CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to CenterPoint Energy third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call with senior management. (Operator instructions)

早安，歡迎參加 CenterPoint Energy 與高階管理層舉行的 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I will now turn the call over to Jackie Richert, Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning, Investor Relations and Treasure. Ms Richert, please go ahead.

我現在會把電話轉給企業規劃、投資者關係和財務部資深副總裁 Jackie Richert。里克特女士，請繼續。

Good morning and welcome to CenterPoint Energy's third-quarter, 2024 earnings conference call. Jason Wells, our CEO; and Chris Foster our CFO will discuss the company's third quarter results. Management will discuss certain topics that will contain projections and other forward-looking information and statements that are based on management's beliefs, assumptions and information currently available to management. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties.

早安，歡迎參加 CenterPoint Energy 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。 Jason Wells，我們的執行長；我們的財務長 Chris Foster 將討論該公司第三季的業績。管理層將討論某些主題，其中包含基於管理層的信念、假設和當前可獲得的資訊的預測和其他前瞻性資訊和聲明。這些前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性。

Actual results could differ materially based upon various factors as noted in our form 10-Q, other SEC filings and our earnings materials. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements. We will be discussing certain non-GAAP measures on today's call. When providing guidance, we use the non-GAAP EPS measure of diluted adjusted earnings per share on a consolidated basis referred to as non-GAAP EPS.

實際結果可能會因我們 10-Q 表格、其他 SEC 文件和我們的獲利資料中所述的各種因素而存在重大差異。我們不承擔公開修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。我們將在今天的電話會議上討論某些非公認會計準則措施。在提供指導時，我們使用合併基礎上稀釋調整後每股收益的非公認會計原則每股收益衡量標準，稱為非公認會計原則每股收益。

For information on our guidance methodology and reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures discussed on this call, please refer to today's news release and presentation on our website. We use our website to announce material information. This call is being recorded. Information on how to access the replay can be found on our website.

有關本次電話會議中討論的我們的指導方法和非公認會計原則措施的調節的信息，請參閱今天的新聞稿和我們網站上的演示。我們使用我們的網站來公佈重要資訊。此通話正在錄音。有關如何存取重播的資訊可以在我們的網站上找到。

Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Jason.

現在，我想把電話轉給傑森。

Thank you, Jackie and good morning everyone. I'd like to begin by extending our deepest sympathies to our families and communities impacted by the devastation caused by hurricane Helene and hurricane Milton. The destruction caused by this year's hurricane season is undoubtedly tragic. However, it is times like these that truly bring out the best in our industry.

謝謝你，傑基，大家早安。首先，我謹向受到海倫颶風和米爾頓颶風破壞的家庭和社區表示最深切的同情。今年颶風季節造成的破壞無疑是悲慘的。然而，正是在這樣的時刻，我們這個產業才能真正發揮最好的一面。

A few weeks ago, we saw the utility community come together to send more than 50,000 utility workers from at least 43 states, the district of Columbia and Canada to support hurricane restoration efforts across the southeast. From CenterPoint, we contributed to the effort by sending personnel representing nearly a third of our electric frontline workforce to assist in the restoration efforts for Helene and Milton.

幾週前，我們看到公用事業界齊心協力，從至少 43 個州、哥倫比亞特區和加拿大派遣了 50,000 多名公用事業工人，以支持東南部的颶風復原工作。 CenterPoint 派出代表我們電力第一線員工近三分之一的人員來協助 Helene 和 Milton 的恢復工作，為這項工作做出了貢獻。

As many of you know, the greater Houston area benefited greatly from the same mutual assistance framework during hurricane Barrel, where we called upon 13,000 workers from approximately 30 states to help restore power to more than 2 million customers.

正如許多人所知，大休士頓地區在颶風「巴雷爾」期間從相同的互助框架中受益匪淺，我們呼籲來自約 30 個州的 13,000 名工作人員幫助為超過 200 萬名客戶恢復電力。

I want to thank all of our frontline teams as well as others throughout the industry that answer the call to help get the lights back on for the millions of people impacted by the destructive hurricanes we've experienced this season. On today's call, I'd like to address five key areas of focus.

我要感謝我們所有的前線團隊以及整個行業的其他人員，他們響應號召，幫助數百萬人重新獲得了光明，而這些人都受到了我們本季經歷的破壞性颶風的影響。在今天的電話會議上，我想談談五個重點關注領域。

First, I'll briefly touch on the third quarter financial results. Second, I'll discuss the progress we've made and future goals with respect to our Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative or GHRI. Third, I'll provide an update on our various regulatory efforts. Fourth, I'll highlight the organic growth we continue to experience, particularly in the Houston Electric Service territory. Lastly, I'll conclude with the initiation of our earnings guidance for 2025.

首先，我將簡要介紹第三季的財務表現。其次，我將討論我們在大休士頓彈性倡議 (GHRI) 方面取得的進展和未來目標。第三，我將提供我們各項監管工作的最新資訊。第四，我將強調我們繼續經歷的有機成長，特別是在休士頓電力服務領域。最後，我將啟動 2025 年獲利指引。

Today, we reported non-GAAP EPS of $0.31 per share for the quarter. In addition, we are reaffirming our full year 2024 non-GAAP EPS guidance range of a $1.61 to a $1.63 per share. This represents 8% growth at the midpoint from our 2023 results. Chris will provide additional details on our financial results in his section.

