FirstEnergy Corp.

Hello and welcome to First Energy Corp's third quarter 2026 earnings call. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Karen Sagot, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Karen.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to First Energy's third quarter 2026 earnings review. Our earnings release, presentation, 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. Actual results could differ materially from forward-looking statements discussed in our news release, during today's conference call, and in our SEC filings. 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 Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Brian Tierney will lead our call today, and he will be joined by Jon Taylor, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Now it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Brian.

Thank you, Karen, and good morning, everyone. We delivered another strong quarter and remain on track to meet our objectives for the year. Our performance reflects strong capital deployment, financial discipline, and an improving customer experience. The team has done a great job executing against our plan to drive continuous improvement while focusing on affordability for our customers. We've also made great progress advancing key regulatory strategies and business opportunities that will fundamentally change the trajectory for First Energy. We continue to see strong interest from data center companies with contracted and pipeline demand up nearly 60% since year end, including a 90% increase in contracted demand. West Virginia is a big part of that growth, with pipeline demand up approximately six times to nearly six gigawatts. Our proposed Maidsville energy generating facility will be a key investment to support this demand. We expect an order from the West Virginia Public Service Commission in the fourth quarter. Given our confidence level and to protect the schedule, we have reserved the turbines with Siemens for delivery in 2030. all other major contracts are on track to be signed shortly after we receive a commission order. Maidsville is an important project on its own, but we see it as the first of a broader set of opportunities in West Virginia. Last November, I was at our Harrison Power Station with Governor Morrissey to announce our plans for new generation. He challenged First Energy to do more. My response to the governor was simple, challenge accepted. West Virginia's constructive legislative and regulatory environment are driving economic development, jobs, and businesses that will have a long term positive impact in the state. We are in active negotiations with large load customers about locations within our West Virginia service territory. Those conversations are open and constructive around delivery schedules, pricing, risk mitigation, and frameworks for benefits to communities and existing customers. To support these large load customers, we've issued a request for proposal for an initial three gigawatts of additional combined cycle turbines, and we expect to provide an update in early 2027. We are also exploring innovative bridge power options and temporary behind the meter solutions as we build out the grid to support these customers with permanent transmission and generation service. This is a significant opportunity for First Energy. These investments will support the state's goals and create meaningful value for our shareholders. In addition to the opportunities in West Virginia, transmission and distribution remain the foundation of our business and investment strategy. Our transmission system sits at the heart of PJM, a region serving more than 65 million people. Our network connects critical parts of the grid and helps deliver power where it's needed most. The need for transmission investment has never been more important. We need a more flexible and resilient grid to support increasing demand and the economic development taking place in and around our service territory. Across our footprint, we now have 7.9 gigawatts of contracted data center demand. We are in active negotiations with approximately four gigawatts of additional load. This demand and the critical infrastructure needed to support a more resilient and reliable regional grid will continue to require increasing transmission investments for the foreseeable future. We expect this to drive at least a 25% increase in our current $19 billion transmission investment plan when we release our updated five-year plan. We are also seeing measurable progress in our distribution business, particularly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where we are investing to improve reliability. Since 2024, our reliability has improved by 11% in Pennsylvania and 40% in New Jersey. This is solid proof that our investment plan is working. I am pleased with our progress and believe that our customers, regulators, and policymakers are seeing value from the investments we are making. In the rate cases we have filed, we made the case for investments to meet or exceed our customers' expectations. When we consistently demonstrate the value of our investments for customers, we expect a fair and constructive regulatory outcome. There's more to do, but we are making the right investments, improving performance, and delivering tangible value to our customers. We are reaffirming our 2026 and others. We have a core EPS guidance range of $2.62 to $2.82 per share and expect to be at or slightly above the midpoint. We remain on track to deliver core earnings growth near the top end of our 6% to 8% range through 2030 and have meaningful opportunities to increase earnings growth over time. Our experienced leadership team has the expert to execute major projects while making the operational improvement our customers expect. We have the people, capability, and commitments to deliver for our customers and shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to Jon to cover our financial performance and the progress we've made on key regulatory priorities. Jon?