Black Hills Corp (BKH) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q2 2024 Black Hills Corporation 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 your speaker today, Jerome Nichols, Director of Investor Relations.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Black Hills Corporation 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在，我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, and welcome to Black Hills Corporation's second 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. Leading our quarterly earnings discussion today are Linn Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer; Kimberly Nooney, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Marne Jones, Senior Vice President, Utilities.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加 Black Hills Corporation 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。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。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)； Kimberly Nooney，資深副總裁兼財務長；Marne Jones，公用事業資深副總裁。

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.

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，而此類評論存在許多固有的不確定性。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。

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.

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 Lynn Evans.

我現在將把電話轉給林恩·埃文斯。

Thank you, Jerome. Good morning and thank you all for joining us today. Before we share our comments about our quarter on behalf of the Black Hills team, I would like to thank Jerome for his 20 years of service to our company for the last 13 years as our Director of Investor Relations. Many of you know Jerome well, and I ask that you join us in wishing him all the best as he enjoys his well-deserved retirement. And as we say, thank you to Jerome, we're pleased to welcome Sal Diaz to our team as our new Director of Investor Relations. Congratulations, Jerome, and Sal welcome to the team.

謝謝你，傑羅姆。早安，感謝大家今天加入我們。在我們代表 Black Hills 團隊分享對本季的評論之前，我要感謝 Jerome 在過去 13 年中擔任我們的投資者關係總監，為我們公司提供了 20 年的服務。你們中的許多人都很了解傑羅姆，我請你們和我們一起祝他一切順利，因為他享受著他當之無愧的退休生活。正如我們所說，感謝傑羅姆，我們很高興歡迎薩爾·迪亞茲加入我們的團隊，擔任我們的新投資者關係總監。恭喜傑羅姆和薩爾加入團隊。

I'll begin my comments with a brief overview of the quarter. Kimberly will provide our financial update, and Marne will provide more detail on our team's operational performance and our strategic progress. Turning to slide 3, we continue to execute our customer-focused strategy during the second quarter. Once again, I'm pleased to share that our team delivered excellent service to our customers continue to execute on our financial targets and advanced our regulatory and growth initiatives. I'm very proud of our team as we continue to dependably serve our customers living at our ready to serve commitment.

我將首先簡要概述本季的情況。Kimberly 將提供我們的最新財務信息，Marne 將提供有關我們團隊的營運績效和策略進展的更多詳細資訊。轉向投影片 3，我們在第二季繼續執行以客戶為中心的策略。我很高興再次與大家分享，我們的團隊為客戶提供了卓越的服務，繼續執行我們的財務目標，並推進了我們的監管和成長計劃。我為我們的團隊感到非常自豪，因為我們繼續可靠地為客戶提供服務，並履行我們隨時準備服務的承諾。

Our thoughts are certainly with our customers who faced severe storms and flooding in recent months across several of our communities. Marne and I witnessed firsthand the impact on neighborhoods and businesses, and we appreciate the admirable response and service of our team who quickly responded to the needs of our customers and are supporting the restoration efforts in our impacted communities.

我們的心肯定與近幾個月來我們幾個社區面臨嚴重風暴和洪水的客戶同在。馬恩和我親眼目睹了對社區和企業的影響，我們感謝我們團隊的出色反應和服務，他們迅速響應了客戶的需求，並支持受影響社區的恢復工作。

As we continue to support those impacted, I'd like to say a huge thank you to our colleagues listening in today across our service territory for exemplifying our values and our mission of improving life with energy well done. Our ongoing capital investment plan is critical to the commitments we've made to serve our customers and communities safely reliably and cost effectively. And we remain on track with our $800 million capital plan for 2024. This includes our Ready Wyoming Electric Transmission project, which strategically interconnects our Wyoming and South Dakota transmission systems, enhancing the resiliency and capacity of our regional energy infrastructure.