今天，我們報告本季非 GAAP 每股收益為 0.31 美元。此外，我們重申 2024 年全年非 GAAP 每股盈餘指引範圍為 1.61 美元至 1.63 美元。這意味著我們 2023 年業績的中間成長率為 8%。克里斯將在他的部分提供有關我們財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

Now I'd like to provide an update on our ongoing execution of our electric operational plan, the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative which we launched in early August. As you may have seen, we have already made significant strides towards strengthening the resiliency and reliability of our grid in the first phase of GHRI, as well as enhancing our communications with our customers.

現在，我想介紹一下我們正在執行的電力營運計劃的最新情況，即我們在八月初啟動的大休士頓彈性計劃。正如您可能已經看到的，在 GHRI 第一階段，我們已經在加強電網的彈性和可靠性以及加強與客戶的溝通方面取得了重大進展。

These actions have been informed by learnings from internal and external reviews, engagement with stakeholders and benchmarking with high performing sector peers. During the third quarter, we took immediate action and accelerated our plans to deliver an unprecedented level of work.

這些行動的基礎是內部和外部審查的經驗教訓、利害關係人的參與以及與高績效行業同行的基準比較。第三季度，我們立即採取行動，加快了計劃，以實現前所未有的工作水平。

This includes removing higher risk vegetation across 2009 miles, replacing over 1,100 poles with new poles capable of withstanding extreme wind and installing over 300 automated reliability devices to help reduce the number and duration of customer outages.

這包括清除 2009 英里範圍內風險較高的植被，用能夠承受極端風力的新電線桿更換 1,100 多根電線桿，以及安裝 300 多個自動化可靠性設備，以幫助減少客戶停電的次數和持續時間。

We accomplished all of this work before the end of August in ahead of schedule. With respect to improving our communications, we launched our new and updated outage tracker on August 1. This tool is designed to enhance the customer experience during times of service disruptions. Additionally, we've stated our commitment to hire senior emergency preparedness and response at communications leaders to bolster our leadership team.

我們在8月底前提前完成了所有這些工作。為了改善我們的溝通，我們於 8 月 1 日推出了新的和更新的中斷追蹤器。此外，我們還承諾聘請高級應急準備和回應通訊領導者，以加強我們的領導團隊。

I'm pleased to share, we have hired leaders for both of these positions that bring a wealth of industry experience and will accelerate our efforts to improve our preparedness and response in our customer experience during emergency events.

我很高興與大家分享，我們已聘請了這兩個職位的領導者，他們帶來了豐富的行業經驗，並將加快我們的努力，改善緊急事件期間客戶體驗的準備和響應。

We believe our more proactive communications approach is already positively impacting the customer experience through more timely information. These are great first steps and I'm proud of the progress thus far. But we have heard the call to action and we are committed to doing even more in the second and third phases of GHRI for the benefit of our customers and our communities.

我們相信，我們更主動的溝通方法已經透過更及時的訊息對客戶體驗產生了積極影響。這些都是偉大的第一步，我對迄今為止的進展感到自豪。但我們已經聽到了行動呼籲，我們致力於在 GHRI 第二和第三階段做更多的事情，以造福我們的客戶和社區。

These next two phases will focus not only on reducing the number of outages, but also reducing the outage time customers experience through investments designed to create a self healing grid. I want to underscore however, that GHRI does not represent the beginning of our enhanced resiliency investments. This is merely a continuation and acceleration of the work we started well ahead of this year's events. Over the last few years, we have focused our resiliency investments on our electric transmission system which is the backbone of our grid.

接下來的兩個階段不僅著重於減少停電次數，而且還透過旨在創建自我修復電網的投資來減少客戶體驗的停電時間。但我想強調的是，GHRI 並不代表我們增強彈性投資的開始。這只是我們在今年活動之前就開始的工作的延續和加速。在過去幾年中，我們將彈性投資重點放在作為電網支柱的輸電系統上。

Our transmission resiliency work included upgrading our transmission structures to better withstand extreme winds, elevating our substations to mitigate flood risk and converting our older 69 KV transmission lines to a more robust 138 KV standard.

我們的輸電彈性工作包括升級輸電結構以更好地抵禦極端風力、抬高變電站以減輕洪水風險以及將舊的 69 KV 輸電線路轉換為更強大的 138 KV 標準。

This work has already produced tangible results during the (inaudible) May in Hurricane Barrel in July, our hardened transmission system with stood the extreme winds and sustained relatively little structural damage. In fact, while other Texas utility customers sustained prolonged outages due to damage on their transmission system from Hurricane Barrel, we did not experience any customer outages due to our transmission system.

這項工作已經在 7 月的颶風桶（聽不清楚）的 5 月期間產生了切實的成果，我們加固的傳輸系統經受住了極端的強風，並且遭受了相對較小的結構損壞。事實上，雖然德州的其他公用事業客戶由於颶風「桶」對傳輸系統造成損壞而遭受長時間停電，但我們的傳輸系統並未導致任何客戶停電。

As we now turn our attention to accelerating investments in the distribution system in the next two phases of GHRI, we believe we are well positioned to make rapid improvement. Currently, a little over 46% of our Houston Electric distribution system is underground, which on a proportional basis is more than twice the industry average.

由於我們現在將注意力轉向在 GHRI 的下兩個階段加速對分銷系統的投資，我們相信我們已經做好了快速改進的準備。目前，休士頓電力公司 46% 多一點的配電系統位於地下，比例是產業平均的兩倍多。

Our opportunity is to harden above ground feeders to those communities through smaller, more targeted investments that should yield impactful results for approximately 60% of the customers that are served by underground service.

我們的機會是透過規模更小、更有針對性的投資來強化這些社區的地上支線，這將為大約 60% 的地下服務客戶帶來有影響力的結果。

This feeder blitz is expected to have the additional benefit of substantially reducing the total outage numbers and accelerating restoration for other customers, as resources can focus on the remaining circuits earlier in the restoration process.

