Fortis Inc.

Welcome to the Fortis Q2 2021 conference call and webcast. During the call, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. There will be a question and answer session following the presentation. At that time, those with questions should press star followed by 1 on their telephone. If at Welcome to the Fortis Q2 2021 conference call and webcast. During the call, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. There will be a question and answer session following the presentation. At that time, those with questions should press star followed by one on their telephone. If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator, please press star zero. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Stephanie Amimo. Please go ahead, Ms. Amimo.

Thanks, Phyllis, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to Fortis' second quarter 2021 results conference call. I'm joined by David Hutchins, President and CEO, Jocelyn Perry, Executive VP and CFO, other members of the senior management team, as well as CEOs from certain subsidiaries. Before we begin today's call, I want to remind you that the discussion will include forward-looking information. which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slideshow. Actual results can differ materially from the forecast projections included in the forward-looking information presented today. All non-GAAP financial measures referenced in our prepared remarks are reconciled to the related U.S. GAAP financial measures in our second quarter 2021 MD&A. Also, unless otherwise specified, all financial information references in Canadian dollars. With that, I will turn the call over to David.

Thank you and good morning, everyone. The underlying long-term fundamentals of our company remain strong in the second quarter. We continue to see growth from our investments in our regulated utilities, maintain reliable service through severe weather events across our footprint, effectively manage the safety of our employees, customers, and communities, even during this pandemic, and started to see the green shoots of economic recovery across our jurisdictions. This solid foundation allows us to withstand and see through headwinds like the impacts of foreign exchange volatility. Today, we also issued our 2021 sustainability update, which can be found on our website. The report highlights our priorities and progress on sustainability initiatives. Additionally, we announced that Fortis has signed on as a supporter of the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, or TCFD. With the easing of pandemic restrictions and the corresponding reopening of businesses, and with a little help from warm weather, our second quarter sales have improved from last year. While uncertainty remains surrounding the pandemic, increased commercial and industrial activity contributed to an overall increase in sales across our portfolio of utilities. As you may recall, UNS and our other electric segment have the most exposure to changes in sales. Favorable weather in Arizona and higher commercial and industrial sales contributed to a 3% increase in retail sales at UNS. For our other electric segment, sales were up 3% for the quarter, mainly driven by the ongoing recovery of the tourism industry in the Caribbean. Turning to slide six, the 2021 sustainability update details the progress we are making to support a cleaner energy future. Notably, in 2020, we reduced our scope on emissions by 15%, equating to removing over 400,000 vehicles from the road in just one year. This marks measurable progress towards our target to reduce carbon emissions 75% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels. Transitioning to renewables and building out the grid is at the heart of our long-term strategy. Our update also highlights that in 2020 we achieved our best safety performance and delivered top quartile reliability performance relative to our industry peers. And it also includes 50 new key performance indicators of which 14 align with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board or SASB. We are pleased to report another step in our ESG journey by expanding our disclosures and solidifying our commitment to the TCFD recommendations by signing on as a supporter. We are continuing our climate scenario analyses to assess the resiliency of our energy delivery businesses, and we expect to provide a progress update in 2022. As slide eight highlights, nearly all of our $19.6 billion five-year capital plan supports energy delivery and cleaner energy infrastructure. Through the first half of 2021, we made capital investments of $1.7 billion in our systems, and for the full year, our $3.8 billion capital plan remains on track. This balanced, low-risk plan supports our sustainability strategy and includes renewable generations such as wind, solar, and battery storage, interconnections of renewables, and liquefied natural gas and renewable natural gas investments. The capital plan is expected to increase rate base by $10 billion from $30.5 billion in 2020 to over $40 billion in 2025, supporting average annual rate base growth of approximately 6% through 2025. Slide 9. Beyond our base capital plan, our teams continue to push forward with opportunities to expand and extend growth at our regulated utilities for the benefit of our customers. Since we covered this topic extensively last quarter, I will briefly discuss a few recent developments. First, at ITC, the proposed Lake Erie Connector transmission project continues to progress. In May, the Ontario government authorized the Independent Electric System Operator, or ISO, to enter into contract negotiations. We are in the early stages of negotiation, and the ISO is expected to report back to the government by the end of the year. Earlier this month, FERC issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit comments on regional transmission planning, cost allocation, and generator interconnection processes. Overall, it's encouraging to see the Commission's recognition that substantial investments in transmission infrastructure are needed to facilitate a lower carbon future. and our teams are actively engaged in these processes. Lastly, at FortisBC, reducing customer greenhouse gas emissions continues to be a priority. Recently, British Columbia amended their greenhouse gas reduction regulations to allow the increase in the production and use of renewable natural gas as well as hydrogen in the province. The revised regulation will advance the production and distribution of renewable natural gases and hydrogen that will utilize our existing natural gas infrastructure to reduce emissions and decarbonize our economy. With 47 consecutive years of dividend increases, coupled with our low-risk growth strategy, we remain confident in our 6 percent average annual dividend growth guidance through 2025. Now, I will turn the call over to Jocelyn for an update on our second quarter financial results.