在我們繼續為受影響的人們提供支持的同時，我要對今天在我們服務範圍內聆聽的同事們表示衷心的感謝，他們體現了我們的價值觀和我們透過做好能源改善生活的使命。我們正在進行的資本投資計劃對於我們所做的以安全、可靠和具有成本效益的方式為客戶和社區提供服務的承諾至關重要。我們仍按計畫實施 2024 年 8 億美元的資本計畫。這包括我們的「Ready Wyoming Electric Transmission」項目，該項目策略性地互連我們的懷俄明州和南達科他州的輸電系統，從而增強我們區域能源基礎設施的彈性和容量。

Notably, this will benefit our customers with cost stability and expanded energy market access. We also continue to make progress in our regulatory plan for the year with three active rate reviews moving along as expected. Looking forward, we expect a normal cadence of approximately three to four rate reviews per year to seek recovery of our investments and reduce lag.

值得注意的是，這將使我們的客戶受益於成本穩定和擴大能源市場准入。我們也繼續在今年的監管計劃方面取得進展，三項積極的利率審查按預期進行。展望未來，我們預計每年大約進行三到四次利率審查，以尋求投資回收並減少滯後。

We're diligently executing our financial plan as we continue to improve our credit quality and advance our growth initiatives. To meet the growing energy needs of our customers and communities, we are in the final stages for delivering on our long-term electric resource plans for Colorado Electric and South Dakota Electric. In Colorado, we're seeking approval of selected bids for 400 megawatts of new renewable resources, including 250 megawatts that would be utility owned. In South Dakota, we're planning to add 100 megawatts of cost-effective utility-owned resources by 2026.

我們正在努力執行我們的財務計劃，繼續提高我們的信貸品質並推進我們的成長計劃。為了滿足客戶和社區不斷增長的能源需求，我們正處於為科羅拉多電力公司和南達科他電力公司實施長期電力資源計畫的最後階段。在科羅拉多州，我們正在尋求批准 400 兆瓦新可再生資源的選定投標，其中包括公用事業公司擁有的 250 兆瓦。在南達科他州，我們計劃在 2026 年增加 100 兆瓦經濟高效的公用事業自有資源。

We remain confident in our financial outlook listed on slide 4, which is consistent with the first quarter. Based on solid year to date results, including new margins and our team's continued disciplined expense management, we're on track to deliver on our earnings guidance range of $3.80 to $4 per share. Our strong growth opportunities and continued execution of our initiatives gives us confidence in achieving our long-term EPS growth target of 4% to 6%.

我們對投影片 4 中列出的財務前景仍然充滿信心，這與第一季的情況一致。基於今年迄今為止的穩健業績，包括新的利潤率和我們團隊持續嚴格的費用管理，我們預計將實現每股 3.80 美元至 4 美元的盈利指導範圍。我們強勁的成長機會和持續執行的舉措使我們有信心實現 4% 至 6% 的長期每股收益成長目標。

Slide 5 provides a summary of our hyperscale data center and blockchain growth opportunities. We recently announced our plan to power Meta's first data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I am proud of our track record of reliability and innovative energy solutions, which helped drive Meta's decision to build their $800 million, 715,000 square foot AI data center within our Cheyenne community.

投影片 5 總結了我們的超大規模資料中心和區塊鏈成長機會。我們最近宣布了為懷俄明州夏延的 Meta 首個資料中心提供電力的計劃。我為我們在可靠性和創新能源解決方案方面的記錄感到自豪，這有助於推動 Meta 決定在我們的夏延社區內建造其價值 8 億美元、715,000 平方英尺的人工智慧資料中心。

We're excited to support their new project, which will benefit all our Wyoming customers with greater infrastructure investment. Our communities with new jobs and tax revenues and our shareholders through our innovative energy procurement model, we expect to begin serving Meta's initial demand in 2026. Earlier this year, we said that we anticipate future earnings from this type of customer will exceed 10% of total EPS by the end of our 5-year plan through 2028. This new data center is included in that expectation. I'll also note that Wyoming's tax policies provide a favorable environment for data center and blockchain growth within the state.