這次支線閃電戰預計將帶來額外的好處，即大幅減少總停電數量並加速其他客戶的恢復，因為資源可以在恢復過程的早期集中於剩餘電路。

Another area we believe we can make meaningful improvements on our distribution system is with respect to increased circuit segmentation and automation. Equipment such as intelligent grid switching devices and trip savers help create a self healing grid by isolating outages to fewer customers, rerouting power around impacted areas and automatically restoring power without manual intervention where there is no structural damage.

我們相信我們可以對配電系統進行有意義的改進的另一個領域是增加電路分段和自動化。智慧電網開關設備和行程保護器等設備可將停電隔離到較少的客戶，在受影響區域重新佈線，並在沒有結構損壞的情況下自動恢復電力，無需人工幹預，從而幫助創建自我修復電網。

Presently, approximately 30% of Houston Electric's overhead circuits have at least one automation device. As part of phase II of GHRI, we anticipate installing 4,500 trips savers and 350 intelligent grid switching devices before the next hurricane season which will allow us to nearly double the number of distribution circuits with automation devices in the greater Houston area.

目前，休士頓電力公司大約 30% 的架空線路至少配備了一台自動化設備。作為GHRI 第二階段的一部分，我們預計在下一個颶風季節之前安裝4,500 個行程節省器和350 個智慧電網開關設備，這將使我們能夠將大休士頓地區配備自動化設備的配電電路數量增加近一倍。

Our investments and work during this phase are anticipated to save our Houston area customers over 125 million outage minutes annually. Over the next five years, we plan to not only deploy even more devices, but also optimize their capabilities by employing AI based modeling. We plan to share additional details regarding our future resiliency investments on our fourth quarter call, which will take place after we have filed our system resiliency plan.

我們在此階段的投資和工作預計每年將為休士頓地區的客戶節省超過 1.25 億分鐘的停電時間。在未來五年中，我們不僅計劃部署更多設備，而且還透過採用基於人工智慧的建模來優化其功能。我們計劃在第四季度電話會議上分享有關我們未來彈性投資的更多詳細信息，該電話會議將在我們提交系統彈性計劃後進行。

As a reminder, our revised system resiliency plan will include approximately $5 billion in resiliency investments from 2026 through 2028, an increase of approximately [2.5 billion] over our previously withdrawn system resiliency plan.

謹此提醒，我們修訂後的系統彈性計畫將包括 2026 年至 2028 年約 50 億美元的彈性投資，比我們先前撤回的系統彈性計畫增加約 [25 億]。

Chris will go into more detail in his section, but I want to highlight that even with the inclusion of these incremental resiliency investments, we anticipate Houston Electric's customer delivery charge increases will track in line with the long term rate of inflation over the next 10 years.

克里斯將在他的部分中詳細介紹，但我想強調的是，即使納入了這些增量彈性投資，我們預計休士頓電力公司的客戶交付費用上漲將與未來 10 年的長期通貨膨脹率保持一致。

Turning to an update of our broader regulatory efforts starting with Houston Electric. As many of you likely saw on August 1, we filed our notice to withdraw our Houston Electric rate case filing. This withdraw allows us to continue to focus our attention on near term plan execution and long term system resiliency plan development as we are laser focused on year-over-year improvements. If the withdrawal is approved, we have stated that we will file a new Houston Electric rate case no later than June 30, 2025 based on a 2024 calendar test year.

接下來是我們從休士頓電力公司開始的更廣泛監管工作的更新。正如你們中的許多人可能在 8 月 1 日看到的那樣，我們提交了撤回休士頓電力費率案件備案的通知。此次撤回使我們能夠繼續將注意力集中在近期計劃執行和長期系統彈性計劃開發上，因為我們專注於逐年改進。如果提款獲得批准，我們已聲明，我們將根據 2024 年日曆測試年，在 2025 年 6 月 30 日之前提交新的休士頓電力費率案件。

Outside of the rate case filing, we intend to continue to seek recovery of capital investments made for the benefit of our customers. In the fourth quarter of this year, we anticipate filing to start recovery of both our recent transmission and distribution investments through our TCOS and DCRF capital trackers.

除了費率案件備案之外，我們打算繼續尋求收回為客戶利益而進行的資本投資。今年第四季度，我們預計將透過 TCOS 和 DCRF 資本追蹤器開始回收我們最近的輸電和配電投資。

The efficient recovery of these investments is crucial to our ability to efficiently fund future investments. This is why we remain focused on reducing regulatory lag across all of our jurisdictions. Our latest earnings monitoring report highlights the regulatory lag we continue to experience at Houston Electric. For 2023, our weather normalized earned return on equity was nearly 150 basis points lower than are allowed. In addition to filing for recovery of our investments, we will also make the initial filing for the recovery of approximately [450 million] in storm costs related to the [major] ratio.

這些投資的有效回收對於我們有效為未來投資提供資金的能力至關重要。這就是為什麼我們仍然致力於減少所有司法管轄區的監管滯後。我們最新的獲利監測報告強調了我們在休士頓電力持續經歷的監管滯後。 2023 年，我們的天氣正常化賺取股本回報率比允許的低近 150 個基點。除了申請收回我們的投資外，我們還將首次申請收回與[主要]比率相關的約[4.5億]風暴成本。

Now, turning to the Indiana electric rate case. A little over a month ago, we filed our proposed order with respect to our non-unanimous settlement proposal. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has a statutory deadline to issue its final order by February 3, 2025. We want to thank all stakeholders for their contributions to the case as we seek to reach a fair outcome for all parties.

