UNITIL Corporation

the fourth quarter 2025 Unitil earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in 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 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Christopher Golding, Vice President of Finance and Regulatory. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us to discuss Unitil Corporation's fourth quarter 2025 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 Hebert, 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 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 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-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 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 Thank you, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Beginning on slide three, I'm pleased to report that 2025 was another successful year. Yesterday, we announced full-year adjusted earnings of $53.3 million. or $3.16 per share. These results represent an increase of $0.19 per share, or 6.4% over our 2024 adjusted earnings per share, placing us in the upper half of our long-term earnings guidance of 5% to 7%. We expanded our gas operations in Maine by acquiring two highly complementary distribution companies at attractive valuations, which will support our long-term earnings growth. We're excited to be the largest gas utility in Maine, a state with ample growth opportunities and a constructive regulatory environment. In New Hampshire, our electric rate case is on schedule, and we expect permanent rates to take effect in the second quarter of 2026. Operationally, we achieved strong performance across key metrics, including electric reliability, gas safety, and customer satisfaction. Looking ahead, we expect 2026 earnings to be in the range of $3.20 to $3.36 per share, with a midpoint of $3.28 per share. At the midpoint, this is an increase of 6.1% compared to the midpoint of our 2025 guidance. Longer term, we continue to see robust investment opportunities in our electric and gas operations and reaffirm our long-term guidance for earnings, dividend, and rate-based growth. Turning now to slide four, in 2025 we completed the acquisitions of Bangor Natural Gas and Maine Natural Gas. These transactions added over 15,000 customers in a state with strong growth prospects and constructive regulation. In addition to being highly complementary to our legacy operations in Maine, the acquired companies will bring annual distribution revenues of approximately $29 million and planned capital investment of approximately $18 million in 2026. Historically, these companies have experienced annual customer growth in the range of 4 to 5 percent. Looking forward, natural gas continues to enjoy a significant price advantage over competing fuels like fuel oil and propane. Maine has the highest percentage of homes heated with fuel oil in the nation, and fully two-thirds of Maine homes are heated with oil, propane, or kerosene. We believe natural gas conversions offer a compelling opportunity for customers to lower their energy costs while also helping Maine achieve its climate objectives. As a reminder, both Maine and New Hampshire have fuel choice statutes in place to preserve customers' rights to select their preferred energy source including natural gas. I'll also mention that we anticipate filing a base rate case for both Bangor natural gas and Maine natural gas in 2027, with final rate decisions expected in 2028. Turning now to slide five, I'd like to again emphasize the affordability benefits of natural gas for home heating in the cold northern New England region where we operate. As I already mentioned, natural gas enjoys a significant price advantage over competing fuels like oil and propane. Natural gas heating systems are also more affordable than electric heat pumps in a region where cold winters and high electricity costs by offering customers a reliable and affordable option to heat their homes. We are confident natural gas will continue to play an important role providing customers with affordable heat while also delivering significant environmental benefits relative to other fuels. Moving to slide six, as a company, we pride ourselves on delivering exceptional service to our customers. In 2025 was no exception. Our electric service reliability again ranked in the top quartile of our industry peers, with electric customers experiencing 16% less interruption time than our New England peers, and 32 percent less compared to the national average. Our gas emergency response ranked among the best in the nation, and our customer satisfaction remained strong. We achieved 87 percent overall customer satisfaction and earned the highest customer trust score among all Northeastern peers. While we take great pride in delivering this level of service, we remain focused on continuous improvement in delivering even higher levels of service reliability. With that, I'll now pass it over to Dan, who will provide greater detail on our 2025 financial results.