NiSource Inc

Thank you for standing by at this time. I'd like to welcome everyone to the Q1 2024 NYSource earnings conference call. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. Thank you. I'd now like to turn the call over to Chris Turnier, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to the NYSource first quarter 2024 investor call. Joining me today are President and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Yates, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Shawn Anderson, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Risk and Chief Commercial Officer Michael Luers, and Executive Vice President and Group President, Nicehorse Utilities, Melody Birmingham. The purpose of this presentation is to review Nicehorse's financial performance for the first quarter of 2024, 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 in the investor relations section of our website. We would like to remind you that 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 risk factors and MD&A sections of our periodic SEC filings. Additionally, some of the statements made on this call relate to non-GAAP measures. Please refer to the supplemental slides, segment information, and full financial schedules for information on the most directly comparable GAAP measure and a reconciliation of these measures. I'd now like to turn the call over to Lloyd.

Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin on slide three. The NYSource investment thesis is simple. We serve our customers by delivering safe, reliable energy at an affordable price affordable energy delivery requires deployment of capital and operating assets efficiently it requires operating in jurisdictions which have constructive regulatory mechanisms the byproduct of these fundamentals generates competitive regulated returns for our shareholders while maintaining and improving our balance sheet positions Capital deployment comes from a $16.4 billion base capex plan projected over the next five years, plus over 1.5 billion upside projects, as well as substantial opportunity for investment beyond 2028. Stable public policy and rate making in our states across multiple election and regulatory appointment cycles has been crucial to efficient capital allocation and recovery to support our communities. Our balance sheet is the risk and more flexible than ever before and enables industry leading sustainable organic investment. As part of this flexibility, we are more disciplined and return focused with our internal allocation decisions than ever. We recognize the competitive environment for capital and we do not take your investment for granted. Our total year end 2023 rate base was $18.8 billion. consisting of $9 billion in Indiana, $4 billion in Ohio, $3 billion in Pennsylvania, and over $1 billion in Virginia. Our nearly 4 million customers contribute to gross domestic product of over $3.8 trillion across our six states of operation, or approximately 14% of U.S. GDP. We expect our system to see substantial low growth over the next five years due to data centers and reshoring of manufacturing. Northern Indiana offers constructive fundamentals for data center development through robust electric transmission, overall energy system capacity, plentiful land, limited physical disaster risk, tax incentives, and a pro-business policy environment. During the last five years, NIPSCO and the Columbia Gas family of companies have contributed over $1.4 billion in property taxes in their local communities. This funding goes to schools, parks, roads, emergency and other essential services, and keeps our communities moving in the right direction. Each and every day of the year, we provide safe, reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective service for our customers. Slide four shows our key priorities. Today we reported first quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of 85 cents, 10% above the 77 cents reported one year ago. We are reaffirming 2024 adjusted EPS guidance of $1.70 to $1.74. We are also reaffirming annual 2023 to 2028 guidance for adjusted EPS of 6% to 8%. and rate base of 8% to 10%. We continue to target FFO to debt of 14% to 16% in all years of the plan. Our superior regulatory and stakeholder foundation is differentiated. We have a long history of working collaboratively to deliver value across diverse constituencies. The most recent example is our NIPSCO gas general rate case settlement announced in March. late in the quarter we also filed cpc and amendments for full ownership of the fairbanks and gibson solar projects this follows cpc and amendment approvals from the iurc for calvary and dunsbridge 2 in january our intention has been to layer projects into our base plan during the course of the year consistent with our pending request at the iurc Today, I am pleased to announce we are adding full ownership of the Fairbanks and Gibson projects to our base capital plan. This incremental NYSource investment simplifies the project structure and reduces cost to customers when compared to the prior tax equity configuration. Reliability and efficiency remain core elements of our operational excellence culture as seen on slide five. In 2022, we began the process of upgrading outdated technology that in some cases predated the Columbia gas merger in 2000. Our multi-year technology investment initiative is continuing to take shape with work and asset management program addressing the scheduling, dispatch and execution of work, and the management of underlying assets. An upfront investment can drive decades of both reliability improvement and cost savings for customers. In March, NIPSCO requested a regulatory deferral mechanism for these investments, seeking to align rate-making with long-term customer value realization. Amid increasing weather extremes and natural disaster frequency throughout the country, customers are benefiting from energy resiliency more than ever. NYSOS delivers this through multiple channels with both major gas and electric systems. Our electric generation mix includes renewables and on-demand natural gas, balancing intermittency and fuel price volatility risk. Meanwhile, our gas system is insulated from harsh weather and can deliver dependable energy for our customers in even the most extreme conditions. I want to wrap up my comments by acknowledging each of our over 11,000 employees and contractors. Without their tireless effort on behalf of our customers, None of this work will be possible. I'll now turn things over to Melody.