Black Hills Corp (BKH) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q4 and Full Year 2023 Black Hills Corporation Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Black Hills Corporation 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Jerome Nichols, Director of Investor Relations.

我現在想將會議交給今天的發言人，投資者關係總監 Jerome Nichols。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Black Hills Corporation's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. You can find our earnings release and materials for our call this morning at our website at www.blackhillscorp.com under the Investor Relations heading.

謝謝。大家，早安。歡迎參加 Black Hills Corporation 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。您可以在我們網站 www.blackhillscorp.com 的「投資者關係」標題下找到我們的收益發布和今天早上電話會議的資料。

Leading our quarterly earnings discussion today are Linn Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Kimberly Nooney, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Also attending this morning are Marne Jones, Senior Vice President, Utilities; and Todd Jacobs, Senior Vice President, Growth and Strategy.

今天主持我們季度收益討論的是總裁兼首席執行官林恩·埃文斯 (Linn Evans)；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Kimberly Nooney。今天早上出席的還有公用事業部高級副總裁 Marne Jones；雅各布斯（Todd Jacobs），成長與策略資深副總裁。

During our earnings discussion today, some of the comments we make may contain forward-looking statements as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission and there are a number of uncertainties inherent in such comments. Although we believe that our expectations and beliefs are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially. We direct you to our earnings release, Slide 2 of the investor presentation on our website and our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a list of some of the factors that could cause future results to differ materially from our expectations.

在我們今天的收益討論中，我們發表的一些評論可能包含美國證券交易委員會定義的前瞻性陳述，而此類評論本身存在許多不確定性。儘管我們相信我們的期望和信念是基於合理的假設，但實際結果可能存在重大差異。我們將引導您查看我們的收益發布、我們網站上投資者簡報的幻燈片2 以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新10-K 表格和10-Q 表格，以獲取可能導致未來結果的一些因素的清單與我們的預期有重大差異。

I will now turn the call over to Linn Evans.

我現在將把電話轉給林恩·埃文斯。

Thank you, Jerome and thank you all for joining us today. I'll provide an overview of the year. Kimberly will provide our financial update. And Marne and Todd will provide more detail on how we advanced our operational performance and our strategic initiatives.

謝謝傑羅姆，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。我將提供今年的概述。金伯利將提供我們的最新財務資訊。馬恩和托德將提供有關我們如何提高營運績效和策略舉措的更多詳細資訊。

I'll begin my comments on Slide 3. In addition to our team's core focus of excellent operational performance, we achieved 3 key objectives for the year: delivering on earnings guidance, strengthening our financial position and advancing our strategic growth plan. Most importantly, we continued our relentless focus on delivering safe, reliable and cost-effective energy with another year of excellent reliability. This is never more important than during the severe cold weather our customers experienced over the last several winters, including recent temperatures that were well below 0, a few weeks ago. At 1 point, every customer we serve was persevering through below 0 temperatures. It highlights and reminds us of the criticality of what we do every day and how important our energy services are to our customers and the communities we serve.

我將從幻燈片3 開始我的評論。除了我們團隊的核心關注點是卓越的營運績效之外，我們還實現了今年的3 個關鍵目標：實現盈利指導、加強我們的財務狀況以及推進我們的策略性成長計劃。最重要的是，我們繼續不懈地致力於提供安全、可靠和具有成本效益的能源，並在新的一年中實現了卓越的可靠性。這一點比我們的客戶在過去幾個冬天經歷的嚴寒天氣更重要，包括最近幾週前遠低於 0 度的氣溫。在某一時刻，我們服務的每位客戶都在零度以下的溫度下堅持不懈。它強調並提醒我們日常工作的重要性以及我們的能源服務對我們的客戶和我們服務的社區的重要性。

On the financial performance front, we delivered earnings above our guidance for the year and made notable progress strengthening our balance sheet as we previously projected. And our team continued to achieve constructive results through our regulatory strategy, filing 2 to 3 rate reviews each year. We flexed our organization and our team worked incredibly hard throughout 2023 to achieve our financial objectives. New rates and customer growth, combined with cost management initiatives and our team delivering on strategic opportunities more than offset the impacts from inflation, interest rates and weather. And Kimberly will speak to this in more detail.

在財務業績方面，我們的盈利超出了今年的指導，正如我們之前預測的那樣，在加強資產負債表方面取得了顯著進展。我們的團隊繼續透過我們的監管策略取得建設性成果，每年提交 2 至 3 次費率審查。我們調整了我們的組織結構，我們的團隊在 2023 年中異常努力地工作，以實現我們的財務目標。新的費率和客戶成長，加上成本管理措施和我們的團隊提供的策略機遇，足以抵銷通貨膨脹、利率和天氣的影響。金伯利將更詳細地談論這一點。

We successfully executed our financing strategy during the year, strengthening our balance sheet and improving our key credit metrics, reducing our debt to total capitalization ratio by 350 basis points. And in January, we increased our dividend for the 54th consecutive year, reflecting our confidence in the future. We meaningfully executed on our strategic growth initiatives during the year. We're advancing our electric resource plans for our Colorado and South Dakota utilities. We're in the final contracting phase for adding 100 megawatts of new renewable generation for our South Dakota electric utility. And in Colorado, we're evaluating bids to add 400 megawatts of renewable resources by year-end 2029.

年內，我們成功執行了融資策略，強化了資產負債表，改善了關鍵信用指標，將債務佔總資本比率降低了 350 個基點。 1月份，我們連續第54年增加股息，反映了我們對未來的信心。我們在這一年中有意義地執行了我們的策略成長計劃。我們正在推進科羅拉多州和南達科他州公用事業公司的電力資源計劃。我們正處於為南達科他州電力公司增加 100 兆瓦新再生能源發電量的最後合約階段。在科羅拉多州，我們正在評估到 2029 年底增加 400 兆瓦可再生資源的投標。

We're also preparing to file a resource plan for Wyoming Electric later this year, which is required every 3 years. Construction is underway on our Ready Wyoming electric transmission project, which is expected to be completed in multiple phases this year and next year. This is an important project for our customers to help stabilize cost and will provide a foundation for future opportunities. With growing energy demand in Cheyenne, particularly around data centers and blockchain customers, we're evaluating other electric transmission opportunities.

我們也準備在今年稍後為懷俄明州電力公司提交一份資源計劃，該計劃每三年提交一次。我們的 Ready 懷俄明州輸電工程正在進行施工，預計將在今年和明年分多個階段完成。對於我們的客戶來說，這是一個有助於穩定成本的重要項目，並將為未來的機會奠定基礎。隨著夏安能源需求的不斷增長，特別是資料中心和區塊鏈客戶的能源需求，我們正在評估其他電力傳輸機會。

Slide 4 lists our financial outlook. We remain confident in our long-term growth and we continue to expect earnings growth to accelerate throughout our 5-year plan. We're optimistic that recent downward trends in inflation, interest rates and natural gas prices could provide tailwinds during the year. We initiated our 2024 earnings guidance range of $3.80 to $4 per share, which represents 4% growth of our 2023 guidance. Increasing clarity around growth opportunities provides us with confidence that we can grow earnings by 4% to 6% over the planned period. We also anticipate dividend growth to be in line with EPS growth.

