Black Hills Corp (BKH) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Black Hills Corporation First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Dave Soderquist, Investor Relations Manager. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Black Hills Corporation 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想將會議交給投資者關係經理戴夫·索德奎斯特 (Dave Soderquist)。請繼續。

Thank you, Liz. Good morning, and welcome to Black Hills Corporation's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. You can find our earnings release and materials for our call this morning on our website at www.blackhillscorp.com under the Investor Relations heading.

謝謝你，莉茲。早安，歡迎參加 Black Hills Corporation 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。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 Linden Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Kimberly Nooney, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Also in attendance today 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登·埃文斯 (Linden Evans)；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Kimberly Nooney。今天出席的還有公用事業部資深副總裁 Marne Jones；雅各布斯（Todd Jacobs），成長與策略資深副總裁。

Before we begin today, we would like to note that Black Hills will be attending the American Gas Association Financial Forum the week of May 19. Our leadership team will be meeting with investors at the conference and an investor presentation will be posted on our website prior to the event.

在今天開始之前，我們想指出 Black Hills 將參加 5 月 19 日這一周的美國天然氣協會金融論壇。到活動。

During our earnings discussion today, 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 are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially. We will 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預期是基於合理的假設，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風險的一些因素的清單。

I will now turn the call over to Lin Evans.

我現在將把電話轉給林·埃文斯。

Thank you, Dave. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us today. I'll start this morning by congratulating Brian Iverson, our General Counsel, who recently announced he intends to retire in October. Brian has worn many strategic hats over his 20-plus year career with us and Brian's guidance, insights and strategic mindset will be missed, and we wish him and his family all the best as they begin to think about their next chapter. We have started our search for our next General Counsel, but congratulations to Brian and his family.

謝謝你，戴夫。早安，感謝大家今天加入我們。今天早上我首先要祝賀我們的總法律顧問布萊恩艾佛森 (Brian Iverson)，他最近宣布打算在 10 月退休。 Brian 在我們 20 多年的職業生涯中擔任過許多策略職務，我們將懷念 Brian 的指導、見解和策略思維，我們祝福他和他的家人在開始思考下一個篇章時一切順利。我們已經開始尋找下一任總法律顧問，但恭喜布萊恩和他的家人。

Let's transition to our comments about our great first quarter. I will provide a brief overview of the quarter. Kimberly will provide our financial update, and Marne and Todd will provide more detail on our operational performance and strategic progress.

讓我們談談對我們出色的第一季的評論。我將簡要概述本季的情況。金伯利（Kimberly）將提供我們的財務最新情況，馬恩（Marne）和托德（Todd）將提供有關我們的營運績效和策略進展的更多詳細資訊。

I'll begin on Slide 3. We're off to a good start delivering results for our stakeholders, providing excellent operational performance, delivering on our financial targets and advancing our regulatory and growth initiatives. Earnings per share for the quarter increased 8% compared to the same period last year. New margins and expense management more than offset headwinds from warm weather, inflation and interest rates. We benefited from the successful execution of our regulatory plan, which delivered new rates and higher margins.

我將從幻燈片3 開始。 。本季每股收益較去年同期成長8%。新的利潤率和費用管理足以抵消溫暖天氣、通貨膨脹和利率的不利影響。我們受益於監管計劃的成功執行，該計劃帶來了新的利率和更高的利潤。

We continue to advance our electric resource plans. We recently filed our 120-day report in support of our Colorado Clean Energy Plan, recommending an additional 400 megawatts of renewable and battery resources to achieve our emission reduction goals. The report proposes we own 250 megawatts of the new resources. In South Dakota, we continue to pursue 100 megawatts of utility-owned generation to reliably serve the growing needs of our customers.

我們繼續推進我們的電力資源計劃。我們最近提交了 120 天報告來支持我們的科羅拉多州清潔能源計劃，建議額外增加 400 兆瓦的再生能源和電池資源，以實現我們的減排目標。報告建議我們擁有 250 兆瓦的新資源。在南達科他州，我們繼續追求 100 兆瓦的公用事業發電，以可靠地滿足客戶不斷增長的需求。

In Wyoming, we continue construction of our ready Wyoming electric transmission project that will strategically interconnect our Wyoming Electric and South Dakota electric transmission systems.

在懷俄明州，我們繼續建造已準備就緒的懷俄明州電力傳輸項目，該項目將策略性地互連我們的懷俄明州電力和南達科他州電力傳輸系統。

Slide 4 provides our financial outlook. We're reaffirming our earnings guidance range of $3.80 to $4 per share. Our strong growth opportunities gives us confidence in achieving our long-term EPS growth target of 4% to 6%. We continue to expect earnings growth to accelerate, especially in the latter half of our 5-year plan as we place in service new transmission and generation investments and serve growing data center and customer loads.

