Black Hills Corp (BKH) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q3 2025 Black Hills Corporation earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

您好，感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加黑山公司2025年第三季財報電話會議。（操作人員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。（操作說明）

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

現在我謹將會議交給今天的主講人，投資者關係總監薩爾·迪亞茲先生。

Thank you, operator. Good morning and welcome to Black Hills Corporation's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. You can find our earnings release and materials for our call this morning on our website at blackhillscorp.com.

謝謝接線生。早安，歡迎參加黑山公司2025年第三季財報電話會議。您可以在我們的網站 blackhillscorp.com 上找到我們的獲利報告和今天早上電話會議的資料。

Leading our quarterly earnings call are Lin Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer; Kimberly Nooney, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Marne Jones, Senior Vice President and Chief Utility Officer.

主持我們季度收益電話會議的是總裁兼首席執行官林·埃文斯；高級副總裁兼首席財務官金伯利·努尼；以及高級副總裁兼首席公用事業官馬恩·瓊斯。

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.

在今天關於獲利情況的討論中，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。儘管我們認為我們的預期是基於合理的假設，但實際結果可能與預期有重大差異。

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.

我們建議您參閱我們的收益報告、我們網站上投資者簡報的第 2 頁，以及我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格，其中列出了一些可能導致未來業績與預期存在重大差異的因素。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Lin Evans. Lin?

接下來，我將把電話交給林·埃文斯。林？

Thank you, Sal. Good morning and thank you all for joining us today. I'll start my comments on slide 3 with a summary of our quarter and our strategic outlook, including an update on our merger with our friends at NorthWestern Energy. Kimberly will provide our financial updates, and Marne will discuss our operational performance and progress on key initiatives.

謝謝你，薩爾。早安，感謝各位今天收看我們的節目。我將從第 3 張投影片開始我的評論，總結我們本季的業績和策略展望，包括我們與 NorthWestern Energy 合併的最新進展。Kimberly 將介紹我們的財務最新情況，Marne 將討論我們的營運表現和關鍵舉措的進展。

We're fulfilling our commitment to deliver results for our stakeholders in three key areas that we identified at the beginning of the year. First, we're delivering on our financial commitments, having reaffirmed our earnings guidance and completed our planned financing activities.

我們正在履行承諾，在年初確定的三個關鍵領域為我們的利害關係人帶來成果。首先，我們正在履行財務承諾，重申了獲利預期並完成了計劃中的融資活動。

Second, we're executing on our regulatory and growth initiatives. Including our $1 billion capital plan to support key projects to serve our customers' growing needs. And third, we're providing excellent operational performance, including top quartile reliability and a positive customer experience.

其次，我們正在執行監管和成長計劃。其中包括我們10億美元的資本計劃，用於支援關鍵項目，以滿足客戶不斷增長的需求。第三，我們提供卓越的營運績效，包括名列前四分之一的可靠性和積極的客戶體驗。

I'm proud of our team's remarkable work in delivering strong financial results and making significant progress on our key initiatives. We're on track to achieve our earnings guidance for the full year with three primary drivers: new base rates, rider recovery, and customer growth.

我為我們團隊在取得強勁的財務業績和在關鍵舉措方面取得的重大進展而感到自豪。我們預計將實現全年獲利目標，主要得益於三大驅動因素：新的基本費率、乘客復甦和客戶成長。

We're also continuing to maintain a healthy balance sheet. We have made significant progress with our regulatory strategy, including securing a recent settlement for our rate review in Nebraska. Including this settlement, our team has successfully completed seven rate reviews since the beginning of last year, highlighting our expertise in managing multiple regulatory requests.

我們繼續保持健康的資產負債表。我們在監管策略方面取得了重大進展，包括最近就我們在內布拉斯加州的費率審查達成了和解。算上這次和解，自去年初以來，我們的團隊已成功完成了七次費率審查，凸顯了我們在處理多項監管要求方面的專業能力。

We also successfully advanced several key near-term projects that will drive growth. We're on schedule to complete our 260-mile Ready Wyoming transmission expansion project by year end, and we broke ground on our Lange II generation project in Rapid City during the quarter.

我們也成功推進了幾個將推動成長的關鍵近期項目。我們正按計劃推進，將於年底前完成全長 260 英里的 Ready Wyoming 輸電擴建項目；本季度，我們在 Rapid City 啟動了 Lange II 發電項目。

Additionally, customer growth, including growing demand from our large load customers such as data centers and economic development in our service territories are providing solid contributions to earnings. In addition to our current plan, we continue to be very actively engaged with high-quality data center partners. We have now signed non-disclosure agreements for more than 3 gigawatts of demand. If and when these negotiations lead to signed agreements, only then will we incorporate them into our plan.

此外，客戶成長，包括來自資料中心等大客戶的需求成長以及我們服務區域內的經濟發展，都為獲利做出了堅實貢獻。除了我們目前的計劃之外，我們還將繼續積極與高品質的資料中心合作夥伴合作。我們目前已簽署了超過3吉瓦需求的保密協議。只有當這些談判最終達成協議時，我們才會將其納入我們的計劃。

Our financial outlook is provided on slide 4. We're reaffirming our prior 2025 earnings guidance with an adjusted EPS range of $4 to $4.20 excluding merger-related costs. This represents a 5% growth rate at the midpoint over our 2024 EPS.

我們的財務展望請見第4頁幻燈片。我們重申先前對 2025 年獲利的預期，調整後的每股盈餘範圍為 4 美元至 4.20 美元（不包括與合併相關的成本）。這相當於我們 2024 年每股盈餘預測中位數 5% 的成長率。

Looking ahead with solid progress in our regulatory and growth initiatives, we plan to deliver in the upper half of our 4% to 6% long-term EPS growth target starting in 2026. Our confidence in achieving our long-term growth target is further strengthened by our $4.7 billion capital plan and strong customer demand, including the data center opportunities I previously mentioned. We anticipate presenting an updated financial outlook during our fourth quarter and full year earnings call in February, including earnings guidance for 2026 and capital investment plans for the years 2026 to 2030.