第 4 幻燈片列出了我們的財務前景。我們對長期成長仍然充滿信心，並繼續預計獲利成長將在整個五年計劃中加速。我們樂觀地認為，近期通膨、利率和天然氣價格的下降趨勢可能會在今年提供推動力。我們將 2024 年獲利指引範圍設定為每股 3.80 美元至 4 美元，比 2023 年指引成長 4%。成長機會的日益清晰讓我們充滿信心，我們可以在計劃期間將收益成長 4% 至 6%。我們也預期股息成長將與每股收益成長保持一致。

We also updated our capital forecast for the 5-year period through 2028. With more clarity around some of the larger strategic initiatives, we added the capital investment for these projects, increasing our 5-year capital forecast by $800 million to $4.3 billion. And Todd will provide additional details in a later slide.

我們也更新了截至 2028 年的 5 年資本預測。隨著一些較大策略舉措的更加明確，我們增加了這些項目的資本投資，將 5 年資本預測增加了 8 億美元，達到 43 億美元。托德將在後面的幻燈片中提供更多詳細資訊。

We're providing our scorecard for 2024 on Slide 5, reinitiating a practice we've used in the past to help stakeholders understand our key objectives for the year and to hold ourselves accountable to you, our shareholders. We've listed key milestones and goals for what we call our big 4 strategic objectives of growth and financial performance, operational excellence, transformation and people and culture. We already have a solid start to achieving these objectives and key results or OKRs, as we call them, a term our team has come to know very well over the last year across our entire organization.

我們在投影片 5 上提供了 2024 年的記分卡，重新啟動了我們過去使用的做法，以幫助利害關係人了解我們今年的主要目標，並讓我們對你們（我們的股東）負責。我們列出了我們所謂的四大策略目標的關鍵里程碑和目標，即成長和財務績效、卓越營運、轉型以及人員和文化。我們已經為實現這些目標和關鍵成果或 OKR（我們稱之為 OKR）打下了堅實的基礎，去年我們的團隊在整個組織中都非常熟悉這個術語。

Before I turn the call over to Kimberly, I want to close by addressing the challenges and successes our team and our industry have endured over the last year. It's been far from easy to say the least. But we know addressing challenges head on drives growth and innovation. Navigating the unique macroeconomic factors has driven us to critically evaluate how we do business on a deeper enterprise-wide level. Addressing these challenges together has made us a more resilient team with a stronger financial base and strategic position as we execute on our fundamental business and continually improve our processes and how we conduct our work every day.

在將電話轉給 Kimberly 之前，我想透過談談我們的團隊和產業在過去一年中所經歷的挑戰和成功來結束通話。至少可以說，這絕非易事。但我們知道，應對挑戰會推動成長和創新。應對獨特的宏觀經濟因素促使我們批判性地評估我們如何在更深的企業層面開展業務。共同應對這些挑戰使我們成為一支更具彈性的團隊，在執行我們的基本業務並不斷改進我們的流程以及我們日常工作的方式時，擁有更強大的財務基礎和戰略地位。

Our team has done an excellent job identifying and achieving ways to continuously improve how we serve our stakeholders. I'm extremely encouraged by our team's dedication and commitment to our vision, mission and values. I want to pause today to recognize all we have achieved to position us for long-term success.

我們的團隊在識別和實現不斷改進我們為利害關係人服務的方式方面做得非常出色。我們團隊對我們的願景、使命和價值的奉獻和承諾讓我深受鼓舞。今天我想停下來回顧一下我們為長期成功所取得的一切成就。

With that, I'll turn it over to Kimberly for our financial update. Kimberly?

這樣，我會將其轉交給 Kimberly，以獲取我們的最新財務資訊。金伯利？

Thank you, Linn and good morning, everyone. Before I dive in, I also want to say how pleased I am with our financial results and the strategic progress we achieved during the year, on behalf of our investors.

謝謝你，林恩，大家早安。在開始討論之前，我還想代表我們的投資者說，我對我們的財務表現和我們在這一年中取得的策略進展感到非常高興。

A year ago, due to the uncertain macroeconomic environment and impacts from winter storms Uri and Elliott, we reset 2023 earnings guidance range to $3.65 to $3.85 per share and our long-term earnings growth target to 4% to 6%. In addition, we committed to strengthening our balance sheet and improving our credit metrics. We also noted that we expected the pressures from the macroeconomic environment to continue in the near term and ease in the long term.

一年前，由於宏觀經濟環境的不確定性以及冬季風暴「烏裡」和「艾利奧特」的影響，我們將2023年獲利指導區間重新調整為每股3.65美元至3.85美元，長期獲利成長目標為4%至6%。此外，我們致力於加強資產負債表並改善信用指標。我們也指出，我們預期宏觀經濟環境的壓力將在短期內持續，長期內將有所緩解。

As demonstrated in 2023, our team will continue to be transparent about our objectives and reiterate our commitment to delivering on our short- and long-term financial objectives for all stakeholders. To that point, we delivered 2023 earnings per share of $3.91, which was above our earnings guidance range. We issued $119 million of new equity, we managed our capital expenditures to approximately $600 million and we improved our credit metrics to support a strengthened balance sheet. Slide 7 lists earnings per share compared to the same period last year.

正如 2023 年所證明的那樣，我們的團隊將繼續對我們的目標保持透明，並重申我們致力於為所有利害關係人實現短期和長期財務目標。至此，我們的 2023 年每股收益為 3.91 美元，高於我們的獲利指引範圍。我們發行了 1.19 億美元的新股，將資本支出控制在約 6 億美元，並改善了信用指標以支持強化的資產負債表。投影片 7 列出了與去年同期相比的每股收益。

Slide 8 illustrates the drivers of the year-over-year changes in EPS from 2022 to 2023. Results benefited primarily from an increase of $0.63 per share from new rates and customer growth. These drivers offset $0.28 of negative weather and mark-to-market adjustments, $0.18 of increased O&M, $0.10 related to issuance of new shares and $0.09 of higher interest expense. Embedded within our results are savings from our cost management initiatives, interest income from cash balances and other benefits. Weather negatively impacted 2023 earnings by $0.06 per share compared to normal and $0.24 compared to last year. For the year, heating and cooling degree days were down 5% and 31%, respectively, compared to 2022.

投影片 8 說明了 2022 年至 2023 年 EPS 同比變化的驅動因素。業績主要受益於新費率和客戶成長帶來的每股 0.63 美元的成長。這些驅動因素抵消了 0.28 美元的負面天氣和按市價調整、0.18 美元的營運和維護增加、0.10 美元的新股發行以及 0.09 美元的較高利息費用。我們的績效包含了成本管理措施帶來的節省、現金餘額的利息收入和其他福利。天氣對 2023 年每股收益產生負面影響，較正常水平下降 0.06 美元，較去年下降 0.24 美元。與 2022 年相比，今年供暖天數和冷氣天數分別減少了 5% 和 31%。

As part of our financing plan, we issued 2 million new shares, amounting to $0.10 of EPS impact. During the year, our cash position benefited from stronger-than-planned cash flows from operations and ongoing Winter Storm Uri recovery. Interest income from cash balances helped partially offset increased interest expense resulting from higher interest rates. Additionally, stronger cash flows positioned us to defer approximately $30 million of our planned 2023 equity issuance. Further details on year-over-year changes in operating income can be found in the appendix of our investor presentation, our earnings release and our 10-K to be filed on February 14.