幻燈片 4 提供了我們的財務前景。我們重申每股盈餘指引範圍為 3.80 美元至 4 美元。強勁的成長機會使我們有信心實現 4% 至 6% 的長期每股盈餘成長目標。我們繼續預期獲利成長將加速，特別是在我們五年計畫的後半段，因為我們將投入服務於新的輸電和發電投資，並為不斷增長的資料中心和客戶負載提供服務。

Slide 5 is our 2024 scorecard. We use this scorecard to provide clarity around our strategic objectives and key results for this year and to hold ourselves accountable to you, our shareholders and other stakeholders. I'm very pleased how we're successfully advancing each of our strategic objectives. With that, I'll turn it over to Kimberly for our financial update. Kimberly?

第 5 張投影片是我們 2024 年的記分卡。我們使用此記分卡來明確我們今年的策略目標和主要成果，並對您、我們的股東和其他利害關係人負責。我很高興我們成功推進每一個戰略目標。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, Lin, and good morning, everyone. We delivered a solid first quarter driven by strong margin contributions from both our operating segments and expense management efforts and are on track to achieve our financial targets. We continued to improve our debt ratio due to strong operating cash flows and expect to achieve our long-term target of 55% by year-end.

謝謝林老師，大家早安。在我們的營運部門和費用管理工作的強勁利潤貢獻的推動下，我們第一季業績表現強勁，並有望實現我們的財務目標。由於營運現金流強勁，我們的負債比率持續改善，預計到年底實現 55% 的長期目標。

Slide 7 shows the EPS drivers compared to the same period last year. We reported $1.87 per share this quarter compared to $1.73 per share in Q1 2023, an increase of 8%. Higher earnings were primarily driven by $0.25 per share of new rates in rider recovery, data center and blockchain margins and $0.09 per share of lower operating expenses. These positive drivers more than offset the combined impacts from warmer weather and higher financing costs, depreciation and other expense.

投影片 7 顯示了與去年同期相比的 EPS 驅動因素。我們報告本季每股收益為 1.87 美元，與 2023 年第一季的每股收益 1.73 美元相比，成長了 8%。收益增加主要是由於乘客恢復、資料中心和區塊鏈利潤率的新利率每股 0.25 美元以及營運費用降低每股 0.09 美元。這些積極的驅動因素足以抵消天氣變暖和融資成本、折舊和其他費用上升的綜合影響。

The reduction in O&M was due to lower labor costs and outside services, which more than offset a prior year gain on sale of noncore assets. For the year, we expect O&M to increase approximately 3.5% over the prior year due to the ongoing impacts of inflation.

營運和維護成本的減少是由於勞動成本和外部服務的降低，這遠遠抵消了去年出售非核心資產的收益。由於通膨的持續影響，我們預計今年營運與維護將比上年增長約 3.5%。

Weather negatively impacted first quarter earnings by $0.10 per share compared to Q1 2023 and $0.07 per share compared to normal. Heating degree days were down 10% from Q1 2023 and 8% compared to normal. In total, equity and debt financing costs were higher by approximately $0.07 per share. We issued $34 million of new shares during the quarter, and we continue to expect $170 million to $190 million in equity issuances this year. In 2023, we issued $119 million of net equity under the ATM program for a year-over-year dilution impact of approximately $0.06 per share.

與 2023 年第一季相比，天氣對第一季收益產生了每股 0.10 美元的負面影響，與正常情況相比每股產生了 0.07 美元的負面影響。暖氣度日數較 2023 年第一季下降 10%，較正常水準下降 8%。總體而言，股權和債務融資成本每股增加約 0.07 美元。我們在本季發行了 3,400 萬美元的新股，我們繼續預計今年將發行 1.7 億至 1.9 億美元的股票。 2023 年，我們根據 ATM 計畫發行了 1.19 億美元的淨股本，較去年同期稀釋影響約為每股 0.06 美元。

Interest expense was essentially flat quarter-over-quarter with impacts from higher interest rates, offset by interest income on cash balances. Looking forward, we expect slightly higher interest expense in 2024 due to refinancing activity this year. Depreciation and amortization expense was higher by $0.05 per share, driven by our ongoing investment program. Further details on our year-over-year changes in operating income can be found in the earnings release and 10-Q to be filed with the SEC later today.

