埃特莫斯能源 (ATO) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Atmos Energy Corporation Fiscal 2024 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). And now I'd like to turn the call over to Dan Meziere, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

謝謝你的支持。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Atmos Energy Corporation 2024 財年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。現在我想將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁兼財務主管 Dan Meziere。請繼續。

Thank you, Adam. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us -- for joining our fiscal 2024 first quarter earnings call. With me today are Kevin Akers, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Forsythe, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，亞當。大家早安，感謝您參加我們的 2024 財年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的有總裁兼執行長 Kevin Akers；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Chris Forsythe。

Our earnings release and conference call slide presentation, which we will reference in our prepared remarks, are available at atmosenergy.com under the Investor Relations tab.

我們將在準備好的發言中引用我們的收益發布和電話會議幻燈片演示，可在 atmosenergy.com 的「投資者關係」標籤下查看。

As we review these financial results and discuss future expectations, please keep in mind that some of our discussion might contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act. Our forward-looking statements and projections could differ materially from actual results. The factors that could cause such material differences are outlined on Slide 26 and are more fully described in our SEC filings.

當我們審查這些財務表現並討論未來預期時，請記住，我們的一些討論可能包含《證券法》和《證券交易法》含義內的前瞻性陳述。我們的前瞻性陳述和預測可能與實際結果有重大差異。第 26 張投影片概述了可能導致此類重大差異的因素，並在我們的 SEC 文件中進行了更全面的描述。

With that, I will turn the call over to Kevin Akers, our President and CEO. Kevin?

接下來，我將把電話轉給我們的總裁兼執行長凱文·阿克斯 (Kevin Akers)。凱文？

Thank you, Dan, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate your interest in Atmos Energy. I want to begin today's call by thanking all 5,000 Atmos Energy employees for their exceptional effort and dedication to serving our customers under very challenging weather conditions recently. And thank you for all that you do for our customers and our communities every day. You are truly the heart and soul of Atmos Energy.

謝謝丹，大家早安。我們感謝您對 Atmos Energy 的興趣。在今天的電話會議開始時，我想感謝所有 5,000 名 Atmos Energy 員工最近在非常惡劣的天氣條件下為我們的客戶提供的卓越努力和奉獻精神。感謝您每天為我們的客戶和社區所做的一切。您確實是 Atmos Energy 的心和靈魂。

Our first quarter results reflect that effort, dedication and focus as we continue modernizing our natural gas distribution, transmission and storage systems on our journey to be the safest provider of natural gas services.

我們第一季的業績反映了我們在成為最安全的天然氣服務提供者的過程中不斷對天然氣分配、傳輸和儲存系統進行現代化改造所付出的努力、奉獻和專注。

Yesterday, we reported fiscal '24 first quarter net income of $311 million or $2.08 per diluted share and our first fiscal quarter capital spending was $770 million to support continued system modernization and growth across our service territories.

昨天，我們報告了 24 財年第一季淨利潤為 3.11 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 2.08 美元，第一財季資本支出為 7.7 億美元，以支持我們服務領域的持續系統現代化和成長。

For the 12 months ended December 31, 2023, we added over 58,000 new customers with over 44,000 of those located here in Texas. And the Texas Workforce Commission reported in January that the seasonally adjusted number of employees reached a new record high at over $14.1 million.

截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的 12 個月中，我們增加了超過 58,000 名新客戶，其中超過 44,000 名客戶位於德克薩斯州。德州勞動力委員會 1 月報告稱，經季節性調整後的員工人數創下新高，超過 1,410 萬美元。

Texas once again added jobs at a faster rate than the nation over the last 12 months, adding nearly 370,000 jobs in calendar 2023, representing a 2.7% annual growth rate. Additionally, we added 11 new industrial customers, which, when fully operational, we anticipate consuming approximately 2.5 Bcf of gas annually, that is volumetrically equivalent to 45,000 residential customers.

德州過去 12 個月的就業成長速度再次高於全國，2023 年新增就業人數近 37 萬個，年增率為 2.7%。此外，我們還增加了 11 個新的工業客戶，這些客戶全面運作後，我們預計每年消耗約 2.5 Bcf 的天然氣，相當於 45,000 個住宅客戶的體積。

Commercial customer growth remained solid as well with over 1,000 commercial customers connecting to the system during the first quarter. This growing demand from all of our customer classes demonstrates the value and vital role natural gas plays in economic development across our service territories.

