Hydro One Limited

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hydro One Limited's first quarter 2022 NLS teleconference. 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. As a reminder, the call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Mr. Omar Javid, Vice President, Investor Relations at Hydro One. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us in Hydro One's first quarter earnings call. Joining us today are our President and CEO, Mark Poetska, and our Chief Financial Officer, Chris Lopez. In the call today, we will go over our first quarter results and then spend most of the call answering as many of your questions as time permits. There are also several slides that illustrate some of the points we'll address in a moment. They should be up on the webcast now, or if you're dialed into the call, You can also find them on Hydro One's website in the investor relations section under events and presentations. Today's discussions will likely touch on estimates and other forward-looking information. You should review the cautionary language in today's earnings release and our MD&A, which we filed this morning, regarding the various factors, assumptions, and risks that could cause our actual results to differ as they all apply to this call. With that, I'll turn the call over to our President and CEO, Mark Poeska.

Good morning and thank you for joining us for our first quarter earnings call. As you'll see from this morning's release, our teams continue to operate in a very disciplined manner to serve our customers and the communities in which we operate. I'll briefly discuss some of our notable achievements this quarter and then pass it along to Chris to discuss the financial results in greater detail. To start with, I'm very pleased with the results that our teams have achieved. Their hard work has enabled us to provide electricity to our customers when and where it's needed. This dedication to great customer service along with a track record of top quartile reliability for transmission has been recognized. Most recently, we were delighted to receive news that our transmission license has been amended to develop four transmission lines to meet the growing electricity demand in southwest Ontario. This is in addition to a previous transmission designation for the Chatham to Lakeshore line in 2020. These five transmission lines will meet the needs of new and growing industries, help attract future jobs to the region, and, ultimately, facilitate economic growth in Ontario. We are proud that the provision of low-carbon electricity to the region will drive a more sustainable future for all. In addition to the positive news on the transmission lines in Southwest Ontario, the Independent Electricity System Operator, the IESO, recently launched an engagement plan for the timing of the Wassigan transmission line. As a reminder, the Wassigan transmission line, previously known as the Northwest Bulk Transmission Line, is a line that will transmit power from Thunder Bay to Atikokan, which is phase one, and then from Atticoken to Dryden, which is phase two. This line will support economic growth in the Northwest region, including the mining sector. In October of 2018, Hydro One was requested by the ISO to start the development work for the project. Last week, the ISO held a webinar where it indicated that there would be a need to have phase one of the line in service as close to the end of 2025 as possible. We are very pleased with this update that will support the communities and businesses of the North. Our teams will start working immediately to provide feedback to the ISO engagement process, as well as designing plans to meet the desired in-service date. The Wassigan Line also allows us to take progressive steps with First Nations communities towards meaningful reconciliation, which I believe is our obligation as members of Corporate Canada. I'm very pleased to announce that yesterday, Hydro One and First Nations Communities came to a landmark agreement for the Wassigan Transmission Line. This industry-leading agreement offers First Nations Communities the option to invest in a 50% equity stake in the Wassigan Line. We are committed to partnership opportunities and believe this is the way forward for major capital projects. We operate on the traditional territory of over 100 First Nations across Ontario. We are committed to building long-term relationships with these communities, and Wassigan is an example of that. Last year, we publicly stated that we would provide significant economic participation opportunities for Indigenous communities in major capital projects. We also committed to increasing our Indigenous procurement spend to 5% of all materials and services by 2026 and ensuring that 20% of our corporate donations and sponsorship support Indigenous communities. This proactive approach to economic participation recognizes our obligation to advancing economic reconciliation by providing investment opportunities on large greenfield projects. This provides long-term and meaningful opportunities for First Nations communities, which in turn supports our business strategy. Hydro One is committed to all communities we serve. For the second year, we announced