由於利率上升的影響，利息支出較上季基本持平，但被現金餘額的利息收入所抵銷。展望未來，由於今年的再融資活動，我們預計 2024 年利息支出將略有上升。由於我們正在進行的投資計劃，每股折舊和攤銷費用增加了 0.05 美元。有關我們營業收入同比變化的更多詳細信息，請參閱今天晚些時候向 SEC 提交的收益報告和 10-Q 報告。

Moving to Slide 8, which displays our solid financial position through the lens of credit quality, capital structure and liquidity. We continued to reduce our debt to total capitalization ratio and improve other key credit metrics as we work toward BBB+ credit quality. Our liquidity remains strong with approximately $120 million of cash and $750 million of availability under our revolving credit facility at quarter end. We expect to refinance a portion of our $600 million notes maturing in August and have assumed interest rates comparable with the current interest rate environment in our earnings guidance. Following this debt refinancing in 2024, our next debt maturity occurs in 2026. The

轉向投影片 8，它透過信貸品質、資本結構和流動性的角度展示了我們穩健的財務狀況。我們持續降低債務與總資本比率，並改善其他關鍵信用指標，努力實現 BBB+ 信用品質。我們的流動性仍然強勁，截至季度末，我們的循環信貸安排下約有 1.2 億美元的現金和 7.5 億美元的可用資金。我們預計將對 8 月到期的 6 億美元票據的一部分進行再融資，並假設利率與獲利指引中當前的利率環境相當。在 2024 年進行債務再融資後，我們的下一個債務到期日為 2026 年。

Slide 9 illustrates our industry-leading dividend track record of 54 consecutive years. We anticipate growing our dividend at a rate comparable to earnings growth. A dependable and increasing dividend is an important component of our strategy for growing long-term value for our shareholders. I will now turn the call over to Marne for a business update.

幻燈片 9 展示了我們連續 54 年保持行業領先的股息記錄。我們預期股息的成長速度與獲利成長相當。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重要組成部分。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 11. Operational excellence is a source of pride for us as we deliver safe, reliable and cost-effective service to our customers. We recently celebrated National Line Mechanic Appreciation Week and Gas Utility Workers Day. I am grateful for the critical work by our team as we successfully worked through adverse weather conditions during the quarter.

謝謝你，金伯莉。我將從投影片 11 開始我的評論。我們最近慶祝了國家線路機械師感謝週和燃氣公用事業工人日。我感謝我們團隊在本季的惡劣天氣條件下成功開展的關鍵工作。

As Kimberly mentioned, overall weather was warmer than normal across the U.S., but conditions were not mild. And Arctic Blast in January brought sub-zero temperatures across our entire service territory. Our team also responded admirably to wind and snow events in parts of our service territory, efficiently restoring power for localized outages that are often inevitable in those types of conditions. The cross-functional teamwork and diligent planning that takes place to keep our energy systems reliable and resilient is remarkable. Thank you to all my colleagues listening in today for your ongoing dedication to serving our customers, performing your work safely and representing our company values, vision and mission of improving life with energy.

正如金伯利所提到的，美國各地的整體天氣比正常情況溫暖，但情況並不溫和。一月份的北極爆炸為我們整個服務區域帶來了零度以下的溫度。我們的團隊也對部分服務區域的風雪事件做出了令人欽佩的反應，有效地恢復了在這些類型的條件下通常不可避免的局部停電的電力。為了保持我們的能源系統的可靠性和彈性而進行的跨職能團隊合作和勤奮的規劃是非凡的。感謝今天聆聽的所有同事，感謝你們持續致力於服務我們的客戶、安全地開展工作並代表我們公司的價值觀、願景和使命，即用能量改善生活。

During the first quarter, we were recognized by the American Gas Association as a leader in accident prevention. During 2023, we were one of just 10 combination, electric and gas utilities with a better-than-average employee safety record. Congratulations to our team.

第一季度，我們被美國天然氣協會評為事故預防領域的領導者。 2023 年，我們是僅有 10 家員工安全記錄優於平均水準的電力和天然氣聯合公用事業公司之一。祝賀我們的團隊。

Moving to Slide 12. Our largest active capital project is our ready Wyoming transmission project. The 260 mile line is being constructed in multiple phases and remains on target to be completed by year-end 2025. When complete, this transmission project will provide expanded capacity, expanded access to energy markets and renewable energy and is expected to stabilize long-term cost for customers. The investment for this project will be recovered through our Wyoming transmission rider as segments are placed in service.