展望未來，隨著我們在監管和成長舉措方面取得穩步進展，我們計劃從 2026 年開始實現 4% 至 6% 的長期每股收益成長目標的上半部分。我們47億美元的資本計畫和強勁的客戶需求（包括我之前提到的資料中心機會）進一步增強了我們實現長期成長目標的信心。我們預計將在 2 月的第四季和全年財報電話會議上公佈更新後的財務展望，包括 2026 年的獲利預期和 2026 年至 2030 年的資本投資計畫。

Slide 5 represents our current $4.7 billion capital plan. Our base annual investment is approximately $700 million prioritizing our customers' core needs for safety, reliability, and growth. Additionally, our transformative infrastructure expansion investments will cost-effectively enhance our system's resiliency and support growing demand and evolving requirements for both our electric and natural gas systems.

第 5 張投影片展示了我們目前的 47 億美元資本計畫。我們每年的基本投資約為 7 億美元，優先考慮客戶在安全性、可靠性和成長方面的核心需求。此外，我們具有變革意義的基礎設施擴建投資將以經濟高效的方式增強我們系統的韌性，並支持我們電力和天然氣系統不斷增長的需求和不斷變化的要求。

Some of the major capital projects in our current plan include our Ready Wyoming transmission expansion that is on schedule to be completed by year end, our 99-megawatt Lange II generation project in South Dakota that is under construction, and we expect to place in service in the second half of 2026, and our battery storage project in 2027 to comply with the Colorado Clean Energy Plan.

我們目前計劃中的一些主要資本項目包括：即將於年底前按計劃完成的懷俄明州輸電擴建項目；正在建設中的南達科他州 99 兆瓦 Lange II 發電項目（預計將於 2026 年下半年投入使用）；以及為遵守科羅拉多州清潔能源計劃而於 2027 年啟動的電池儲能項目。

Our 2025 to 2029 capital plan does not currently include significant investments related to data center demand. We anticipate continuing to profitably serve large low demand through our market energy model with minimal capital investment at a level of approximately 500-megawatts of demand through 2029. However, demand exceeding that level will likely necessitate incremental investments in generation and transmission. Marne will provide more detailed information about data center demand in her business update.

我們 2025 年至 2029 年的資本計畫目前不包括與資料中心需求相關的重大投資。我們預計到 2029 年，將繼續通過我們的市場能源模式，以最小的資本投資，獲利地滿足約 500 兆瓦的需求，滿足大量的低需求。然而，如果需求超過這一水平，則可能需要對發電和輸電進行額外的投資。Marne將在她的業務更新報告中提供有關資料中心需求的更詳細資訊。

Moving to slide 6. On August 19, we announced our merger with NorthWestern Energy. Although we are well positioned as stand-alone companies, this merger will create a stronger, more competitive entity with greater scale, an enhanced financial profile, and complementary strengths, enabling us to unlock additional value creation opportunities for our customers and our shareholders.

切換到第6張投影片。8月19日，我們宣布與西北能源公司合併。儘管我們作為獨立公司已經處於有利地位，但此次合併將創造一個更強大、更具競爭力的實體，擁有更大的規模、更強的財務狀況和互補的優勢，使我們能夠為客戶和股東釋放更多創造價值的機會。

In October, we submitted joint applications to our regulators in Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota requesting their approvals of our merger. We anticipate receiving procedural schedules and commencing the discovery process this quarter. We're also diligently working through the S4 process and intends to secure all necessary approvals to finalize a merger within the second half of next year.

10 月，我們向蒙大拿州、內布拉斯加州和南達科他州的監管機構提交了聯合申請，請求他們批准我們的合併。我們預計將在本季收到程序安排表並開始調查取證程序。我們也認真推動 S4 流程，並計劃在明年下半年獲得所有必要的批准，以完成合併。

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

接下來，我會把電話交給金伯利，讓她為大家帶來最新的財務報告。金伯利？

Thank you, Lin, and good morning, everyone. Our team is executing our strategy exceptionally well. From a financial standpoint, we have successfully accomplished several of our objectives in the current quarter and throughout the year. Our financial results met expectations, and we have maintained our strong investment grade credit rating while funding our $1 billion capital plan for 2025.

謝謝你，林，大家早安。我們的團隊在執行策略方面做得非常出色。從財務角度來看，我們在本季和全年都成功實現了幾個目標。我們的財務表現符合預期，在為 2025 年 10 億美元的資本計畫提供資金的同時，我們保持了強勁的投資等級信用評級。

On slide 8, we provide a bridge comparing Q3 2025 to Q3 2024. For the current quarter, we delivered $0.34 per share of GAAP EPS which included $0.10 of merger-related transaction costs. After adjusting for these costs, we reported $0.45 of adjusted EPS for Q3 2025 compared to $0.35 per share for Q3 2024.

在第 8 張投影片中，我們提供了 2025 年第三季與 2024 年第三季的比較。本季度，我們實現了每股 0.34 美元的 GAAP EPS，其中包括 0.10 美元的併購相關交易成本。在扣除這些成本後，我們報告 2025 年第三季調整後每股收益為 0.45 美元，而 2024 年第三季調整後每股收益為 0.35 美元。

For the quarter, our regulatory efforts provided $0.21 per share of new rates and rider recovery margin, which offset unfavorable weather, O&M costs, and a moderate increase in financing and depreciation expenses. Weather was a 7-set headwind compared to the same quarter last year. We experienced $0.04 of unfavorable weather this quarter compared to normal, primarily driven by lower agricultural irrigation demand in Nebraska.