現在，轉向印第安納州電價案例。一個多月前，我們就我們的非一致和解提案提交了擬議命令。印第安納州公用事業監管委員會有法定期限在 2025 年 2 月 3 日之前發布最終命令。

Moving next to the filed Minnesota gas rate case. As some of you may have seen intervenor testimony was filed a few weeks ago. Since then we have had constructive settlement talks with stakeholders and intend to continue in the settlement negotiations leading up to our rebuttal testimony deadline of November 12. As you may recall, we have settled our previous three rate cases in our Minnesota gas jurisdiction. (inaudible) settlement, the Minnesota Commission may consider interim rates for 2025 toward the end of this year.

接下來是已提交的明尼蘇達州天然氣費率案件。你們中的一些人可能已經看到干預者的證詞是幾週前提交的。此後，我們與利益相關者進行了建設性的和解談判，並打算在11 月12 日的反駁證詞截止日期之前繼續進行和解談判。三起費率案件。 （聽不清楚）和解後，明尼蘇達州委員會可能會在今年年底考慮 2025 年的臨時費率。

Finally, I want to touch on our upcoming rate case application for Ohio Gas. In August, our Ohio Gas business filed its notice of intent with the Public Utility Commission of Ohio regarding our upcoming general rate case application, which we intend to file tomorrow. Over the last several years, we have had one of the lowest customer gas bills in the state. Our upcoming ask reflects an investment recovery rate that will put us more in line with our Ohio peers.

最後，我想談談我們即將推出的俄亥俄天然氣公司費率案例申請。八月，我們的俄亥俄州天然氣業務向俄亥俄州公用事業委員會提交了關於我們即將提交的一般費率案例申請的意向通知，我們打算明天提交。在過去的幾年裡，我們是該州客戶燃氣費用最低的國家之一。我們即將提出的要求反映了投資回收率，這將使我們與俄亥俄州同行更加一致。

In addition, this larger revenue requirement increase will allow us to more efficiently fund the continued pipeline modernization investments, which we believe contributes to the overall safety and efficiency of the system.

此外，收入需求的增加將使我們能夠更有效地為持續的管道現代化投資提供資金，我們相信這有助於系統的整體安全性和效率。

Now, I want to highlight the strong organic growth we continue to see, especially in our Texas service territories. While much of my earlier commentary focused on our investments in resiliency and reliability, I want to emphasize that we continue to experience significant growth across Texas, and in particular, the Greater Houston region.

現在，我想強調我們繼續看到的強勁有機成長，特別是在我們德克薩斯州的服務區域。雖然我之前的大部分評論都集中在我們對彈性和可靠性的投資上，但我想強調的是，我們在德克薩斯州，特別是大休斯頓地區繼續經歷顯著增長。

Over the last few decades, the Greater Houston region has grown at one of the fastest rates in the nation. We see that growth not only continuing, but accelerating through the remainder of this decade and beyond. In fact, we believe our peak load of approximately 22 gigawatts in 2024 could increase by more than 30% by 2030. This potential growth is driven by continued population growth, acceleration of electrification and increases in data center activity.

在過去的幾十年裡，大休士頓地區是全美成長最快的地區之一。我們看到這種成長不僅持續，而且在本十年剩餘時間及以後加速成長。事實上，我們相信 2024 年約 22 吉瓦的尖峰負載到 2030 年可能會增加 30% 以上。

Houston continues to be an attractive city to live and work. Over the last five years, housing starts have increased over 9% per year on average, which is more than 3 times the national average. We see this growth continuing as businesses and people alike continue to migrate to the Houston area.

休士頓仍然是一個具有吸引力的生活和工作城市。過去五年，新屋開工年均成長超過9%，是全國平均的3倍多。隨著企業和人們繼續遷移到休士頓地區，我們看到這種成長仍在繼續。

Our industrial load growth drivers are both large and diverse. Our substantial potential future load growth is underpinned by industrial electrification and energy exports including hydrogen. Houston remains an ideal location for hydrogen developers as it already boasts the largest hydrogen infrastructure in the world in addition to proximity to the largest port by waterborne tonnage in the United States.

我們的工業負荷成長驅動因素既龐大又多樣化。我們未來巨大的潛在負載成長得益於工業電氣化和包括氫氣在內的能源出口。休士頓仍然是氫開發商的理想地點，因為它已經擁有世界上最大的氫基礎設施，並且靠近美國水運噸位最大的港口。

Although we still are in the early stages of hydrogen development, we are working with approximately 3.5 gigawatts of projects that are well into the advanced engineering phase. Outside are more traditional load drivers of energy and energy exports. We see growing potential incremental load from other sectors. Notably over the summer, we have seen a fundamental shift in data center development.

儘管我們仍處於氫能開發的早期階段，但我們正在開發約 3.5 吉瓦的項目，這些項目已進入高級工程階段。外部是更傳統的能源負載驅動因素和能源出口。我們看到其他產業的潛在增量負荷不斷成長。尤其是在今年夏天，我們看到了資料中心發展的根本轉變。

In fact, our interconnection queue for data centers now sits at over 8 gigawatts, while we recognize that not all of this will be developed it is yet another tailwind in what we continue to believe is one of the most tangible long term growth stories in the industry.

事實上，我們的資料中心互連隊列現在超過 8 吉瓦，雖然我們認識到並非所有這些都將得到開發，但我們仍然認為這是世界上最切實的長期成長故事之一的又一個推動力。行業。

It is with this growth and our customer driven capital investments that we've made over the last couple of years that gives us conviction to initiate our 2025 non-GAAP earnings guidance target range of $1.74 to a $1.76 per share.