前往投影片 12。這條260 英里的線路正在分多個階段建設，目標是在2025 年底前完成。穩定客戶的成本。隨著部分投入使用，該項目的投資將透過我們的懷俄明州變速箱騎士收回。

Slide 13 provides an update on our clean energy plan in Colorado. We reached a key milestone in April with the submission of our 120-day report to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The report summarized more than 100 bids received in response to our request for proposals to add 400 megawatts of renewable energy and battery storage resources to serve our Colorado customers. Our preferred portfolio of top bids includes 250 megawatts of utility-owned resources, including a 200-megawatt build transfer solar project and a 50-megawatt build transfer battery project. We also proposed 150 megawatts of wind energy through a power purchase agreement.

投影片 13 提供了我們科羅拉多州清潔能源計畫的最新情況。 4 月份，我們向科羅拉多州公共事業委員會提交了 120 天報告，達到了一個重要的里程碑。該報告總結了我們收到的100 多個投標，這些投標是為了響應我們的提案請求而收到的，旨在增加400 兆瓦的可再生能源和電池儲存資源，為我們科羅拉多州的客戶提供服務。我們的首選最高投標組合包括 250 兆瓦公用事業自有資源，其中包括 200 兆瓦建設轉移太陽能專案和 50 兆瓦建設轉移電池專案。我們也透過購電協議提出了150兆瓦的風能。

The preferred portfolio was assessed by a third-party evaluator and is subject to review and approval by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. We expect a decision on Phase 2 of our plan in the third quarter of this year. The majority of our anticipated investment in these renewable resources has been included in our 5-year capital forecast.

首選投資組合由第三方評估員進行評估，並須經科羅拉多州公用事業委員會審查和批准。我們預計將在今年第三季就計劃的第二階段做出決定。我們對這些再生資源的預期投資大部分已包含在我們的 5 年資本預測中。

Slide 14 outlines our South Dakota Electric resource plan. We continue to pursue 100 megawatts of utility-owned generation that will cost effectively and reliably serve our customers and their long-term growth needs. We are targeting an in-service date of mid-2026, for needed resources and plan to file a certificate of public convenience and necessity with the Wyoming Public Service Commission in the second half of 2024.

幻燈片 14 概述了我們的南達科他州電力資源計劃。我們將繼續追求 100 兆瓦的公用事業發電，以經濟高效、可靠地服務於我們的客戶及其長期成長需求。我們的目標是 2026 年中期投入使用，以獲取所需資源，並計劃在 2024 年下半年向懷俄明州公共服務委員會提交公共便利和必要性證明。

Slide 15 provides an overview of our wildfire risk mitigation activities. We have managed these risks for decades across our service territory. As conditions change and technology advances, we continue to refine our approach to improve resiliency and reliability of our systems and reduce risk for our coworkers, our customers and communities. Our layered approach to wildfire mitigation can be summarized into 3 broad categories: asset programs, integrity programs and operational response.

幻燈片 15 概述了我們的野火風險緩解活動。幾十年來，我們在整個服務領域一直在管理這些風險。隨著條件的變化和技術的進步，我們不斷改進我們的方法，以提高系統的彈性和可靠性，並降低我們的同事、客戶和社區的風險。我們的分層野火緩解方法可歸納為三大類：資產計畫、誠信計畫和營運回應。

In the second quarter, we plan to publish our comprehensive wildfire mitigation plan, which will provide deeper insight into the practices, policies and procedures we observe every day. We continue to engage broad stakeholder groups, including community and local agencies, regulators and our industry peers to review and advance our wildfire mitigation plan. In that spirit, we are working with these stakeholders to review and formalize our public safety power shutoff program or PSPS, and expect to implement it early next year.

在第二季度，我們計劃發布全面的野火緩解計劃，這將使我們更深入地了解我們每天觀察到的做法、政策和程序。我們繼續與廣泛的利害關係人群體合作，包括社區和當地機構、監管機構和行業同行，以審查和推進我們的野火緩解計劃。本著這種精神，我們正在與這些利益相關者合作，審查並正式確定我們的公共安全斷電計劃（PSPS），並預計在明年初實施。

With that, I will now turn it over to Todd for an update on regulatory growth and strategic progress.

現在，我將把它交給托德，以了解監管成長和策略進展的最新情況。

Thanks, Marne. I'll start with a regulatory update on Slide 17. Since the start of the year, we've received final approval for settlements in our Colorado and Wyoming gas rate reviews with new rates effective in both states during February. We greatly appreciated the constructive engagement by stakeholders in each of those cases. Our Arkansas gas rate review continued to advance as planned and we expect new rates in the fourth quarter.