作為融資計畫的一部分，我們發行了 200 萬股新股，相當於每股收益 0.10 美元。這一年，我們的現金狀況受益於營運現金流強於計劃以及持續的冬季風暴烏裡恢復。現金餘額的利息收入部分抵銷了利率上升導致的利息支出增加。此外，強勁的現金流使我們能夠推遲計劃的 2023 年股票發行中約 3000 萬美元的計劃。有關營業收入同比變化的更多詳細信息，請參閱我們的投資者介紹、收益報告和將於 2 月 14 日提交的 10-K 報表的附錄。

Moving to Slide 9. As promised, we continued to strengthen our balance sheet during the year. Robust cash flows from operations, including recovery of fuel costs from prior winter storm, disciplined capital investment and execution of our financing plan contributed to our success. This ongoing progress is reflected on Slide 10, which displays our financial position through the lens of credit quality, capital structure and liquidity. We remain focused on reducing our debt to total capitalization and improving the key credit metrics to maintain our BBB+ equivalent credit rating.

轉到投影片 9。正如承諾的那樣，我們在這一年中繼續加強我們的資產負債表。強勁的營運現金流，包括從先前的冬季風暴中恢復燃料成本、嚴格的資本投資和融資計劃的執行，為我們的成功做出了貢獻。這項持續進展反映在投影片 10 中，該投影片透過信貸品質、資本結構和流動性的角度顯示了我們的財務狀況。我們仍然專注於減少債務佔總資本並改善關鍵信用指標，以維持我們的 BBB+ 同等信用評級。

As the chart shows, our debt to total capitalization structure improved by 350 basis points from 60.8% at year-end 2022 to 57.3% at year-end 2023. We continue to target a long-term debt to total capitalization of 55% and FFO to debt of 14% to 15% to maintain BBB+ credit quality. Our liquidity remains strong, with approximately $90 million of cash at year-end and $750 million of availability under our revolving credit facility. On the debt side, we refinanced $525 million of notes last year. Given strong liquidity in an elevated interest rate environment, we are evaluating options to refinance all or a portion of the $600 million of notes due in August 2024.

如圖所示，我們的債務佔總資本結構改善了 350 個基點，從 2022 年底的 60.8% 提高到 2023 年底的 57.3%。我們繼續將長期債務佔總資本的 55% 和 FFO 的目標定為債務比例為14% 至15%，以維持BBB+ 信用品質。我們的流動性依然強勁，年底約有 9,000 萬美元現金，循環信貸額度下有 7.5 億美元可用資金。在債務方面，我們去年為 5.25 億美元的票據進行了再融資。鑑於利率上升環境下流動性強勁，我們正在評估 2024 年 8 月到期的 6 億美元票據的全部或部分進行再融資的方案。

Slide 11 displays our industry-leading dividend track record. As Linn mentioned, we recently extended our track record to 54 consecutive years. A dependable and increasing dividend is a component of our strategy for growing long-term value for our shareholders. We anticipate dividend growth to be in line with EPS growth.

幻燈片 11 顯示了我們行業領先的股息記錄。正如 Linn 所提到的，我們最近將我們的業績記錄延長至連續 54 年。可靠且不斷增加的股利是我們為股東增加長期價值的策略的一部分。我們預計股息成長將與每股收益成長保持一致。

I will now turn the call over to Marne for a business update.

我現在將把電話轉給馬恩，以了解業務最新情況。

Thank you, Kimberly. I'll start my comments on Slide 13. We delivered solid operational performance in 2023, which has continued into early 2024 as we successfully operated through the latest widespread winter weather events. The critical nature of our electric and natural gas systems and the effectiveness of our team was showcased in January, which brought record-breaking and sustained cold temperatures and wind throughout our service territory, lasting nearly 2 weeks. As an example, we delivered energy for 3 consecutive days of low temperatures that did not get above 0 across our footprint. This included lows of minus 38 degrees in Wyoming to minus 8 in Arkansas.

謝謝你，金伯莉。我將從幻燈片 13 開始評論。我們在 2023 年實現了穩健的營運績效，並持續到 2024 年初，因為我們成功應對了最新的廣泛冬季天氣事件。我們的電力和天然氣系統的關鍵性質以及我們團隊的有效性在一月份得到了展示，這給我們的服務區域帶來了破紀錄的持續寒冷氣溫和風，持續了近兩週。例如，我們在連續 3 天的低溫下提供了能源，但我們的足跡沒有超過 0 度。其中懷俄明州的最低氣溫為-38度，阿肯色州的最低氣溫為-8度。

When winter weather hits the hardest, the reliability of our system is a critical safety need for our customers. I'm humbled by our dedicated operations teams, as they work to keep our customers warm and safe and businesses operating through sustained subzero conditions. Also, in staying true to the nature of our industry, we had the opportunity to provide mutual aid to one of our neighboring gas utilities, assisting them in restoring service during the widespread outage in November.

當冬季天氣最惡劣時，我們系統的可靠性對我們的客戶來說是至關重要的安全需求。我對我們敬業的營運團隊感到謙卑，因為他們致力於讓我們的客戶保持溫暖和安全，並讓企業在持續的零條件下運作。此外，為了忠於我們行業的本質，我們有機會向鄰近的一家天然氣公用事業公司提供互助，協助他們在 11 月大面積停電期間恢復服務。

As we outlined last quarter, this slide illustrates our 2022 reliability. Our combined electric utilities continue to rank in the top quartile across our EEI peers, as reliability remains a priority focus for our teams. During 2023, we recorded our 10th consecutive year of new peak loads at Wyoming Electric, demonstrating the ongoing growth in the region. We also continued to achieve recognition for our support of veterans, as recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor's platinum status for hiring veterans. We're very proud of our veteran colleagues and the skills and perspective they bring to Black Hills Energy.

正如我們上季度概述的那樣，這張投影片說明了我們 2022 年的可靠性。我們的聯合電力公司在 EEI 同行中繼續排名前四分之一，因為可靠性仍然是我們團隊的首要關注點。 2023 年，懷俄明州電力公司連續 10 年出現新的尖峰負荷，證明了該地區的持續成長。我們也繼續獲得對退伍軍人的支持的認可，美國勞工部在僱用退伍軍人方面獲得了白金地位的認可。我們為我們的資深同事以及他們為 Black Hills Energy 帶來的技能和觀點感到非常自豪。

Moving to Slide 14. As Linn mentioned, the construction of our Ready Wyoming transmission project is underway. The 260-mile electric transmission project is being constructed in multiple phases and is targeted to be completed in 2025. As a reminder, the Ready Wyoming assets will be owned by our Wyoming Electric utility and recovery of the investment is expected through our Wyoming-based transmission rider.

轉到幻燈片 14。正如 Linn 提到的，我們的 Ready 懷俄明州輸電項目正在進行建設。這個 260 英里的輸電項目正在分多個階段建設，預計於 2025 年完成。謹此提醒，Ready Wyoming 資產將由我們的懷俄明州電力公司擁有，預計將通過我們位於懷俄明州的公司收回投資。傳動騎手。

Slide 15 lays out our emissions reduction goals. We are continuing to make progress towards our goal of a 70% emission reduction by 2040 and a 40% by 2030. Our electric resource plans for South Dakota Electric and our Colorado Clean Energy Plan support our progress towards these goals. These emission reduction goals are not dependent on future technology and are achievable through the addition of new renewable generation and the conversion of our coal-fired power plants at the end of their engineered lives. Advancements in cost-effective technology will further accelerate and enhance our achievement of these goals.