我們很高興能夠支持他們的新項目，這將透過更大的基礎設施投資使我們所有懷俄明州的客戶受益。我們的社區擁有新的就業機會和稅收收入，我們的股東也透過我們創新的能源採購模式，預計在 2026 年開始滿足 Meta 的初始需求。今年早些時候，我們表示，預計到 2028 年的 5 年計畫結束時，來自此類客戶的未來收益將超過每股收益的 10%。這個新資料中心就包含在這項期望中。我還要指出的是，懷俄明州的稅收政策為該州資料中心和區塊鏈的發展提供了有利的環境。

Moving to slide 6, we remain confident in our long-term growth trajectory, supported by our base capital investment plan, ongoing organic growth, including data centers and other incremental investments. Over a five year plan period, we expect to invest an average of more than $800 million per year. Our $1.3 billion in capital investment in 2026 includes the majority of generation investments resulting from our electric resource plans, which Marne will cover in our business update.

轉到投影片 6，我們對我們的長期成長軌跡仍然充滿信心，這得益於我們的基礎資本投資計劃、持續的有機成長，包括資料中心和其他增量投資。在五年計畫期間，我們預計每年平均投資超過 8 億美元。我們到 2026 年的 13 億美元資本投資包括我們電力資源計畫產生的大部分發電投資，馬恩島將在我們的業務更新中介紹這些投資。

In 2027 and 2028, we anticipate incremental opportunities to be added to our plan as we gain more clarity around timing and costs, as indicated by the green arrows above the chart. And before I turn the call over to Kimberly, I'd like to remind you that we recently published our new 2023 corporate sustainability report, highlighting our progress on our environmental, social and governance goals. We remain on track to cost effectively achieve our emissions reduction goals.

到 2027 年和 2028 年，隨著我們對時間和成本的了解更加清晰，我們預計將在我們的計劃中添加更多機會，如圖表上方的綠色箭頭所示。在我將電話轉給 Kimberly 之前，我想提醒您，我們最近發布了新的 2023 年企業永續發展報告，強調了我們在環境、社會和治理目標方面取得的進展。我們仍然致力於以經濟有效的方式實現我們的減排目標。

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. We delivered a solid second quarter. We remained focused on our objective to carefully manage our expenses and improve credit quality, and we achieved those goals for the first half of the year.

謝謝你，林恩，大家早安。我們第二季的業績表現強勁。我們仍然專注於謹慎管理開支和提高信貸品質的目標，並在上半年實現了這些目標。

Slide 9 shows second quarter EPS drivers compared to the same period last year. We reported $0.33 per share compared to $0.35 per share in Q2 2023. Quarterly earnings were primarily driven by new margins and expense management by our team, which largely offset the impacts of weather and a prior year income tax benefits.

投影片 9 顯示了第二季 EPS 驅動因素與去年同期的比較。我們報告的每股收益為 0.33 美元，而 2023 年第二季為每股 0.35 美元。季度收益主要是由我們團隊的新利潤和費用管理推動的，這在很大程度上抵消了天氣和去年所得稅優惠的影響。

We realized $0.13 of higher margins from new rates and rider recovery, including data center margins and $0.03 of customer growth and usage. These positive results were partially offset by impacts to revenue due to unplanned generation outages. Through continued cost management, we delivered lower O&M of $0.04 per share compared to Q2 2023, primarily due to lower labor costs.

我們從新費率和乘客恢復中實現了 0.13 美元的更高利潤，包括資料中心利潤以及 0.03 美元的客戶成長和使用量。這些正面成果被意外發電停電對收入的影響部分抵消。透過持續的成本管理，與 2023 年第二季相比，我們的營運和維護成本降低了每股 0.04 美元，這主要是由於勞動力成本降低。

We continue to experience the impacts of inflation within our business, including additional expenses associated with increasing insurance premiums. Given these factors, coupled with the mild weather we experienced during the first half of the year, we will continue to manage our O&M to an increase of approximately 3.5% for the full year to achieve our 2024 financial targets.

我們的業務持續受到通貨膨脹的影響，包括與保險費增加相關的額外費用。考慮到這些因素，加上我們上半年經歷的溫和天氣，我們將繼續管理我們的營運和維護，全年增長約3.5%，以實現我們2024年的財務目標。

As a reminder, our earnings guidance assumes normal weather. For the quarter compared to normal weather negatively impacted EPS by $0.07 per share. Compared to Q2 2023, weather negatively impacted earnings by $0.04 per share. Income taxes increased due to a $0.12 prior year benefit resulting from our reduction in Nebraska's state income tax rate.