商業客戶成長也保持穩健，第一季有超過 1,000 名商業客戶連接到該系統。我們所有客戶類別不斷增長的需求證明了天然氣在我們服務領域的經濟發展中所發揮的價值和重要作用。

In APT, we completed several projects that will enhance the safety, reliability, versatility and supply diversification of our system and support the continued growth we are seeing in the local distribution companies behind APT system.

在 APT，我們完成了多個項目，這些項目將增強我們系統的安全性、可靠性、多功能性和供應多元化，並支持 APT 系統背後的本地分銷公司的持續成長。

During the quarter, we placed in service Line PC, which connected the southern end of APT system with a 42-inch Kinder Morgan Permian Highway line that runs from Waha to Katy. Our 22-mile 36-inch Line PC supports the current demand and forecasted growth to the north of Austin in both Williamson and Travis Counties located in Texas as well as increases supply diversity in this service area.

本季度，我們投入了 Line PC 服務，該線路將 APT 系統的南端與從瓦哈 (Waha) 到凱蒂 (Katy) 的 42 英寸金德摩根二疊紀高速公路線連接起來。我們的 22 英里 36 英寸 Line PC 支持德克薩斯州威廉森縣和特拉維斯縣奧斯汀北部的當前需求和預測增長，並增加了該服務區域的供應多樣性。

Additionally, we placed in service Phase III of our 4-phase 104-mile Line S-2 project. As a reminder, Line S-2 brings supply from the Haynesville and Cotton Valley shale place to the east side of the growing Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This third phase replaced 22 miles of 14-inch and 20-inch pipeline with 36-inch pipeline. The final phase of this project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this calendar year.

此外，我們也投入了 4 期 104 英里 S-2 線計畫的第三期服務。提醒一下，S-2 線將海恩斯維爾和科頓谷頁岩區的供應帶到不斷發展的達拉斯-沃斯堡大都會的東側。第三階段用 36 英寸管道取代了 22 英里的 14 英寸和 20 英寸管道。該項目的最後階段計劃於今年年底完成。

And we completed the first phase of our Line WA Loop project, 24 miles of 36-inch pipeline. This multiphase project will fortify APT system that serves the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex by installing approximately 80 miles of 36-inch transmission pipeline.

我們完成了 WA 環線專案的第一階段，即 24 英里的 36 英吋管道。這個多階段計畫將透過安裝約 80 英里的 36 英吋傳輸管道來強化為達拉斯-沃斯堡大都會提供服務的 APT 系統。

Our customer support associates and service technicians continued their exceptional customer service and once again received a 98% satisfaction rating from customers during the first quarter. Our customer advocacy team and customer support agents continued their outreach efforts to energy assistance agencies and customers during the first quarter. Through those efforts, the team helped nearly 17,000 customers receive over $5 million in funding assistance. As a reminder, during fiscal '23, our energy assistance teams helped over 60,000 customers receive over $29 million of financial assistance to help with their monthly bill.

我們的客戶支援人員和服務技術人員繼續提供卓越的客戶服務，並在第一季再次獲得客戶 98% 的滿意度。我們的客戶倡導團隊和客戶支援代理商在第一季繼續向能源援助機構和客戶進行外展工作。透過這些努力，該團隊幫助近 17,000 名客戶獲得了超過 500 萬美元的資金援助。謹此提醒，在 23 財年期間，我們的能源援助團隊幫助超過 60,000 名客戶獲得了超過 2,900 萬美元的財務援助，以幫助他們支付每月的帳單。

Before I turn the call over to Chris, I want to comment on an incident that the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The incident occurred at a Jackson, Mississippi residents on January 24 and resulted in 1 fatality.

在將電話轉給克里斯之前，我想對國家運輸安全委員會正在調查的事件發表評論。該事件於1月24日發生在密西西比州傑克遜市的一處居民身上，造成1人死亡。

Atmos Energy is working with the National Transportation Safety Board and other federal and state regulators to help determine possible causes. We want to thank the first responders and emergency responders for their support and assistance. Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers have been and continue to be with the family.

Atmos Energy 正在與國家運輸安全委員會以及其他聯邦和州監管機構合作，以協助確定可能的原因。我們要感謝急救人員和緊急救援人員的支持和協助。我們的心、我們的思想和我們的祈禱一直並繼續與家人同在。

I will now turn the call over to Chris for his update.

我現在將把電話轉給克里斯，以了解他的最新情況。

Thank you, Kevin, and thank you to everyone for joining us this morning. As Kevin mentioned, our fiscal '24 first quarter earnings per share was $2.08, which represents an 8.9% increase over the $1.91 per share reported in the prior year quarter.

