WEC Energy Group, Inc.

Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call

8/1/2023

speaker
Operator
Good afternoon and welcome to WEC Energy Group's conference call for second quarter 2023 results. This call is being recorded for rebroadcast and all participants are in a listen-only mode at this time. Before the conference call begins, I remind you that all statements in the presentation, other than historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that are subject to change at any time. Such statements are based on management's expectations at the time they are made. In addition to the assumptions and other factors referred to in connection with the statements, factors described in WEC Energy Group's latest Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated. During the discussions, referenced earnings per share will be based on diluted earnings per share unless otherwise noted. After the presentation, the conference will be open to analysts for questions and answers. In conjunction with this call, a package of detailed financial information is posted at wecenergygroup.com. A replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of this call. And now it's my pleasure to introduce Gail Klapa, Executive Chairman of WEC Energy Group.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today as we review our results for the second quarter of 2023. First, I'd like to introduce the members of our management team who are here with me today. We have Scott Lauber, our president and chief executive, Sha Lu, our chief financial officer, and Beth Straka, senior vice president of corporate communications and investor relations. As you saw from our news release this morning, we reported second quarter 2023 earnings of 92 cents a share. After a down first quarter, marked by one of the warmest winners on record, we delivered solid results in the second quarter. and we're firmly on track for a strong 2023. Today, we're reaffirming our guidance for the year. The range is $4.58 to $4.62 a share. This, of course, assumes normal weather going forward. As always, we're focused on the fundamentals of our business, financial discipline, operating efficiency, and customer satisfaction. During the second quarter, we also continued to move forward on our major initiatives. including the investments outlined in our $20.1 billion ESG progress plan. As we've discussed, the plan is based on projects that are low-risk and highly executable. We expect to quadruple the amount of renewable generation for our regulated customers, add highly efficient gas-fueled capacity to ensure reliability, and continue to harden our delivery networks. Scott will provide you with more detail on several specific projects in just a moment. As a reminder, we project that our ESG progress plan will drive growth and earnings per share of six and a half to 7% a year and as we've discussed, there is no need to issue equity for this $20.1 billion five year plan. Now, over the past few months, many of you have asked about the trajectory of our next five year plan. Our updated plan will cover the period 2024 through 2028. Of course, if growth in demand for capacity and energy drives our next capital plan significantly higher, then we'll evaluate all our financing options. In addition to incremental debt and refinancing opportunities, our options could include accessing the equity market through our dividend reinvestment plans, employee benefit plans, and at-the-market programs. I would stress that at this point, we do not see the need for any block equity offering. Again, as a reminder, any equity need would be driven by growth and would support our long-term growth projections. As you would expect, we're on schedule with the development of our next five-year plan. And as usual, we'll share the details with you in the fall. Now let's take a brief look. We'll switch gears and take a brief look at our regional economy. We're still seeing a very strong labor market in Wisconsin. In June, the state added 7,000 private sector jobs. The unemployment rate came in at two and a half percent, well below the national average, and the labor force participation rate rose for the fourth straight month in Wisconsin to 65.3%, very solid numbers. We're also encouraged by the pipeline of economic activity in our region. Last quarter, you heard that Microsoft plans to make an initial investment of a billion dollars to create a new data center campus. This new complex will be built south of milwaukee in the Wisconsin innovation park where foxconn is located. Microsoft has purchased 315 acres in area three of the park and is moving full speed ahead, in fact earthwork at the site began just a few days ago. So, along with American transmission company we're working closely in fact on a weekly basis with Microsoft to determine the full extent of the energy infrastructure that will be needed to serve this development. We're excited about supporting Microsoft as the company moves forward with a major technology investment, and we'll update you as the planning proceeds. With that, I'll turn the call over to Scott for more information on our regulatory developments and on our operations. Scott, all yours. Thank you, Gail.