提醒一下，我們的獲利指引假設天氣正常。與正常天氣相比，本季每股收益受到 0.07 美元的負面影響。與 2023 年第二季相比，天氣對每股盈餘產生了 0.04 美元的負面影響。由於我們降低了內布拉斯加州的州所得稅稅率，去年的收益增加了 0.12 美元，因此所得稅增加。

Slide 10 displays the earnings drivers through the first half of 2024. We are on track to achieve our 2024 financial targets despite unfavorable weather of $0.14 per share compared to 2023. Year to date, earnings per share increased 6% year over year as new margins and expense management more than offset the impact of weather financing depreciation and prior year one-time benefits. Further details on the year-over-year changes in operating income can be found in our earnings release and 10-Q to be filed with the SEC later today.

幻燈片 10 顯示了 2024 年上半年的獲利驅動因素。儘管與 2023 年相比每股 0.14 美元的不利天氣，我們仍有望實現 2024 年的財務目標。年初至今，每股盈餘年增 6%，因為新的利潤率和費用管理足以抵銷天氣融資折舊和前一年一次性收益的影響。有關營業收入同比變化的更多詳細信息，請參閱我們今天晚些時候向 SEC 提交的收益報告和 10-Q 報告。

Moving to slide 11, which depicts 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 improved other key credit metrics and our commitment to maintain triple BBB+ credit quality. We issued $42 million of new shares under our ATM during the quarter for a total of $74 million through the first half of the year.

轉到投影片 11，它透過信用品質資本結構和流動性的角度描繪了我們穩健的財務狀況。我們持續降低債務佔總資本的比率，並改善其他關鍵信用指標，並承諾維持三重 BBB+ 信用品質。本季度，我們透過 ATM 發行了 4,200 萬美元的新股，截至今年上半年，發行總額為 7,400 萬美元。

As previously disclosed, we are expecting $170 million to $190 million in equity issuances for the year. Our liquidity remains strong at quarter end with full availability under our $750 million revolving credit facility and $625 million in cash, following the issuance of $450 million of notes in May. We will repay our $600 million notes maturing later this month. Our next debt maturity occurs in 2026, and we are evaluating timing and options for refinancing that maturity.

正如先前披露的，我們預計今年將發行 1.7 億至 1.9 億美元的股票。繼 5 月發行 4.5 億美元票據後，我們的流動性在季度末仍然強勁，我們的 7.5 億美元循環信貸額度和 6.25 億美元現金充足。我們將償還本月稍後到期的 6 億美元票據。我們的下一個債務到期日為 2026 年，我們正在評估該到期日再融資的時機和選擇。

Slide 12 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 delivering long-term value for our shareholders.

幻燈片 12 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創造長期價值的策略的重要組成部分。

I'll 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. We had another strong quarter of serving our 1.3 million families and businesses across our footprint. Through windstorms, tornadoes and flooding, our team of operational experts proactively managed our systems to keep our customers safe, with system, reliability and resiliency, top of mind.

謝謝你，金伯莉。我們又一個強勁的季度為我們覆蓋範圍內的 130 萬家庭和企業提供服務。在暴風雨、龍捲風和洪水期間，我們的營運專家團隊積極管理我們的系統，以確保客戶的安全，並將系統、可靠性和彈性放在首位。

I'll start my comments on slide 14 with a regulatory update. We have demonstrated our ability to reach constructive results with three or more rate reviews annually in recent years, we are in the final stages for our Arkansas gas rate review and continue to anticipate new rates in the fourth quarter. Our Iowa gas rate review continues as planned, with interim rates in place since May 11, and final rates expected in early 2025.