本季度，我們的監管措施帶來了每股 0.21 美元的新費率和附加費回收利潤，抵消了不利天氣、營運和維護成本以及融資和折舊費用的適度增長。與去年同期相比，天氣狀況為7級逆風。本季我們遭遇了 0.04 美元的不利天氣影響，與正常情況相比有所下降，主要原因是內布拉斯加州的農業灌溉需求降低。

O&M was higher by $0.08 per share, which included $0.10 of merger-related transaction costs. Excluding merger costs, we reduced our O&M expenses compared to the same period last year by $0.02. Financing costs increased $0.03 per share, which included $0.06 of higher interest expense, $0.01 of share dilution and a benefit of $0.04 per share from AFUDC driven by ongoing large construction projects. We also incurred higher depreciation of $0.02 per share, reflecting new assets placed in service.

O&M 每股上漲 0.08 美元，其中包括 0.10 美元的併購相關交易成本。不計合併成本，我們的營運維護費用較去年同期減少了 0.02 美元。融資成本每股增加 0.03 美元，其中包括 0.06 美元的利息支出增加、0.01 美元的股份稀釋以及因正在進行的大型建設項目而產生的每股 0.04 美元的 AFUDC 收益。由於投入使用的新資產，我們每股也產生了 0.02 美元的較高折舊費用。

Year-to-date EPS drivers are shown on slide 9. We reported GAAP EPS of $2.58 which included $0.11 of merger related costs. Removing these costs from the year-to-date results, we delivered $2.68 of adjusted EPS, an increase of 6.3% compared to $2.52 for the same period last year. Our year-to-date results tell a similar success story to the third quarter.

年初至今的每股盈餘驅動因素請見第 9 頁。我們公佈的GAAP每股收益為2.58美元，其中包含0.11美元的併購相關成本。從年初至今的業績中剔除這些成本後，我們實現了 2.68 美元的調整後每股收益，比去年同期的 2.52 美元增長了 6.3%。今年迄今的業績與第三季一樣取得了成功。

Excluding merger related costs, our regulatory efforts delivered $0.68 of new rates and rider recovery, which more than offset higher operating expenses, financing, and depreciation. We benefited from $0.07 of weather favorability, with $0.04 of milder-than-normal weather this year compared to $0.11 of milder-than-normal weather for the same period last year. Our earnings guidance is based upon normal weather within our jurisdictions.

不計合併相關成本，我們的監管努力帶來了 0.68 美元的新費率和騎士回收，這足以抵消更高的營運費用、融資和折舊。我們受惠於 0.07 美元的有利天氣，今年的天氣比往年溫和 0.04 美元，而去年同期的天氣比往年溫和 0.11 美元。我們的獲利預期是基於我們轄區內正常的天氣狀況。

O&M increased by $0.37, primarily due to merger-related expenses, employee costs, and outside services, insurance premiums, and unplanned outages. Excluding merger-related costs, we expect to manage our 2025 O&M expenses to a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 3.5% off of 2023 O&M expense. We incurred $0.34 of financing and depreciation expenses supporting our capital investments.

營運維護費用增加了 0.37 美元，主要原因是合併相關費用、員工成本、外部服務、保險費和非計劃性停機。除合併相關成本外，我們預計 2025 年的營運維護費用將比 2023 年的營運維護費用年複合成長率控制在 3.5% 左右。我們為支持資本投資而產生了 0.34 美元的融資和折舊費用。

Financing and costs increased by $0.25, which included $0.23 of higher interest expense due to higher interest rates, $0.11 of dilution from new shares issued, and a benefit of $0.09 from AFUDC. Depreciation expense increased by $0.09, driven by new assets placed in service.

融資和成本增加了 0.25 美元，其中包括由於利率上升而增加的 0.23 美元利息支出、發行新股導致的 0.11 美元稀釋以及 AFUDC 帶來的 0.09 美元收益。由於新增資產投入使用，折舊費用增加了 0.09 美元。

As we approach the end of the year, we remain confident in our ability to meet our adjusted EPS guidance range and remain committed to achieving the financial commitments we made at the beginning of the year. Further details on year-over-year changes can be found in our earnings release and our 10-Q to be filed with the SEC later today.

隨著年底臨近，我們仍然有信心實現調整後的每股盈餘預期範圍，並將繼續致力於實現年初做出的財務承諾。有關同比變化的更多詳情，請參閱我們的盈利報告以及我們今天晚些時候將向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-Q 表格。

Slide 10 presents our solid financial position through the lens of credit quality, capital structure, and liquidity. We continue to sustain a healthy balance sheet by delivering credit metrics within our targets of 55% net debt to total capitalization and 14% to 15% FFO to debt, a 100 basis points above our downgrade threshold of 13%.

第 10 張投影片從信用品質、資本結構和流動性的角度展示了我們穩健的財務狀況。我們繼續維持健康的資產負債表，將信貸指標控制在目標範圍內，淨債務與總資本之比為 55%，FFO 與債務之比為 14% 至 15%，比我們設定的 13% 的降級門檻高出 100 個基點。

We completed our planned equity issuance for the year, issuing a total of $220 million of net proceeds in 2025, achieving our stated equity guidance range of $215 million to $235 million. Looking forward, we expect our 2026 equity issuance to be significantly lower, driven by stronger cash flows from the successful execution of our strategic capital investments, regulatory plans, and increasing data center low growth.

我們完成了本年度計畫的股權發行，2025 年共發行淨收益 2.2 億美元，實現了我們先前設定的 2.15 億美元至 2.35 億美元的股權發行指導範圍。展望未來，我們預計 2026 年的股權發行量將大幅下降，這得益於戰略資本投資的成功實施、監管計劃的推進以及數據中心低增長帶來的更強勁的現金流。

In October, we completed our planned debt offering, issuing $450 million of 4.55% notes, a portion to be used to pay off our January 2026 long-term debt maturity of $300 million. As a result of our team's successful execution of our 2025 financing activities, we have funded our capital plan and maintained strong liquidity with more than $600 million of availability under our revolving credit facility at quarter end.