謝謝，馬恩。我將從幻燈片 17 上的監管更新開始。我們非常感謝利害關係人在每個案例中的建設性參與。我們的阿肯色州天然氣費率審查繼續按計劃進行，我們預計第四季度將出現新的費率。

On May 1, we requested new rates for Iowa Gas to recover approximately $100 million of investment and other costs to serve customers since our last rate review in 2021. This request includes $20.7 million of new annual revenue with interim rates effective May 11 and final rates requested in Q1 of 2025. We are also preparing to file a rate review for Colorado Electric in June with our last rate review for that utility in 2016.

5 月1 日，我們要求愛荷華天然氣公司採用新的費率，以收回自2021 年上次費率審查以來約1 億美元的投資和其他成本，以服務客戶。新年收入，以及5 月11 日生效的中期費率和最終費率2025 年第一季提出要求。率審查是在2016 年。

From a regulatory approach standpoint, we are focused on maintaining strong regulatory relationships as well as investing in the safety and reliability of our system, all while living into our vision of being the energy partner of choice for our customers. We continue to expect to file 2 to 3 rate reviews per year.

從監管方法的角度來看，我們專注於維持強有力的監管關係以及投資於我們系統的安全性和可靠性，同時實現我們成為客戶首選能源合作夥伴的願景。我們仍預計每年提交 2 至 3 次費率審核。

Slide 18 shows our capital investment forecast over our 5-year plan period, which averages more than $800 million per year. The $1.3 billion peak in capital investment that you see in '26 includes the majority of generation investments outlined in our electric resource plans. The green arrows in '27 and '28 reflect the fact that while we see incremental opportunities in those years, we have a conservative approach to our capital forecast in that we include capital projections only for projects that we have a high certainty around timing and costs. We fully anticipate adding incremental projects for those out years.

投影片 18 顯示了我們對 5 年計畫期間的資本投資預測，平均每年超過 8 億美元。您在 20 年看到的 13 億美元的資本投資高峰包括我們電力資源計劃中概述的大部分發電投資。 「27」和「28」中的綠色箭頭反映了這樣一個事實，即雖然我們在這些年看到了增量機會，但我們對資本預測採取了保守的方法，因為我們僅對時間和成本具有高度確定性的項目包含資本預測。我們完全預計未來幾年會增加增量項目。

Slide 19 shows the mix and categories of CapEx and our $4.3 billion 5-year capital plan. You'll note that our capital investments are primarily focused on customer safety, reliability or growth and that the vast majority of those investments are recovered either through accelerated mechanisms or customer growth.

投影片 19 顯示了資本支出的組合和類別以及我們 43 億美元的 5 年資本計畫。您會注意到，我們的資本投資主要集中在客戶安全、可靠性或成長上，其中絕大多數投資是透過加速機製或客戶成長收回的。

Slide 20 outlines our key customer-focused initiatives. In addition to the electric generation needs Marne discussed, we continue to evaluate electric and gas transmission opportunities. We're paying particular attention to expanding market access on behalf of customers, opportunities to supply natural gas for community resiliency and power generation needs.

投影片 20 概述了我們以客戶為中心的關鍵措施。除了馬恩討論的發電需求外，我們還繼續評估電力和天然氣傳輸機會。我們特別關注代表客戶擴大市場准入、為社區復原力和發電需求供應天然氣的機會。

As noted in prior calls, data center and blockchain customers continue to drive increased load. We serve these customers through a unique market energy procurement model, which provides utility-like returns in lieu of capital investment, all while providing protections for our other customers. Our data center and blockchain customers are served under approved tariffs with the earnings separated from our retail customers for ratemaking purposes. Our innovative tariff structure has successfully served a decade of growth in the Cheyenne area with this capital-light business currently representing approximately 5% of total EPS. We anticipate that this business will continue to grow from both existing and new customers and is on pace to contribute 10% plus of our EPS by the end of our 5-year plan.

正如先前的電話會議中所指出的，資料中心和區塊鏈客戶繼續推動負載增加。我們透過獨特的市場能源採購模式為這些客戶提供服務，該模式提供類似於公用事業的回報而不是資本投資，同時為我們的其他客戶提供保護。我們的資料中心和區塊鏈客戶按照核准的費率獲得服務，出於費率制定的目的，收入與我們的零售客戶分開。我們的創新關稅結構已成功服務於夏延地區十年來的成長，這項輕資本業務目前約佔每股盈餘總額的 5%。我們預計該業務將繼續從現有客戶和新客戶中獲得成長，並預計在 5 年計劃結束時為我們的每股收益貢獻 10% 以上。

RNG continues to be an emerging opportunity in our agriculture rich service territories. We've leveraged our core expertise in pipeline construction by building interconnections for RNG producers to interstate pipelines and anticipate that we'll have 10 interconnects in service by year-end. We're also operating our first nonregulated RNG production facility at a landfill in Dubuque, Iowa, which we acquired in January.

