Fortis Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Lara, and I will be your conference operator today. Welcome to the Fortis 2022 Annual Earnings 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 the number 1 on their telephone keypad. 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, Laura, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to Fortis' fourth quarter and annual 2022 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 annual 2022 MD&A. Also, unless otherwise specified, all financial information referenced is in Canadian dollars. With that, I will turn the call over to David.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. 2022 was a great year for Fortis. Our utilities invested $4 billion of capital for system resiliency and modernization and to interconnect cleaner energy to our systems. These investments translated into strong earnings and rate-based growth, demonstrating the value of our organic growth strategy and supporting our roughly 6% dividend increase in 2022. On the sustainability front, we reduced our 2022 annual greenhouse gas emissions by 28% since 2019, keeping us on track to reach our carbon reduction targets. As part of their annual board games report, the Globe and Mail ranked Ford as number one among 226 companies in the SMP TSX composite index for good governance, reflecting our board's commitment to best in class practices. And most importantly, we remain focused on delivering safe and reliable service to our electric and gas customers across our North American utilities. These are the core tenants of our value proposition. And at Fortis, we keep these at the forefront as we mitigate and respond to the impacts of climate change. And while our reliability metrics continue to outperform industry averages in 2022, our utilities remain committed to investing in their energy systems to better withstand the increasing frequency of severe weather events. And with the backdrop of inflation reaching 40-year highs, our teams have successfully managed average annual increases in controllable operating costs per customer to approximately 2% over the past five years by finding efficiencies through innovation and process improvements. And while we have limited ability to control energy commodity costs that are passed through directly to our customers in some jurisdictions, we are helping our customers manage their bills by extending recovery periods and through energy efficiency and payment assistance programs. Over a 20-year timeframe, Fortis has delivered average annual total shareholder returns of approximately 11% or 751% in total, well above the benchmark indices shown on the slide. While our one-year total shareholder return for 2022 was below our historical average returns, we expect to continue to deliver stable and compelling returns over the long run. At Tucson Electric Power, the closure of our last unit at the San Juan Generating Station removed another 170 megawatts of coal-fired generation from our portfolio and contributed to our 28% reduction in Scope 1 emissions compared to 2019 levels. With this progress, we are more than halfway to achieving our target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 and are on track to meet our 2035 target of 75% reduction. Upon achieving that target, we expect our assets will be primarily focused on energy delivery and renewable carbon-free generation. Last year, we also established a 2050 Net Zero Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions target, reinforcing our long-term commitment to decarbonize while ensuring we preserve customer reliability and affordability. In the fourth quarter, we rolled out our new $22.3 billion five-year capital plan, our largest to date. The plan consists of virtually all regulated investments and a diverse mix of highly executable projects supporting rate-based growth across our portfolio of utilities. It also includes $5.9 billion for investments that directly support cleaner energy. Over the next five years, we expect rate-based increase by $12 billion from approximately $34 billion in 2022 to over $46 billion in 2027, supporting average annual rate-based growth of 6.2%. From a growth perspective, our teams continue to pursue opportunities beyond the base plan. Key areas of focus include incremental investments supported by the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S., climate adaptation and grid resiliency, as well as LNG and renewable fuels. Progress also continues on MISO's long-range transmission plan. As we previously discussed, ITC anticipates transmission investments in the range of 1.4 to 1.8 billion U.S. dollars through 2030 for Tranche 1. ITC currently has 700 million U.S. dollars of this estimate included in their five-year capital plan. Tranche 2 is well underway with the initial concepts identified by MISO in late 2022. The second tranche will look at a new future, dubbed 2A, which calls for more renewable penetration and higher electricity demand. And while it is still early in the planning process, MISO Board approval of tranche 2 projects is targeted for the first half of 2024. The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to support TEP's clean energy transition by reducing the cost of new renewables and providing funding to aid the communities impacted by the exit from fossil fuels. The TEP team continues to work through its all-source request for proposals, which seeks to secure renewables and energy storage to support their transition away from coal. In total, we estimate incremental investments of approximately 2 to 4 billion U.S. dollars through 2035 will be required to implement TEP's current integrated resource plan. TP expects to file an updated plan later this year. Next, turning to slide 10, we increased our dividends paid per common share to $2.17 in 2022, up approximately 6% from 2021, marking 49 consecutive years of dividend increases. Looking ahead, we remain committed to building on our track record through the execution of our organic growth strategy that supports our 4% to 6% dividend growth guidance through 2027. Now I will turn the call over to Jocelyn for an update on our fourth quarter and annual financial results.