speaker
Scott Lauber
I'd like to start with a few updates on the regulatory front. In May, we filed a limited re-opener to set 2024 rates for our Wisconsin utilities. The filings address the recovery of capital investments for certain projects going into service this year and in 2024. These are renewable facilities, rice generation, and LNG reliability investments. The projects have already been approved by the Wisconsin Commission. The return on equity and the equity layer are all set and are not up for consideration as part of this proceeding. We expect a decision from the Commission by the end of this year. And as you recall, we have rate filings under review in Illinois for Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas. After nine years without a base rate case at Peoples Gas, we're making these requests for 2024 to support our investments in critical infrastructure. In mid-July, the staff filed its rebuttal testimony recommending a 9.83% return on equity and an equity layer of 50.83% for Peoples Gas. This was consistent with the initial recommendations from the staff. We expect a final decision by the end of the year. And moving to the other states, we are very pleased that we have reached a settlement agreement at our rate reviews at both Minnesota Energy Resources and Michigan Gas Utilities. The Minnesota Commission is considering a settlement that would provide a 7.1% increase in base rates. As a quick reminder, that's based on a 9.65% return on equity with an equity layer of 53%. And we're pleased to update you that in Michigan, we have reached a unanimous settlement and the details will be made public later this week. We expect final commission approval by the end of the year. Meanwhile, we're continuing progress on a number of regulatory regulated capital projects. At the beginning of June, we closed on our first option of West Riverside Energy Center for $95 million. This adds 100 megawatt of efficient combined cycle natural gas generation to our portfolio. As you recall, this plant is in operation and the purchase price was based on book value. And in the next few weeks, we plan to file a request to purchase another 100 megawatts of Riverside capacity under our remaining option. We also put 128 megawatts of new natural gas generation online last month. As you recall, we invested $170 million to build this generation at our existing Weston Power Plant site in northern Wisconsin. The facility uses seven reciprocating internal combustion engines, or as we call them, rice units. Elsewhere in the state, work continues on the Badger Hollow II solar facility and the Paris and Darien solar battery parks. The Badger Hollow 2 site has begun receiving panels using non-Chinese polysilicon. Also, we continue to work on securing custom release of panels from a bonded warehouse in Chicago. And we're still expecting Badger Hollow 2 to go into service late this year or early next year, with Paris solar park to follow. In addition, work has begun on the Darien Solar Facility, which is planned to go into service in 2024. We'll keep you posted and update on future developments. With that, I'll turn you back to Gail.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Scott, thanks very much. As you may recall, our Board of Directors at its January meeting raised our quarterly cash dividend by 7.2%. We believe this continues to rack our dividend growth in the top decile of our industry. We're targeting a payout ratio of 65% to 70% of earnings. We're right in the middle of that range now, so I expect our dividend growth will continue to be in line with the growth in our earnings per share. Next up, Sha will provide you with more detail on our financial results and unveil our third quarter guidance. Sha, all yours.
speaker
Scott
Thanks, Gail. Our 2023 second quarter earnings of $0.92 per share increased one penny per share compared to the second quarter of 2022. Our earnings package includes a comparison of second quarter results on page 15. I'll walk through the significant drivers. Our earnings from utility operations were 4 cents above the second quarter of 2022. First, weather had an estimated 5 cents negative impact quarter over quarter. Higher depreciation and amortization expense and interest expense added another 9 cents of negative variance. These negative variances were more than offset in the quarter. Rate-based growth contributed 11 cents to earnings. This includes the base rate increase for our Wisconsin utilities, as well as the interim rate increase for Minnesota energy resources, both of which were effective January 1, 2023. Additionally, timing of fuel expense improved our earnings by a nickel. And lower day-to-day O&M, taxes, and other items resulted in a $0.02 improvement. Before I turn to earnings at the other segment, let me briefly discuss our weather normalized sales for the quarter. You can find this sales information on page 11 of the earnings package. Retail electric deliveries in Wisconsin, excluding the iron ore mine, were down 0.6% on a weather normal basis. This was driven by lower sales volume to large commercial and industrial customers. Residential usage, again, on a weather normal basis, was flat quarter over quarter, which is in line with our forecast. Also, sales to our small commercial and industrial customers were up 1.4%, which is ahead of forecast. Earnings at our energy infrastructure segment improved 2 cents in the second quarter of 23 compared to the second quarter of 22. This was largely driven by higher production tax credits as a result of the acquisition of renewable projects. Finally, you'll see that earnings at our corporate and other segments decreased 5 cents, primarily driven by an increase in interest expense. This was partially offset by favorable rabbi trust performance and some tax and other items. Remember, rabbi trust performance is largely offset in O&M. Overall, we improved on our second quarter performance by one penny per share compared to last year and by $0.08 per share compared to the midpoint of our Q2 guidance. Looking now at the cash flow statement on page six of the earnings package, Net cash provided by operating activities was relatively flat compared to the prior year. And total capital expenditures and asset acquisitions were $2.1 billion during the first half of 2023, an increase of more than $1 billion from the first half of 2022. This was primarily driven by acquisitions of generation projects in our regulated and infrastructure segments. Now, let me give you the guidance for the third quarter. We're expecting a range of $0.88 to $0.90 per share. This accounts for July weather and assumes normal weather for the rest of the quarter. As a reminder, we earned $0.96 per share in the third quarter last year, which included a positive $0.02 from weather and a $0.05 pickup related to the resolution of the MISO ROE complaint. As Gail mentioned earlier, we're reaffirming our 2023 earnings guidance of $4.58 to $4.62 per share, assuming normal weather for the rest of the year. As a reminder, largely due to timing of O&M and fuel expense, we expect earnings in Q4 to be materially better than Q4 of 2022. With that, I'll turn it back to Gail.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Great, Shaw. Thank you. Overall, we're on track and focused on providing value for our customers and our stockholders. And operator, we're ready now for the question and answer portion of the call.