RNG 仍然是我們農業豐富的服務領域的新興機會。我們利用我們在管道建設方面的核心專業知識，為 RNG 生產商建立與州際管道的互連繫統，預計到年底我們將有 10 個互連繫統投入使用。我們還在愛荷華州迪比克的一個垃圾掩埋場運營我們的第一個不受監管的 RNG 生產設施，該設施是我們在 1 月收購的。

We remain focused on an investment thesis of long-term offtake agreements with stable revenue streams and continue to evaluate strategic RNG opportunities that could be meaningful for both earnings contributions and that fit our long-term strategy.

我們仍專注於具有穩定收入流的長期承購協議的投資主題，並繼續評估可能對獲利貢獻有意義且符合我們長期策略的 RNG 策略機會。

And last on this slide, but certainly top of mind, we are dedicated to managing our costs for our customers. We have major and ongoing transformation initiatives to improve processes and systems in order to drive efficiencies. In summary, our team continues to make strong progress on our strategic initiatives by investing on behalf of our customers, executing our regulatory plan, developing strategic growth opportunities and serving data center and blockchain load growth. I'll now turn the call back to Lin.

在這張投影片的最後，但肯定是最重要的，我們致力於為客戶管理成本。我們有重大且持續的轉型措施來改善流程和系統，以提高效率。總而言之，我們的團隊透過代表客戶投資、執行監管計劃、開發策略性成長機會以及服務資料中心和區塊鏈負載成長，繼續在我們的策略計劃方面取得強勁進展。我現在將電話轉回給林。

Thanks, Todd. Kimberly and Marne. I'll wrap up on Slide 21. Our integrated utility model and strategic diversity continue to provide a growing list of investment opportunities across our 8-state electric and natural gas footprint. Our $4.3 billion capital plan, our data center and blockchain opportunities and our organic customer growth provide confidence in our ability to achieve our 4% to 6% long-term EPS growth target. I'm very proud of our team's disciplined focus on cost for customers and our team's continued execution. And with that, we'll take your questions.

謝謝，托德。金伯利和馬恩。我將在投影片 21 上進行總結。我們 43 億美元的資本計劃、我們的資料中心和區塊鏈機會以及我們的客戶有機成長使我們對實現 4% 至 6% 的長期 EPS 成長目標的能力充滿信心。我對我們團隊對客戶成本的嚴格關注以及我們團隊的持續執行力感到非常自豪。接下來，我們將回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Andrew Weisel with Scotiabank.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Andrew Weisel。

First, a question on Colorado. My understanding of the state log cap utility ownership of new resources at 50%, your filing calls for Black Hills to own 250 megawatts out of the 400 or 62.5%. Help me reconcile that. Is your expectation that the approval process will end with something closer to 50-50? And how might we get there from your preferred portfolio?

首先，關於科羅拉多州的問題。據我了解，州對新資源的對數上限公用事業所有權為 50%，您的文件要求 Black Hills 擁有 400 兆瓦或 62.5% 中的 250 兆瓦。幫我協調一下。您預計批准過程會以接近 50-50 的結果結束嗎？我們如何從您的首選投資組合中實現這一目標？

This is Marne. I appreciate the question on Colorado and our clean energy plan. So yes, we did file our 120-day report with the additional ownership there that you mentioned. And I would recommend that we have a really solid portfolio that we've proposed. We do think utility ownership is valuable to the utility from a customer lens, from a -- certainly from a cost and reliability side of it. So we're pleased with the portfolio we are able to put forth, and we'll run through the regulatory process as usual.

這是馬恩島。我很欣賞有關科羅拉多州和我們的清潔能源計劃的問題。所以，是的，我們確實提交了 120 天報告，其中包含您提到的額外所有權。我建議我們提出一個非常可靠的產品組合。我們確實認為，從客戶的角度來看，從成本和可靠性來看，公用事業所有權對於公用事業是有價值的。因此，我們對能夠推出的產品組合感到滿意，我們將像往常一樣完成監管流程。

Okay. I guess we're going to be following that one. Next question on the CapEx outlook. Unchanged of course, on Slide 18, you continue to point to upside. I know, Todd, you were very clear about the conservative nature. And so I'm not sure how much you'll be able to comment, but are you able to talk about latest thoughts on what might materialize in terms of category of spending or when we might get more tangible details or announcements, whether that's a customer decision or a regulatory process type of catalyst?