10 月份，我們完成了計劃中的債務發行，發行了 4.5 億美元的 4.55% 票據，其中一部分將用於償還我們 2026 年 1 月到期的 3 億美元長期債務。由於我們團隊成功執行了 2025 年的融資活動，我們已為資本計劃提供了資金，並保持了強勁的流動性，截至季度末，我們的循環信貸額度下有超過 6 億美元的可用資金。

Slide 11 shows our earnings growth trajectory beginning in 2023, along with our 2025 earnings guidance assumptions. For 2025, we expect adjusted EPS to be between $4.00 and $4.20 per share, which at the midpoint represents a 5% increase over 2024 earnings.

第 11 張投影片展示了我們從 2023 年開始的獲利成長軌跡，以及我們對 2025 年獲利預測的假設。我們預計 2025 年調整後每股盈餘將在 4.00 美元至 4.20 美元之間，其中價值比 2024 年收益成長 5%。

Our long-term earnings growth will be driven by the ongoing customer growth within our jurisdictions, increasing data center demand, and new rates and rider recovery on strategic investments like Ready Wyoming and Lange II that will provide long-term benefits to customers. We believe we are well positioned to achieve the upper half of our long-term EPS growth target of 4% to 6% beginning in 2026.

我們的長期獲利成長將得益於轄區內客戶的持續成長、資料中心需求的增加，以及 Ready Wyoming 和 Lange II 等策略性投資帶來的新費率和附加費回收，這些都將為客戶帶來長期利益。我們相信，我們有能力從 2026 年開始實現 4% 至 6% 的長期每股盈餘成長目標的上半部分。

Slide 12 illustrates our industry leading dividend track record of 55 consecutive years. We continue to target a 55% to 65% payout ratio. A dependable and increasing dividend is an important component of our strategy to deliver long-term value for our shareholders.

第 12 張投影片展示了我們連續 55 年保持業界領先的分紅紀錄。我們仍將目標股利支付率為 55% 至 65%。穩定且不斷成長的股利是我們為股東創造長期價值策略的重要組成部分。

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

現在我將把電話轉給馬恩，請他報告一下業務進度。

Thank you, Kimberly and good morning, everyone. I'm excited about our current position. The progress we have made on key initiatives, and the promising growth opportunities that lie ahead, all while continuing to provide our customers with safe, reliable, and cost-effective energy they rely on every day.

謝謝金伯利，大家早安。我對我們目前的處境感到興奮。我們在關鍵措施方面取得了進展，未來也擁有充滿希望的成長機會，同時我們將繼續為客戶提供他們每天依賴的安全、可靠和經濟高效的能源。

Slide 14 illustrates our industry-leading reliability for electric utilities. Two of our three ranked in the top 10 companies in EEI's most recent report based upon 2024 SADI metrics. This reflects the benefits of our long-standing commitment to our customer-focused strategy and investments.

第 14 張幻燈片展示了我們為電力公司提供的行業領先的可靠性。根據 EEI 最新發布的 2024 年 SADI 指標報告，我們三家公司中有兩家位列前 10 名。這體現了我們長期以來堅持以客戶為中心的策略和投資所帶來的益處。

Moving to slide 15, we continue to see significant data center interest, and in Wyoming, we are fulfilling this demand through our flexible service model of market energy, contractor generation, and utility investment. Through our innovative tariff, we have served growing demand from Microsoft hyperscale data centers for more than a decade.

翻到第 15 張投影片，我們繼續看到資料中心方面存在著巨大的需求，在懷俄明州，我們正在透過市場能源、承包商發電和公用事業投資的靈活服務模式來滿足這一需求。十多年來，我們憑藉著創新的資費模式，滿足了微軟超大規模資料中心日益增長的需求。

We are now serving Meta's new AI data center under construction in Cheyenne, which we expect to transition from construction power to permanent service later this year. As Meta ramps up its data center and Microsoft demand continues to grow, our current plan includes 500-megawatts of data center demand by 2029, growing data center earnings contribution to more than 10% of total EPS in 2028.

我們現在為 Meta 在夏延市建設中的新 AI 數據中心供電，預計該數據中心將於今年稍後從建設用電過渡到永久供電。隨著 Meta 資料中心規模的擴大和微軟需求的持續成長，我們目前的計畫包括到 2029 年資料中心需求達到 500 兆瓦，到 2028 年資料中心收益貢獻將超過每股收益的 10%。

Other leading data center partners are also recognizing the value of our customer-focused offerings and the ideal attributes of our service territory as a choice location. As a result, our growing pipeline of load request offers compelling upside to our current plan.

其他領先的資料中心合作夥伴也認識到我們以客戶為中心的服務價值，以及我們服務區域作為理想地點的優勢。因此，我們不斷增長的負載請求管道為我們目前的計劃提供了令人矚目的成長潛力。

We are actively engaged in negotiating with high-quality partners representing more than 3-gigawatts of data center load, a significant increase from our previously disclosed pipeline of 1-plus-gigawatts. Supporting this expanded pipeline, two additional data center sites were announced in recent months to be constructed in Cheyenne and to take energy as early as 2026. To capture this growth, we have executed non-disclosure agreements and are negotiating service agreements for these and other projects.

我們正在積極與高品質合作夥伴進行談判，這些合作夥伴代表著超過 3 吉瓦的資料中心負載，這比我們之前披露的 1 吉瓦以上的專案儲備有了顯著增長。為了支持這項擴建項目，最近幾個月宣布將在夏安市建造兩個新的資料中心，最早將於 2026 年投入使用。為了抓住這一成長機遇，我們簽署了保密協議，並正在就這些項目和其他項目洽談服務協議。

While doing so, we continue to prioritize meeting our customers' unique needs, maintaining overall system reliability, and appropriately addressing risks while ensuring we earn a fair return for our shareholders. Keeping with our normal practice, we will announce details when agreements are signed.

