Atmos Energy Corporation

Greetings and welcome to the Atmos Energy fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on the listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star 0 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Dan Messier, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Thank you, sir. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Donna. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Kevin Akers, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chris Forsyth, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings release and conference call slide presentation, which we will reference in our prepared remarks, are available at atmosenergy.com under the Investor Relations tab. 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 measures to the closest GAAP financial measure. As we review these financial results and discuss future expectations, please keep in mind that some of our discussions might contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act. Our forward-looking statements and projections could differ materially from actual results. The factors that could cause such material differences are outlined on slide 37 and more fully described in our SEC filings. I will now turn the call over to Kevin.

Thank you, Dan, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate your interest in Atmos Energy and are glad you could join us this morning. On this Veterans Day, I would like to take just a moment to say thank you to those who have served our own forces. Nearly 300 of our Atlas Energy teammates are part of the more than 20 million Americans who bravely served our country so that we may live freely. Thank you for your service. Yesterday, we reported earnings per share of $5.12, which represents the 19th consecutive year of earnings per share growth. Chris will provide some additional color around our financial results later in this call. I will begin today's call with a review of our fiscal 21 accomplishments, provide an update on key pipeline projects, and we'll close with some thoughts about fiscal 22. Our success in fiscal 21 once again reflects the commitment and ongoing effort of all 4,700 employees at Atmos Energy. I have said it before and I will say it again. They are the heart and soul of Atmos Energy and provide the foundation for the sustained long-term success of our company. I'm extremely proud of their commitment to keep our 3.2 million customers, our 1400 communities themselves and their families healthy and safe. As you've heard us say, fiscal 21 was our 10th year executing our proven investment strategy. operating safely and reliably while we modernize our natural gas distribution, transmission, and storage systems. And over that 10-year period, we invested nearly $13 billion in modernizing and expanding our natural gas systems, replacing approximately 5,500 miles of distribution pipeline, 394,000 steel service lines, and 1,100 miles of transmission pipelines. And over that same 10 year period, we added nearly 350,000 customers. As I said, during our second quarter earnings call, those investments provided our natural gas systems the reliability and resiliency necessary to meet the gas demand of our human needs customers during winter storm URI. Our fiscal 21 capital investment of $2 billion supported the modernization of our distribution and transmission systems through the replacement of over 930 miles of distribution pipe, the replacement of more than 38,000 steel service lines, and over 175 miles of transmission pipeline, all to further and enhance system safety and reliability. Additionally, we installed approximately 230,000 wireless meter reading devices and now have nearly 1.9 million wireless devices on our system. The above mentioned capital investments also helped us make progress towards reducing methane emissions 50% by 2035 for EPA reported distribution, main and services. Through the end of fiscal 21, we have achieved an approximate 20% reduction. I want to take this opportunity to highlight and thank our procurement team. for their focus and dedication, as well as their continued outstanding efforts to ensure the necessary materials and resources are available for our distribution, transmission, and storage projects. Just as they did throughout the past decade, their strategic planning efforts have us well positioned for continued execution upon our strategy in fiscal 22. For example, Throughout the pandemic, we have increased our inventory levels and coordinated with vendors as well as pipe mills to have our steel pipe requirements ready and available at job sites for the upcoming fiscal year's projects. Now I want to provide you an update on a few of our larger Atmos Pipeline Texas projects and highlight their value in safety, reliability, versatility, and supply diversification that those projects bring to APT and its customers. We are nearly 60% complete with the development of APT's third salt dome storage cavern project at Bethel. This project will be placed in service in late 22 and will provide an additional five to six BCF of cavern storage capacity. We are also nearing completion of 63 miles of 36 inch pipelines as part of our Line X phase one integrity replacement project. And we've already begun phase two, which includes an additional 63 miles of 36 inch pipeline, which we anticipate being completed sometime in late 22. As a reminder, line X runs from Waha to Dallas and is key to providing reliable service to the local distribution companies behind APT system, as well as transportation customers that move gas from Waha to Katy. Also nearing completion is the first phase of three phases of our Line S2 project. Line S2 brings supply from the Hainesville