Fortis Inc.

Thank you for standing by. This is Betsy, the conference operator. Welcome to the Fortis, Inc. Fourth Quarter and Annual 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, You may signal an operator by pressing star, then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Stephanie Amimo, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Ms. Amimo.

Thanks, Betsy, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Fortis' fourth quarter and annual 2024 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 2024 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. 2024 was a great year across the board for Fortas. Operationally, we continued our history of delivering reliable and safe service to our customers across North America. Financially, we are pleased to report another strong year supported by our regulated growth strategy and consistent execution. Notably, we invested a record $5.2 billion in capital and grew our 2024 adjusted EPS by approximately 6%. And once again, we increased our dividend in the fourth quarter, marking 51 consecutive years of increases in dividends paid. Our governance track record was extended as well. In December, the Globe and Mail released its ranking of Canada's corporate governance for 2024. Fortis was ranked number one among 215 companies in the S&P TSX Composite Index, underscoring our best-in-class governance practices. We remain focused on reducing climate impacts and risks. Through 2024, we reduced Scope 1 emissions by 34% compared to 2019 levels. Additionally, we enhanced our operational practices to improve situational awareness and ensure we have real-time insight into local conditions that influence wildfire risk. Ensuring safe, reliable, and affordable service remains at the heart of what we do each day. In 2024, our teams achieved top quartile safety and reliability performance, benefiting our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve. Customer affordability remains a top priority. As shown on the slide, controllable operating costs per customer increased approximately 2.8% annually over the past five years, below inflation during this period. Our utilities continue to identify efficiencies and implement innovative practices to reduce costs. In addition, we work with our customers to help them manage their bills through budgeted payment plans and energy efficiency programs. For 2024, we delivered a one-year total shareholder return of approximately 14 percent. Over a 20-year timeframe, Boris delivered average annual total shareholder returns of approximately 10 percent, well above the benchmark indices shown on this slide. We expect to continue to deliver stable and compelling returns over the long run. Our five-year capital plan of $26 billion remains on track. As we highlighted last quarter, Our capital plan is low risk and highly executable, with virtually all regulated investments and only 23% of our spend relating to major capital projects. The five-year plan is focused on transmission investments at ITC, including the long-range transmission plan, the resource transition in Arizona, as well as enhancing and strengthening our infrastructure and supporting customer growth across all of our utilities. Over the five-year horizon, rate base is expected to increase by approximately $14 billion to $53 billion by 2029, supporting average annual rate base growth of 6.5%. In December, the MISO Board approved the Tranche 2.1 LRTP projects, with 24 projects totaling $21.8 billion. Upon finalization and approval of the portfolio, ITC has revised the estimate for their portion of tranche 2.1 upward to a range of 3.7 to 4.2 billion U.S. dollars. The revised estimate includes portions of two projects in southern Minnesota and three projects in Michigan that were assigned to ITC based on the rights of first refusal or ROFRs that are in effect in those states. It also includes approximately 300 million U.S. dollars for system upgrades in Iowa that are not subject to competitive bidding. A majority of the tranche 2.1 investments are expected beyond 2029. It's also worth noting that while ITC continues to advocate for a ROFR in Iowa, they are also evaluating and preparing to competitively bid as needed. To put ITC's projected tranche 2.1 investments into perspective, This is equivalent to 40 percent of ITC's current rate base, and ITC is eager to execute these projects to ensure the long-term reliability of the grid in the MISO Midwest subregion. In Arizona, TEP is busy working through a potential service request totaling over 10,000 megawatts from data center, manufacturing, and mining customers, which may result in new energy infrastructure investments. Given this interest, we wanted to provide a snapshot of the pipeline in front of us. For example, negotiations are proceeding for over 300 megawatts of new customer load using existing and planned capacity, with loads starting to ramp in the 2027 timeframe as part of an initial phase. Directionally, at full production, a 300 megawatt load factor customer would increase TEP's retail sales in Arizona by approximately 20%. These potential impacts remain contingent on final investment decisions from the prospective customers. Further negotiations are ongoing and anticipated to progress throughout 2025 to serve up to another 600 megawatts of new load in the 2030 timeframe. If negotiations are successful, incremental generation and transmission investments by TEP will be required. TEP's system is well positioned to support these larger growth opportunities through strategic generation and transmission expansion. As we progress towards our greenhouse gas reduction goals, we still expect to be coal-free by 2032. However, interim shutdown coal dates may be impacted by a variety of factors, including the availability and timing of new natural gas generation and renewable resources, natural gas supply infrastructure, and demand growth. We will continue to update the market as negotiations progress and new information becomes available. In addition to the MISO LRTP projects and potential new retail load growth in Arizona, we continue to expect additional load interconnections at ITC, such as Big Cedar load expansion project, which is expected to interconnect 1,600 megawatts. Beyond that project, ITC sees the possibility of approximately 5,000 megawatts of additional load growth if a number of proposed data center and economic development projects that are currently in preliminary stages move forward. In Arizona, we also estimate 2.5 to 5 billion U.S. dollars of investments associated with UNS Energy's integrated resource plans. Other opportunities include liquefied natural gas infrastructure, renewable gases, and customer and demand growth in British Columbia, as well as regional transmission in New York. Our regulated growth platform is stronger than ever as we work to build the infrastructure needed to support load growth, improve grid resiliency, and facilitate the interconnection of cleaner energy. Turning to the next slide, we increased our dividends paid per common share to $2.39 in 2024, up approximately 4% from 2023. marking 51 consecutive years of increases in dividends paid. We look to extend this record with annual dividend growth guidance of 4% to 6% through 2029, supported by our regulated growth strategy. Now I will turn the call over to Jocelyn for an update on our fourth quarter and annual financial results.