again, there's like a true, you know, cash or value creation benefit associated with those repowerings?
spk01: I think you have a financial reason and an industrial reason. I mean, the industrial reason is we continue to have customers that they want to have, you know, extended PPAs. As you can see, they are renegotiating PPAs. And, you know, the feedback we have for most of the assets, you know, we're going to consider repowering is that they would love to extend, you know, and have new PPAs, et cetera. So from that point of view, there is a need from the customer side, and there is an opportunity for us to have new assets. From a financial point of view, it's clear that, you know, when you have, you know, these type of assets after 15, 18 years, you know, you have an issue in the P&L. And therefore, you know, cash flow is different because you have already got the cash flow back, you know, because of other reasons. But I think when you have the opportunity to create a new asset, and that asset you're going to invest from a CapEx point of view, much less than a new asset. You're going to have an increase in production that probably is going to be 30% increase at least versus the old assets. And you're going to have, you know, an enhancement in O&M. And PTC is for 100% of the production, not just from the incremental production. Seems to me that that's a no-brainer. Okay. So that's why, you know, the combination of all those things is why we need to go ahead with the repowering. Again, it's a very long period of time. And we're going to be very opportunistic, you know, think about when is the right moment from a cash flow point of view, from a P&L point of view, from an investments point of view, debt point of view. But the plan is there.
spk07: Okay. And then just moving on to offshore wind, so the Kitty Hawk. So we had these two updates from Eversource and Dominion about their offshore wind transactions. So we have some price points, I guess, for these assets. I mean, do you think that that impacts the probability of the sale of your stake on Kitty Hawk? I'm sorry. And how, again, if there's... like a viewpoint based on these data points that you have on offshore wind in the US?
spk01: I think the good thing about those data points is that if you remember, many of you asked quite often, well, there is nobody interested in offshore. And we told, you know, very often, I'm sure there's not, you know, the long list you had, you know, two years ago, three years ago, but the interest continues to be there. I think it's good to have people interested in offshore. We do not know the details of all those other transactions. I think Dominion Transactions, that's a regulated asset, you know, so that's a different animal. And I think in the case of the Eversource, based on public information, I think the acquirer is being guaranteed some type of return, okay? That's not our case. I mean, we're speaking about a lease. Okay, and the lease market, as you know, they were, you know, an auction in California, very successful, even in the middle of all the Ukraine, you know, MS, et cetera, et cetera. So that's why it's not really comparable. In the other cases, it's really assets that are, you know, being built right now, developed, and, you know, it's multi-billion type of approach. I think the case is a lease. I think we will continue to seek opportunities to sell the lease, to do a partnership in the lease, as we do in many other assets. You know, last year we sold, you know, several assets in the onshore renewal business. You know, some projects, you know, we didn't want to do, and we felt it was better to sell them.
spk07: so we never stopped but i don't think to sell at least is compatible to those deals and again this is not an asset that we have a capex deviation or we have you know a write-off or we have to do something it's a different animal compared to those okay and then lastly on any cc um so if you could provide an update on the construction process and also um you know how comfortable you feel spending the money given that next era continues to challenge the uh the circuit breaker upgrade at seabrook
spk01: I will let Catherine to answer on the construction progress. I think our focus there is very simple, is, you know, first on the change of law. That's a priority for us this year to make sure that, you know, we get that, you know, finalized. And second, on Nextera, well, you know, seems to me that, you know, Nextera, you know, there is a change of leadership. I think, you know, the way they behaved in Maine, you know, is, in my opinion, I think at the end is the right one. And, you know, I think you've seen some news there on other matters, you know, things that, you know, were happening in Maine. So the Seabrook, I think we're working with them. I think, you know, we're very close to having a schedule on, you know, the breaker, you know, the issue that you have, you know, they have to solve. And I'm sure they will, you know, get that done. Okay. So, but I think, Katherine, if you want to comment on the. Yeah, sure.
spk09: Thanks, Pedro. So we're doing really well on construction on NACEC. We have 25% of our foundations have been set and 20% of our poles. We've already started a stringing conductor actually on the corridor. We've also been doing substantial construction laying the foundations for our HVDC converter station and for the StatCom. And we've really been able to benefit from the power of Evadrola and the supply chain. by being able to negotiate really good contracts for most of our vendors, including with Hitachi, for the StatCom and the HVDC converter, as well as a lot of our civil engineering works and other work that needs to be done on the site. So we're really pleased with the progress right now, and we continue a full speed ahead.
spk07: Great. Thank you.
spk03: I'll now turn the call back over to Pedro. Please go ahead.
spk01: Okay, so thank you to everybody. A pleasure to have spoken with all of you. I think we're going to follow up on one-on-ones now with each of you, and looking forward to seeing you in the coming days and weeks. Thank you very much.
spk03: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining, and you may now disconnect your lines.
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