and Cotton Valley Shell Place to the east side of the growing DFW Metroplex. Our Phase 1 project replaces 21 miles of 14-inch pipeline with 36-inch pipeline. We anticipate this phase to be in service by this calendar year-end. And phase two of line S2, which is approximately 17 miles of 36-inch pipeline, is now underway with completion expected in late 22. And the final phase of this 36-inch, 90-mile total project is expected to be completed in late 23. Again, this project will provide additional supply from the Shell Place east of the growing Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. To support the forecasted growth and increase supply diversity to the north of Austin in Williamson County, Texas, we have begun work on a 22 mile, 36 inch line that will connect the southern end of APT system with the 42 inch Permian Highway line that runs from Wauha to Katy. This line is currently expected to be in service by December of 22. As you've heard in my previous updates, our customer service agents and service technicians continue providing exceptional customer service during these challenging times. During fiscal year 21, our agents and technicians received a 98% satisfaction rating from customers. Thank you team for taking exceptional care of our customers every day. Our strategic focus on digital bill delivery and payment options is yielding benefits as over 48% of our customers are receiving electronic bills while the utility industry average is around 28%. And 79% of the total payments we received as of September 30 were electronic methods of payment, such as bank drafts, credit cards, and online banking. During fiscal 21, we provided approximately 217,000 hours of training, and we onboarded nearly 400 new employees through our Atlas Essentials classes. All of this activity was completed virtually. I'm very proud of our technical training and operations teams. In fiscal 21, we integrated our various safety and business process improvement initiatives into a comprehensive environmental strategy focused on reducing our scope one, two, and three emissions and environmental impact from our operations in the following five key areas, operations, fleet, facilities, gas supply, and customers. Our efforts in fiscal 21 to reduce emissions and our environmental impact included such things as our ongoing distribution, transmission, and underground storage system modernization programs mentioned earlier. It also included the installation of gas cloud imaging capabilities at APT's tri-city storage field. And we will complete the remaining installation of that equipment at APT fields in fiscal 22. We will also deploy additional wellhead fixed-based or gas cloud imaging detection technologies at our distribution storage field in fiscal 22. We developed a plan to replace our pneumatic devices with no bleed or low bleed devices. We expanded advanced leak detection technology and developed a strategy to capture methane emissions from pipeline maintenance activities. We've continued our RNG strategy of identifying customers who wish to use our system to transport the RNG they produce. We increased the amount of RNG transported across our system to approximately 8 VCF a year. And we are evaluating nearly 30 opportunities at this time that could further expand these transportation opportunities. In fiscal 22, we will begin transitioning our light duty vehicle fleet to gasoline hybrid vehicles and to CNG for our heavy duty vehicles. In September, we completed our first zero net energy home in partnership with the Greeley Weld Habitat for Humanity in Evans, Colorado. This home uses high efficiency natural gas appliances, rooftop solar panels, and insulation to produce more energy than it consumes at a very affordable cost of approximately $50 a month for a combined gas and electric bill. We are currently developing two more of these type homes in Texas. Projects like these demonstrate the value of using all energy sources to reduce carbon emissions. And this summer we joined the Low Carbon Resources Initiative. As a reminder, this joint research and development effort between the Gas Technology Institute and the Electric Power Research Institute is working to accelerate commercial deployment of low and zero carbon technologies. Finally, we are nearing the completion of a fuel cell at one of our data facilities to generate low carbon electricity. This fuel cell will be powered with natural gas and is anticipated to substantially reduce the carbon footprint from that facility. To wrap up fiscal 21, our 4,700 employees through our Feeling Safe and Thriving Communities initiative made a difference in the lives of others this year. all by supporting schools and students with books, meals, and snacks. We honored our community heroes and healthcare workers by providing them with meals as they were working. We planted trees, worked in community gardens. We hosted utility fairs, energy assistance blitzes to share the warmth for over 9,000 customers as we donated $3 million of financial support. And for nearly 300 local food banks and shelters, the financial and volunteer resources of our team provided translated into nearly 8 million meals for our neighbors in need across 1400 communities. I'm very proud of our team because of their investment of time, talent, and resources, we are making a difference in our community. A successful fiscal 21 has us well positioned as we move into the second decade of our strategy. I will now turn the call over to Chris, who will provide some additional color around our fiscal 21 financial results and discuss our fiscal 22 guidance, as well as our updated five-year plan through fiscal 26. I will then return with some closing remarks. Chris, over to you.