Emera Incorporated

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the EMERA Second Quarter 2021 Analyst Call. At this time, all participants are in the listen-only mode. After the speaker 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. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star zero. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mr. David Besenson, Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, please go ahead.

Thank you, Renz, and thank you all for joining us this morning. AMIRA's second quarter earnings release was distributed this morning by Newswire, and the financial statements, management's discussion and analysis, and the presentation being referenced on this call are available on our website at amira.com. Joining me for this morning's call are Scott Balfour, AMIRA's President and Chief Executive Officer, Greg Blunden, AMIRA's Chief Financial Officer, and other members of AMIRA's management team. Before we begin, I will take a moment to advise you that this morning's discussion will include forward-looking information, which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slide. Today's discussion and presentation will also include references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the appendix for definitional information and reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP financial measure. And now, I will turn things over to Scott.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. This morning, we released our second quarter results, and I'm pleased to say that we continue to see solid results and steady growth in our business. We delivered quarterly adjusted earnings per share of 54 cents, an increase of 6 cents over last year, and year-to-date adjusted earnings per share of $1.49, up 22 cents over 2021, despite facing pressure from foreign exchange rates. Our team also continues to safely execute on our capital program, and we're on track to complete our $2.4 billion 2021 plan. The team is also making significant progress on the regulatory front. Last Friday, we filed a settlement agreement related to our request for a general base rate increase at Tampa Electric. Unanimously supported by all intervening consumer parties, it's a balanced agreement that supports Tampa Electric and a mirror strategy to advance cleaner energy and investments in grid modernization and reliability, all the while never losing sight of affordability for customers. As you know, TAMP Electric has been significantly reducing the carbon intensity of its generation mix with major investments in solar and the Big Bend Modernization Project. Today, TAMP Electric is Florida's top producer of solar energy on a per-customer basis. This three-year agreement allows TAMP Electric to continue this progress, providing great support for investments already made as well as those planned over the period, giving us confidence in our ability to continue to deliver on many fronts. If approved, we'll see an increase in base revenues of $122.7 million starting in 2022, these are all U.S. dollars, a further U.S. $90 million in 2023, and U.S. $21 million in 2024. The agreement also creates the Clean Energy Transition Mechanism, which will allow TAMP Electric to collect revenue of $69 U.S. million annually over the next 15 years, starting January 1st of 2022, to recover the full carrying and dismantling costs of Big Bend units 1, 2, and 3. This, together with the base rate increase in 2022 that I mentioned, means rates will increase by U.S. $191 million starting January 1st of 2022 and with the follow-on additions in 23 and 24. The agreement also provides for a 9 to 11% ROE band. with a midpoint set at 9.95% for rate-making purposes, and no change to our equity thickness. Thank you to the team in Florida for their hard work in reaching this outcome. In fact, this agreement reflects the hard work of all parties involved in securing rate certainty through the end of 2024 for TAMP Electric customers, while positioning the utility to make continued investments in resiliency, customer solutions, and a greener energy future. Tampa Electric Settlement is the third important rate case in our U.S. utilities over the past year. As you'll recall, People's Gas and New Mexico Gas concluded rate cases last year. This is in addition to the successful application to recover fuel costs associated with winter storm Yuri in New Mexico and a mid-course adjustment for fuel cost recovery at Tampa Electric. This track record is a testament to the caliber of our regulatory teams as well as the quality of the regulatory jurisdictions where we operate. It also speaks to the collaborative approach we take that ensures balanced outcomes for all involved. I know this is not easy work and I want to take a moment to thank all those involved for their expertise and efforts. We also announced another significant milestone on Monday morning. Delivery of the Nova Scotia block of clean energy from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project will begin to flow through the maritime link to Nova Scotia Power customers this coming weekend. This is a significant step that brings us closer to the shared goal of having 80% of Nova Scotia's energy coming from renewable sources by 2023. The maritime link was a bold idea that will deliver clean energy to Nova Scotians for generations to come. It's part of a long-term vision to support the energy transition in this region. And we see the Maritime Link as the first step in the regional transmission interconnections that are critical to support more local renewables and enable continued carbon reduction in Nova Scotia. All moving us towards achieving the vision to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The Maritime Link project was completed on time and within budget. It was an absolutely massive project executed safely and expertly by the Maritime and many partners who helped make it a reality. Thank you to the Mayor team and all our partners and stakeholders who share our commitment to a greener energy future through building stronger regional connections. This project is the result of the vision and hard work of so many, including Indigenous partners, provincial governments, the federal government, NALCOR, and countless local, regional, and national partners. The commencement of the Nova Scotia Block flowing on the Maritime Lake is a significant part of delivering on our climate commitment. With the Nova Scotia Block, Nova Scotia Power is on track to generate approximately 60% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022. This helps deliver on AMERA's overall commitment to a 55% reduction of CO2 by 2025. And in Tampa Electric, we continue to build out continue the build-out of our solar program with 5.3 million panels currently up and operating and another 700,000 to be installed this year. In early July, we released our 2020 Sustainability Report, which highlights our progress on all our environmental, social, and governance commitments through December 31st of 2020. The report captures not only the progress we're making, but the commitment from our team to advance our strategies. we continue to enhance our ESG disclosures and remain committed to transparently reporting on the factors that are most important to our investors and stakeholders. Meanwhile, however, COVID continues to challenge many of our communities. While Nova Scotian case numbers remain low, case counts in Florida are concerning for everyone. Sadly, we lost one of our employees yesterday due to complications related to COVID-19. This tragic loss illustrates that this pandemic is far from over. This is a difficult loss for our entire team, and we extend our condolences to Bill's colleagues and family. I want to thank our employees for continuing to do their part, not only for our customers, but also for each other, whether that is getting vaccinated, continuing to follow public health guidelines, and always keeping health and safety first of mind. You've heard me say it before, but our response to the pandemic has really highlighted the strength of our team and strategy. Amira is on solid ground. There's significant progress on the regulatory front. We have good visibility into our cash flows for the next few years. And this allows us to focus our attention on growing the business by continuing to invest in our strategy of safely delivering cleaner, reliable, and affordable energy to our customers. Before I hand it over to Greg to walk through our financials, I'd like to officially welcome Gil Quinones, to EMIRA's Board of Directors. Gil is currently President and CEO of the New York Power Authority. His 30-year career extends across regulated and unregulated utility markets, public utilities, and state and local governments. He is an energy industry leader with deep experience in driving innovation, new technologies, and cleaner energy solutions for customers. Welcome, Gil. We're fortunate to have you on the EMIRA team. And now I'll turn you over to Greg to walk you through our financial results. Greg?