第 15 張投影片列出了我們的減排目標。我們正在繼續努力實現 2040 年減排 70%、到 2030 年減排 40% 的目標。我們的南達科他州電力資源計畫和科羅拉多州清潔能源計畫支持我們實現這些目標。這些減排目標不依賴未來的技術，可以透過增加新的再生能源發電以及在設計壽命結束時改造我們的燃煤電廠來實現。具有成本效益的技術進步將進一步加速並加強我們實現這些目標。

Our Net Zero by 2035 natural gas goal is progressing. Last year, we invested over $200 million in integrity programs focused on removing aging and at-risk materials. Additionally, we met our annual target to reduce third-party damages by approximately 10% year-over-year and expanded our voluntary renewable natural gas offering to customers.

我們在 2035 年實現天然氣淨零排放的目標正在取得進展。去年，我們投資了超過 2 億美元用於專注於消除老化和有風險材料的誠信計劃。此外，我們還實現了將第三方損失同比減少約 10% 的年度目標，並擴大了向客戶提供的自願再生天然氣供應。

Slide 16 is an update on our South Dakota Electric resource plan. We are moving forward on adding 100 megawatts of utility-owned renewable generation for our South Dakota utility. Our team is in the final stages of project contracting and we've added the estimated investment to our 5-year capital plan. We will file a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Wyoming Public Service Commission in the second quarter. Construction for the new renewable generation is expected to commence in 2025 with a mid-2026 in-service date.

幻燈片 16 是我們南達科他州電力資源計劃的更新。我們正在努力為南達科他州公用事業公司增加 100 兆瓦公用事業公司擁有的再生能源發電量。我們的團隊正處於專案承包的最後階段，我們已將預計投資添加到我們的五年資本計劃中。我們將在第二季向懷俄明州公共服務委員會提交公共便利和必要性證明。新的再生能源發電項目預計將於 2025 年開始建設，並於 2026 年中期投入使用。

Moving to Slide 17. In Colorado, we received a strong and diverse response to our Request for Proposal supporting our clean energy plan. We are currently evaluating bids for 400 megawatts of renewable resources and we'll provide our findings via the 120-day report to the Colorado Public Utility Commission in the second quarter. We expect a decision on Phase 2 of our plan in late 2024. The estimated investment for up to 50% of these renewable resources has been included in our 5-year capital forecast.

前往投影片 17。在科羅拉多州，我們收到了對支持我們的清潔能源計畫的提案徵集的強烈而多樣化的回應。我們目前正在評估 400 兆瓦可再生資源的投標，我們將在第二季度透過 120 天報告向科羅拉多州公用事業委員會提供我們的調查結果。我們預計將於 2024 年底就計畫的第二階段做出決定。這些可再生資源中高達 50% 的估計投資已包含在我們的 5 年資本預測中。

In summary, we are delivering strong operational performance and making consistent progress on our mission of improving life with energy by delivering safe, reliable and cost-effective energy, while prudently investing in long-term assets to serve our customers.

總而言之，我們正在提供強勁的營運業績，並在透過提供安全、可靠和具有成本效益的能源來改善能源生活的使命上不斷取得進展，同時審慎地投資於長期資產以服務我們的客戶。

With that, I will turn it over to Todd for an update on our regulatory activities and strategy and growth progress.

至此，我將把它交給托德，以了解我們監管活動、策略和成長進展的最新情況。

Thanks, Marne. I'll start with a regulatory update on Slide 19. We made significant progress on our regulatory plan in 2023 with proposed settlements, commission approvals and new filings in 5 separate rate reviews.

謝謝，馬恩。我將從幻燈片 19 上的監管更新開始。我們在 2023 年的監管計劃方面取得了重大進展，提出了和解方案、獲得了委員會批准，並在 5 項單獨的費率審查中提交了新文件。

In early 2023, we received approval of our Wyoming Electric settlement. And in July, we received final commission approval on our Rocky Mountain Natural Gas pipeline settlement. We also reached constructive settlements for our Colorado Gas and Wyoming Gas rate reviews. The Wyoming Gas settlement was approved by the Wyoming Public Service Commission last month, with rates effective February 1. Our proposed Colorado settlement is pending, with a final decision expected late in the first quarter. We appreciated the engagement of the many stakeholders who worked together to settle these cases. Our Arkansas Gas rate review was filed last December and is advancing as planned.

2023 年初，我們獲得了懷俄明州電力公司和解協議的批准。 7 月，我們獲得了落基山天然氣管道解決方案的最終委員會批准。我們也就科羅拉多州天然氣和懷俄明州天然氣費率審查達成了建設性和解。懷俄明州天然氣公司的和解協議於上個月獲得了懷俄明州公共服務委員會的批准，費率於2 月1 日生效。我們擬議的科羅拉多州和解協議仍在等待中，預計將在第一季末做出最終決定。我們感謝許多利害關係人的參與，他們共同努力解決了這些案件。我們的阿肯色州天然氣費率審查已於去年 12 月提交，目前正在按計劃推進。

The table on Slide 19 also lists our planned regulatory activity in 2024, which will include 2 new rate review filings in Iowa and Colorado. Our Iowa Gas rate review will be filed during the second quarter and will allow us to implement interim rates effective 10 days after filing, subject to refund. Also in the second quarter, we plan to file a rate review for Colorado Electric. I'd note that our last rate review there was completed in 2016.

第 19 投影片上的表格還列出了我們計劃在 2024 年開展的監管活動，其中包括愛荷華州和科羅拉多州的 2 份新的利率審查申請。我們的愛荷華州天然氣費率審查將在第二季提交，並允許我們在提交後 10 天後實施臨時費率，並可退款。同樣在第二季度，我們計劃對科羅拉多電力公司進行費率審查。我要指出的是，我們上次的費率審查是在 2016 年完成的。

The table also provides details for each rate review, including the requested or approved capital structure and ROE, plus the new revenue. To frame our results, I'd note that the 4 rate reviews that have either been approved or are pending final decision, will provide $51 million in total new revenue annually. Our pending Arkansas Gas rate review is requesting $44 million of new annual revenue. The table is also meant to illustrate the pace of our regulatory activity and our plan to file 2 to 3 rate reviews annually.

該表還提供了每次費率審查的詳細信息，包括請求或批准的資本結構和淨資產收益率，以及新收入。為了建立我們的結果，我要指出的是，已批准或正在等待最終決定的 4 次費率審核每年將帶來 5,100 萬美元的新總收入。我們即將進行的阿肯色州天然氣費率審查要求新增 4,400 萬美元的年收入。該表還旨在說明我們的監管活動的節奏以及我們每年提交 2 至 3 次費率審查的計劃。

From a regulatory strategy standpoint, we are focused on maintaining strong regulatory relationships and ensuring cost-effective energy for our customers, all while maintaining a cadence of rate reviews designed to reduce the lag in our revenues and embed inflationary impact in rates. Our regulatory efforts will continue to be a strategic priority and we have a demonstrated history of working with stakeholders to obtain constructive results.

