Avista Corporation

gentlemen thank you for standing by and welcome to the Vista Corporation third quarter 2020 earnings conference call at this time all participants are in listen only mode after the speaker's presentation there will be a question and answer session to ask a question during the session you will need to press star one on your telephone please be advised that today's conference is being recorded if you require any further assistance please press star zero I will now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today John Wilcox investor relations manager thank you please go ahead sir

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Avista's third quarter 2020 earnings conference call. Our earnings were released pre-market this morning and are available on our website. Joining me this morning are Avista Corp President and CEO Dennis Vermillion, Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer Mark Thies, Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Chief Customer Officer Kevin Christie, and Vice President, Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer Ryan Krasol. Just wanna let you know that some of us are remote due to the pandemic. I would like to remind everyone that some of the statements that will be made today are forward-looking statements that involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, which are subject to change. For reference to the various factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in today's call, please refer to our 10-K for 2019 and 10-Q for the third quarter of 2020, which are available on our website. To begin this presentation, I would like to recap the financial results presented in today's press release. Our consolidated earnings for the third quarter of 2020 were $0.07 per diluted share, compared to $0.08 for the third quarter of 2019. For the year to date, consolidated earnings were $1.04 per diluted share for 2020, compared to $2.21 last year. Now I'll turn the discussion over to Dennis.

Well, thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. As we begin the ninth month of working through the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope you are staying safe and healthy as we see the numbers of cases climb across our country. Avista continues to support our customers and communities. Recently, Avista and the Avista Foundation approved another round of funding as community agencies experience an increased need for services. which now boosts our charitable giving this year to more than $2 million throughout the areas we serve. And when numerous communities throughout our region were devastated by the Labor Day windstorm, we partnered with community leaders to quickly galvanize resources to help those who were impacted. Today, we continue to look for ways to support affected communities as they work to repair the damage and rebuild. Amidst the stress and the strain of these uncertain times, the safety of our customers, our employees, and our communities continues to be our top priority, and I continue to be amazed and inspired by our employees who work safely and diligently to provide the energy that is so essential to our customers. Despite these trying times, we continue to make significant progress across our business. In September, Avista Chairman Scott Morris' vision to create the five smartest blocks in the world became a reality with the grand opening of the Catalyst Building and the adjacent Morris Center for Energy Innovation. These two new buildings are the latest examples of Avista's rich history of innovation. A centralized plant located in the Morris Center will provide the energy to power both buildings through a shared energy model we call an eco-district. This type of innovation will be essential to achieve a clean, reliable, and affordable energy for all of us. Also, a majority of our Washington smart meter project will be completed in the next few weeks, and this means our Washington customers will have access to more timely information about their energy usage during the upcoming winter heating season. Last week, we filed general rate cases in Washington. Due to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have worked very hard to identify how we can move forward in a way that doesn't increase the cost to our customers at this time, while also acknowledging the financial investments we've made in infrastructure on our customers' behalf. Through the use of a tax credit to customers, our proposal would completely offset an immediate increase in electric and natural gas bills. I'm proud of our employees for finding an innovative solution to balancing the interests of our stakeholders. With respect to results, our third quarter consolidated earnings were below our expectations, primarily due to higher bad debt expense for Avista Utilities. However, we anticipate being able to defer the additional bad debt expense through a COVID-19 deferral in the fourth quarter. As such, we are confirming our 2020 consolidated earnings guidance in the range of $1.75 to $1.95 per diluted share. And now I'll turn this presentation over to Mark.