謝謝你，凱文，也謝謝大家今天早上加入我們。正如 Kevin 所提到的，我們 24 財年第一季的每股收益為 2.08 美元，比去年同期的每股 1.91 美元成長了 8.9%。

Consolidated operating income increased to $399 million or 24% in the first quarter. This performance was driven by several factors: rate increases in both of our operating segments totaled $84 million; residential commercial customer growth, combined with higher industrial loads increased operating income by an additional $6 million. Consolidated O&M expense decreased $19 million, primarily driven by lower bad debt expense.

第一季綜合營業收入增至 3.99 億美元，增幅為 24%。這項業績是由多個因素推動的：我們兩個營運部門的成長率總計 8,400 萬美元；住宅商業客戶的成長，加上工業負載的增加，使營業收入增加了 600 萬美元。綜合營運與維護費用減少了 1,900 萬美元，主要是由於壞帳費用減少。

In December, the Mississippi Public Service Commission modified how we recover uncollectible customer accounts. Previously, we have recovered these costs through a stable rate filing over a 12-month period. Effective April of 2022, we will now recur these costs for purchased gas cost mechanism over 24-month period, which will benefit our customers.

12 月，密西西比州公共服務委員會修改了我們追回無法收回的客戶帳戶的方式。此前，我們透過 12 個月內穩定的費率申報收回了這些成本。自 2022 年 4 月起，我們將在 24 個月內重複購買天然氣成本機制的這些成本，這將使我們的客戶受益。

As a result of this change, we reduced our bad debt expense by $14 million during the first quarter. Additionally, with this change, we now collect the bad debt portion of our uncollectible accounts through our purchase gas cost recovery mechanisms 88% of our customer base.

由於這項變化，我們第一季的壞帳費用減少了 1400 萬美元。此外，透過這項變化，我們現在透過我們 88% 的客戶群的購買 Gas 成本回收機制收取壞帳部分。

O&M decreased an additional $5 million, primarily due to the timing of in-line inspection work at APT that we highlighted last fiscal year. Finally, operating income was favorably impacted by a legislative change in Texas to reduce property tax expenses.

O&M 額外減少了 500 萬美元，主要是由於我們在上一財年強調的 APT 在線檢查工作的時間表。最後，德州為減少財產稅支出而進行的立法改革對營業收入產生了有利影響。

In the summer of 2023, the Texas legislature voted to allocate $18 million of the state's budget surplus to offset property taxes assessed on residential commercial property owners for calendar years 2023 and 2024. This legislation became effective during our first fiscal quarter after voters approved the legislation in November.

2023 年夏天，德州立法機構投票決定從該州預算盈餘中撥款1800 萬美元，用於抵消2023 和2024 日曆年對住宅商業地產所有者徵收的財產稅。該立法在選民批准該立法後在我們的第一個財政季度生效十一月。

In fiscal '24, we expect this legislation will reduce our property tax expense by $20 million to $22 million. We recognized approximately $6 million of this impact during the first quarter. This reduction was not reflected in the fiscal '24 earnings per share guidance we issued in November.

在 24 財年，我們預計這項立法將使我們的財產稅支出減少 2,000 萬至 2,200 萬美元。我們在第一季確認了大約 600 萬美元的影響。這項減少並未反映在我們 11 月發布的 24 財年每股收益指引中。

We continue to execute our annual regulatory filing strategy. To date, we have implemented $167 million in annualized regulatory outcomes. This amount includes the $27 million associated with APT's general rate case that was approved in December. We currently have about $61 million in progress and plan to make additional filings this fiscal year seeking $340 million to $370 million in annualized operating income increases.

我們繼續執行年度監理備案策略。迄今為止，我們已實施了 1.67 億美元的年度監管成果。該金額包括與 12 月批准的 APT 一般費率案例相關的 2700 萬美元。目前，我們正在進行約 6,100 萬美元的投資，並計劃在本財年提交額外的申請，尋求年化營業收入增加 3.4 億至 3.7 億美元。

During the quarter, we completed a $1.1 billion of long-term debt equity financing highlighted by the $900 million long-term debt financing we completed in October 2023. Additionally, we settled $254 million of equity forward agreements. This financing provides the necessary funding for our operations while maintaining the strength of our balance sheet and overall financial profile.

本季度，我們完成了 11 億美元的長期債務股權融資，其中以 2023 年 10 月完成的 9 億美元長期債務融資為亮點。此外，我們還達成了 2.54 億美元的股權遠期協議。這項融資為我們的營運提供了必要的資金，同時保持了我們的資產負債表和整體財務狀況的實力。

Our equity capitalization as of December 31 was 60%, and we do have any short-term debt outstanding. We also had $3.2 billion in available liquidity. This amount includes approximately $433 million of net proceeds available under existing foreign sales agreements, which is expected to satisfy the remainder of our anticipated fiscal '24 equity needs and a portion of our anticipated equity needs for fiscal '25.