同時，我們將持續優先滿足客戶的獨特需求，保持系統整體可靠性，並妥善應對風險，同時確保為股東獲得公平的回報。按照我們一貫的做法，我們將在協議簽署後公佈詳情。

Moving to slide 16, we're very excited to be in the final stages of construction on our 260-mile, $350 million Ready Wyoming transmission expansion and are just weeks away from the project being placed in service. By year end, we'll be serving customers with a stronger system that reduces reliance on third-party transmission, enhances resiliency and increases access to market energy, including renewables.

翻到第 16 張幻燈片，我們非常興奮地宣布，我們耗資 3.5 億美元、全長 260 英里的 Ready Wyoming 輸電線路擴建工程已進入最後階段，距離項目投入使用僅剩幾週時間。今年底，我們將為客戶提供更強大的系統，減少對第三方輸電的依賴，增強系統韌性，並增加市場能源（包括再生能源）的取得途徑。

Our interconnected transmission network will support long-term price stability for our customers and enable continued growth across our service territory. And as a reminder, this investment is recovered through a Wyoming transmission rider with new rates effective in January 2026.

我們互聯互通的輸電網路將為我們的客戶提供長期的價格穩定保障，並促進我們服務區域內的持續成長。再次提醒大家，這項投資將透過懷俄明州的輸電附加費收回，新費率將於 2026 年 1 月生效。

Slide 17 outlines our progress on South Dakota Electric Resource plan. During the third quarter we broke ground on our Lange II project, a 99-megawatt utility-owned natural gas fired generation resource located in Rapid City, South Dakota. This new resource will replace aging generation facilities and address updated reserve margin requirements. We are on pace for the facility to be placed in service in the second half of 2026.

第 17 張幻燈片概述了我們在南達科他州電力資源計劃方面取得的進展。第三季度，我們啟動了 Lange II 項目，這是一個位於南達科他州拉皮德城的 99 兆瓦公用事業公司擁有的天然氣發電項目。這項新資源將取代老舊的發電設施，並滿足更新後的備用容量需求。該設施預計將於 2026 年下半年投入使用。

Moving to slide 18, in Colorado, our Clean Energy plan is ever evolving, moving from a 350-megawatt plan to a 250-megawatt plan. This week we received approval of our CPCN settlement for a 50-megawatt utility-owned battery storage project, and recently the commission provided additional guidance on the solar projects. They have requested us to continue negotiating on the 200-megawatt PPA and abandon negotiations on the 100-megawatt solar project due to increased pricing.

翻到第 18 張投影片，在科羅拉多州，我們的清潔能源計畫不斷發展，從 350 兆瓦的計畫轉變為 250 兆瓦的計畫。本週，我們獲得了 CPCN 協議的批准，該協議涉及一個 50 兆瓦的公用事業公司擁有的電池儲能項目。最近，委員會也就太陽能計畫提供了額外的指導。由於價格上漲，他們要求我們繼續就 200 兆瓦購電協議進行談判，並放棄就 100 兆瓦太陽能專案進行談判。

Slide 19 summarizes our regulatory progress. We are pleased with our settlement, which was reached during the third quarter for our Nebraska rate review. The settlement provides $23.9 million in new annual revenue based on an ROE of 9.85% and a capital structure of 50.5% equity. We anticipate approval of the settlement in December with new rates effective January 1, 2026 to replace interim rates in effect since August.

第 19 張投影片總結了我們的監管進展。我們對第三季內布拉斯加州費率審查達成的協議感到滿意。和解協議將帶來 2,390 萬美元的新增年收入，基於 9.85% 的淨資產收益率和 50.5% 的股權資本結構。我們預計和解方案將於 12 月獲得批准，新費率將於 2026 年 1 月 1 日生效，以取代自 8 月以來生效的臨時費率。

The settlement also includes a renewal of our five-year system safety and integrity rider, an insurance cost tracker, and a weather normalization pilot program. In Arkansas, we're preparing to file a gas rate review to recover investments that support safe, reliable service and strong growth in the region.

和解協議還包括續簽我們為期五年的系統安全和完整性附加條款、保險成本追蹤器以及天氣正常化試點計畫。在阿肯色州，我們正準備提交天然氣價格審查申請，以收回用於支持該地區安全、可靠服務和強勁增長的投資。

We are also preparing for an electric rate review in South Dakota after holding base rates unchanged for more than a decade. The request will recover our customer focused investments, including the Lange II generation project and increased cost to serve customers since our last rate review in 2014.

在南達科他州基本電價維持十多年不變之後，我們也正準備對該州的電價進行審查。這項請求將收回我們以客戶為中心的投資，包括 Lange II 發電項目以及自 2014 年上次費率審查以來為客戶服務而增加的成本。

And finally, in Wyoming, we are preparing to file our wildfire mitigation plan this month for commission approval in accordance with wildfire liability legislation. Following our approval process, we expect to obtain significant liability protections as we remain in compliance with our approved plan.

最後，在懷俄明州，我們正準備在本月根據野火責任法提交我們的野火緩解計劃，以獲得委員會的批准。經過審批流程後，我們預計將獲得重要的責任保護，因為我們將繼續遵守已批准的計劃。

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

接下來，我將把電話轉回給林。

Thank you, Marne. As I hope you've heard, we delivered another strong quarter, achieving significant progress within our financial, strategic, and regulatory strategies. This gives us confidence in achieving our 2025 earnings guidance and our ability to deliver in the upper half of our long-term EPS CAGR starting next year.

謝謝你，馬恩。正如你們所聽到的，我們又迎來了一個強勁的季度，在財務、策略和監管策略方面取得了重大進展。這讓我們有信心實現 2025 年的獲利預期，並有能力從明年開始實現長期每股盈餘複合年增長率的上半部。

We're at a pivotal juncture in our company's history. We have large transformative projects coming online in the near term, coupled with a robust pipeline of growth opportunities, including expanding data center demand. Additionally, our planned merger with NorthWestern Energy will provide us with the advantages of increased scale and new opportunities.