我將從第 14 張投影片的監管更新開始發表評論。近年來，我們已經證明了我們有能力透過每年三次或多次費率審查來取得建設性成果，我們正處於阿肯色州天然氣費率審查的最後階段，並繼續預計第四季度的新費率。我們的愛荷華州天然氣費率審查繼續按計劃進行，自 5 月 11 日起實施臨時費率，最終費率預計於 2025 年初實施。

In June, we filed a rate review for Colorado Electric, our first since 2016. Over the past eight years, we have kept base rates unchanged while incurring increased costs and necessary system investments of approximately $470 million, which support a safe, reliable, resilient and clean energy system. Nearly one-third of that capital is currently recovered through our transmission rider. Our request includes $36.7 million in new annual revenue, a capital structure of 53% equity and a 10.5% return on equity. We are requesting new rates by the first quarter of next year.

6 月，我們對科羅拉多電力公司 (Colorado Electric) 進行了費率審查，這是我們自 2016 年以來的首次審查。在過去的八年裡，我們保持基本費率不變，同時增加了成本和必要的系統投資，約 4.7 億美元，以支援安全、可靠、有彈性和清潔的能源系統。目前，近三分之一的資本是透過我們的傳輸騎士收回的。我們的要求包括 3,670 萬美元的新年度收入、53% 股權的資本結構和 10.5% 的股本回報率。我們要求在明年第一季之前提供新的費率。

Slide 15 provides an update on our enhanced disclosures and engagement on wildfire management and risk mitigation, a key safety and reliability priority of ours for more than a decade. Operationally, we use a layered approach to wildfire mitigation, which can be summarized into three broad categories, asset programs, integrity programs and operational response.

投影片 15 介紹了我們在野火管理和風險緩解方面加強揭露和參與的最新情況，這是我們十多年來的關鍵安全和可靠性優先事項。在操作上，我們採用分層方法來緩解野火，可概括為三大類：資產規劃、完整性計畫和營運回應。

In June, we disclosed our comprehensive Wildfire Mitigation Plan, which provides deeper insight into the practices, policies and procedures we carry out every day. We continue to engage broad stakeholder groups, including community and local agencies, regulators, legislative bodies and our industry peers to review and advance our wildfire management and mitigation plans. In that spirit, we are working with these stakeholders to formalize our Public Safety Power Shutoff program or PSPS and expect to implement it in the first half of next year.

六月，我們披露了全面的野火緩解計劃，該計劃讓我們更深入地了解我們每天執行的做法、政策和程序。我們繼續與廣泛的利益相關者團體合作，包括社區和當地機構、監管機構、立法機構和行業同行，以審查和推進我們的野火管理和緩解計劃。本著這種精神，我們正在與這些利害關係人合作，正式製定我們的公共安全斷電計畫（PSPS），並預計在明年上半年實施。

Moving on to slide 16, I would like to share our progress on our ongoing strategic initiatives. Our largest active capital project is our Ready Wyoming transmission project. The 260 mile line is being constructed in segments and remains on target to be in service by year end 2025, with our first segment expected to be in service later this year. When complete Ready Wyoming will provide additional 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.

轉到幻燈片 16，我想分享我們正在進行的策略舉措的進展。我們最大的活躍資本項目是 Ready 懷俄明州輸電項目。這條 260 英里的線路正在分段建設，目標是到 2025 年底投入使用，我們的第一段預計將於今年稍後投入使用。懷俄明州就緒後，將提供額外的產能，擴大進入能源市場和再生能源的機會，並有望穩定客戶的長期成本。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 17 provides an update on our clean energy plan in Colorado. In July, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission reviewed our preferred portfolio, which includes a 200 megawatt build transfer solar project, a 50 megawatt bill transfer battery project and 150 megawatts of wind energy through power purchase agreement.

幻燈片 17 提供了我們科羅拉多州清潔能源計劃的最新情況。7 月，科羅拉多州公用事業委員會審查了我們的首選投資組合，其中包括 200 兆瓦建設轉移太陽能專案、50 兆瓦帳單轉移電池專案以及透過購電協議提供的 150 兆瓦風能專案。

In their decision they asked us to submit additional details on generation and transmission costs. In response earlier this week, we provided the additional information and proposed a 100 megawatt solar PPA to replace the 150 megawatt wind PPA, with the remaining portfolio unchanged. We are awaiting a final decision by the commission, which we expect later this year.