好的。我想我們會追隨那個。關於資本支出前景的下一個問題。當然沒有變化，在投影片 18 上，您繼續指向上行方向。我知道，托德，你對保守本質非常清楚。因此，我不確定您能發表多少評論，但您能否談談有關支出類別方面可能實現的最新想法，或者我們何時可以獲得更具體的細節或公告，無論是客戶決策還是監管流程類型的催化劑？

Yes. Andrew, happy to answer the question. So just like I outlined, you do see a spike in CapEx in '26 that is very much related to our electric resource plan. Those definitely hit during that time frame. As you've seen historically from us, we do see some shifts in capital. As we get closer to the plan, we are very conservative about how we forecast. We want to make sure that we have a high certainty around the capital that we put in the plan. We absolutely anticipate adding incremental investments in those out years, but it will be closer to that time frame before we add that additional detail. Kimberly, anything to add to that?

是的。安德魯，很高興回答這個問題。因此，就像我概述的那樣，您確實會看到 26 年資本支出激增，這與我們的電力資源計劃密切相關。那些肯定是在那個時間範圍內受到打擊的。正如您從歷史上看到的那樣，我們確實看到了資本的一些變化。隨著計劃的臨近，我們對預測的方式非常保守。我們希望確保我們在計劃中投入的資金具有高度的確定性。我們絕對預計在這些年裡會增加增量投資，但在我們添加額外細節之前會更接近那個時間框架。金伯利，還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Andrew, I think the only thing I would add is the team is constantly working on additional opportunities, whether it's partnering with peers on potential transmission growth. As Todd mentioned, his growth team is very focused on additional opportunities in the data center perspective. So there's a lot of additional potential generation opportunities that we just haven't solidified and have not included in this plan that we'll continue to evaluate and when we do, we'll obviously provide those updates.

安德魯，我想我唯一要補充的是，團隊正在不斷努力尋找更多機會，無論是與同行合作開發潛在的傳輸成長。正如托德所提到的，他的成長團隊非常關注資料中心方面的額外機會。因此，還有很多額外的潛在發電機會，我們還沒有鞏固，也沒有包含在這個計劃中，我們將繼續評估這些機會，當我們評估時，我們顯然會提供這些更新。

Very good. Well, we as patient as we can. Then one more, if I could squeeze it in on data centers. You talked a lot about kind of the outlook. Any comments on the latest trends or activity, whether it's more demand from existing customers? Or any specifics you can give of new customers that have recently popped up or might soon pop up?

非常好。好吧，我們盡可能耐心。然後還有一個，如果我能把它擠在資料中心的話。您談到了很多關於前景的內容。對最新趨勢或活動有何評論，是否是現有客戶的更多需求？或者您可以提供有關最近出現或可能很快出現的新客戶的任何具體資訊嗎？

I can confirm without question that there is a significant amount of interest in data centers. We see a lot of load growth or load study requests in our service territory that we evaluate. So yes, absolutely, there's a lot of activity in the space.

我可以毫無疑問地確認人們對資料中心有很大的興趣。我們在我們評估的服務區域中看到了大量的負載成長或負載研究請求。所以，是的，絕對，這個領域有很多活動。

One thing that we've talked about for a while is why Cheyenne, Wyoming is unique. We've got a unique tariff there. We've been serving under that tariff for 10-plus years. Current customers, new customers all add up into what we see today as approximately 5% of our EPS currently. And we do see up to 10% plus of EPS, particularly in outer years. So it's a unique area, a lot of qualities to the Cheyenne area in terms of climate, access to high-speed data lines, access to metropolitan area like Denver. And so we absolutely continue to see that increased interest.

我們已經討論了一段時間的一件事是為什麼懷俄明州夏延如此獨特。我們在那裡有獨特的關稅。我們已經按照該關稅服務了十多年。現有客戶和新客戶合計約占我們目前每股盈餘的 5%。我們確實看到 EPS 成長了 10% 以上，特別是在外部年份。因此，這是一個獨特的地區，在氣候、高速數據線路以及通往丹佛等大都市區的便利性方面，夏延地區擁有許多品質。因此，我們絕對會繼續看到人們的興趣不斷增加。

The forecast that we have today are based on new customers and existing customer expansions and any other data request or data center load request that we're seeing today will be incremental to the plan, and we'll absolutely provide additional detail as that becomes more solidified.