截至 12 月 31 日，我們的股本為 60%，並且我們確實有任何未償還的短期債務。我們還有 32 億美元的可用流動資金。該金額包括根據現有國外銷售協議可獲得的約 4.33 億美元淨收益，預計將滿足我們 24 財年預期股權需求的剩餘部分以及 25 財年預期股權需求的一部分。

Our weighted average cost of debt is 4.1% and our weighted average maturity is approximately 18 years, with our next refinancing set for June of 2027. And we continue to expect to have limited floating interest rates in fiscal '24.

我們的加權平均債務成本為 4.1%，加權平均期限約為 18 年，下一次再融資定於 2027 年 6 月。我們仍然預計 24 財年的浮動利率有限。

Finally, we have $900 million in forward-starting interest rate swaps in place to hedge portions or anticipated long-term debt issuances in fiscal '25 and fiscal '26. As a reminder, the effective weighted average treasury rate of these swaps is 1.54%.

最後，我們有 9 億美元的遠期利率掉期，以對沖部分或預期在 25 財年和 26 財年發行的長期債務。提醒一下，這些互換的有效加權平均公債利率為 1.54%。

In closing, we are off to a good start for the fiscal year. The execution of our operational, financial and regulatory plans by our employees positions us well to sustain our success. We continue to expect fiscal '24 earnings per share to be in the range of $6.45 and $6.65 per share, inclusive of the favorable impact of the property tax legislation changes in Texas.

最後，我們為本財年開了個好頭。我們的員工執行我們的營運、財務和監管計劃，使我們能夠保持成功。我們繼續預計 24 財年每股收益將在 6.45 美元至 6.65 美元之間，其中包括德州財產稅立法變化的有利影響。

Thank you for your time this morning. I will now open the call up for questions.

感謝您今天早上抽出時間。我現在將開始提問。

(Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line of David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）。你的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的大衛·阿卡羅（David Arcaro）。

Let's see. I might have missed the details here. Could you just elaborate a bit on that property tax impact and the change, what EPS impact does that have for the full year this year? And did you say it's not currently embedded in the EPS guidance?

讓我們來看看。我可能錯過了這裡的細節。您能否詳細說明財產稅的影響和變化，這對今年全年的每股盈餘有何影響？您是否說它目前尚未納入 EPS 指南中？

Yes. The property tax impact for the full fiscal year is expected to be between $20 million and $22 million pretax after taking into consideration the profit, the effective tax rates we put in our investor deck in the range of the share weighted average shares we have out there, we're anticipating that impact to be between $0.09 and $0.11. And currently, that is reflected in our current guidance. It was not reflected in our guidance previously.

是的。考慮到利潤以及我們在投資者平台中所採用的股票加權平均股票範圍內的有效稅率，整個財年的財產稅影響預計將在稅前 2000 萬至 2200 萬美元之間，我們預計影響將在0.09美元到0.11 美元之間。目前，這已反映在我們當前的指導中。我們之前的指導中沒有反映這一點。

Okay. Got it. Understood. Let's see, I wanted to get your color on growth and customer additions. It sounds like you've continued to see strong customer additions in the quarter. I guess, what are your expectations for that continuing just given what you're seeing in building activities and the economic backdrop in your service territories?

好的。知道了。明白了。讓我們看看，我想了解您對成長和客戶增加的看法。聽起來您在本季度繼續看到強勁的客戶增加。我想，考慮到您所看到的建築活動和服務領域的經濟背景，您對這種持續的期望是什麼？

Yes. In our conversations with our builders and developers, obviously, we're still in the winter period. So connections on existing housing will continue through this period. I would anticipate that activity picking back up as you head into spring and construction picking back up.

是的。在我們與建築商和開發商的對話中，顯然，我們仍處於冬季。因此，在此期間，現有住房的連接將繼續進行。我預計，隨著春天的到來，活動將會回升，建築業也會回升。

But again, if you look at some of the studies that have been out there for quite a while, and we've referenced on other calls, one in particular, there's an anticipated 1 million additional people projected to come to the Metroplex by 2028. So we think that will definitely impact housing, which is already low on an existing home sale on the current market basis.

