Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Rob, and I'm your event operator today. I would like to welcome everyone to today's conference, Public Service Enterprise Group's Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we'll conduct a question and answer session for members of the financial community. At that time, if you have a question, you'll need to press the star and the number 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star and the number 2. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, October 31st, 2022, and will be available for replay as an audio webcast on PSEG's Investor Relations website at https://investor.pseg.com. I would now like to turn the conference over to Carlotta Chan. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Roz. Welcome to PSEG's third quarter 2022 earnings presentation. Joining us on the call today are Ralph LaRosa, President and Chief Executive Officer of PSEG, and Dan Craig, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our press release attachments and slides for the discussion today are posted on our website and our TEN-Q will be filed shortly. The earnings release and other matters discussed during today's call contain forward-looking statements and estimates that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. We will also discuss non-GAAP operating earnings, which differs from net income or loss, as reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, in the United States. We include reconciliations of our non-GAAP financial measures and a disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements on our IR website and in today's materials. Following Ralph and Dan's prepared remarks, we will conduct a 30-minute question and answer session. I will now turn the call over to Ralph.

Thank you, Carlotta. And thank you all for joining us today. As you may know, this is my first earnings call since becoming CEO in September. And if you've met with us over the past few months, you've heard me lay out my initial action plan for PSEG to deliver value to our investors. The focus is clear and simple. continue to grow the company through investments with appropriate risk adjusted returns, and increase the predictability of our business by reducing the variability in both financial and operating results. PSEG has a solid utility operation, a constructive regulatory and policy environment, and now a federal tax incentive for our nuclear fleet that stabilizes its cash flows for a decade. Together, these attributes make PSEG a compelling investment. Earlier today, we reported net income of 22 cents per share for the third quarter of 2022, compared to a net loss of $3.10 per share in the third quarter of 2021 that was related to the announced sale of our fossil assets. We also reported non-GAAP operating earnings of 86 cents per share for this third quarter, compared to 98 cents per share in the third quarter of 2021. Results for the nine months ended September 30th of $2.83 per share replaces squarely within our guidance range, so we are narrowing our 2022 non-GAAP operating earnings guidance to $3.40 to $3.50 per share, assuming normal operations over the remaining two months of 2022. We remain highly confident in the growth potential of our regulated investments and are committed to the cost discipline needed to minimize the impact of current economic conditions. We also reaffirm our 5% to 7% multi-year EPS CAGR to 2025 with the understanding that this CAGR is nonlinear, and we fully intend to deliver on our earnings guidance expectations as we've done for the last 17 years and counting. PSE&G's investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure continue to produce rate-based growth consistent with our long-term expectations. Our new infrastructure advancement program which launches investment in a critical last mile of our distribution system. And the clean energy future investments are also supporting wide-ranging decarbonization priorities, driven by our programs to expand energy efficiency, electric vehicles, solar investments, and create clean energy jobs and training opportunities. Now turning to our offshore wind ventures, we are approaching a final investment decision on Ocean Wind 1 in New Jersey to determine if we will proceed to the construction phase. We are reviewing our options related to our 25% equity investment in Ocean Wind 1, as well as our option to purchase 50% of IRSTAD's Skipjack 2 project, and options regarding PSEG's interest in a remaining Garden State offshore energy lease area. Last week, the BPU completed its review of offshore wind transmission competitive proposals and awarded several onshore-only projects. PSE&G was awarded $40 million of system upgrade work needed to accommodate the injection of offshore wind generation in central New Jersey. However, the BPU also indicated it would consider an additional solicitation to address the state's increased offshore wind generation targets. We remain optimistic that our emphasis on reliability and resiliency will keep it as a strong contender for any future offshore transmission solicitations bring regional offshore wind projects onshore. Our energy-strong investments in the aftermath of Sandy lifted and hardened PSE&G substations against future storms. With similar foresight, the BPU has recognized, through the Infrastructure Advancement Program, that attention is needed to address that last mile of our distribution system and proactively replace critical components in advance of electrification. Safe and reliable operations will always be the core of our customer-focused mindset. This is the focus our team of over 12,000 dedicated employees has every day in providing safe and reliable service to over 3 million customers in New Jersey and Long Island. As a result of these efforts, I'm pleased to report that both PSE&G, our nuclear operations, are trending at above top Coral Tower metrics on several key measures. In addition, PSE&G continues to receive some of its highest ever customer satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power. The 2022 hurricane season has been relatively quiet in New Jersey and Long Island, which enabled PSE&G to send mutual aid to Florida to assist with Hurricane Ian restoration. Our thoughts and prayers, in addition to our support, went out to all those impacted by Ian. I mention this cooperation because it is unique in our industry and we all benefit from it. On this 10-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, we remain acutely aware of how a single, powerful storm rolling up the Atlantic coast can permanently affect lives, destroy homes, businesses, and livelihoods for extended periods of time. And we remember how grateful we were for the support we received then. I'm also proud to announce that MSCI has raised PSEG's corporate environmental, social, and governance rating to AAA from AA, placing us at its highest rating. PSEG has also improved its score within the top tier of the 2022 CPA Zinkeland Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability. I have met and listened intently to many of you these past few months, and I recognize the importance of maintaining our financial strength, preserving our ability to grow without needing to dilute our existing shareholder base, and rewarding our shareholders with a compelling common dividend yield. As we approach several critical decisions in the weeks and months ahead, I will be guided by the approach that I mentioned at the very beginning, prioritizing predictability and increasing shareholder returns. I look forward to meeting with many of you at the EEI Financial Conference over November 13th through November 15th, where we'll announce PSEG's 2023 Full-Year Earnings Guidance, provide more detail around our estimate of pension impact on 2023 financials, as well as a longer-term EPS growth rate. I'll now turn the call over to Dan, who will provide you with the financial review and outlook. Thanks, Ralph.