在他們的決定中，他們要求我們提交有關發電和輸電成本的更多詳細資訊。作為本週早些時候的回應，我們提供了更多信息，並提議以 100 兆瓦太陽能購電協議取代 150 兆瓦風電購電協議，其餘產品組合保持不變。我們正在等待委員會的最終決定，預計將在今年稍後做出。

Slide 18 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. We are targeting an in-service date of mid 2026 for 100 megawatts of natural gas-fired generation. We plan to file a pre-application notice with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and request a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Wyoming Public Service Commission in the second half of 2024.

幻燈片 18 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，以經濟有效地為我們的客戶提供可靠的服務。我們的目標是 2026 年中期 100 兆瓦天然氣發電計畫投入使用。我們計劃於 2024 年下半年向南達科他州公共事業委員會提交預申請通知，並向懷俄明州公共服務委員會索取公共便利性和必要性證明。

With that, I will now turn the call back to Lynn.

現在，我將把電話轉回給林恩。

Thank you. Morning. I'll summarize our quarter by expressing my thanks to our team for how they continued strong progress on our strategic initiatives as we invest in and maintain our systems for our customers, successfully execute our regulatory plan, tirelessly, develop and execute our strategic growth opportunities and creatively serve our expanding data center and blockchain load growth. And with that, we'll take your questions.

謝謝。早晨。我將透過對我們的團隊表示感謝來總結我們的季度，感謝他們在我們為客戶投資和維護我們的系統、成功執行我們的監管計劃、不知疲倦地開發和執行我們的策略成長機會的過程中，在我們的策略計劃上持續取得強勁進展。接下來，我們將回答您的問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員說明）

Julien Dumoulin-Smith, Jefferies.

朱利安·杜穆蘭-史密斯，杰弗里斯。

All right, I'm picking up the handset here. Let's make sure it works. Hey, good morning, team. How you guys doing?

好吧，我就在這裡拿起聽筒。讓我們確保它有效。嘿，早上好，團隊。你們怎麼樣？

Good, Julien. Good, welcome back to the game.

好，朱利安。好的，歡迎回到遊戲。

Thank you so much. Congrats, Jerome, on the retirement. It's been a great line. It's been it's been a real pleasure.

太感謝了。恭喜傑羅姆退休。這是一條很棒的路線。真的很高興。

Thank you, very much. Appreciate that.

非常感謝。很欣賞這一點。

Absolutely, Look, guys, nice updates and continued success here. And I give you guys kudos for being early in adapting to data centers in this conversation early on with these novel tariffs. To that end, this 10% number by the end of the five year plan, can you talk a little bit about the parameters that are reflected versus perhaps maybe not necessarily reflected in the capital budget here? I know this is a fluid conversation, but what's in, what's not in, in terms of how you get there?

當然，看，夥計們，這裡有不錯的更新和持續的成功。我對你們在這次對話中儘早適應這些新關稅的資料中心表示敬意。為此，到五年計畫結束時這個 10% 的數字，您能談談資本預算中反映的參數和不一定反映的參數嗎？我知道這是一個流暢的對話，但是就如何實現這一點而言，什麼是其中的內容，什麼是不包含的內容？

And then also related to that and focusing on a tariff conversation, how do you think about the rate case cadence and how that gets reflected in earnings vis a vis some of the novel tariffs that you guys have had in place?

然後也與此相關並關注關稅對話，您如何看待利率案件的節奏以及如何將其反映在收益中以及您所實施的一些新關稅中？

Yeah. Thank you for that question, Julie, and we appreciate being able to focus on our data center successes. As you know, we've had this LPCS a large of power contract service tariff in place since about 2016. So it's been an important part of our growth model and our strategy for the last several years, especially as we had the good fortune of serving Microsoft and some other blockchain customers. We're very excited to have announced the Meta here very recently launched in June, and that's a project we had been working on some for some time with them.