正是憑藉這種成長以及過去幾年我們進行的客戶驅動的資本投資，我們有信心啟動 2025 年非 GAAP 每股收益指導目標範圍 1.74 美元至 1.76 美元。

The midpoint of this range represents 8% growth from the midpoint of our 2024 guidance range of a $1.61 to a $1.63 beyond 2025. We are also reaffirming our longer term guidance where we expect to grow non-GAAP EPS at the mid to high end of our 6% to 8% range annually through 2030, as well as targeting dividend per share growth in line with earnings per share growth over that same period of time.

該範圍的中點代表我們2024 年指導範圍的中點（1.61 美元）到2025 年之後的1.63 美元的增長8%。 2025 年中高端成長。

For our customers, this strong Houston area growth gives us confidence that we will keep increases in electric delivery charges roughly in line with the forecasted rate of inflation over the next 10 years. We recognize the privilege and responsibility of being an energy delivery provider for our customers. We will be laser focused on both enabling growth and advancing system resiliency for the benefit of our customers through the work that we've outlined in GHRI, as well as the investments we will propose in our new system resiliency filing. We look forward to continuing to work with our customers, regulators and others to make improvements for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.

對於我們的客戶來說，休士頓地區的強勁成長讓我們有信心，我們將保持電力傳輸費用的成長與未來 10 年預測的通貨膨脹率大致一致。我們認識到作為客戶的能源輸送提供者的特權和責任。我們將透過我們在 GHRI 中概述的工作以及我們將在新的系統彈性備案中提出的投資，重點關注促進成長和提高系統彈性，以造福客戶。我們期待繼續與客戶、監管機構和其他方合作，為所有利害關係人的利益做出改進。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Chris.

有了這個，我會把它交給克里斯。

Thanks, Jason. Before I get to my updates, I want to echo Jason's gratitude for not only our CenterPoint coworkers, but all utility and contractor employees that aided in the restoration efforts during this very active hurricane season.

謝謝，傑森。在介紹最新情況之前，我想表達 Jason 的感謝，不僅感謝我們的 CenterPoint 同事，還感謝所有在這個非常活躍的颶風季節為恢復工作提供幫助的公用事業和承包商員工。

It was truly remarkable to witness the dedication to a safe response and the speed of the restoration efforts that took place after two devastating hurricanes hit the Southeast within two weeks of each other. I want to thank the roughly one-third of our internal CenterPoint line crews that made the journey to other sector peers to help get the lights back on after those hurricanes.

兩週內兩次毀滅性颶風襲擊東南部後，我們對安全響應的奉獻精神和恢復工作的速度確實令人驚嘆。我要感謝大約三分之一的 CenterPoint 內部工作人員，他們在颶風過後前往其他行業同行，幫助恢復供電。

For the quarter, I'd like to cover four areas of focus. First, the details of our third quarter financial results, including our reaffirmation of 2024 guidance. Second, the initiation of 2025 non-GAAP EPS. Third, I'll touch on our capital deployment status this quarter and forecasted storm costs. And finally, I'll provide an update on our financing plans, including an update to our plans to increase our equity guidance to fund our incremental $2.5 billion, which will be included in our system resiliency plan totaling at least $5 billion in cumulative resiliency investments from 2026 through 2028.

對於本季度，我想討論四個重點領域。首先是我們第三季財務業績的詳細信息，包括我們重申的 2024 年指引。其次，啟動2025年非公認會計準則每股收益。第三，我將談談本季我們的資本部署狀況和預測的風暴成本。最後，我將提供有關我們融資計劃的最新信息，包括我們增加股權指導的計劃的更新，以資助我們增量的25 億美元，這將包含在我們的系統彈性計劃中，累計彈性投資總額至少為50 億美元從 2026 年到 2028 年。

Let's now move to the financial results shown on slide 7. On a GAAP EPS basis, we reported $0.30 for the third quarter of 2024. On a non-GAAP basis, we reported $0.31 for the third quarter of 2024 compared to $0.40 in the third quarter of 2023. Our non-GAAP EPS results for the third quarter removed the costs associated with the sale of Louisiana and Mississippi Gas LDCs.

現在讓我們來看看幻燈片7 中顯示的財務業績。 0.31 美元，而第三季為0.40 美元。

The reduced earnings quarter-over-quarter was primarily driven by increased and accelerated O&M that was completed as part of Phase I of the GHRI. When compared to the comparable quarter of 2023, O&M was $0.11 unfavorable.

收益環比減少的主要原因是作為 GHRI 第一階段的一部分完成的營運和維護的增加和加速。與 2023 年同期相比，O&M 成本下降了 0.11 美元。

This $0.11 not only represents the $70 million of vegetation management for which we will not seek recovery, but also the work we pulled forward from the fourth quarter to increase readiness for future potential inclement weather that could impact the Houston Electric system.

這 0.11 美元不僅代表了我們不會尋求恢復的 7000 萬美元植被管理費用，而且還代表了我們從第四季度開始推進的工作，以加強對未來可能影響休士頓電力系統的潛在惡劣天氣的準備。

In addition to the headwinds from O&M, weather and usage contributed an additional $0.06 of unfavorability quarter-over-quarter, $0.02 of this unfavorable variance was driven by reduced usage caused by outages from Hurricane Beryl along with a considerably milder summer in the Houston Electric service territory as compared to 2023.