但同樣，如果你看一下已經存在相當長一段時間的一些研究，並且我們在其他呼籲中引用過，特別是其中一項研究，預計到 2028 年，預計將有 100 萬人來到 Metroplex。因此，我們認為這肯定會影響房屋市場，而在當前市場基礎上，現有房屋銷售已經很低。

I think the inventory right now is currently around 2 months or so. We're told they like to keep that somewhere north of about 4 to 5 months' worth of inventory. So we can see the builders again trying to meet that demand picking things back up in the spring as we head into that construction season.

我認為目前的庫存大約是兩個月左右。我們被告知他們喜歡將其保留在大約 4 到 5 個月的庫存量之上。因此，我們可以看到建築商在春季進入施工季節時再次試圖滿足這一需求。

And again, we continue to see good diversified growth across the territory, particularly on the industrial side, with those 11 that we added in this previous quarter coming from fertilizer industry, vegetable oils, concrete, asphalt plants, a good mixture of a lot of things across all 8 states.

再次，我們繼續看到全港範圍內良好的多元化增長，特別是在工業方面，我們在上一季度添加的11 個來自化肥工業、植物油、混凝土、瀝青廠，這是許多行業的良好混合體.橫跨所有 8 個州的事情。

Got it. That's helpful color. I appreciate that. And then maybe just one more for me. I was wondering what your expectations are ahead of just a couple of the general rate cases you have later this year, West Texas and Mid-Tex. Just curious if there are any major things that you need to address, maybe out of the ordinary in those rate cases that would cause it to be a big ask or more contentious than usual.

知道了。這是有用的顏色。我很感激。然後也許對我來說還有一個。我想知道您對今年稍後（西德克薩斯州和中德克薩斯州）的幾個一般利率案件有何期望。只是好奇您是否需要解決任何重大問題，在這些費率案例中可能不尋常，這會導致它成為一個大問題或比平常更有爭議。

No, there is nothing contentious unusual. And as a reminder, these recent general rate cases are being filed because those jurisdictions are under our grid mechanism here in Texas. We have 5 consecutive filings that we have to make before we're going back into basically refresh or reset equity capitalization, ROEs and alike. So we expect these to be fairly down the middle type of filings that was nothing out of the ordinary, unusual and we plan to make those filings sometime later this calendar year.

不，沒有什麼有爭議的異常情況。提醒一下，這些最近的一般費率案件正在提起，因為這些司法管轄區屬於我們德州的網格機制。在我們重新基本刷新或重置股本、淨資產收益率等之前，我們必須連續提交 5 份文件。因此，我們預計這些申請將屬於中等類型的申請，沒有任何異常、不尋常的地方，我們計劃在今年稍後的某個時候提交這些申請。

Your next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Bank of America.

您的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Julien Dumoulin-Smith。

Appreciate it. Well done here. Look, just a follow-up on the first question. With respect to the tax change here, I mean, just are there other offsets do you think about this as being an opportunity to accelerate some work that you might have been contemplating for future periods here? Or is this kind of really kind of expected to drop to the bottom line, if you will?

欣賞它。這裡做得很好。看，這只是第一個問題的後續。關於這裡的稅收變化，我的意思是，是否還有其他抵消措施，您認為這是一個加速您可能在未來一段時間內考慮的一些工作的機會？或者如果你願意的話，這種情況真的會下降到底線嗎？

Yes. That's a good question, Julien. I mean at this point, we're sitting here in the middle of the winter heating season, which we're beginning to think about what we look like going into the summer months in terms of compliance work, other activities. That's still all under valuation right now, and we'll have a better update for you in May.

是的。這是個好問題，朱利安。我的意思是，此時此刻，我們正處於冬季供暖季節中期，我們開始考慮進入夏季後的合規工作和其他活動。目前這些仍處於估值之下，我們將在五月為您提供更好的更新。

Right. Okay. Fair enough. I get it. You're not quite in the prime season, you've got [latitude] here. Curious to see what happens. To that end, I mean, if we can just -- I know we've talked about the O&M backdrop a few different times since we're talking here. I mean what are you seeing in terms of just as you plan ahead on this front, just being able to hold the line on the variety of different new customer costs and other factors that have driven up the inflationary bucket of late. I know that this inflation conversations impacting one of your peers. How are you thinking about that today here, especially within that range?

正確的。好的。很公平。我得到它。你還沒有完全進入黃金季節，但這裡有[自由度]。很想看看會發生什麼事。為此，我的意思是，如果我們可以——我知道自從我們在這裡討論以來，我們已經多次討論過維運背景。我的意思是，正如您在這方面提前計劃的那樣，您所看到的只是能夠控制各種不同的新客戶成本以及最近推高通膨的其他因素。我知道這場通膨對話正在影響您的一位同行。您今天在這裡如何看待這個問題，特別是在這個範圍內？

Yes, Julien. I mean, again, we stand by what we have out there in our deck and what we've talked about before in our 3% to 3.5% range that's out there. Obviously, we have folks out on the system, ensuring reliability this past winter storm with Heather, which I think we did an exceptional job of continuing to serve our customers out there in that historic winter storm.