grants for Indigenous communities, charitable organizations, and municipalities from the Energizing Life Community Fund. Given to 24 recipients, these grants support initiatives that promote physical, psychological, and emotional safety across Ontario. The recipients provide critical local services such as service dog training for youth with autism, interactive technology to foster social engagement for seniors, and environmental educational programming for black and racialized families. At Hydro One, We feel a responsibility to be present and support local organizations who are working tirelessly to energize life in their communities. At a time when more than one-third of Canadians know a child or person who is suffering from mental health problems because of the pandemic, we teamed up with Jack.org to provide adults and educators with mental health strategies to support young people. We are proud to work alongside Jack.org in breaking down barriers to get young people the mental health support they need. In addition to removing barriers, we're also actively connecting people. In late March, the Ontario government, Hydro One and Acronym Solutions launched a pilot project that will bring high-speed internet access to homes and businesses in the municipality of Brighton. The pilot project will allow us to use our existing infrastructure to fast-track the development of a high-speed internet network in this community. The past two years have underscored how essential internet connectivity is to economic productivity and ability to access work, education, health, and other critical services. This is just another way in which we are embracing innovative solutions to energize life for our customers. In addition to this pilot, a regulation under the Ontario Energy Board, OEB Act, was passed on April 21st to formalize the important role that all distribution companies play in supporting the government's commitment to connect approximately 700,000 homes and businesses in Ontario. Hydro One welcomes the chance to help enable better access and connectivity for our customers. Continuing with the regulatory updates, using a customer-centric approach, we filed an evidence update with the OEB on the Joint Rate Application, JRAP, on March 31st. We updated the costs of JRAP to reflect market conditions. and the load forecast to reflect the IESO's most recent annual planning outlook. The filing preserves our ability to deliver on our commitments to customers without impacting the proposed transmission and distribution rates during the 2023 to 2027 period. We believe in keeping our commitments to our customers. We also recognize that our customers and all Ontarians are facing increased pressures due to an exceptional set of economic circumstances. As such, we are proposing a unique deferral mechanism. It ensures customers are not burdened during this difficult period with cost increases affecting investments that will benefit current and future generations. The incremental revenue requirements associated with this evidence update are proposed to be recorded in deferral accounts for recovery commencing in 2028. As a result, there will be no changes to the proposed transmission or distribution rates for the 2023 to 2027 rate period due to the proposed changes in this evidence update. Following our evidence update, the OEB issued a procedural order outlining the illustrative hearing schedule Per the schedule, we will enter a period of interrogatories, followed by technical and settlement conferences. The oral hearing is now expected to begin in September 2022, with a decision expected in the first quarter of 2023. In our unregulated segment, we continue to make good strides with our IV charging network. In the first quarter, Ivey opened 32 Level 2 charging stations, now known as Park and Charge, in partnership with various municipalities. Park and Charge provides municipalities and businesses with the opportunity to bring charging to their communities for EV drivers who are not in a rush, backed by Ivey's reliable EV network and customer service. Ivey also rebranded its Level 3 network as Ivey Charge & Go for drivers who want to quickly get back on the road. Following the agreement with Enroute and its partners, the Canadian Tire Corporation and the Ministry of Transportation, Ivey opened fast chargers at 10 Enroute locations. Once built, Ivey's Charge & Go network will be one of Ontario's largest and most connected with approximately 60 locations and over 150 level three chargers. Before I pass it over to Chris, I'd like to take a moment to thank Jessica McDonald, who is not standing for reelection to the Board of Directors this year. Hydro One has benefited from Jessica's leadership, experience, and forward thinking since 2018. The Governance and Regulatory Committee on behalf of the Board of Directors conducted a search to fill the vacancy created by Jessica's departure, and is nominating Mark Pudlasley for election to the Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on June 8, 2022. You'll hear more about Mark and the depth of the skill he'll bring to the Board after the AGM. With that, I'll turn it over to Chris to discuss our financial results this quarter. Over to you, Chris.