我們正處於公司歷史上的關鍵時刻。近期我們將有多個具有變革意義的大型專案上線，同時還有大量成長機會，包括不斷擴大的資料中心需求。此外，我們計劃與西北能源公司合併，這將為我們帶來規模擴大和新機會的優勢。

Thank you for your interest and your trust in Black Hills as we partner to grow long-term value for our customers and our stakeholders. This concludes our prepared remarks, and we're happy to take your questions.

感謝您對黑山公司的關注和信任，我們將攜手合作，為我們的客戶和利害關係人創造長期價值。我們的發言到此結束，我們很樂意回答各位的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Chris Ellinghaus, Seibert William Shank.

克里斯·埃林豪斯，塞伯特·威廉·尚克。

Hey, good morning, everybody. Marne, given your pipeline for data center potential resource requirements, have you guys done anything to put in options or reservations on any important critical equipment at this point?

嘿，大家早安。Marne，鑑於你們資料中心潛在的資源需求，你們目前是否對任何重要的關鍵設備進行了選擇權或預留？

Yeah, good morning, Chris, and thanks for the question. We're obviously very excited about the pipeline that we're building and, much to your point, it is going to require some generation. But we do have some reservations and we also continue to use our LPCS tariff which allows us to serve it through that mix of utility-owned, contracted, as well as market purchases and so really providing us a lot of flexibility in how we serve this growing pipeline.

好的，克里斯，早安，謝謝你的提問。我們顯然對正在建造的這條管道感到非常興奮，而且正如您所說，它確實需要一些發電量。但我們確實有一些保留意見，我們也繼續使用我們的 LPCS 關稅，這使我們能夠透過公用事業公司擁有的、合約簽訂的以及市場購買的組合來為其提供服務，從而真正為我們服務於這條不斷增長的管道提供了很大的靈活性。

Yeah. I wanted to ask you about this. I assume you have a preference for utility-owned, but do you have any considerations or thought process on having it be non-regulated generation transmission?

是的。我想問你這件事。我猜您傾向於公用事業公司擁有的輸電線路，但您對不受管制的發電輸電線路有什麼考慮或想法嗎？

Yeah. With the tariff, certainly there's good opportunity for utility ownership, but I think the flexibility is what's most important because our tariff does allow us to earn a utility-like return even without the rate-based investment. And so that flexibility is really important as we talk about this expanded pipeline because we can be almost agnostic in some perspectives of how we serve it.

是的。有了這種收費方式，公用事業所有權當然會有很好的機會，但我認為靈活性才是最重要的，因為我們的收費方式即使沒有基於費率的投資，也能讓我們獲得類似公用事業的回報。因此，在討論這個擴展的管道時，這種靈活性非常重要，因為在某些方面，我們可以對如何服務它持開放態度。

It's really important, as I mentioned, earlier today that making sure we have the reliability. So that obviously is going to come through some control of capacity. But we want to make sure that we're managing it from a risk perspective with tail risk and protection of customers. Want to make sure we're getting the returns. And so, that model that we've been talking about here for, gosh, we've had in place for a little over 10 years, will continue to be the model that we use as we've talked about this growing load.

正如我今天早些時候提到的，確保可靠性非常重要。所以很明顯，這需要透過控制產能來實現。但我們希望確保從風險管理的角度出發，兼顧尾部風險和客戶保護。想確保我們能獲得回報。因此，我們一直在討論的這個模型，哎呀，我們已經實施了十多年了，當我們討論這個不斷增長的負荷時，它將繼續是我們使用的模型。

Okay. Great. Given -- I don't know how to phrase this, but given the activity in the Montana Commission in the last couple of months, have you got any concerns or thoughts about the approval process in Montana and are you thinking that that could be extended given what's been happening there?

好的。偉大的。鑑於——我不知道該如何措辭，但鑑於蒙大拿州委員會近幾個月的活動，您對蒙大拿州的審批流程有任何擔憂或想法嗎？鑑於那裡發生的事情，您是否認為審批流程可能會延長？

Hi, Chris. Good morning. This is Lin. We're watching that closely with our friends at NorthWestern. NorthWestern, of course, does a lot of business for a long time in Montana. We're taking a lot of guidance from them in terms of the politics, etc.

嗨，克里斯。早安.這是林。我們正與西北大學的朋友們密切關注此事。當然，西北能源公司在蒙大拿州開展了大量長期業務。我們在政治等方面都向他們尋求了很多指導。

To be blunt, we're not worried. In fact, some of the things that have happened recently arguably can be helpful to the process. We're watching it closely; staying highly engaged with that commission through our application. We'll be starting discovery here quite soon. We'll look forward to the procedural schedule. That will tell us a lot too. So, we're aware and we're managing our way through it.

坦白說，我們並不擔心。事實上，最近發生的一些事情或許對這個過程是有幫助的。我們正在密切關注此事；並透過我們的申請與該委員會保持高度互動。我們很快就會在這裡開始探索。我們期待看到具體的流程安排。那也能告訴我們很多資訊。所以，我們已經意識到這個問題，並且正在努力應對。

Okay. Given the good third quarter results and sort of where consensus, expectations are for the fourth quarter, that sort of implies towards the upper end of your guidance range for the year, but you didn't really address where you think you're falling in the range so far. Are there any fourth quarter issues that you'd highlight that might be on the more negative side?

好的。鑑於第三季業績良好，以及市場對第四季度的普遍預期，這似乎意味著您今年的業績指引將接近區間上限，但您並沒有真正說明您認為目前為止您的業績處於該區間的哪個位置。您認為第四季有哪些比較負面的問題需要重點指出？

Yeah, Chris, good morning. It's Kimberly here. I don't think there's anything that we would highlight. Everything, operationally, financially, we're really hitting on all cylinders. We're obviously always focused on the weather, and I just remind listeners that our earnings guidance is based on normal weather. So that's the thing that we watch and are probably most concerned about. But it's outside of our control.