是的，朱利安。我的意思是，我們再次堅持我們現有的套牌以及我們之前在 3% 到 3.5% 範圍內討論過的內容。顯然，我們有人員在系統上，與希瑟一起確保過去的冬季風暴的可靠性，我認為我們在這場歷史性的冬季風暴中繼續為客戶提供服務方面做得非常出色。

So we'll continue to evaluate opportunities, whether those are hydrostatic test on APT compliance work across the system. So at this point, we're still comfortable with the range we have out there and where we set the first quarter into the fiscal year.

因此，我們將繼續評估機會，無論是對整個系統的 APT 合規性工作進行靜水壓測試。因此，在這一點上，我們仍然對現有的範圍以及我們將第一季設定為財政年度的範圍感到滿意。

Yes. All right. Well, guys. And just one quick follow-up here, if I can as you mentioned, we still see here in the sort of winter season. Obviously, we saw winter dynamics play themselves out in recent weeks across some of your -- across your service territory, any considerations about how your system performed and/or commentary about how that positions you?

是的。好的。好吧，夥計們。這裡只是一個快速的後續行動，如果我能像你提到的那樣，我們仍然在冬季看到這裡。顯然，我們看到最近幾週冬季動態在你們的一些服務領域發揮了作用，對你們的系統如何運作有任何考慮和/或對你們的定位有什麼評論嗎？

Again, I get that a lot of this is ultimately just servicing your customers here and flow-throughs numerous numbers -- numerous set of riders across your jurisdictions, but any commentary about the experience in recent weeks, obviously, in sharp contrast in some prior years here?

再說一遍，我知道，其中許多最終只是為您的客戶提供服務，並流經大量的數字——您所在轄區的眾多騎手，但顯然，最近幾週有關體驗的任何評論都與之前的一些評論形成鮮明對比。在這裡幾年？

Yes. As I said at our opening, very proud of all 5,000 Atmos Energy employees, I think we did an exceptional job with this winter storm, the severity that it came in. I think depending on where you want to look at for heating degree day data, it was some 78% colder than normal in some locations, 200% colder than last year.

是的。正如我在開幕式上所說，我們為所有5,000 名Atmos Energy 員工感到非常自豪，我認為我們在應對這場冬季風暴及其嚴重程度方面做得非常出色。我認為這取決於您想要在哪裡查看暖氣度日資料部分地區比正常氣溫低78%左右，比去年低200%。

So again, it takes a sustained period of investment in infrastructure improvement across your system. Obviously, we did a lot of projects from last year. But we've been at this now for over 12 years, improving our infrastructure. That's what allows us to be able to serve during these historic periods when they come in. You just can't do that overnight. I think our team has done a good job of identifying opportunities throughout the years and executing on those projects. Also very proud of our product.

同樣，需要對整個系統的基礎設施改善進行持續的投資。顯然，我們去年做了很多專案。但我們已經在這方面投入了 12 年多的時間，不斷改善我們的基礎設施。這就是我們能夠在這些歷史時期當他們到來時提供服務的原因。你不可能在一夜之間做到這一點。我認為我們的團隊多年來在尋找機會並執行這些專案方面做得很好。也對我們的產品感到非常自豪。

Look, for that week, I think we set a record across the country at 174 Bcf of natural gas with a peak of 72 Bcf residential and commercial. So again, very proud of natural gas and what it does. And I think if you look at the energy output for that week according to EIA, natural gas, petroleum and coal consumed 85% of the energy demand for that period. So very proud of what we continue to do in the industry.

看，那一周，我認為我們在全國範圍內創下了 174 Bcf 的天然氣記錄，其中住宅和商業峰值為 72 Bcf。再說一遍，我對天然氣及其用途感到非常自豪。我認為，如果你根據 EIA 的數據來看看那一週的能源產出，你會發現天然氣、石油和煤炭消耗了該時期能源需求的 85%。我們對我們在這個行業繼續所做的事情感到非常自豪。

Your next question comes from the line of Richard Sunderland with JPMorgan.

你的下一個問題來自摩根大通的理查桑德蘭。

I'd like to circle back on the property tax item one more time, if I could. Just to be clear on that benefit, is what you quantified the full amount of the benefit? Or is that net of any reserves for return to customers? How are you thinking about that latter portion?