是的。謝謝您提出這個問題，朱莉，我們很高興能夠專注於我們資料中心的成功。如您所知，自 2016 年左右以來，我們已經為 LPCS 制定了大量電力合約服務電價。因此，它是我們過去幾年成長模式和策略的重要組成部分，特別是因為我們很榮幸為微軟和其他一些區塊鏈客戶提供服務。我們非常高興地宣布 Meta 最近在 6 月推出，這是我們與他們合作了一段時間的項目。

And so the Meta and the Microsoft loads and other loads that we anticipate are reflected in that 10% -- or perhaps greater 10% of our EPS towards the outer part of the year of the plan in around 2028. And we're very fortunate to serve a great service territory for data centers, starting with the weather that we have there, the elevation of fiber, there's lots of things that attract people or customers to that region. And then we have a very innovative tariff that I just mentioned, that allows us to serve customers relatively rapidly. It provides protection for customers or normal customers, if you will, and allows us to serve these growing data center loads as rapidly fairly rapidly, if you will, so they can come to us pretty quickly.

因此，我們預期的 Meta 和 Microsoft 負載以及其他負載將反映在 2028 年左右計畫年末的 10%（或可能更大 10%）。我們非常幸運能夠為資料中心提供優質的服務區域，首先是那裡的天氣、光纖的海拔高度，還有很多吸引人們或客戶來到該區域的因素。然後我們有我剛才提到的非常創新的關稅，這使我們能夠相對快速地為客戶提供服務。它為客戶或普通客戶（如果您願意）提供保護，並允許我們以相當快的速度（如果您願意）為這些不斷增長的資料中心負載提供服務，以便他們可以很快找到我們。

And we're excited about that service and we call these in the past and we still call them capital light kind of projects. Yes, we invest some capital for them in terms of the substations things of that nature, but they're relatively capital light. But if you look at our slide 6, we've got the green carats. There is potential and there's lots of moving parts, if you will, we'll see what happens with capacity in the West. But our innovative tariff allows us to go out and get market energy for these customers and they'll need other energy we know along the way.

我們對這項服務感到很興奮，我們過去稱這些項目為輕資本項目。是的，我們在變電站這類性質的事情上為他們投資了一些資本，但它們的資本相對較少。但如果您看一下我們的幻燈片 6，您會發現我們有綠色克拉。這是有潛力的，而且有很多變化的部分，如果你願意的話，我們將看看西方的產能會發生什麼。但我們的創新關稅使我們能夠走出去，為這些客戶獲取市場能源，而他們在過程中將需要我們所知道的其他能源。

So we see opportunities for investment with transmission. Our Ready Wyoming transmission line, well it serves all of our customers, will also help us with ensuring that we have the load capabilities are serving that load capabilities for our data centers. But we see further opportunity for transmission investment because of data centers and because of our growing customer load within the region and then potentially out in toward the outer part of the plan period, yes, we may have potential for generation to support for that growth.

因此，我們看到了輸電領域的投資機會。我們的就緒懷俄明州傳輸線，它為我們所有的客戶提供服務，也將幫助我們確保我們擁有負載能力，為我們的資料中心提供負載能力。但我們看到了輸電投資的進一步機會，因為資料中心以及我們在該地區不斷增長的客戶負載，然後可能會進入計劃期的外部，是的，我們可能有發電潛力來支持這種增長。

So those green tariffs that we put on slide 6 include some of those, but we've got lots to learn. These are very sophisticated customers. They know what they need with respect to energy. So we're constantly talking to them about their energy needs and how we will effectively meet those energy needs that works for all of our customers and especially our shareholders too.

因此，我們在投影片 6 上提出的綠色關稅包括其中的一些，但我們還有很多東西要學習。這些都是非常成熟的客戶。他們知道自己需要什麼能源。因此，我們不斷地與他們討論他們的能源需求，以及我們如何有效地滿足這些能源需求，以服務我們所有的客戶，尤其是我們的股東。

And there was another question, I think, Julien, about maybe rate reviews with respect to this. We file our integrated resource plans that include these loads and exclude these loads so that we understand what's happening within our service territory beyond the data center. So we look at our normal customers, if you will, our residential, our commercial and our industrial customers and then we also look at these data centers independently, if you will, and how we manage that system cohesively for all interested parties.