除了O&M 帶來的不利因素之外，天氣和使用情況還導致了季度環比額外0.06 美元的不利因素，其中0.02 美元的不利因素是由於颶風Beryl 造成的停電導致使用量減少以及休斯敦電力服務的夏季氣候相當溫和造成的。

We continue to recover on our customer-driven investments, which contributed $0.09 of favorability this quarter when compared to the comparable quarter of 2023. This was primarily driven by the ongoing recovery from various interim mechanisms for which customer rates were updated last, year as well as the interim rates in our Minnesota Gas business that went into effect on January 1 of this year.

我們的客戶驅動型投資持續復甦，與 2023 年同期相比，本季度貢獻了 0.09 美元的好感度。今年1 月1 日生效的明尼蘇達州天然氣業務的臨時費率。

In addition, the Houston area continues to see strong organic growth, extending the long-term trend of 1% to 2% average annual customer growth. As Jason referenced, this dynamic aids in keeping future increases in our customer electric delivery charges roughly in line with the forecasted rate of inflation over the next 10 years.

此外，休士頓地區持續保持強勁的有機成長，延續了年均客戶成長 1% 至 2% 的長期趨勢。正如傑森所提到的，這種動態有助於使我們的客戶電力傳輸費用的未來成長與未來 10 年的預測通貨膨脹率大致一致。

Interest expense and financing costs contributed $0.01 of favorability when compared to the comparable quarter in 2023, due to moderating interest rates and the favorable variance from the redemption of the Series A preferred stock in September of last year.

與 2023 年同期相比，利息支出和融資成本貢獻了 0.01 美元的優惠，原因是利率放緩以及去年 9 月 A 輪優先股贖回帶來的有利差異。

Despite the headwinds we faced this quarter, we continue to reaffirm our full year 2024 non-GAAP EPS guidance range of $1.61 to $1.63. Our confidence in reiterating our full year 2024 guidance today is driven by the O&M work on the system that we accelerated into the third quarter.

儘管我們本季面臨阻力，但我們繼續重申 2024 年全年非 GAAP 每股盈餘指引範圍為 1.61 美元至 1.63 美元。我們今天重申 2024 年全年指引的信心是由我們加速到第三季的系統維運工作所推動的。

Our updated work plans are reflected in the $0.11 of unfavorability I mentioned as the work otherwise would have been spread across the third and fourth quarters. This is a departure from last year where we highlighted some higher O&M costs in the fourth quarter, reflecting work, including incremental vegetation management.

我們更新的工作計劃反映在我提到的 0.11 美元的不利因素中，否則工作將分散在第三和第四季。這與去年不同，去年我們強調了第四季度營運和維護成本的上升，這反映了包括增量植被管理在內的工作。

In addition to reaffirming full year 2024 non-GAAP EPS guidance, today, we are also initiating our 2025 non-GAAP EPS guidance target range of $1.74 to $1.76 per share. The midpoint of this range represents annual growth of 8% from the midpoint of our 2024 non-GAAP EPS guidance target range of $1.61 to $1.63.

除了重申 2024 年全年非 GAAP 每股盈餘指引外，今天，我們還啟動了 2025 年非 GAAP 每股盈餘指引目標範圍為 1.74 美元至 1.76 美元。該範圍的中點代表比我們 2024 年非 GAAP 每股收益指引目標範圍 1.61 美元至 1.63 美元的中點每年增長 8%。

Our 2025 figures are a byproduct of the significant investments we've made across our various jurisdictions over the last couple of years. As you may recall, we accelerated investments in the Houston Electric service territory last year, and we continued a strong investment profile across our jurisdictions this year. These investments have resulted in a rate base CAGR of more than 11% over the last two years.

我們的 2025 年資料是過去幾年我們在各個司法管轄區進行重大投資的副產品。您可能還記得，我們​​去年加快了對休士頓電力服務領域的投資，今年我們在整個轄區繼續保持強勁的投資勢頭。這些投資使得過去兩年的利率基礎複合年增長率超過 11%。

The strong foundation of organic growth with the new capital investments, combined with rates we are anticipating through our interim rate mechanisms and rate case outcomes give us the conviction in our 2025 non-GAAP earnings guidance initiated today.

新資本投資帶來的有機成長的堅實基礎，加上我們透過臨時利率機制和利率案例結果預期的利率，使我們對今天啟動的 2025 年非 GAAP 獲利指引充滿信心。

Next, I'll touch on our capital investments execution as of the quarter in 2024, as shown on slide 8. In the third quarter of 2024, we invested $900 million of base work for the benefit of our customers and communities. This excludes spending related to storm restoration.

接下來，我將介紹截至 2024 年季度的資本投資執行情況，如幻燈片 8 所示。這不包括與風暴恢復相關的支出。

Year-to-date, we have invested approximately $2.6 billion, which represents over 70% of our original 2024 capital expenditure target of $3.7 billion. We remain on target to meet our base capital plan investment despite the interruptions of normal capital deployment from the storms we've experienced this year.

今年迄今為止，我們已投資約 26 億美元，占我們原定 2024 年資本支出目標 37 億美元的 70% 以上。儘管我們今年經歷的風暴中斷了正常的資本部署，但我們仍然致力於實現基本資本計畫投資。

I'd also like to provide a quick update on where we stand with storm costs related to the major (inaudible) event and Hurricane Beryl. With the majority of costs accounted for, we are now able to refine our estimate to the low end of the previously disclosed $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion range as we now estimate costs for both storms to total $1.6 billion.

我還想快速介紹一下我們在與重大（聽不清楚）事件和颶風貝裡爾相關的風暴成本方面的最新情況。考慮到大部分成本後，我們現在可以將我們的估計細化到先前披露的 16 億美元至 18 億美元範圍的下限，因為我們現在估計兩次風暴的成本總計為 16 億美元。

We intend to make our filing for cost determination in connection with the securitization for the May storm costs in the coming weeks and storm registration costs associated with Hurricane Beryl in the first half of next year.