如果可以的話，我想再回到財產稅項目上來。需要明確的是，您所量化的收益是全部嗎？或者這是否扣除了返還給客戶的儲備金？您如何看待後一部分？

Yes. That number is the benefits that's relative to our guidance for fiscal '24. We don't have -- I mean what will happen is, for accounting purposes, we recognize the impact in this fiscal year over the next couple, 2.5 years, we'll return that benefit back to our customers. through our various mechanisms here in Texas.

是的。這個數字是相對於我們 24 財年指引的收益。我們沒有－我的意思是，出於會計目的，我們認識到本財年對未來幾年（2.5 年）的影響，我們會將這種好處返還給我們的客戶。透過我們在德克薩斯州的各種機制。

So it's really a temporary timing difference, if you will, that it does impact our financial results for fiscal '24. And as I mentioned earlier, we'll have an update on where we think that will impact us for the full fiscal year, later this fiscal year -- I guess primarily in our next call.

因此，如果你願意的話，這確實是暫時的時間差異，它確實會影響我們 24 財年的財務表現。正如我之前提到的，我們將更新我們認為這將對我們整個財年、本財年晚些時候產生影響的情況——我想主要是在我們的下一次電話會議中。

Okay. Understood. Very helpful color there. And then just turning to the Fort Worth incident. I was curious if you could talk a little bit about the site status just seen some media headlines around debris removal. Any current color there would be helpful. Also who is currently investigating?

好的。明白了。那裡的顏色非常有用。然後轉向沃斯堡事件。我很好奇您是否可以談談剛剛看到的一些有關碎片清除的媒體頭條的站點狀態。任何當前的顏色都會有幫助。另外，目前誰在調查？

The site, I believe, has been turned over according to the articles that we're seeing the information that's been related to us back to the owners of it, I believe. And they're in charge of the removal at this point. And obviously, you've seen our statements out there, our press release that our system has been tested and was not involved.

我相信，根據文章，我們已經將與我們相關的資訊返還給了該網站的所有者，該網站已被移交。他們目前負責拆除工作。顯然，您已經看到了我們的聲明，我們的新聞稿，我們的系統已經過測試並且沒有參與其中。

Your next question comes from the line of Nick Campanella with Barclays.

你的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的尼克·坎帕內拉（Nick Campanella）。

Sorry to ask about property taxes, but I just wanted to triple check what's the negative offset to that $0.09 to $0.11 property tax in the guide for '24?

很抱歉詢問有關財產稅的問題，但我只是想再三檢查 24 年指南中 0.09 美元到 0.11 美元財產稅的負抵消額是多少？

Well, right now, Nick, as we talked about a couple of minutes ago, we're still in the middle of the winter heating season. We need to see how our margins hold up as we move into January, February, March. We're still evaluating our O&M needs for the fiscal year. So we felt it was prudent to maintain the guidance in this range at this point and provide a more thorough update once we get through the winter heating season.

嗯，現在，尼克，正如我們幾分鐘前談到的，我們仍處於冬季供暖季節中期。我們需要看看進入一月、二月、三月時我們的利潤率如何維持。我們仍在評估本財年的營運和維護需求。因此，我們認為目前將指導意見維持在這一範圍內是謹慎的做法，並在冬季供暖季節結束後提供更徹底的更新。

I really appreciate that. And then Chris, I know you said in your prepared remarks, you priced -- you're fully priced for '24 equity needs. How much is remaining left to do for 2025 before you've kind of taken care of that fully?

我真的很感激。然後克里斯，我知道你在準備好的演講中說過，你已經定價了——你已經完全滿足了 24 年的股票需求。在您完全解決這個問題之前，2025 年還剩下多少工作要做？

Yes. We still have a ways to go on that. It's legal reasons, I can't say precisely how much it's been priced, but under the terms of the agreements that we have in place. But we will just continue to stay ahead of our equity needs to the ATM throughout this fiscal year in preparation for FY '25.

是的。我們還有很長的路要走。這是法律原因，我不能確切地說出它的定價是多少，但根據我們現有協議的條款。但我們將在本財年繼續滿足 ATM 的權益需求，為 25 財年做準備。

Got it. And then just one last one for me. I know that the LDC M&A market continues to be active. And there's potentially even processes going around in states that are either adjacent or in your current territories? I'm just -- can you just remind everyone what your kind of -- your message is around M&A and your philosophy there?