從監管策略的角度來看，我們專注於維持強有力的監管關係，確保為客戶提供具有成本效益的能源，同時保持利率審查的節奏，旨在減少我們收入的滯後性並將通膨影響納入利率中。我們的監管工作將繼續成為策略重點，並且我們擁有與利害關係人合作以獲得建設性成果的良好歷史。

Slide 20 shows our capital investment forecast over our 5-year plan period. We increased our capital plan by $800 million to $4.3 billion, a 23% increase from our prior 5-year plan. The increase includes investment for some of our ongoing strategic initiatives, including renewable generation for South Dakota and Colorado and electric transmission. Several of these projects are currently included in 2026 and the timing may shift as they progress. Beyond 2026, we continue to evaluate potential projects that will be incremental to this plan.

投影片 20 顯示了我們 5 年計畫期間的資本投資預測。我們將資本計畫增加了 8 億美元，達到 43 億美元，比之前的 5 年計畫增加了 23%。增加的資金包括對我們正在進行的一些戰略舉措的投資，包括南達科他州和科羅拉多州的可再生能源發電以及電力傳輸。其中一些項目目前已納入 2026 年，隨著專案進展，時間安排可能會發生變化。 2026 年之後，我們將繼續評估對該計劃進行補充的潛在項目。

Slide 21 outlines several of our customer-focused initiatives. But I'll focus on our renewable natural gas efforts and then I'll touch on data center and blockchain customers on the next slide. RNG continues to be an area of optimism and opportunity and is a small but growing piece of our business. We operate in agriculture-rich service territories and, therefore, have seen significant RNG project activity, including pipeline and interconnection opportunities.

投影片 21 概述了我們的幾項以客戶為中心的措施。但我將重點放在我們在再生天然氣方面的努力，然後我將在下一張投影片上討論資料中心和區塊鏈客戶。 RNG 仍然是一個充滿樂觀和機會的領域，是我們業務中規模雖小但不斷增長的一部分。我們在農業豐富的服務領域開展業務，因此看到了重要的 RNG 專案活動，包括管道和互連機會。

To leverage this, we formed a small team in late 2022, who have a mix of commercial and engineering expertise. This team's mission is to develop strong projects and drive growth in this expanding market, with an investment thesis focused on long-term offtake agreements and stable revenue streams. We are adding 4 interconnect projects in 2024, which will bring our total to 10 across our service territory.

為了利用這一點，我們在 2022 年底組建了一個小團隊，他們擁有商業和工程專業知識。該團隊的使命是開發強大的項目並推動這個不斷擴大的市場的成長，投資主題專注於長期承購協議和穩定的收入流。到 2024 年，我們將增加 4 個互連項目，這將使我們服務區域的互連項目總數達到 10 個。

We are very excited to have just announced last week an acquisition of our first RNG production asset, a biogas production facility at a landfill in Dubuque, Iowa, which has the potential for future production expansion. We continue to evaluate strategic RNG opportunities that could be meaningful for both earnings contribution and that fit our long-term strategy. Before I leave our customer-focused initiatives slide, I'll note that as a management team, we continue to be focused on customer costs, with an aim to be a more effective and efficient energy provider. We have several high-profile internal initiatives to improve processes and systems and to reduce costs.

我們非常高興上週剛宣布收購我們的第一個 RNG 生產資產，即位於愛荷華州迪比克垃圾掩埋場的沼氣生產設施，該設施具有未來擴大生產的潛力。我們將繼續評估 RNG 的策略機會，這些機會可能對獲利貢獻有意義並且符合我們的長期策略。在結束以客戶為中心的計畫幻燈片之前，我要指出的是，作為管理團隊，我們將繼續關注客戶成本，目標是成為更有效、更有效率的能源提供者。我們有幾項備受矚目的內部措施來改善流程和系統並降低成本。

Moving to Slide 22. In addition to executing on traditional utility capital projects, we want to spend time this quarter discussing data center and blockchain customers, both of which are a growing part of our revenues. We have an innovative and attractive tariff for both data center and blockchain customers that generally require smaller to no capital investment as compared to traditional utility rate base projects, which we refer to as capital-light projects. This is an area that we are enthusiastic about, given the upside potential that it offers to our earnings with little to no capital requirements.

轉到投影片 22。除了執行傳統的公用事業資本項目外，我們還希望在本季花時間討論資料中心和區塊鏈客戶，這兩者都是我們收入中不斷增長的一部分。我們為資料中心和區塊鏈客戶提供創新且有吸引力的費率，與傳統的公用事業費率基礎項目（我們稱之為輕資本項目）相比，這些客戶通常需要較少甚至不需要資本投資。這是我們熱衷的領域，因為它在幾乎沒有資本要求的情況下為我們的收益提供了上行潛力。

We have served data center customers in Cheyenne for a decade and we recently added a blockchain customer. Cheyenne is a highly attractive location for these customers and we have developed 2 innovative tariffs, the Large Power Contract Service and Blockchain Interruptible Service tariffs, in order to facilitate growth.

我們為夏安的資料中心客戶提供服務已有十年，最近我們又增加了一位區塊鏈客戶。夏延對這些客戶來說是一個極具吸引力的地方，我們開發了兩項創新關稅，即大型電力合約服務和區塊鏈可中斷服務關稅，以促進成長。

The LPCS tariff was developed in partnership with one of our early data center customers and is designed to serve growing industrial and data center load, while protecting other customers from risks associated with large-scale capacity additions and further protecting customers from rate impacts. The tariff allows us to tailor solutions to meet the specific and unique needs of data center customers. Under this tariff, we purchase power from the market or we work with the customer to procure specific dedicated resources to serve their load. Eligibility under the tariff requires customers to meet specific capacity requirements. Customers on the LPCS tariff pay a negotiated rate for service, which allows us to generate revenues under this model in lieu of generation investment. Again, hence our use of the term capital light.

LPCS 費率是與我們的早期資料中心客戶合作開發的，旨在服務不斷增長的工業和資料中心負載，同時保護其他客戶免受大規模容量增加相關的風險，並進一步保護客戶免受費率影響。此費率使我們能夠客製化解決方案，以滿足資料中心客戶的具體和獨特需求。根據此電價，我們從市場購買電力，或與客戶合作購買特定的專用資源來服務他們的負載。關稅資格要求客戶滿足特定的容量要求。 LPCS 電價客戶按協議費率支付服務費用，這使我們能夠在這種模式下產生收入，而不是發電投資。同樣，這就是我們使用“資本之光”一詞的原因。

Nationally, the demand from data center and blockchain customers is increasing. And in tandem with technology advances, artificial intelligence and cloud services, we see opportunity to serve a growing number of these customers over the long term. We have partnered with these customers, our communities and our state legislators to provide enabling legislation and a welcoming business environment. We were pleased to see Microsoft's expansion to its second and third data centers in Cheyenne in 2023 as well as the addition of a blockchain customer that we expect to grow even more in 2024.

