UNITIL Corporation

Welcome to the Q1 2024 Unitel 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. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Chris Golding, Vice President of Finance and Regulatory Services. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss Unitil Corporation's first quarter 2024 financial results. Speaking on the call today will be Tom Eisner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Dan Herstack, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer. Also with us today are Bob Hevert, President and Chief Administrative Officer, and Todd Diggins, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller. We will discuss financial and other information on this call. As we mentioned in the press release announcing today's call, we have posted information, including a presentation, to the Investors section of our website at unitill.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 risk and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially 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-Q and other documents we have filed with or furnished to the Security 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 measures. 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 and CEO Tom Eisner. Tom Eisner Great.

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Beginning on slide three, today we announced strong results for the first quarter of 2024 with net income of $27.2 million, or $1.69 per share. which represents an increase of 18 cents per share, or approximately 12% over the first quarter of 2023. We are executing well in all areas of our business, which has allowed us to fully earn our authorized regulatory returns over the last 12 months on a consolidated basis. We remain focused on operational efficiency and have continued our disciplined approach to cost management as reflected in the minimal increase in operation and maintenance expenses in the first three months of 2024 compared to 2023. We are reaffirming our long-term guidance of 5% to 7% growth in earnings per share, supported by long-term rate-based growth in the range of 6.5% to 8.5%, and a dividend payout ratio between 55% and 65%. I'll also mention that corporate sustainability is fully embedded in all of our key initiatives, strategies, and values. We were pleased to learn that UNITIL was recently honored with the 2024 Climate and Energy Sustainability Award by the New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility. This award is a clear recognition of our commitment to the sustainability of our company, our communities, our customers, and our planet. Moving now to slide four, I'd like to provide a brief update on our Kingston, New Hampshire solar project. The project received all required permits earlier in the year and construction began in February. Everything is proceeding on schedule and we fully expect the facility to be operational in the first half of 2025. The project has continued to receive positive recognition from a variety of stakeholders. and was recently nominated for the Project of the Year Energy Champion Award by Clean Energy New Hampshire. With that, I'll now pass it over to Dan, who will provide greater detail on the first quarter results. Dan?