朱利安，我想還有另一個問題，也許是關於這方面的評價評論。我們歸檔包含這些負載並排除這些負載的綜合資源計劃，以便我們了解資料中心以外的服務區域內發生的情況。因此，我們會關注我們的普通客戶，如果你願意的話，我們的住宅、商業和工業客戶，然後我們也會獨立地關注這些資料中心，如果你願意的話，以及我們如何為所有感興趣的各方統一管理該系統。

Got it. Excellent. Thank you guys, very much. Appreciate it. And actually, just to elaborate on what you just said a second ago when you were talking about other opportunities, energy capacity, et cetera. I mean, you guys have done previously sort of contracted capacity outside of the traditional vertically integrated utility construct. Is that another avenue here that when you think about serving your evolving loads and novel ways is that something you could be looking to do is have long-term contracts with them directly or (multiple speakers). Okay.

知道了。出色的。非常感謝你們。欣賞它。實際上，只是為了詳細說明您剛才在談論其他機會、能源能力等時所說的話。我的意思是，你們之前已經在傳統的垂直整合公用事業結構之外完成了某種合約容量。當您考慮為不斷變化的負載和新穎的方式提供服務時，這是否是另一種途徑，您可能想要做的事情是直接與他們簽訂長期合約或（多個發言者）。好的。

Yes, it could be -- it's kind of all the above approach, yes, and that would be one of them.

是的，可能是——這就是上述所有方法，是的，這就是其中之一。

Got it. Yep. Awesome. All right, I'll leave it there. Speak to you guys soon.

知道了。是的。驚人的。好吧，我就把它留在那裡。快點跟大家說吧。

Thank you, Julia.

謝謝你，茱莉亞。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) I'm not showing any further questions. I would now like to turn the call back over to Linn Evans for any closing remarks.

謝謝。（操作員說明）我不會提出任何進一步的問題。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, Josh. Appreciate your help this morning. And I just want to pause for a moment and really thank our team, Marne's comments about the storms, the flooding, the tornadoes, that our customers have endured, a hard certainly go out to those communities and I really just thank our team and how well they represented our values, represented our culture and came to the rescue, if you will, to make sure we have safe, reliable and resilient energy for our customers.

好吧，謝謝你，喬許。感謝您今天早上的幫忙。我只是想暫停一下，真的感謝我們的團隊，馬恩對我們的客戶所經歷的風暴、洪水、龍捲風的評論，當然對這些社區來說是一個艱難的經歷，我真的只是感謝我們的團隊以及如何他們代表了我們的價值觀，代表了我們的文化，如果你願意的話，他們會伸出援手，以確保我們為客戶提供安全、可靠和有彈性的能源。

So thank you for that. I wanted to emphasize our positive results for the Q2 and for the first half of the year. We're off to a great start for 2024. Again, thank you to our team. I'm excited about our growth initiatives are Ready Wyoming project, our largest capital project in our company's history is on track. Our customer growth continues. We're very excited, as you can tell about continuous sort of data centers and blockchain loads and then our capital plan across our gas utilities, electric utilities being executed very, very well.

所以謝謝你。我想強調我們第二季和上半年的正面成果。2024 年我們有一個好的開始。再次感謝我們的團隊。我對我們的成長計畫「Ready Wyoming」項目感到非常興奮，該項目是我們公司歷史上最大的資本項目，現已步入正軌。我們的客戶持續成長。我們非常興奮，因為您可以看到連續排序的資料中心和區塊鏈負載，然後我們在天然氣公用事業、電力公用事業方面的資本計劃執行得非常非常好。

You may be able to hear a little thunder in the background. We have the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that officially starts tomorrow. So if any of you happen to be in Sturgis, riding your motorcycles or otherwise over the next week, please stop by and say hello.

您可能會聽到背景中有輕微的雷聲。斯特吉斯摩托車拉力賽將於明天正式開始。因此，如果你們中有人碰巧在下週騎摩托車或以其他方式來到斯特吉斯，請過來打個招呼。

And with that again, thank you to our team and enjoy Black Hills Energy safe day.

再次感謝我們的團隊，祝福您享受 Black Hills Energy 安全日。

Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。