FirstEnergy Corp.

Hello, and welcome to the First Energy Corp. Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Karen Saget, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Karen.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to First Energy's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Review. Our earnings release, presentation slides, and related financial information are available on our website at firstenergycorp.com. Today's discussion will include the use of non-GAAP financial measures and forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors discussed in our earnings news release during today's conference call and in our SEC filings could cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. The appendix of today's presentation includes supplemental information, along with the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures. Please read our cautionary statement and discussion of non-GAAP financial measures on slides two and three of the presentation. Our chair, president, and chief executive officer, Brian Tierney, will lead our call today. He will be joined by John Taylor, our senior vice president and chief financial officer. They will discuss the team's continued strong execution and performance on key financial metrics, as well as our bright outlook and positive momentum as we close the year. Topics include raising our full year 2025 guidance midpoint and narrowing the range, increasing our 2025 capital plan, our expectations for incremental investment opportunities, and our progress and timeframe on regulatory activities. Now it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Brian.

Thank you, Karen. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today and for your interest in First Energy. We are having a great year with strong results across all of our key financial metrics. Yesterday, we reported third quarter gap earnings of 76 cents per share compared to 73 cents in the third quarter last year. Core earnings were 83 cents per share for the quarter compared to 76 cents in the third quarter of 2024. For the year-to-date period, our core earnings were $2.02 per share compared to $1.76 in 2024, an increase of 15%. Our results benefited from strong execution of our customer-focused investment plan, Pennsylvania base rates that went into effect in January, and strong financial discipline. Through the first nine months of 2025, we invested $4 billion of capital in our regulated utilities. This is a 30% increase compared to last year. We are pleased to be in a position to put even more resources into system reliability and resiliency for our customers. Today, we are announcing a 10% increase to our 2025 capital investment program to $5.5 billion. With our strong year-to-date results, we are raising our 2025 guidance midpoint and narrowing our range to $2.50 to $2.56 per share. We remain positive about the opportunities ahead. We are reaffirming our core earnings compounded annual growth rate of 6% to 8%, And early next year, we expect to roll out a higher CapEx plan for the 2026 through 2030 planning period. Turning to slide six, load growth from data centers continues to transform our industry. First Energy service territory, expertise, and assets are ideally positioned to support the remarkable demand growth and economic opportunity within and adjacent to our footprint. Within our operational area, data center interest remains high. Our long-term pipeline of demand, which includes interconnection requests from serious and reputable customers, has nearly doubled since our fourth quarter earnings call in February. Our contracted customer demand increased by over 30% during the same period. The impact of this demand will be tremendous. Based on data center customers who are contracted or in our pipeline, We expect First Energy's system peak load to increase 15 gigawatts, or nearly 50%, from 33.5 gigawatts this year to 48.5 gigawatts in 2035. Across PJM, peak load projections are forecasted to increase by nearly 48 gigawatts by 2035, or 30% of the current peak load of 162 gigawatts. First Energy is uniquely situated to support this growing demand through customer-focused investments, specifically in our transmission system. This system is located in the heart of PJM, interconnecting with a broad number of neighboring utilities and encompassing strategic high-voltage corridors that are a vital part of the transmission grid. Turning to slide seven, Earlier this month, we submitted our Integrated Resource Plan in West Virginia that lays out our recommendations to keep power affordable, accessible, and reliable over the next decade. The IRP indicates a capacity need in West Virginia beginning in 2027. Our preferred plan provides the flexibility to adapt to the rapidly changing energy landscape while delivering reliable and cost-effective energy to West Virginia homes and businesses. Key aspects of the plan include adding 70 megawatts of utility-scale solar in 2028, adding 1.2 gigawatts of dispatchable gas combined cycle generation around 2031, keeping our Fort Martin and Harrison coal plants operational through the planning period, and using short-term power purchases to bridge the gap until new resources are online. The proposed gas and solar investments are aligned with Governor Morrissey's 50 by 50 initiative, which aims to boost West Virginia's energy capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050. We are pleased to pursue generation projects in a state with strong executive, legislative, and