Hydro One Limited

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Hydro One Limited's third quarter 2022 analyst 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 1-1. 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 and thank you for joining us in Hydro One's quarterly earnings call. Joining us today are our Interim President and CEO Bill Sheffield and our Chief Financial Officer Chris Lopez. In the call today, we will go over our quarterly 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. We should review the cautionary language in today's earnings relief 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 turn the call over to our Interim President and CEO, Bill Sheffield.

Thank you, Omar. Good morning, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter earnings call. Before we begin, it's important for all of us to recognize that today is Remembrance Day. I ask everyone in this room, and indeed everyone at Hydro One, to take a moment to remember all those who risked and sacrificed their own futures so the rest of us could have a better one, lest we forget. It is all too easy to take the freedom we enjoy for granted. We pay tribute to those that served and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace so that we all have a better and brighter future. Now moving to our business, this has been an eventful quarter with significant developments that will position Hydro One for success for years to come. Our teams have worked very hard to balance the needs of our customers, communities and partners while continuing to deliver good results. I continue to be extremely impressed by the dedication, resilience, and generosity of all employees I have met all over Ontario. Since June, I've been somewhere in the field almost weekly. Some companies hire a consultant to define their purpose. At Hardware One, all you need to do is speak to our people. There is no question in our minds what our purpose is. We have great people at Hardware One, and while my position is temporary, meeting them during this time has been a real privilege. I'll briefly discuss some of our notable achievements this quarter and then pass it over to Chris to discuss the results in greater detail. As you'll see from this morning's release, our quarterly earnings per share was 51 cents compared to 50 cents last year, and we deployed $501 million in capital investments compared to 513 last year. The company continues to be on a stable track. This stability has been further reinforced with the completion of a significant milestone with respect to our transmission and distribution joint grid application, or JRAP as we like to call it. On October 24th, along with the parties that participated in the settlement conference, we filed a settlement agreement with the Ontario Energy Board. The settlement agreement outlines, among other things, the levels of capital and operating expenditures that will be incurred over the next five years. Chris will further discuss these points in greater detail. However, I believe it is a balanced agreement for all stakeholders. The agreement facilitates investment in our infrastructure to meet the needs of our customers, to build a grid for the future and to support Ontario's economic growth. Given the scale of application, achieving this type of settlement is a first rider one. Not only does it speak to the efforts of our team and the parties in the settlement conference, but also to the constructive regulatory process that has enabled such an outcome. We support the regulators' modernization initiatives and look forward to working with them to tackle the challenges of energy transition and electrification while advancing the sector forward. The OEB will now review the settlement agreement, and a final decision is expected by the end of this year. In another milestone, on September 22nd, we announced our industry-leading equity partnership model with First Nations. As a company, we operate in the traditional and treaty territories of more than 100 Indigenous communities. As a trusted partner, this unique position comes with an important responsibility to advance reconciliation through our actions. The Hydro One equity model offers First Nations a 50% equity stake in new capital transmission lines projects with a value exceeding $100 million and will transform the benefits of infrastructure development for First Nations. This approach positions Hydro One as a leader in the sector and provides a mutually beneficial pathway to build five new transmission lines in the southwest and the Wassigan transmission line in the north. I am so proud of this meaningful step forward towards reconciliation. We are committed to earning relationships and building partnerships to ensure Indigenous people and communities realize the economic benefits of development for generations to come. Being part of the celebration of this true partnership achieved has been a highlight for many of us. Being on the right side of history feels very good. Hydro One is also committed to answering the call for help by our partners and neighbors. In late September, you will remember Atlantic Canada was rocked by the impacts of post-tropical storm Fiona. We saw devastating images and heard heartbreaking stories. We acted. We mobilized our award-winning teams to provide our expertise and help with the restoration efforts in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward, Ireland. Hydro One crews helped reconnect upwards of 50 kilometers worth of line and work more than 9,000 hours to restore powers to the resident on the East Coast. While restoring power to residents is a reward enough, our crews were touched by the outpouring of emotion and support by members of the community and political leaders. It is no wonder that we have received 12 emergency response awards from the Edison Electric Institute for storm recovery efforts. This spirit of helping is deep-rooted on all our employees and speaks to the values of the organization and how we stand up for people in need. This past September was our annual Power to Give Month. I'm very proud to share that Hydro One employees raised almost $1.6 million for over 855 registered Canadian charities. This is more than double what we raised last year. In addition to the funds raised in September, our employees demonstrate regularly their generosity through donations, volunteer work throughout the year. We are passionate about making a difference for the charities and the communities where we live and work. Before I turn it over to Chris, I know you must be curious about the status of the CEO search process and personnel updates. Jason Fitzsimmons, the Chief Corporate Affairs and Customer Care Officer, has departed Hydro One in pursuit of public service. Jason has accepted the appointment as Deputy Minister of Energy for the Government of Ontario. Since joining Hydro One nearly six years ago, Jason and his team have achieved remarkable results with record high high customer satisfaction, significantly improved relationships with all stakeholders and a strong brand. I miss him already. Putting the good of Ontario ahead of my comfort, we know someone who has deep knowledge of the sector and a strong track record will be tackling the critical energy issues that confront all Ontarians. We look forward to him working with us in a new way to support the needs of our customers, build the grid of the future, and contribute to Ontario's economic growth. Finally, with respect to the CEO search, I know there is a keen desire by many stakeholders to find out about the process and timing of the CEO appointment. Nothing would give me more joy than to announce the CEO today. However, the board's confidential process for the CEO selection is ongoing. As I mentioned on the last call, it's a thorough process that the board takes very seriously. It will take time. I have no doubt in my mind that the board will pick the right candidate to lead Hydro One as it did with the previous CEO. In the meantime, you're stuck with me, and I have the distinct privilege to lead a really strong management team who are clearly demonstrating excellent progress and delivering outstanding results. With that, I'll turn it over to Chris.