NiSource Inc

Good morning. My name is RJ and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the NYSource second quarter 2021 investor call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press the pound key. Thank you. I would like to turn it all over to Chris Turner, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to the NYSOR's second quarter 2021 investor call. Joining me today are Joe Hamrock, our Chief Executive Officer, Donald Brown, our Chief Financial Officer, Sean Anderson, our Chief Strategy and Risk Officer, and Randy Hewlin, our VP of Investor Relations and Treasurer. The purpose of this presentation is to review NYSource's financial performance for the second quarter of 2021, as well as provide an update on our operations and growth drivers. Following our prepared remarks, we'll open the call to your questions. Slides for today's call are available on NYSource.com. Before turning the call over to Joe, Donald, and Sean, just a quick reminder, some of the statements made during this presentation will be forward-looking. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements. Information concerning such risks and uncertainties is included in the MD&A and risk factor sections of our periodic SEC filings. Additionally, some of the statements made on this call relate to non-GAAP measures. For additional information on the most directly comparable gap measure and a reconciliation of these measures, please refer to the supplemental slides and segment information included in our full financial schedules, available at NYSource.com. With all of that out of the way, I'd like to turn the call over to Joe.

Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Hopefully, you've all had a chance to read our second quarter earnings release, which we issued earlier today. We made significant progress in our generation transition and the current renewable replacement plan with Indiana Commission approval now received for all of our joint venture renewable projects. In addition, we have received more than 180 proposals in our 2021 integrated resource plan or IRP process, which will inform our generation replacement strategy in Indiana beyond 2023. We continue to expect that our infrastructure programs and generation investments will drive compound annual growth of seven to nine percent in diluted net operating earnings per share from 2021 through 2024, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions 90 percent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. Let's turn now to slide three and take a closer look at our key takeaways. In the second quarter, we delivered non-GAAP diluted net operating earnings of 13 cents per share. Results reflect safety and modernization investments, COVID impacts, and they reflect the profile of our business without Columbia Gas of Massachusetts. We are reaffirming our earnings guidance and long-term financial commitments. We expect 2021 earnings of $1.32 to $1.36 per share in non-GAAP diluted net operating earnings. We continue to expect annual growth, safety, and modernization investments of $1.9 to $2.2 billion, plus approximately $2 billion in renewables and associated transmission investments through 2023. NYSORS expects to grow its diluted net operating earnings per share by 7 to 9 percent on a compound annual growth rate basis from 2021 through 2024, including near-term annual growth of 5 to 7 percent through 2023. As I mentioned, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has approved 13 of our 14 proposed renewable energy projects, And the new RFP for electric capacity and energy associated with NIPSCO's 2021 IRP that is currently underway has drawn strong engagement from the vendor community. In other parts of our business, we filed rate cases in Ohio, Kentucky, and Maryland during the quarter, in addition to the case filed during the first quarter in Pennsylvania, where we are in advanced settlement discussions. Safety advancements continue across NYSource, guided by our implementation of the industry's safety management system, which serves as our core operating model. Recent advancements include the accelerated integration of contractors into our safety plans and deployment of PICARO advanced leak detection technology in two more states. Our environmental performance targets represent another vital commitment. I'm pleased to say that we remain on target. We expect to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2030 from 2005 levels. That includes a 50% reduction in methane emissions from gas mains and services by 2025. On that commitment, NYSource has already achieved an estimated 39% reduction in pipeline methane emissions compared to 2005 levels. Our infrastructure replacement programs are driving these improvements. Also, last year, more than one million of our customers participated in our energy efficiency programs. On that note, let's look at some NYSource Utilities highlights for the second quarter, starting with our gas operations on slide nine. The Ohio rate case is one of three new rate cases filed in the second quarter. we're requesting an annual revenue increase of approximately $221 million net of the trackers being rolled into base rates. Pending a decision from the PUCO, new rates would be effective in mid-2022. In Kentucky, we filed a request for an approximately $27 million annual revenue increase net of trackers. And in Maryland, we filed a case on May 14th, once again, net of trackers requesting about a $5 million annual revenue increase. New rates are proposed to go into effect in December of this year. In Pennsylvania, we filed a case just before the end of the first quarter requesting an annual increase in revenue of approximately $98 million. Now let's look at our electric operations on slide 10. I'll touch on NIPSCO's Electric T-Disc Plan. We filed a new five-year plan in June. The $1.6 billion plan includes newly identified projects aimed at enhancing service and reliability for customers, as well as some previously identified projects. We expect to receive an order from the IURC in December of this year. The other items on this slide relate to our transition out of coal generation And I'll turn it over to Sean Anderson to give more detail.