regulatory support. To provide the best outcomes for West Virginians, we plan to issue a bill to own transfer RFP for up to the full 1.2 gigawatts of natural gas resources. We are also evaluating building a portion or the entirety of this generation on our own. In the first quarter of 2026, we plan to file with the Public Service Commission seeking approval of the new gas generation. The proposed assets represent a 35% increase to our current regulated generation portfolio. This is an exciting opportunity for First Energy and we are pleased to support customer needs and economic growth in West Virginia. Turning to slide eight, as I mentioned earlier, our transmission system will require significant incremental investments to ensure reliable electric service. At our standalone transmission and integrated segments, we need to ensure our critical infrastructure is resilient and reliable, especially as demand is projected to increase in the region. This includes investments to replace aging infrastructure, improve system performance, and increase operational flexibility. We are also participating in regional network upgrades, which are the investments awarded through PJM's RTEP open window process. This includes required system upgrades and improvements to address reliability, security, and load demands of the bulk electric system. Over the last few years, we have been awarded $4 billion of capital investments through the PJM open window process. We recently submitted proposals of capital investments through the 2025 open window to support increasing demand in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These proposed investments include several new and upgraded substations and high voltage lines needed to support the increase in customer demand. The PJM Board is expected to award transmission projects in this open window by the first quarter of 2026. Any projects awarded to First Energy in this open window will be included in our new five-year plan. We now expect transmission investments included in the 2026 to 2030 capital plan to increase by 30% versus our current five-year plan. This includes increases from reliability enhancements and regulatory required investments to improve the overall health and performance of our most critical assets on the system and to address growing demand and changes in generation in the region. Our company-wide transmission assets are a terrific growth engine. Our investments are expected to result in a compound transmission rate-based growth of up to 18% per year through 2030. This means total transmission rate base would more than double through the planning period. On the generation side, we have a significant incremental investment opportunity associated with adding the 1.2 gigawatts of natural gas generation in West Virginia by 2031. This project at an initial estimate of $2.5 billion will be included in our long-term plan after we receive regulatory approval. Moving to slide nine, we're in a strong position to make all of these investments that benefit our customers while keeping affordability a top priority. Today, our bills are on average 2.5% of our customer share of wallet and on average are 19% below our in-state peers. Even with an increasing investment plan, we will be below our in-state peers for the foreseeable future. TAB, Mark McIntyre, However, we recognize that affordability is top of mind for our customers and that, on average, electric bills have increased 11% for our customers in our Ford deregulated states over the last year. TAB, Mark McIntyre, As we drill into this the generation component of the bill is driving 85% of this increase this type of increase is not sustainable and needs to be addressed with new dispatchable generation. In that regard, we are advocating on behalf of our customers and working with state leadership in our deregulated states on how they can take the lead to drive meaningful change and attract new generation. It's a different story in West Virginia, our one traditionally integrated state. Total customer bills remain flat from 2024 to 2025, and the state is taking proactive steps through its IRP process and 50 by 50 program to maintain and expand its generating capacity. We are also working to protect current customers as demand increases from data center developers. This includes utilizing volumetric commitments and customer credit support as needed. Our approach leverages the balance sheets of the data center developers to protect existing customers. Turning to slide 10, we are on track to have a successful year and look forward to a strong finish. Our updated earnings guidance of $2.50 to $2.56 per share is in the upper half of our original range. We are reaffirming our 6% to 8% core earnings CAGR through 2029. We are on pace to execute our 2025 to 2029 capital investment plan And looking ahead, we see significant increase in our next five-year investment plan. Most of this growth will come from high quality transmission investments backed by forward-looking rates with constructive ROEs. We're also excited about new opportunities to invest in generation in a state that is supportive of these efforts. Our value proposition remains strong, encompassing robust growth, consistent financial discipline, an attractive risk profile, and a 10% to 12% total shareholder return opportunity with upside potential. We are on course, and we are committed to achieving our goals and realizing our bright future as a premier electric company. Now, I'll turn the call over to John.