CMS Energy Corporation

session instructions will be provided at that time if at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator please press the star key float by zero just a reminder that will there will be a rebroadcast of this conference call today beginning at 12 pm eastern time running through to november the 6th this presentation is also being webcast and is available on cms energy's website in the investor relations section At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Jason Shaw, Treasurer and Vice President of Investor Relations.

Thank you, Alex. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. With me are Garrick Rochelle, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Reggie Hayes, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. This presentation contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Please refer to our SEC filings for more information regarding the risks and other factors that could cause our accurate results to differ materially. This presentation also includes non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the appendix and posted on our website. And now I'll turn the call over to Garrett.

Thank you, Jason, and thank you everyone for joining us today. A strong quarter at CMS Energy from an operational, regulatory, and financial perspective. I am very pleased with the results and continue to see us well positioned for the full year and in the long term. Our consistent industry leading performance is rooted in our investment thesis that delivers for customers, coworkers, and investors. Speaking of strong performance and consistency, throughout the quarter we delivered key regulatory outcomes which highlight the positive and constructive regulatory environment in Michigan. We received a final order in our renewable energy plan that approved an additional eight gigawatts of solar and 2.8 gigawatts of wind through 2035. and insurers will meet Michigan's clean energy law. A portion of these investments will be woven into our next five-year plan. This order also provides further certainty and confidence for our long-term customer investments. And as a reminder, this renewable energy plan is a key input into our integrated resource plan that we'll file mid-2026. We also received a constructive order in our gas rate case approving approximately 75% of the final ask and 95% of the infrastructure investments for work like the main invented service replacements, which are critical to ensuring a safe, affordable and cleaner natural gas system. Chair Scripps comments from that meeting continue to support thoughtful and deliberate adjustments in ROE. and suggested we have reached the floor for ROEs and, in his words, driven out any excess. Recently, on the electric side, staff filed their position in our pending rate case, supporting approximately 75% of our revised and approximately 90% of our capital ask. This case includes investments supporting reliability and resiliency, which benefits our customers. and are well aligned with our reliability roadmap and MPSC direction. Again, one of many proof points in our supportive regulatory environment in a strong starting position for a constructive outcome. As shared in previous quarterly calls, we continue to see strong economic growth in Michigan. As I highlighted in the Q2 call, we have an agreement with the data center and continue to see growth with manufacturing as well as a robust pipeline. Year-to-date, we have connected approximately 450 megawatts of the planned 900 megawatts of industrial growth in our five-year plan. I'm also pleased to share that we've been successful adding another approximately 100 megawatts of signed contracts year-to-date. This growth is coming from new projects, expansion from existing customers, in the areas of food processing, aerospace and defense, and advanced manufacturing. These products bring jobs and supply chains, home starts, and commercial opportunities to the state and create further visibility to our 2% to 3% forecasted annual sales growth over the next five years. On the slide, we're showing our economic growth pipeline. You'll note we continue to move projects into and along the pipeline bolstering our confidence in additional growth from data centers and other diverse industries. As I mentioned on our Q2 call, we have an agreement with a data center with up to one gigawatt of load planning to come to our service territory beginning in early 2030 and ramping up from there. You'll see that project in the final stage of our process at near final terms and conditions. I expect further progress specifically contract signature as the large load tariff is finalized in November when we expect an order from the MPSC. You'll also see other large data centers in the final and advanced stages of development, which speaks to the robust nature of our pipeline. I continue to be confident and excited about the growth coming to our service territory. The data center and manufacturing pipeline is robust and advancing. and we are well equipped to serve and meet their needs as they advance. On the left side of the next slide, you see our current five-year, $20 billion customer investment plan. On the right side, you see the robust and diverse additional investment opportunities we have going forward. over $25 billion of additional customer investments supported by our electric reliability roadmap, renewable energy plan, and integrated resource plan. As a result of more low growth, we're focused on resource adequacy and the clean energy law, which means more renewables, battery storage, and natural gas generation to meet growing demand. And as I shared earlier, our recently approved renewable energy plan provides visibility and certainty on our plan for future investments. Our integrated resource plan that we'll file in mid-2026 will also detail additional capacity needed to replace retired plants and support existing and future growth we are realizing. As we see that full plan come together, we anticipate needing more battery storage and gas capacity. And as a side note, you can expect further growth from capital light mechanisms like our financial compensation mechanism on PPAs and our energy waste reduction program. On our distribution system, we see a significant need for investment in pole replacements, undergrounding, and system hardening as we work to significantly improve customer reliability and resiliency. And again, well aligned with our reliability roadmap and MPSC direction. As I shared before, a robust and growing capital plan, which will continue to provide investment opportunities to serve customers and deliver value for investors. Now, this long runway of customer investments must be balanced with affordability. We have demonstrated our excellence in reducing costs. And we do this better than most through the CE way, digital and automation, episodic cost saving opportunities, low growth, and energy waste reduction. This is a significant advantage for us to maintain affordability as we make needed investments in our system. Today, our customer's utility bill remains roughly 3% of their total expenses, or what is often referred to as share of wallet. This is down 150 basis points from a decade ago while investing significantly in our system to the tune of $20 billion. Our residential bills are solidly below the national average and continue to be over the five-year plan period as we continue to make thoughtful customer investments across the system. Affordability is an area where we will continue to focus and deliver cost savings for customers. keeping customer rates at or below inflation and bills below the national average. I am proud of the work we have done to develop excellence in this area. We have built strong cost management muscle across the company, and it continues to benefit customers today and well into the future. As I shared in my opening, a strong quarter. For the first nine months, we reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.66, up 19 cents for the same period in 2024, largely driven by the constructive outcomes in our electric and gas rate cases in a return to more normal weather. Given our confidence in the year, we're raising the bottom end of this year's guidance range to $3.56 to $3.60 per share from $3.54 to $3.60 per share with continued confidence toward the high end. We are initiating our full-year guidance for 2026 at $3.80 to $3.87 per share, reflecting 6% to 8% growth off the midpoint of this year's revised range, and we are well-positioned to be toward the high end of that range. It is important to remember we always rebase guidance off our actuals on the Q4 call, compounding our growth. And like we've done in previous years, we'll provide a refresh of our five-year capital and financial plans on the Q4 call. With that, I'll hand the call over to Reggie.