知道了。然後是我的最後一件事。我知道最不發達國家的併購市場持續活躍。甚至可能在鄰近或您當前領土內的州中進行流程？我只是——你能提醒大家你的訊息是關於併購和你的哲學嗎？

Sure. I'd be glad to. Again, we've talked about our growth on every call here for several years now. We continue to grow at close to 2% or above 2%, particularly in our Mid-Tex division there. So we have that mechanism with good organic growth. You couple that with the rate construct that we have where we start to earn on 90% of our investment in 6 months, 99% in 12 months. It's hard for us to see any sort of deal that could compete with the growth and regulatory construct that we have.

當然。我非常樂意。再次強調，我們多年來一直在每次電話會議上談論我們的成長。我們繼續以接近 2% 或高於 2% 的速度成長，特別是在我們的 Mid-Tex 部門。所以我們擁有良好的有機成長機制。你將其與我們的利率結構結合，我們開始在 6 個月內賺取 90% 的投資收益，在 12 個月內賺取 99% 的投資收益。我們很難看到任何類型的交易可以與我們現有的成長和監管結構競爭。

So we're very proud of our systems, what we do, our relationships, our execution on that. So at this point, we are continuing to focus on and remain dedicated to system modernization.

因此，我們對我們的系統、我們所做的事情、我們的關係以及我們的執行力感到非常自豪。因此，目前我們將繼續關注並致力於系統現代化。

All right. I can't say I expected a different answer. So that's very much in line. Thank you so much. Have a great day.

好的。我不能說我期待一個不同的答案。所以這非常符合。太感謝了。祝你有美好的一天。

(Operator Instructions). And our next question comes from the line of Ryan Levine with Citi.

（操作員說明）。我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Ryan Levine。

Is there any color you could share around what you're seeing in the legislative sessions and across your service territories? Is there any bills that are being proposed that you're watching closely that could have an impact on your business or outlook?

關於您在立法會議和整個服務領域所看到的情況，您有什麼可以分享的嗎？是否有任何您正在密切關注的擬議法案可能會對您的業務或前景產生影響？

Right. I think it's still very early in the session. Those just really kicked off in some of our jurisdictions. We'll continue to monitor those. But at this point, we'll let them go about their required activity and duties and we'll continue to monitor.

正確的。我認為現在還處於會議的早期階段。這些剛剛在我們的一些司法管轄區真正開始。我們將繼續監控這些情況。但此時，我們將讓他們進行所需的活動和職責，我們將繼續進行監控。

Okay. And then in terms of the pipelines or LDC network itself, are you seeing any jurisdictions that are looking to re-rate some types that may be classified as transmission to distribution or anything along those lines?

好的。然後就管道或 LDC 網路本身而言，您是否看到任何司法管轄區正在尋求重新評估某些可能被歸類為輸配電或類似類別的類型？

No, we're not is the short answer to the question. Again, I believe those are all business decisions based upon the regulations at the federal level and the state level.

不，我們不是，這是對這個問題的簡短回答。再說一次，我相信這些都是基於聯邦層級和州級法規的商業決策。

Your next question comes from the line of Gabriel Moreen with Mizuho Securities.

您的下一個問題來自瑞穗證券 (Mizuho Securities) 的加布里埃爾·莫林 (Gabriel Moreen)。

This is Chris Jeffrey on for Gabe. Just one quick one on the O&M side. Just it seemed like there was a change in the bad debt expense treatment that came through in the quarter. Wondering is that all kind of realized now? Or will that continue to flow through future periods? And was that contemplated in the original guide?

我是克里斯傑弗裡 (Chris Jeffrey)，替補加布 (Gabe)。簡單介紹一下維運方面的狀況。只是本季的壞帳費用處理似乎發生了變化。想知道現在這一切都實現了嗎？或者說，這種情況會在未來的時期繼續發生嗎？最初的指南中是否考慮過這一點？

Yes. So the profit -- I'm sorry, I'll probably (inaudible) the question on product tax point. On the bad debt expense, that $14 million or so that we referenced, that was basically the impact for this fiscal year we had hope that, that would come through, so that was basically reflecting in our guidance.

是的。所以利潤 - 對不起，我可能會（聽不清楚）關於產品稅點的問題。關於壞帳費用，我們提到的 1400 萬美元左右，這基本上是我們希望能夠實現的本財年的影響，所以這基本上反映在我們的指導中。

I will now turn the call back over to Dan Meziere for closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給 Dan Meziere 致閉幕詞。

We appreciate your interest in Atmos Energy. And again, thank you for joining us. A recording of this call is available for replay on our website through March 31. Have a great day.

我們感謝您對 Atmos Energy 的興趣。再次感謝您加入我們。本次通話的錄音可在 3 月 31 日之前在我們的網站上重播。祝您有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。