SJW Group

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the SJW Group Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone keypad. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would like to now hand the conference over to your speaker today, Andrew Walters, CFO and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Welcome to the fourth quarter and 2022 Financial Results Conference Call for SJW Group. I will be presenting today with Eric Thornburg, Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Bruce Hawk, Chief Operating Officer. For those of you who would like to follow along, slides accompanying our remarks are available on our website at sjwgroup.com. Before we begin today, I would like to remind you that this presentation and the related materials posted on our website may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by the company in light of its experience, historical trends, current conditions, and expected future results, as well as other factors that the company believes are appropriate under the circumstances. Many factors could cause the company's actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed, or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a description of some of the factors that could cause actual results to be different from statements in this presentation, we refer you to the financial results press release and our most recent forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be obtained on our website. All forward-looking statements are made as of today. The SJW group disclaims any duty to update or revise such statements. You will have an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation, and as a reminder, this webcast is being recorded, and an archive of the webcast will be available until April 24, 2023. You can access the press release and the webcast at our corporate website. I will now turn the call over to Eric Thornburg. Eric?

Thank you, Andrew. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm Eric Thornburg, and it is my honor to serve as chair, president, and CEO of SJW Group. 2022 was a strong year for our company. We thank our employees for their passion to serve customers, communities, and each other while being good stewards of the environment. And they do so in a manner that embodies our core values and honors our culture, which is essential for long-term success. Earlier this year, Bruce Hawk became our Chief Operating Officer. He joined SJW Group in mid-2022 and brought with him 26 years of industry experience and a leadership style that aligns with our company's values. He has already proven to be an integral member of our executive leadership team, and I'm pleased to have him join us today on this call to discuss regulatory updates, 2023 capital expenditures, and the growth of our Texas operation. After my initial remarks, Andrew will review the financial results of the company and our guidance for 2023. As I mentioned earlier, 2022 was a successful year for us. Our leaders and their teams expertly navigated challenges and delivered solid results. Firstly, earnings per diluted share of $2.43 per share These results were affected by a number of factors, including a delayed cost of capital proceeding and inflationary pressures, which the company successfully managed. Second, delivery of $219 million in infrastructure investments, despite supply chain challenges. Third, a total shareholder return of 13.4% for 2022. which compares favorably to the S&P 1000 utility sector total shareholder return of negative 0.6%. And fourth, we were just one of 11% of Russell 3000 companies to have a gender-balanced board. One of our biggest achievements of the year was the Constructive Settlement Agreement that was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission. It not only addressed the water supply mix challenges in California that had impacted our financial results in 2020 and 21, but also provided a benefit to customers. Given the meaningful progress achieved in our 2022 rate filings, we are pleased to provide a projected long-term growth rate of 5% to 7% based off of our 2022 diluted EPS. Andrew will now discuss our financial results and 2023 guidance in greater detail. Andrew?