speaker
Operator
We will now take your questions. The question and answer session will be conducted electronically. To ask a question, please press the star key followed by the digit 1 on your phone. If you are using a speakerphone, turn off your mute function to allow your signal to reach our equipment. We will take as many questions as time permits. Once again, press star and then one on your phone to ask a question. Our first question will come from the line of Julian Dumoulin-Smith with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Hey, Julian. Julian, before we start, I know a great puppy trainer, so just let me know.
speaker
spk04
Julian, are you still with us?
speaker
Operator
Julian, your line is open.
speaker
Scott
Can you hear me now? Darius, go for it. We can.
speaker
Gail Klapa
I thought I heard a dog barking in the back there, Julian.
speaker
spk07
Sorry about that. I don't know what happened. I thought I was off mute there, but go figure.
speaker
Gail Klapa
I was just saying, Julian, I was just saying that I know a great puppy trainer, so let me know.
speaker
Scott
All right. I'm going to put it duly noted, sir. Duly noted. I appreciate it. And by the way, congrats, guys, on all the updates there. Really nicely done. I mean, to that effect, when you think about the settlement here in Michigan, how do you think about Illinois here and the ability to settle that out, at least in part here, as you get through the bulk of the hearings here in the near term? Any opportunities and also any thoughts here on the legislative side going into 2024 for gas in Illinois as well?
speaker
Gail Klapa
Okay, appreciate the questions, Julian, very much. Tackle the first one first, and that's any potential or possibility for a rate settlement in our people's gas and North Shore gas cases in Illinois. So as many of you know, the way the process really unfolds during normal rate reviews in Illinois, historically, settlement windows really don't occur, really don't open until the administrative law judge has prepared a draft order. And if I remember correctly, the schedule for that administrative law judge draft order probably looks like late October, early November. Scott is agreeing that that's the case. So if there's a settlement opportunity, I think those discussions would take place probably in the November timeframe. So we'll see. Again, as Scott mentioned in his prepared remarks, the staff has reiterated its position with a 983 return on equity recommendation and an equity layer higher than what we have at People's Gas today. So I hope that responds to your question. And then as far as legislation related to gas in Illinois, we'll just have to see, you know, what takes place. But first things first, you know, we continue to work on a positive resolution of the cases currently pending before the Illinois Commerce Commission. Hope that helps, Julian.
speaker
Scott
Certainly does. And then just quickly, if I can, any thoughts about converts here? I mean, I heard your opening comments, Gail, and just curious if open to following the trend across the space.
speaker
Gail Klapa
As we look at our financing package that will be needed to support our new five-year capital plan, we'll look at it. It could be part of the mix, but again, I think it really depends upon the circumstances at the time. We haven't ruled it out. We've followed the companies that have used this particular financing, and I think you saw one announced today, as a matter of fact. We haven't ruled it out. We haven't ruled it in, but it certainly will be part of what we look at going forward.
speaker
Scott
Awesome. We'll leave it there. I'll follow up with you, Gail, all right?
speaker
spk04
Take care. Sounds good. Thanks, Julian.
speaker
Operator
Your next question will come from the line of Shara Perez with Guggenheim Partners. Please go ahead.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Shara, you didn't do any permanent damage to those Porsches, did you?