我們打算在未來幾週內提交與五月風暴成本證券化相關的成本確定文件，並在明年上半年提交與颶風貝裡爾相關的風暴登記成本的申請。

I'll now turn to our capital investment targets for 2025 and beyond. For 2025, we are targeting to invest $4.9 billion across various jurisdictions for the benefit of our customers and communities. Looking to the remaining five years of our original 10 year capital investment plan that runs through 2030, we are now targeting to deploy approximately $26 billion of capital, of which $21 billion is anticipated to be in the state of Texas.

我現在將談談我們 2025 年及以後的資本投資目標。到 2025 年，我們的目標是在各個司法管轄區投資 49 億美元，以造福我們的客戶和社區。展望我們最初的 10 年資本投資計畫（截至 2030 年）的剩餘五年，我們現在的目標是部署約 260 億美元的資本，其中預計 210 億美元將用於德州。

This brings our 10 year total capital investment plan up to $47 billion. This $47 billion is a $2.5 billion increase from our previously stated $44.5 billion. Our incremental investment is expected to all be deployed in our Houston Electric service territory and will be reflected in our upcoming system resiliency plan that we have committed to filing by January 31, 2025.

這使我們的 10 年總資本投資計畫達到 470 億美元。這 470 億美元比我們之前所說的 445 億美元增加了 25 億美元。我們的增量投資預計將全部部署在我們的休士頓電力服務區域，並將反映在我們承諾於 2025 年 1 月 31 日之前提交的即將推出的系統彈性計畫中。

We anticipate these investments will enhance the customer experience, but we remain cognizant of the impact of our investments on customer bills. However, based on the total current average Houston Electric residential bill, we estimate that our investments, combined with the estimated impacts of the 2b securitized storms, should result in customer bill increases roughly in line with the forecasted long-term rate of inflation over the next 10 years.

我們預計這些投資將增強客戶體驗，但我們仍然認識到我們的投資對客戶帳單的影響。然而，根據休士頓電力目前的平均住宅帳單總額，我們估計我們的投資，再加上 2b 證券化風暴的估計影響，應該會導致客戶帳單的增長大致與預測的長期通貨膨脹率一致。

As a reminder, our Houston Electric residential customer delivery charges were the same in 2014 as when we started 2024. This build trajectory is a result of our continued focus on efficiency and our O&M activities in addition to the consistent customer growth we've seen in the Houston area for the last three decades.

提醒一下，我們的休士頓電力住宅客戶交付費用在 2014 年與 2024 年開始時相同。年休士頓地區。

Finally, I want to touch on our balance sheet and how we're thinking about funding our increased capital plan. As of the end of the third quarter, our calculated FFO to debt was 13.8% when adjusting for the storm costs on a pro forma basis, based on our calculation aligning with Moody's methodology as shown here on slide 9. We've demonstrated our continued focus on preserving our balance sheet strength while executing our capital plans despite incremental storm cost pressures this year.

最後，我想談談我們的資產負債表以及我們如何考慮為增加的資本計劃提供資金。截至第三季末，根據我們與穆迪方法一致的計算，在預計的基礎上調整風暴成本時，我們計算出的 FFO 與債務之比為 13.8%，如幻燈片 9 所示。壓力增加，但我們仍專注於維持資產負債表實力，同時執行我們的資本計畫。

Our efforts included the acceleration of $250 million of common equity into this year and the issuance of equity credit from hybrid debt securities. We plan to maintain that same philosophy as we work to efficiently fund investments and preserve credit health, both in the near term and beyond as we continue to focus on our long-term target of maintaining a cushion of 100 to 150 basis points above our downgrade threshold.

我們的努力包括今年加速發行 2.5 億美元的普通股以及透過混合債務證券發行股本信貸。我們計劃在短期內和以後保持同樣的理念，努力有效地為投資提供資金並保持信用健康，同時繼續專注於維持比降級高出 100 至 150 個基點的緩衝的長期目標臨界點。

We also have substantial cash inflows as part of our plan, starting in 2025. Looking over roughly the next 12 to 18 months, we anticipate approximately $3 billion of gross cash proceeds from the divestiture of Louisiana and Mississippi Gas LDCs and storm related securitization issuances. And with regard to those anticipated securitization issuances, as a reminder, the state of Texas has seen 11 utility securitization transactions since 2008.

作為我們計劃的一部分，從2025 年開始，我們還將獲得大量現金流入 展望未來12 至18 個月，我們預計，路易斯安那州和密西西比州天然氣最不發達國家的剝離以及風暴相關的證券化發行將帶來約30 億美元的總現金收益。至於那些預期的證券化發行，需要提醒的是，自 2008 年以來，德州已經發生了 11 筆公用事業證券化交易。

So there's a strong history under this existing construct underpinning our conviction. We expect these combined proceeds will be a part of our strengthening story as we execute on additional customer driven investments.

因此，在現有的架構下有悠久的歷史支撐著我們的信念。我們預計，隨著我們執行更多客戶驅動的投資，這些合併收益將成為我們增強實力的一部分。

As we look to the long-term financing plans through 2030, I also want to provide an update today on our equity guidance. With respect to the incremental $2.5 billion of resiliency investments, we expect to follow our previously provided guidance of funding incremental investments with 50% equity and 50% debt.

