UNITIL Corporation

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Unitio First Quarter 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 on your telephone keypad. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star 0. Thank you. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Todd Diggins, Director of Finance. Sir, you may begin the conference.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss Unitil Corporation's first quarter 2022 financial results. Speaking on the call today will be Tom Meissner, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Bob Hebert, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. We will discuss Financial and other information on this call. As we mentioned in the press release announcing this call, we have posted information, including a presentation, to the investor section of our website at Unitil.com. We will refer to that information during this call. Moving to slide two, the comments made today about future operating results or events are forward-looking statements under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ material from those predicted. Statements made on this call should be considered together with cautionary statements and other information contained in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents we have filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of today and we assume no obligation to update them. This presentation contains non-GAAP financial measures The accompanying supplemental information more fully describes these non-GAAP financial measures and includes a reconciliation to the nearest GAAP financial measure. The company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating its performance. With that, I will now turn the call over to Chairman, President, and CEO, Tom Eisner.

Tom Eisner Thanks, Todd, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm going to begin on slide four, where today we announced strong results for the first quarter of 2022. with net income of $21.5 million and earnings of $1.35 per share. This represents an increase of 9 cents per share or 7.1 percent over the same period of 2021. Looking ahead, we maintain our long-term guidance of 5 to 7 percent growth in earnings per share, with near-term earnings growth expected to be above the upper end of that range. We continue to deliver superior service to customers, and customer satisfaction remains at an all-time high. Our focus on operational excellence ensures that we provide high levels of safety and reliability. On the fourth quarter call, we refreshed our investment outlook, and I'd like to quickly reiterate that we continue to see strong investment opportunities and expect long-term rate-based growth of 6.5% to 8.5%. Bob will provide more detail on our investment plan later in the call. Finally, we view sustainability as essential to our long-term success. In addition to our commitment to reduce company-wide greenhouse gas emissions, we are also looking at ways to introduce low-carbon supply options. One way to do this is by integrating renewable natural gas into our supply portfolio. In New Hampshire, Senate Bill 14 424FN, which would provide a path to procure up to 5% of our gas supply from renewable sources, has passed the Senate and is working its way through the House of Representatives. Moving now to slide five, as I just touched on, our focus on continuous improvement has led to exceptional results. Our electrical liability continues to be outstanding. And in fact, through the first four months of this year, we are on a pace to achieve our best results ever. Our gas emergency response is also among the best in the industry, and the American Gas Association has recognized us for our outstanding emergency response and accident prevention. For the second year in a row, Unitil is the top-ranked utility in the Northeast for customer satisfaction and is ranked 18th out of 113 utilities nationally. Turning now to slide six, we're fortunate to serve the Maine and New Hampshire Seacoast regions, which are experiencing robust growth and development. Across our service areas, approximately $8 billion in construction is currently planned or underway, adding thousands of potential new customers and encouraging further economic development. The bulk of that development is occurring in our main service area, with over $5.3 billion of investments planned. We see that growth reflected in both construction employment and the number of building permits being issued. Portland, Maine, which is the largest city north of Boston, has about $1.4 billion of planned construction, including residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings. This development will continue to enhance the area's appeal to both residents and business owners. There are also two campus-style developments underway in Maine. Rock Row, and The Downs, each spanning hundreds of acres. These community-themed developments feature residential and commercial elements designed to harmonize and support each other. Projects such as these, which are already in the construction phase, will provide the company with considerable long-term growth opportunities. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, was recently awarded a $1.7 billion multi-year expansion project which will create jobs and drive supporting investment in the surrounding communities. We see similar development in New Hampshire, which was recently named the second best state in the nation in which to live. In Salem, there is another large campus-style project under construction called Tuscan Village, which will continue to provide customer growth opportunities. Lastly, in our Massachusetts service area, a new Amazon distribution center will spur economic development and create hundreds of new jobs. I think it's safe to say that these projects are just a few that represent the long-term growth opportunities we see in our service areas. We are looking forward to supporting that growth for many years to come. Turning now to slide seven, aside from new construction, we continue to see additional growth drivers play out for our natural gas division. As I've discussed in the past, In both Maine and New Hampshire, the predominant fuel for home heating is fuel oil. Natural gas continues to offer a significantly cleaner and more affordable alternative. With on-the-main penetration of approximately 60%, we expect the price and environmental advantages of natural gas to drive low-cost customer conversions for years to come. Finally, while the company encourages the adoption of electric heat pumps, Their output is generally not sufficient to provide adequate heat to most New England homes on the coldest winter days. Natural gas, whether as the sole heating source or in combination with electric air source heat pumps, continues to be the most economic fuel. With that, I'll now pass it over to Bob, who will provide greater detail on the first quarter results.