在全國範圍內，資料中心和區塊鏈客戶的需求正在增加。隨著技術進步、人工智慧和雲端服務的發展，我們看到了長期為越來越多的此類客戶提供服務的機會。我們與這些客戶、我們的社區和州立法者合作，提供有利的立法和熱情的商業環境。我們很高興看到 Microsoft 於 2023 年擴展到夏延的第二和第三個資料中心，並增加了一個區塊鏈客戶，我們預計該客戶將在 2024 年成長更多。

As the demand from these customers grows, their contribution to earnings is also growing. Understandably, due to the confidential nature of these customers' loads, we have less ability to highlight their specific demand and contributions. To help with that issue, we have grouped our data center and blockchain customers together to provide directional earnings contribution estimates. In general, we view the impact from these customers as representing around 5% of our total EPS in the early years of our 5-year plan and continuing to grow to around 10% of total EPS by the end of our 5-year plan. We foresee growing earnings from the stable and long-term customers throughout our plan period and beyond.

隨著這些客戶的需求成長，他們對收入的貢獻也在成長。可以理解的是，由於這些客戶負載的機密性，我們不太有能力強調他們的具體需求和貢獻。為了幫助解決這個問題，我們將資料中心和區塊鏈客戶分組在一起，以提供定向收益貢獻估計。總體而言，我們認為這些客戶的影響在我們 5 年計畫初期約占我們總 EPS 的 5% 左右，並在 5 年計畫結束時繼續增長到總 EPS 的 10% 左右。我們預計在整個計劃期間及之後，來自穩定和長期客戶的收入將會持續成長。

As a recap and before I turn it back to Linn, our team made meaningful progress in 2023 in key areas, executing our regulatory plan, developing our strategic growth projects and expanding our blockchain and data center opportunities. All of these efforts are aimed at driving more effective service to our customers and profitable growth for our business.

回顧一下，在我把它轉回Linn 之前，我們的團隊在2023 年在關鍵領域取得了有意義的進展，執行我們的監管計劃、開發我們的戰略增長項目以及擴大我們的區塊鏈和數據中心機會。所有這些努力都旨在為我們的客戶提供更有效的服務並促進我們業務的獲利成長。

With that, I'll turn it back to Linn for his final comments.

至此，我將把它轉回林恩以徵求他的最終意見。

Thanks, Todd. Slides 23 and 24 display our last 5 years financial results and the next 5 years' expectations. Over the last 5 years, we have delivered average growth of 10% in rate base, 6% in earnings and 5% in our dividend. While earnings have been relatively strong, EPS growth has reflected macroeconomic conditions.

謝謝，托德。幻燈片 23 和 24 顯示了我們過去 5 年的財務表現和未來 5 年的預期。過去 5 年裡，我們的利率基數平均成長 10%，獲利平均成長 6%，股息平均成長 5%。雖然獲利相對強勁，但每股盈餘的成長反映了宏觀經濟狀況。

Looking ahead to the next 5 years, I'm excited about our compelling investment thesis supported by our $4.3 billion capital plan, our growing portfolio of strategic and incremental opportunities, margin expansion and process improvement initiatives.

展望未來 5 年，我對我們令人信服的投資論點感到興奮，這些投資論點得到了我們 43 億美元的資本計劃、不斷增長的戰略和增量機會組合、利潤擴張和流程改進舉措的支持。

With that, we're happy to entertain questions.

至此，我們很樂意回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Anthony Crowdell with Mizuho.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Mizuho 的 Anthony Crowdell。

Congrats on a good quarter. Just a couple of quick follow-ups. I guess if I could bounce to Slide 8, just if you could help us out when I'm modeling for 2024. Some nonrecurring items there, just or maybe recurring, if you could help us out on what we should include for 2024 numbers or just directionally maybe for the other segment?

恭喜季度表現良好。只需幾個快速跟進。我想我是否可以跳到幻燈片8，只要你能在我為2024 年建模時幫助我們。那裡有一些非經常性項目，只是或可能重複出現，如果你能幫助我們了解2024 年數字應包括哪些內容，或只是定向可能針對其他細分市場？

Good to see you. Yes, as you heard on the call and we're looking back, we had a lot of macroeconomic challenges in the rearview mirror. We think they're behind us. But as you look at the specific '23 numbers and you think about how you need to model for 2024, the way we looked at it and why we specifically, in 2023, guided to the midpoint of our earnings guidance of $3.75 as the base. If you take that $3.91 and you add back weather and mark-to-market and then you take out the 2023 onetime activities, you basically get to that midpoint.

很高興見到你。是的，正如您在電話會議中聽到的那樣，我們回顧過去，我們在後視鏡中遇到了許多宏觀經濟挑戰。我們認為他們就在我們身後。但是，當您查看 23 年的具體數字時，您會想到需要如何為 2024 年建模、我們看待它的方式以及為什麼我們在 2023 年具體以 3.75 美元的盈利指導中點為基礎。如果你拿 3.91 美元，再加上天氣和以市價計價，然後去掉 2023 年的一次性活動，你基本上就達到了這個中點。

So think about it from that perspective. And then assume that we've embedded what I'd call more inflationary-type rates into our plan. So when you look at O&M, think about average run rate related to CPI of around 3.5%. Think about interest in the current interest rate environment. All of those costs have been embedded into our plan. So when you think about the 4% to 6% growth, that's why we're really confident because we really feel like we've gotten over that macroeconomic environment hump that we had to -- be challenged with for 2023.

所以要從這個角度去思考。然後假設我們已將我所說的更多通膨型利率納入我們的計劃中。因此，當您考慮運維時，請考慮與 CPI 相關的平均運行率約為 3.5%。考慮一下當前利率環境下的興趣。所有這些成本都已納入我們的計劃中。因此，當你想到 4% 到 6% 的成長時，這就是為什麼我們非常有信心，因為我們真的覺得我們已經克服了 2023 年我們必須面臨的宏觀經濟環境的挑戰。

Great. And I think you also gave a target on, I believe, debt to total cap of 55%. When do you guys think you'll achieve the target?

偉大的。我認為您還設定了債務佔總上限 55% 的目標。你們認為什麼時候能達成目標？

Yes. We're focused on achieving that in 2024.

是的。我們致力於在 2024 年實現這一目標。

Okay. And then just lastly, really appreciate the clarity on data centers as it's become a big focus in the industry. Doing it, I guess, you guys are already 10 years plus, seems to maybe be one of the pioneers in this. Just curious when you think about for the rest of the industry, just -- has the power consumption or what's advertised, has that been your experience of what you've seen? And then if I think of the -- you provide maybe potentially $0.10 of earnings contribution -- oh, I'm sorry, 10% of contribution by 2028. If we could just like separate that, is that mainly related to rate base investment? Or is that maybe margin on sales? And I'll jump back in the queue after that.

好的。最後，真正欣賞資料中心的清晰度，因為它已成為業界的一大焦點。我想，你們這樣做已經有 10 多年了，似乎可能是這方面的先驅之一。只是好奇，當您考慮行業的其他部分時，只是 - 功耗或廣告中的內容是您所看到的體驗嗎？然後，如果我想到——你可能提供 0.10 美元的收益貢獻——哦，對不起，到 2028 年貢獻 10%。如果我們可以將其分開，這主要與利率基礎投資有關嗎？或者這可能是銷售利潤嗎？之後我會跳回隊列中。

Anthony, this is Linn. It's really the latter. These are margins on sales. So what we have done with these particular customers under an approved tariff with our Wyoming Commission is would they -- will they pay us a fee for essentially helping them procure that energy. And that fee represents a lost opportunity, perhaps with respect to generation. So in other words, that fee represents what we would otherwise earn on a generation investment, which really helps us protect our other customers with respect to these loads. And we're really happy with these loads. We like these loads and we really enjoy serving these customers and we see great opportunity as we go forward.