speaker
Char
You have to ask Southern Company that, not me.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Well, I noticed they're taking a charge this quarter, so I was a little worried about what you did down there.
speaker
Char
We'll have to wait for that one. I know you mentioned the Microsoft facility could be in service by late 24, early 25, which obviously that overlaps with your existing five-year plan through 27. Should we be thinking about Microsoft-related investment as something that's separate and incremental to the current five-year plan, or is the focus on really maintaining that 7.7% asset-based growth as you manage customer affordability? So, in other words, so could other base spending be pushed out to make room for Microsoft-related spending? Thanks.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Well, great question, Char. And first off, I don't think really just given the magnitude of the construction that Microsoft seems to be planning, My own belief is we won't see the Microsoft campus in operation in 2024. I think that's just too much of a stretch. My guess, although the company is still very much in its refining its plans, my guess is fourth quarter 25, early 26 would be my guess for the first element of the plan that Microsoft is putting together to be operational. And then secondly, to your question about would Microsoft the Microsoft investment that we need to make to support their energy needs and reliability, would that investment be incremental to the plan? Absolutely incremental to the plan. I don't think there's any question about that because it was not in our current five-year plan. Although there are many moving pieces at this stage of the game, but I would just say this is a really positive, exciting opportunity for a major new high-tech investment in our state.
speaker
Char
Okay, perfect. So we shouldn't look at it as crowding out other base-related spending as you're managing rates.
speaker
Gail Klapa
No, absolutely. I mean, think about it. It's a great question, Char, but I would think about it this way. I mean, clearly, with the way our customer rates are set, demand from Microsoft, I mean, essentially, I mean, given the rate charges that Microsoft would receive, they will pay their fair share of whatever additional capacity and energy is needed. So it wouldn't be a crowd out type of a factor at all, in my opinion. Okay, perfect.
speaker
Char
And just on the equity comment scale, I just want to get a little bit of a better sense on timing and the trigger. Is it like, would it be Microsoft related spending? Because I have to imagine if the facility is a, whatever, 25, 26 facility, the generation needs would be, you know, before that transmission and distribution needs would be before that. So what's the trigger for incremental equity? Is it Microsoft or is there other things we should be thinking about?
speaker
Gail Klapa
I think it's both. I mean, certainly if we need to add significant capacity to support Microsoft's operation here, but there are other things going on. Other economic developments that have occurred, for example, I mean, we talk a lot about Haribo, but they are now up and running and they've told us they will produce 132 million pounds of gummy bears in the next 12-month period. So there's a good bit of economic activity going on. So if you think about transmission, and we're going to start to see in the next five-year plan the impact of Tranche 1 from the MISO planning process. So I think we're going to see an uptick in transmission investments. I think we're going to see clearly some additional capacity need. We need to continue to harden our distribution networks. There are a lot of moving pieces, and all of them moving in a direction that of a stronger capital budget, and as Scott and I have talked about, stronger for longer in terms of our continuing growth projections.
speaker
Char
Okay, perfect. I guess we'll wait for EEI. It should be an interesting update. And for the record, Gail, I did not crash any courses. Thanks, guys.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Rock and roll, Char.
speaker
Operator
Your next question will come from the line of Girgash Chopra with Evercore ISI. Please go ahead.
speaker
spk04
Hi, Girgash. How are you doing?
speaker
Girgash
Hey, good afternoon, Gil. I'm doing just fine. Thanks for asking. Hey, just, Shah, sorry if I missed it, but what drove the $0.08 variance versus guidance? Like, what were the kind of the tailwinds you had, which then drove the beat versus your guidance in the quarter?
speaker
Gail Klapa
Shaw told me it was superior management, but she probably has a more granular answer.
speaker
Scott
It was a little better fuel and quite a bit better O&M. And weather was actually slightly negative compared to normal. But it's better fuel, better O&M, and a couple of other items.
speaker
Girgash
Got it. So I guess in terms of the guidance for back half of the year, I'm just thinking about how are you positioned versus your guidance there. I mean, it's better O&M versus your plan, correct?
speaker
Scott
Yeah, we see quite a bit of O&M tailwind coming in in the fourth quarter. So we'll expect to see O&M to be much better than Q4 last year. We expect fuel to be better and additional PTCs and other items, but quite a bit of O&M fuel tailwind in the fourth quarter.
