Atmos Energy Corporation

Again, press star 1. I'll now turn the conference over to Dan Mazur, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, JL. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Kevin Akers, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Chris Forsythe, 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. As we review these financial results and discuss future expectations, please keep in mind that some of our discussion 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 are 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. As Saturday is Veterans Day, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the men and women who have served in our armed forces and those currently serving. Approximately 300 of our Atmos Energy teammates are a part of the nearly 20 million Americans who bravely served our country. Thank you all for your service. Yesterday we reported earnings per share of $6.10, which represents the 21st consecutive year of earnings per share growth. Chris will provide some additional color around our financial results later in the call. I will begin today's call highlighting a few of the many accomplishments achieved in fiscal 23 And we'll close with a few updates on key pipeline projects and some thoughts about fiscal 24. This past October 18th marked Atmos Energy's 40th anniversary as an independent company. We continue to build upon the past and focus on the future and be guided by the simple values laid out by our founding chairman, Charles K. Vaughan, of honesty, integrity, and good moral character. and supported for more than a quarter century by our culture, Atmos Spirit. These values, combined with the laser focus of our 5,000 dedicated employees on our vision, continue to benefit our customers, our communities, and the environment. I've said it before and I will say it again today. Our employees are the heart and soul of Atmos Energy and provide the foundation for the sustained, long-term success of our company. In fiscal 23, we continue to execute our proven strategy of operating safely and reliably while we modernize our natural gas distribution, transmission, and storage systems. Our fiscal 23 capital investment of over $2.8 billion supported the modernization of our distribution and transmission systems through the replacement of over 900 miles of distribution and transmission pipe and the replacement of more than 47,000 service lines. This investment also supported the strong economic development we continue to see in our service territories. In fiscal 23, we added nearly 61,000 new customers with over 46,000 of those new customers located here in Texas. And according to the Texas Workforce Commission, the state continued its streak of record employment for the 12 months ended September the seasonally adjusted number of employed reached a new record high at over 14.5 million. Texas again added jobs at a faster rate than the nation over the last 12 months, adding nearly 436,000 jobs from September 2022 to September 2023. According to a study recently conducted by Site Selection Group, The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is projected to add over 674,000 people by 2028 to reach 8.5 million. While the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown corridor is projected to add over 324,000 people by 2028 to reach 2.7 million. In fiscal 23, we continue to see good commercial growth as well. adding nearly 3,000 new commercial customers. Our industrial demand for natural gas in our service territories has also remained strong. In fiscal 23, we added 55 new industrial customers with an anticipated annual load of approximately 19 BCF once they are fully operational. The 19 BCF of annual usage is equivalent to adding nearly 367,000 residential customers on a volumetric basis. This growing demand from all of our customer classes demonstrates the value and vital role natural gas plays in economic development across our service territory. We continue to enhance the safety, reliability, versatility, and supply diversification of APT systems to support this growth during fiscal 23. We completed phases two and three of our four-phase, 104-mile Line S2 project. As a reminder, Line S2 brings supplies from the Amesville and Cotton Valley Shell Plays to the east side of the growing DFW Metroplex. Additionally, we completed the final 63-mile portion of our 137-mile, 36-inch Line X integrity replacement project. We also completed our third salt dome cavern at our Bethel storage facility. This cavern provides additional support to APT's operations and adds over six BCF of new working gas capacity. We remain on track to complete line PC by the end of the calendar year. This 22 mile, 36 inch line will connect the southern end of APT's system with the 42 inch Kinder Morgan-Permian Highway line that runs from Wauha to Katy. Our new line will support current demand and the forecasted growth as well as increase supply diversity to the north of Austin in both Williamson and Travis counties in Texas. Our customer support associates and service technicians continued their exceptional customer service and once again received a 98% satisfaction rating from our customers. The Atmos Energy team continues to build trust as they help nearly 62,000 customers receive over $29 million in energy assistance funds. Thank you team for taking exceptional care of our customers each and every day. Finally, through our Fueling Safe and Thriving Communities initiative, our employees made a difference in the lives of others by supporting schools and students with books, meals, snacks, as we also honored our healthcare workers, first responders, and helped our neighbors in need by supporting more than 1,400 nonprofits. And for over 200 local food banks and shelters, the financial and volunteer resources our team provided translated into nearly 5.5 million meals being served to our neighbors in need. And we continue to partner with Local Habitat for Humanity organization to provide families with zero net energy homes. These homes are designed to produce more energy than they consume through the use of high efficiency natural gas appliances, rooftop solar panels, and advanced insulation materials. We completed two new zero net energy homes in fiscal 23, and we'll have completed 12 total Z and E homes by the end of fiscal 24. These homes demonstrate the value and vital role natural gas plays in helping customers reduce their carbon footprint in a cost-effective manner is another way Atmos Energy fuels safe and thriving communities. I'm very proud of Atmos Energy and our full team and their many accomplishments in fiscal 23. I will now turn the call over to Chris to discuss our fiscal 23 financial results, our fiscal 24 guidance, and updated five-year plan through fiscal 28.