安東尼，這是林恩。確實是後者。這些都是銷售利潤。因此，我們根據懷俄明州委員會批准的關稅對這些特定客戶所做的事情是，他們是否會向我們支付費用，以幫助他們採購能源。這筆費用代表著失去的機會，也許就發電而言。換句話說，該費用代表了我們在發電投資中所賺取的收入，這確實有助於我們保護其他客戶的這些負載。我們對這些負載非常滿意。我們喜歡這些負載，我們真的很喜歡為這些客戶提供服務，我們在前進的過程中看到了巨大的機會。

Our next question comes from Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Julien Dumoulin-Smith。

If I can, just on -- just to kick things off back on the earnings front, just really quickly here. Just as you think about the parent refinancing in the '24 here and on the back half here. I know you've alluded to it but what are you assuming there in terms of the guidance, as well as how are you thinking about offsets to O&M, including potential asset sales here? Just to kind of clear that out real quickly.

如果可以的話，只是——只是為了在盈利方面重新開始，很快就可以了。正如您在此處和後半部分思考 24 年母公司再融資一樣。我知道您已經提到過這一點，但您在指導方面有何假設，以及您如何考慮 O&M 的抵消，包括這裡潛在的資產銷售？只是為了盡快弄清楚這一點。

Yes, Julien. So refinancings first. We have $600 million coming due in August. We have strong cash flows in the plan that are continuing from Storm Uri, which are about $100 million. So incorporating those in the plan, we're still assessing the amount and I don't want to give too much of a detail here but we're expecting to refinance something less than the $600 million that we have in the plan. I just want to reiterate that we're assuming higher interest rates on that in the plan for 2024. So I guess I'd just ask you to think about it that way with the strong cash flows from Storm Uri being included in that assessment.

是的，朱利安。所以首先再融資。我們八月還有 6 億美元到期。我們的計劃中擁有來自 Storm Uri 的強勁現金流，約 1 億美元。因此，將這些納入計劃中，我們仍在評估金額，我不想在這裡提供太多細節，但我們預計再融資的金額將少於計劃中的 6 億美元。我只是想重申，我們在 2024 年的計劃中假設利率更高。因此，我想我只是請您以這種方式考慮這一點，因為 Storm Uri 的強勁現金流已包含在該評估中。

Offsets related to O&M, from an earnings guidance perspective, we assume normal weather, no mark-to-market. We have not included any major onetime activities within our earnings guidance. So we're really focused on our ability to run the business going forward and that's really what's demonstrated and illustrated in our financial plan that we've laid out for 2024 and our future growth.

與維運相關的抵消，從獲利指引的角度來看，我們假設天氣正常，不以市價計價。我們沒有將任何重大的一次性活動納入我們的獲利指導中。因此，我們真正關注的是我們未來經營業務的能力，這確實是我們為 2024 年和未來成長制定的財務計劃中所展示和說明的。

Got it. So no asset sales -- no property sales or what have you, right?

知道了。所以沒有資產出售——沒有房產出售或什麼，對吧？

Correct. Nothing of material nature that we dealt with this year.

正確的。今年我們沒有處理任何物質性質的事情。

Wonderful. All right. Excellent. I appreciate it. And then just moving back here to some of the other commentary, just saw the RNG updates here of late. And I'm curious just to understand, what are you reflecting on that front here as you kind of delve into that space, both in the current year and then as you look forward through the plan, how much growth is there potentially reflected in this novel segment?

精彩的。好的。出色的。我很感激。然後回到這裡看看其他一些評論，最近在這裡看到了 RNG 的更新。我很好奇只是想了解，當您深入研究這個領域時，您在這方面有何反映，無論是在今年，還是在您展望該計劃時，這方面可能反映了多少增長小說片段？

Julien, this is Todd. We haven't categorized it. We define it as small but growing part of our overall earnings. We see opportunity in the space. The way that I like to characterize this is that it's really a confluence of opportunity with our geography. We live and operate in very much agriculture-rich areas. We have expertise in this space with -- and the fact that we understand pipelines and gas quality.

朱利安，這是托德。我們還沒有對其進行分類。我們將其定義為我們整體收入中雖小但不斷增長的一部分。我們在這個領域看到了機會。我喜歡描述這一點的方式是，這實際上是機會與我們地理位置的交匯。我們生活和經營的地區農業非常豐富。我們在這個領域擁有專業知識，我們了解管道和天然氣品質。

And so we've seen a lot of interest. And so what we've done is, we've talked in the past about our interconnect projects, we're growing to 10 in 2024. But what we've seen is further opportunities that we wanted to get a small but dedicated team, really with a really good background on engineering and commercial expertise to go after more interesting and potentially more lucrative projects.

所以我們看到了很多人的興趣。所以我們所做的是，我們過去討論過我們的互連項目，到 2024 年我們將增加到 10 個。但我們看到的是我們希望獲得一個小而專注的團隊的更多機會，確實擁有良好的工程和商業專業知識背景，可以追求更有趣且可能更有利可圖的專案。

And so what we announced just a couple of weeks ago was an acquisition of our production facility in Dubuque, Iowa. That's our first foray, really into the nonregulated space. We plan to keep it relatively small to start, if we get into more material space, we'll certainly talk about that more publicly. But we do see opportunity. We see a lot of interest in our service territory. We're excited about the business. We think it's a good overall story for removing methane that would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere and putting that into the natural gas system. There's a lot of interest from other utilities and other producers within our service territory for these type of assets. So we see upside in the future but we do see it's small to start but increasing in the future.

因此，我們幾週前宣布收購位於愛荷華州迪比克的生產設施。這是我們第一次涉足非監管領域。我們計劃一開始就保持相對較小的規模，如果我們進入更多的物質空間，我們肯定會更公開地討論這一點。但我們確實看到了機會。我們看到很多人對我們的服務領域感興趣。我們對這項業務感到興奮。我們認為，對於去除本來會釋放到大氣中的甲烷並將其放入天然氣系統來說，這是一個很好的整體故事。我們服務範圍內的其他公用事業公司和其他生產商對此類資產非常感興趣。因此，我們看到了未來的上升空間，但我們確實看到它開始時很小，但未來會增加。

And Julien, the only thing I would add is think about it as utility-like or better returns, even though it's immaterial, just think about it from that perspective.

Julien，我唯一要補充的是，將其視為效用或更好的回報，儘管它並不重要，但只需從這個角度考慮即可。

Yes. And the only other thing I'd add to that is that we want to maintain a very solid investment thesis, Julien, where we're looking at long-term offtakes reliable revenues and really staying away from commodity risk. So it's utility-like but we do want greater upside.

是的。我要補充的唯一一件事是，朱利安，我們希望維持一個非常可靠的投資論點，我們著眼於長期承購可靠的收入，並真正遠離商品風險。所以它類似於實用程序，但我們確實希望有更大的優勢。

Right. So it's fairly contracted RNG assets that you're looking at?