speaker
Gail Klapa
And, Durgess, just to add on to what Shaw is saying, if you recall, there were a number of very significant items in Q4 last year. that will not repeat in Q4 this year. So there's a very major difference as we compare the comps for Q4 of 2022 and what we expect to happen in Q4 of this year.
speaker
Scott
And remember, we guided 2% to 3% higher on day-to-day O&M this year compared to last year. So you see some quarter-to-quarter variances, but for the year, we still expect that to be 2% to 3% higher then. last year.
speaker
Girgash
Understood. Thanks for all that additional color. We recently talked about transferability and the implications to FFO, and there was a lot of discussion amongst your peers on how that should be treated. Maybe just any additional color or thoughts there, progress you're making with other stakeholders on you know, how are you going to treat the transferability as cash flow?
speaker
Gail Klapa
Yeah, we'll ask Shah to give you the detail on this, but I would say one very important point to kind of kick off the answer is that our entire industry is really aligned around what we believe is the proper treatment of these ongoing transfers that will happen across the industry, the ongoing sale of production tax credits. And that alignment across the industry has really resulted in, I think, a very thorough and very solid white paper.
speaker
Scott
Yeah, EEI developed a very comprehensive white paper, really outlined the views from SASB, from the big four accounting firms, from, like Gil said, the industries. So they shared the white paper with the rating agencies, and all that is to say I think everybody is aligned in terms of, you know, we plan to follow GAAP, and the transferability would go through income tax provision on income statement, therefore would be picked up as FFO. So we are looking forward to continuing to work with the rating agencies on this issue. I will say, though, is we would not issue equity just to address that transferability item. So that's something we will continue to work with rating agencies on.
speaker
Girgash
Got it. Thanks. So it sounds like discussion is underway there. Appreciate that color as well. Thank you, guys.
speaker
spk04
Take care, Dries.
speaker
Operator
Again, for any questions, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Our next question will come from the line of Anthony Crowdell with Mizuho. Please go ahead.
speaker
Anthony Crowdell
Good afternoon, Gail, Shaw, Scott. Hello. No dogs, no Porsches, but plenty of gummy bears here. Just maybe two housekeeping items I had on the PDF page 12 of your release. Just curious if you could give us some more color. The decline in large commercial industrial sales, and maybe I have the wrong view, I typically view them as maybe like weather agnostic, but yet they've come in 3%. Just thoughts on that?
speaker
Gail Klapa
Yeah, a couple thoughts, and we'll ask Sean to give you some chapter and verse on some specifics. But two things that as we've looked at the data, and again, we have a very granular breakdown of the major industrial sectors that we serve. So let me first say most people, just as you mentioned, Anthony, look at large commercial and industrial as fairly weather insensitive, fairly, as you said, fairly weather agnostic. I will say, though, and you've heard me say this a gazillion times, the weather normalization is more precise than accurate. And as we look at kind of the backdrop of the economy in Wisconsin, as we look at the jobs that have been added, And as we kind of look at the industrial sectors, I would describe the industrial economy in Wisconsin for the first half of 2023 as really fairly flat. There were a couple of major customers who had outages, planned outages, et cetera, that affected the numbers. But the 3% seems, on a weather normal basis, seems a little draconian to me. I think Scott and I and Shaw have already worked through this, and we kind of look at it as kind of first half flat. But having said that, the most recent data is pretty encouraging. Sha?
speaker
Scott
Yeah, just to put it in perspective, in Q1, we saw a minus 3.9% quarter over quarter. Q2, that number became better to minus 3.1, like you pointed out, Anthony. I think if you look at Q2 by month, June was fairly close to the forecast. If you look at the last four weeks compared to the last 13 weeks or even the prior four weeks, we're seeing lots of green. Actually, everything was picking up. So we are very cautiously optimistic that the large CNI will come back in the second half of the year. So nothing to worry too much about. And I would just say that our residential is pretty flat year over year, but it's fairly better than prior to COVID. And that's the sticky point on the residential usage. Small CNI actually year to date is on par with last year. So those are higher margin segments.