是的，克里斯，早安。我是金伯莉。我認為沒有特別需要強調的。從營運到財務，我們各方面都運作良好。我們當然一直都很關注天氣，我只想提醒聽眾，我們的獲利預期是基於正常天氣狀況的。所以，這就是我們關注並可能最關心的事情。但這不在我們的控制範圍內。

Operationally, we're in a really good place. So overall, there's just nothing else that I would highlight and again, I just remind listeners that we did reaffirm our guidance for the year. So we're really feeling good about where we're at.

從營運角度來看，我們目前的情況非常好。總的來說，沒有其他需要強調的了，再次提醒聽眾，我們重申了今年的指導方針。所以我們對目前的狀況非常滿意。

Chris, this is Lin. I would only highlight beyond what Kimberly just said that the largest project, capital project in our company's history, our Wyoming Ready project is on schedule. We'll have that finished before the end of the year, so that's a big deal for us too.

克里斯，這是林。除了金伯利剛才提到的，我還要強調一點，我們公司歷史上最大的項目、資本項目——懷俄明州準備項目——正在按計劃進行。我們將在年底前完成這項工作，所以這對我們來說也是一件大事。

Sure. Lastly, there's been some data points on some economic issues, some weakness here and there, and lots of layoffs of late. Have you seen any indicators of weakness in your service areas at this point?

當然。最後，還有一些關於經濟問題的數據，有些地方經濟疲軟，以及近期大量的裁員。目前您是否發現服務區域內有任何弱點？

We monitor that closely, Chris, and I'd say the short answer is no. We're watching that closely. But in our particular service territories, the economic conditions seem to continue to be strong, maybe not as strong as they've been in the past, but they're still -- they're certainly not weak, put it that way.

克里斯，我們會密切關注此事，我的簡短回答是：不。我們正在密切關注此事。但就我們特定的服務區域而言，經濟狀況似乎依然強勁，也許不如過去那麼強勁，但仍然——這麼說吧，肯定不會疲軟。

Okay. Appreciate the color, guys.

好的。夥計們，欣賞一下這色彩吧。

Thank you, Chris.

謝謝你，克里斯。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Andrew Weisel, Scotiabank.

安德魯‧韋塞爾，加拿大豐業銀行。

Hey, good morning, everybody.

嘿，大家早安。

Good morning, Andrew.

早安，安德魯。

First question, I want to ask Lin, try to quantify the EPS upside from the Crusoe Telegraph Data Center project. Bear with me here. I know that you're not going to answer the direct question here, but I want to go through this thesis going around. You may have heard. The basic concept is, you've talked about 10% of 2028 EPS coming from data centers based on 500-megawatts.

首先，我想請林先生嘗試量化 Crusoe Telegraph 資料中心專案帶來的 EPS 成長潛力。請各位稍等片刻。我知道你不會直接回答這個問題，但我很想了解目前流傳的這個論點。你可能已經聽過了。基本概念是，你提到 2028 年每股收益的 10% 將來自基於 500 兆瓦的資料中心。

We can take 2025 EPS, grow it by 5% per year, take 10% of that, divide by 500. That gives a simplified math of EPS per megawatt. You multiply that by 1.8-gigawatts, you get a huge potential impact in the neighborhood of like $1.05 of EPS or more by the time this project is at full scale. It'd be even higher if we did like 2.5-gigawatts or 3-gigawatts that you've talked about today. So admittedly this is very simplified math, but does that approach make sense to quantifying the upside?

我們可以取 2025 年的每股盈餘，每年成長 5%，取其中的 10%，再除以 500。這樣就簡化了每兆瓦EPS的計算。乘以 1.8 吉瓦，當這個項目全面建成時，其潛在影響巨大，每股收益可能達到 1.05 美元甚至更多。如果我們像你今天提到的那樣，裝置容量達到 2.5 吉瓦或 3 吉瓦，那數字還會更高。誠然，這只是非常簡化的數學計算，但這種方法對於量化收益是否有意義？

Or I know you've talked a lot about the tariff structure. Are there diminishing returns or any other reason to think that that approach and that level of upside is wrong?

我知道你們已經多次談到關稅結構。是否存在收益遞減或其他原因，使得我們認為這種方法和這種收益水準是錯誤的？

Good morning, Andrew. It's Kimberly. What I generally say is, your theory and your mathematical calculation is directionally correct. It's really important to understand that we negotiate with each of these data centers and so, the nuances of those contractual agreements will be different between each of the respective hyperscalers whether it's our existing customer base with Microsoft and Meta, whether it's the forecasted opportunities of some of the hyperscalers that we're currently negotiating with.

早安，安德魯。是金伯莉。我通常的說法是，你的理論和數學計算在方向上是正確的。非常重要的一點是，我們要與每個資料中心進行談判，因此，無論是我們現有的客戶群（例如微軟和 Meta），還是我們目前正在談判的一些超大規模資料中心的預期機會，每個超大規模資料中心之間的合約協議的細微差別都會有所不同。

So in general, each megawatt is going to look a little different, but from a theoretical perspective, you're absolutely right. This is going to be a significant opportunity from a Black Hills' long-term growth perspective.

所以總的來說，每個兆瓦的情況都會略有不同，但從理論角度來看，你的說法完全正確。從黑山地區的長期發展角度來看，這將是一個重要的機會。

And Andrew, Kimberly answered that question very, very well. I'd also add that some of these revenues also go back to customers. They go back through administrative fees and other kinds of fees. So it's very beneficial to customers the way these tariffs are set up as well.