正確的。所以你正在尋找的是相當收縮的 RNG 資產？

Yes. Correct.

是的。正確的。

Indeed, that's correct.

確實，這是正確的。

Excellent. Yes. Wonderful. Excellent. And then just clarifying the data center commentary and the tariff commentary. Just -- so basically going from 5% to 10% EPS contribution through the forecast period implies about 1% of the growth here, per annum is driven by this tariff and associated load. How do you think about the mix between Bitcoin and data centers? And specifically within that, how do you think about the sort of the reliability characteristics that are being offered? Is there some potential to effectively upsell these customers over time into more firm products, considering, I suppose, historically, we've talked more about coin customers with you guys, if you will, versus more of the data center types?

出色的。是的。精彩的。出色的。然後澄清資料中心評論和關稅評論。只是——基本上，在預測期內，每股收益貢獻從 5% 增加到 10%，這意味著每年約 1% 的增長是由該關稅和相關負載驅動的。您如何看待比特幣和資料中心之間的結合？具體來說，您如何看待所提供的可靠性特徵？考慮到，我想，歷史上，我們與你們更多地談論了硬幣客戶，而不是更多的資料中心類型，隨著時間的推移，是否有可能有效地將這些客戶推銷為更穩定的產品？

Yes. What I can say is that we have been very selective about the customers that we've chosen. We actually -- just given the demand from blockchain customers, a couple of years ago, we actually did a reverse RFP. And so we were very selective about who we chose, somebody with a good operational background, somebody who is financially sound. We've had a lot of success with that customer and I would say that they would say the same about us.

是的。我可以說的是，我們對我們選擇的客戶非常挑剔。實際上，幾年前，鑑於區塊鏈客戶的需求，我們實際上進行了反向 RFP。因此，我們對選擇的人非常挑剔，有良好營運背景的人，有財務狀況良好的人。我們與該客戶取得了巨大的成功，我想說他們也會對我們說同樣的話。

They have access to market energy. We have quite a few protections for our customers, in the sense we talk about the concept of capital light, meaning that the customer makes those investments in infrastructure and to serve that load and then we offer access to the market. So it's really that idea of access to the market for those customers.

他們可以獲得市場能量。我們為客戶提供了相當多的保護，從某種意義上說，我們談論的是輕資本的概念，這意味著客戶對基礎設施進行投資並為該負載提供服務，然後我們提供市場准入。所以這實際上是為這些客戶進入市場的想法。

So we see -- with particularly the customers that we've chosen, as being solid customers with long-term agreements. And again, they found it beneficial the way we set up these contracts as well. I hope that answered your question, Julien.

因此，我們認為，特別是我們選擇的客戶，都是具有長期協議的可靠客戶。他們再次發現我們建立這些合約的方式也是有益的。我希望這回答了你的問題，朱利安。

Yes. Fair enough. Great, guys. Appreciate it. Best of luck.

是的。很公平。太棒了，夥計們。欣賞它。祝你好運。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Andrew Weisel with Scotiabank.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Andrew Weisel。

First question, just to clarify, does the 2024 EPS guidance reflect the freezing cold January weather?

第一個問題，我想澄清一下，2024 年 EPS 指導是否反映了 1 月份寒冷的天氣？

We, in our earnings guidance, assume normal weather and so note that upside, downside that will be part of our 2024 numbers.

在我們的獲利指引中，我們假設天氣正常，因此我們注意到上行和下行都將成為我們 2024 年資料的一部分。

Okay. Great. Good start there then. Next, you mentioned the potential for EPS to -- EPS growth to accelerate over the years. Did you mean that as sort of a gradually accelerating outlook? Or will it be lumpy? Specifically, I'm looking at the CapEx spike in 2026. I imagine that would drive strong growth in 2027. Am I right there?

好的。偉大的。那就從這裡開始吧。接下來，您提到了每股收益多年來加速成長的潛力。您的意思是說這是一種逐漸加速的前景嗎？還是會結塊？具體來說，我正在關注 2026 年的資本支出高峰。我想這將推動 2027 年的強勁成長。我說得對嗎？

Actually, it will drive strong growth in 2026 and forward when you think about the overall capital plan. So what we've said is our growth will be 4% in the front of the plan, accelerating over time and you can see that as a result of the capital investments that we've outlined.

事實上，當你考慮整體資本計畫時，它將推動 2026 年及未來的強勁成長。所以我們所說的是，我們的成長將在計劃之前達到 4%，並且隨著時間的推移而加速，你可以看到這是我們概述的資本投資的結果。

Okay. Great. And then the third one, if I may. FFO to debt, I know you've been pretty clear about the targeted 14% to 15%. What was the actual for 2023? And do you -- is that target a good range for 2024?

好的。偉大的。如果可以的話，然後是第三個。從 FFO 到債務，我知道您已經非常清楚 14% 到 15% 的目標。 2023 年的實際情況是多少？您認為 2024 年的目標是否合理？

Absolutely, Andrew. So we're still targeting the 14% to 15% as we noted. With Moody's, we have -- we're in excess of that. For S&P, we're closer to the 13% and we'll be marching to the 14%. And then with Fitch, when you include the Storm Uri, cash flows were around 5 to 5.2x for their FFO adjusted leverage.

當然，安德魯。因此，正如我們所指出的，我們的目標仍然是 14% 到 15%。有了穆迪，我們已經超越了這個目標。對於標準普爾來說，我們已經接近 13%，並將朝著 14% 邁進。然後，對於惠譽，當您將 Storm Uri 納入時，其 FFO 調整槓桿的現金流量約為 5 至 5.2 倍。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Linn Evans for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在想將電話轉回給林恩·埃文斯 (Linn Evans)，請他發表結束語。

Well, thank you very much, Josh and thank you for your interest in Black Hills and those who dialed in this morning. We really appreciate you.

好吧，非常感謝你，喬什，感謝你對布萊克山的興趣以及今天早上撥打電話的人。我們非常感謝您。

I also want to say thank you to my 2,900 coworkers. You are the heart and soul of what we do every day. Thank you so much for how well you represented us last year and all that we accomplished in 2023. Thank you.

我還要向我的 2,900 名同事表示感謝。您是我們每天工作的核心和靈魂。非常感謝您去年出色地代表了我們以及我們在 2023 年取得的所有成就。謝謝。

I'm also very proud of the fuels that we produce and sell. Without the gas that we have distributed to our customers in January, life would have been much, much (technical difficulty) across our 8 states. So I'm just very proud of that fuel that we produce and how well our baseload electric generation held up as well to keep our customers with lights and with heat. So thank you to our team.

我也對我們生產和銷售的燃料感到非常自豪。如果沒有我們一月份分配給客戶的天然氣，我們 8 個州的生活將會非常非常困難（技術困難）。因此，我對我們生產的燃料以及我們的基本負載發電能力以及為我們的客戶提供照明和供熱的能力感到非常自豪。所以感謝我們的團隊。

So again, well done and thank you. But I ask that you please enjoy a Black Hills Energy safe day. We'll look forward to catching up with you next quarter. Take care.

再次，幹得好，謝謝。但我請您享受 Black Hills Energy 安全日。我們期待下個季度與您聯繫。小心。

Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。