speaker
Anthony Crowdell
Great. And then just lastly, you've been very clear on what would cause you to issue more equity. Shaw, you had said it's not so much to, if it was to, I don't want to put the words in your mouth, but like um the credit agency it's more for growth is it fair to say that if you you got to the point where there was more growth that had to be financed that you would finance that a cap structure that's probably equal to what you have at the regulated utilities or is there an opportunity that you would look to over equitize i guess the term some are using if you had a had the additional to get some growth going on
speaker
Scott
I think the first and foremost is that we're still developing the capital plan. So the numbers are, we're still developing it. But like Gil said in his prepared remarks, if growth, capital growth is significantly higher, we wouldn't mind turning on the employee benefit plans, the dribble plans, and rely on maybe ATM. But we don't see any block sales at this point, number one. We are very confident in our long-term EPS growth forecast. We don't expect any equity sales to dilute the long-term EPS growth. And I'll also say that we're very mindful about the rating agencies and we want to work with them, but the equity would be to support growth.
speaker
Gail Klapa
And a very good description that Shaz just made. I will say, you know, She also mentioned, and I would just reiterate, for the one item on FFO to debt that might affect a rating at one particular agency, we wouldn't issue equity simply to chase that particular item.
speaker
Scott
As to transferability, tax transferability. Yep.
speaker
Anthony Crowdell
Great. Thanks for the clarity. And again, Karat's on a great quarter.
speaker
spk04
Great. Thank you. Good to see you.
speaker
Operator
Your next question will come from the line of Michael Sullivan with Wolf Research. Please go ahead.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Rock and roll, Michael. How are you doing?
speaker
Michael
Hey, Gail. I'm doing great. Thanks. I wanted to just circle back to Microsoft and just what you're seeing in terms of long-term sales growth potential there. And then maybe if you could just, you know, compare and contrast What this looks like relative to, you know, there was a lot of excitement around the Foxconn build out a couple of years ago. I know different companies, different situations, but just in terms of how you think about that from a planning standpoint with another, you know, big name company coming to your service territory.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Yeah, great question, Michael. Let me just phrase it this way. I think we will certainly know by the fall, and certainly in time for our new five-year capital plan, what the time period between now and, say, 2020-30 will look like in terms of Microsoft's capacity and energy needs. I mentioned in my prepared remarks, they are full speed ahead. I mean, they purchased the 315 acres in a very short period of time in that technology park. Earthwork has already begun. They are still refining their plans. But everything we're hearing from Microsoft would indicate that they're planning a very major investment here, and they need to do it in a relatively short timeframe. So there's really no question in our minds about how strong the intention and how strong the momentum is from the Microsoft development. As it relates to Foxconn, well, back in 2017, they announced a long-term, very, very significant plan. They were talking about 10,000 jobs over 10 to 12 years or 10 to 13 years. They were talking about $10 billion of investment. At this stage of the game, Foxconn, which is working in area one of that park, Foxconn has invested over $1 billion and has over 1,000 employees. So while they have been slower to ramp up and their business plan has changed almost completely from the original thinking, they're still growing in that area. But Microsoft, I think they're really not talking at the moment about a long-term 10 to 15-year plan like Foxconn was. They're talking about, at least at the beginning here, they've called it an initial investment that they really want to get moving on and that would affect our next five-year capital plan. Does that respond to your question, Michael?
speaker
Michael
Yeah, super helpful. And just as a follow-on, I think someone asked earlier, or there's been a couple of questions around new capacity needs and new generation that you might have to build. And given the quick turnaround time, is further delaying any currently planned retirements contemplated at all if things were looking kind of tight from a timeframe perspective? Mm-hmm.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Well, that's a great question, and we're looking at all of that. We'll let Scott give you his view on that.
speaker
Scott Lauber
So it's a great question. We're going through the planning process right now. We're evaluating what our capacity needs are, and you know MISO has changed its capacity needs over the seasonal approach too, which will also affect our capital plans as we look at it this fall. So right now, nothing to announce. We're just going through the analysis.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Scott has made a really good point that we shouldn't gloss over, though, and that is, as MISO has looked at its responsibility to ensure reliability, they really are changing their capacity rules that all of us need to abide by. And we believe it will have a particular effect on our winter capacity reserves. And that's all being factored into our new five-year capital plan.
speaker
Michael
Got it. Okay. Very helpful. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
speaker
spk04
Take care, Michael.
speaker
Operator
With that, I'll turn the call back over to Gail Cuapa for any closing remarks.
speaker
Gail Klapa
Terrific. Well, that concludes our conference call for today. Thanks so much for being with us. If you have any additional questions, feel free to call Bestraka. She can be reached most days, no, every day at 414-221-4639. Thanks, everybody. Take care.
Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

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