我們今天的預測是基於新客戶和現有客戶擴展以及我們今天看到的任何其他資料請求或資料中心負載請求，這將是計劃的增量，並且隨著情況變得更加複雜，我們絕對會提供更多詳細資訊凝固了。

Our next question comes from Brandon Lee with Mizuho.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞穗的 Brandon Lee。

Congrats on the quarter. Just a quick question. Can you -- for the 10% of EPS that are for data centers and blockchain, is that already baked into the long-term guidance? And then can you also just comment on whether there's any commodity risk to the capital-light opportunities, like if prices start to go up, are you on the hook for it?

恭喜本季。只是一個簡單的問題。對於用於資料中心和區塊鏈的 EPS 的 10%，這是否已納入長期指導？然後您能否評論一下輕資本機會是否存在商品風險，例如如果價格開始上漲，您會受到影響嗎？

Yes. It's -- with respect to what's baked into current guidance, yes, the growth that we see from existing customers and new customers is baked into that 10% plus on the out years. So that's an answer to the first question. With respect to commodity risk, no, we don't have exposure in that with these contracts.

是的。是的，就當前指導中的內容而言，我們從現有客戶和新客戶中看到的成長在過去幾年中被納入了 10% 以上。這就是第一個問題的答案。關於商品風險，不，我們沒有這些合約的風險敞口。

Great. And then just on Slide 18, and I appreciate that you typically -- you're pretty conservative with your CapEx outlook. I guess if we think about post 2026, just for modeling purposes, should we model '27, '28 at like $1 billion run rate per year or something closer to the $1.2 billion per year. I know -- I appreciate it's probably a little early for you to give out exact numbers, but just how should we think of the shape of the CapEx profile?

偉大的。然後就幻燈片 18 而言，我很欣賞您通常對資本支出前景相當保守。我想，如果我們考慮 2026 年之後，僅出於建模目的，我們是否應該以每年 10 億美元的運行率或接近每年 12 億美元的運行率對「27」、「28」進行建模。我知道 - 我知道你現在給出確切的數字可能有點早，但我們應該如何看待資本支出概況的形狀？

Yes, Brandon, great question. What we've normally said is 2026 is a unique year. And so as you look in the out years, you can think about it in that roughly $700 million, $750 million run rate from a CapEx perspective, and we'll update that as we talked about earlier, as we get additional data on some of the projects that we're actively working on.

是的，布蘭登，好問題。我們通常說 2026 年是獨特的一年。因此，當您展望未來幾年時，您可以從資本支出的角度考慮大約7 億美元、7.5 億美元的運行率，我們將更新這一點，正如我們之前討論的那樣，因為我們獲得了有關某些方面的更多數據。

Okay. And then just can you remind us for additional CapEx to your plan, how much of that is financed by equity? Is it 25% to 30% range?

好的。然後您能否提醒我們您計劃中的額外資本支出，其中有多少是透過股權融資的？是25%到30%的範圍嗎？

Yes, generally, we haven't given, obviously, as you know, equity guidance past this year. But as you think about it, we're focused on that BBB+ solid credit quality perspective. And so once we get through the storm or cash flows, you can think about it as that $0.25 to $0.30 on every dollar.

是的，總的來說，正如你所知，我們今年顯然沒有給出股權指引。但正如您所想，我們關注的是 BBB+ 可靠的信用品質視角。因此，一旦我們度過了風暴或現金流，您可以將其視為每美元 0.25 至 0.30 美元。

(Operator Instructions). I'm showing no further questions in queue at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Lin Evans for closing remarks.

（操作員說明）。目前，我沒有在隊列中顯示任何其他問題。我想將電話轉回給林·埃文斯，讓其致閉幕詞。

Thank you, Liz, and thank you to my talented team, great job answering questions, as you can tell. But thank you very much for your time. Thank you for your interest in Black Hills Corporation today. I thank my fellow coworkers for their focus on our customers and our shareholders in driving value and delivering a great quarter of job well done, and we look forward to seeing many of you at the American Gas Association Financial Conference, I think, in about 10 days. And finally, best wishes for our Black Hills Energy safe and productive day, and thank you for joining us.

謝謝你，莉茲，也謝謝我才華洋溢的團隊，如你所知，你們回答問題做得很好。但非常感謝您抽出時間。感謝您今天對 Black Hills Corporation 的關注。我感謝我的同事們對我們的客戶和股東的關注，他們致力於推動價值並出色地完成了四分之一的工作，我認為，我們期待在大約10 年後在美國天然氣協會金融會議上見到你們中的許多人。最後，祝 Black Hills Energy 安全高效地度過這一天，並感謝您加入我們。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。