安德魯，金伯莉回答得非常好。我還要補充一點，這些收入的一部分也會回饋給客戶。他們會收取行政費用和其他各種費用。因此，這些資費制度的設定方式對消費者來說也非常有利。

Okay, great. That's helpful and very encouraging. Along those lines, you talked earlier about incorporating the upside to the growth plan from data centers only after contracts are signed, which makes sense. Should that happen before the merger closes? Would you address the growth outlook, or is the 4% to 6% more or less frozen, so to speak, until the deal closes? I'm not looking for a number. I'm asking for a philosophy.

好的，太好了。這很有幫助，也令人非常鼓舞。按照這個思路，你之前提到只有在簽約後才將資料中心帶來的成長潛力納入成長計劃，這很有道理。這應該在合併完成之前發生嗎？您能否談談成長前景？或者說，在交易完成之前，4%到6%的成長目標是否基本保持不變？我不是尋找具體數字。我想要的是一種哲學理念。

Hi, Andrew. Yes, this is Kimberly again. So, obviously we're very focused on achieving our current growth rate, and we're on target to do that. We've obviously got it to the upper end of that range as a result of a lot of the projects our teams are working on that will go into service. Ready Wyoming, Lange II project, etc. So as we think about data center growth, obviously it would be a significant upside to our plan.

你好，安德魯。是的，我又是金伯莉。所以，很顯然，我們非常專注於實現目前的成長率，而且我們正朝著這個目標穩步前進。由於我們團隊正在進行的許多即將投入使用的項目，我們顯然已經將其提升到了該範圍的上限。懷俄明州的 Ready 計畫、Lange II 計畫等等。因此，當我們考慮資料中心成長時，這顯然會對我們的計劃產生重大影響。

And we would obviously provide an update at the point that we're going to close or sign these contracts, and at that point we'll assess whether it's the right time to change our earnings guidance range, our long-term earnings guidance range for any reason. So that's really how we're thinking about it at this point.

我們顯然會在即將完成或簽署這些合約時提供最新消息，屆時我們將評估是否是出於任何原因更改我們的獲利預期範圍或長期獲利預期範圍的合適時機。所以，目前我們就是這麼考慮的。

Okay, very clear. One last one if I may. You own a coal mine which has not gotten a lot of investor attention recently. But in today's environment it might be worth more than it has been in the past. How are you thinking about that asset? Is it something that you could potentially monetize? Coal obviously, it's not a rare earth mineral, but it seems to fall into that rare earths' conversation. How do you think about that asset strategically?

好的，非常清楚。如果可以的話，我再問最後一個問題。你擁有一座煤礦，但最近並沒有引起投資者的太多關注。但在當今環境下，它的價值可能比過去更高。你對這項資產有什麼看法？它是否有可能被商業化？煤炭顯然不是稀土礦物，但它似乎也屬於稀土礦物的範疇。您如何從策略角度看待這項資產？

We're keeping our options open, I suppose, Andrew. You might know my background's mining, engineering. So I'm aware of what this could be and what it could not be. We are aware we have rare earth minerals in our coal, in our fly ash, etc. It'd be my personal opinion, probably not enough to monetize. But, stranger things have happened. We'll watch what's happening at the Washington DC region, especially if there was a price floor or something of that nature.

我想，我們還在權衡各種可能性，安德魯。你可能知道我的背景是採礦和工程。所以我知道這可能是什麼，也不可能是什麼。我們知道煤炭、粉煤灰等物質中含有稀土礦物。但我個人認為，這些礦物的含量可能不足以產生商業價值。但是，更離奇的事情都發生過。我們會密切關注華盛頓特區地區的局勢，特別是如果出現價格下限或其他類似情況。

We're all aware that the Chinese can flood the market very quickly if they choose to in that regard, etc. So we're keeping an eye on it, I suppose. We -- our coal has been, tested, analyzed. So we're kind of aware of what's there. But we don't think there's anything that we need to be really, happy or concerned about in the near term. How's that sound?

我們都知道，如果中國人願意，他們可以很快地將大量產品推向市場等等。所以我想，我們會密切關注此事。我們的煤炭已經過檢測和分析。所以我們大致了解那裡的情況。但我們認為，在短期內沒有什麼值得我們真正感到高興或擔憂的事情。這樣如何？

Sounds good. Appreciate it. Thank you, everybody.

聽起來不錯。謝謝。謝謝大家。

Thank you, Andrew. Appreciate your questions.

謝謝你，安德魯。感謝您的提問。

Thank you. I would not like to turn the call back over to Lin Evans for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我不想把電話轉回林·埃文斯做總結發言。

Well, thank you everyone for your interest in Black Hills today. We appreciate your time. We appreciate your investment in us and your confidence in us. As you can see, I think we're hitting on all cylinders. So we're very excited about finishing our Ready Wyoming project. We're excited about our merger in the second half of next year with our friends at NorthWestern Energy.

感謝大家今天對黑山地區的關注。感謝您抽出時間。我們感謝您對我們的投資和信任。如你所見，我認為我們各方面都進展順利。所以我們對完成「懷俄明州準備就緒」計畫感到非常興奮。我們對明年下半年與西北能源公司（NorthWestern Energy）的合併感到非常興奮。

We'll be seeing many of you in the next couple of days at the Edison Electric Institute Financial Conference. We wish you safe travels. And we'll look forward to connecting with you there. And then finally, I just want to say a huge thank you to our team, how engaged you are as you're improving our customers' lives with energy every day. Thank you for what you do.

接下來的幾天，我們將在愛迪生電氣協會金融會議上見到你們中的許多人。祝您旅途平安。我們期待在那裡與您聯繫。最後，我要衷心感謝我們的團隊，感謝你們每天的敬業精神，你們用能源改善客戶的生活。感謝你所做的一切。

And with that, enjoy a Black Hills Energy safe day.

祝您享受黑山能源公司提供的安全可靠的一天。

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了。