在我們展望 2030 年的長期融資計畫時，我今天也想提供有關我們股權指引的最新資訊。對於增量 25 億美元的彈性投資，我們預計將遵循先前提供的指南，即以 50% 股權和 50% 債務為增量投資提供資金。

As such, you should expect that we will raise an incremental $1.25 billion of equity in addition to the $1.25 billion issuance through 2030 we previously guided to. This takes the total equity plan guidance to approximately $2.5 billion through the remainder of the decade.

因此，您應該預期，除了我們先前指導的 2030 年發行 12.5 億美元的股票之外，我們還將籌集 12.5 億美元的增量股本。這使得本十年剩餘時間內的總股權計畫指導達到約 25 億美元。

You should expect that the equity issuances associated with these incremental expenses will likely come towards the latter part of our remaining five year plan. In the near term, and as I mentioned previously, the approximately $3 billion of cash inflows should allow us flexibility and mitigate the need for common equity in 2025.

您應該預計，與這些增量費用相關的股票發行可能會在我們剩餘的五年計劃的後半部分進行。在短期內，正如我之前提到的，大約 30 億美元的現金流入將使我們具有靈活性，並減少 2025 年對普通股的需求。

Although we do not foresee the need for common equity issuances through 2025, we plan to continue to be opportunistic in strengthening the balance sheet through credit enhancing instruments like those we issued earlier this year. We will, of course, focus on the most efficient ways to raise that equity, be it through common equity issuances, incremental equity content such as hybrids or recycling proceeds.

儘管我們預計到 2025 年都不需要發行普通股，但我們計劃繼續透過今年稍早發行的信用增強工具來抓住機會加強資產負債表。當然，我們將專注於籌集股權的最有效方式，無論是透過普通股發行、混合股等增量股權內容或回收收益。

As we look across the states that we are fortunate to serve, we remain confident in the continuation of our long term plan with a consistent focus on improving customer outcomes, delivering affordable service and building towards the most resilient coastal grid in the United States.

當我們環顧我們有幸服務的各州時，我們對繼續執行我們的長期計劃仍然充滿信心，我們將始終致力於改善客戶成果、提供負擔得起的服務以及建設美國最具彈性的沿海電網。

And with that, I'll now turn the call back over to Jason.

這樣，我現在將把電話轉回給傑森。

Thank you, Chris. Regardless of the challenges we face, this management team remains firmly committed to delivering for all of our stakeholders, our customers, our communities, our regulators and legislators and our investors.

謝謝你，克里斯。無論我們面臨什麼挑戰，該管理團隊仍然堅定地致力於為我們所有的利害關係人、我們的客戶、我們的社區、我們的監管機構和立法者以及我們的投資者提供服務。

Thank you, Jason. Operator, we're now ready to turn to Q&A.

謝謝你，傑森。接線員，我們現在準備好進行問答。

(Operator instructions)

（操作員說明）

Shar Pourreza, Guggenheim.

沙爾·普雷扎，古根漢。

Hey guys, good morning.

嘿夥計們，早安。

Hey, good morning, Shar.

嘿，早上好，莎爾。

Morning, Jason. So just on '24, looks like it's in good shape. As we're sort of thinking about '25 guidance, there's like kind of a lot of moving pieces there, including sort of the GRC withdrawal requests, tracker filings, potentially maybe higher O&M.

早上好，傑森。所以就在 24 日，看起來狀態良好。當我們在考慮 25 年指導時，其中有很多變化，包括 GRC 撤回請求、追蹤器備案，可能還有更高的 O&M。

I guess, where is the level of confidence here? And what happens if the GRC withdrawal request isn't approved, which I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks? There's just a lot of moving pieces and some key events. It would be great to maybe if you can bridge it a little bit further for us. Thanks.

我想，這裡的信心在哪裡？如果 GRC 提款請求未獲批准會發生什麼（我想我們會在幾週內知道）？有很多感人的片段和一些關鍵事件。如果您能為我們進一步架起橋樑，那就太好了。謝謝。

Thanks, Shar, for the question. Obviously, we have a high degree of confidence in terms of initiating '25 here. There are a few points that I want to highlight that support that confidence.

謝謝莎爾的提問。顯然，我們對在這裡啟動“25”充滿信心。我想強調幾點來支持這種信心。

The first is we've invested significantly for our customers over the last two years and have a rate base CAGR over the last two years of about 11%. That creates a solid foundation for the 8% guide on earnings growth.

首先，過去兩年我們為客戶進行了大量投資，過去兩年的費率基礎複合年增長率約為 11%。這為 8% 的獲利成長指引奠定了堅實的基礎。

Second thing that I'd probably highlight is, as you know, we will have new base rates in three of our jurisdictions in '25, Texas Gas, Indiana Electric and Minnesota Gas. I think what's notable about Minnesota Gas is, as you recall over the past, we have filed rate cases every other year in Minnesota, and that profile created a dynamic where in every odd year, we had zero increase in revenues in Minnesota.

我可能要強調的第二件事是，如您所知，我們將在 25 年的三個司法管轄區（德州天然氣公司、印第安納電力公司和明尼蘇達天然氣公司）制定新的基本費率。我認為明尼蘇達天然氣公司值得注意的是，正如您過去所記得的那樣，我們每隔一年都會在明尼蘇達州提起費率案件，這種情況創造了一種動態，在每個奇數年，我們在明尼蘇達州的收入增長為零。

When we filed the multiyear rate case last year, we filed with a request to increase revenues here in '25. And so that smooths the profile for both earnings, but also for rate increases for our customers. And so I think that's a pretty notable change.

當我們去年提交多年費率案件時，我們在 25 年提交了增加收入的請求。這樣一來，我們的客戶的收入和費率上漲都會變得更加順利。所以我認為這是一個非常顯著的改變。

And then third, you touched on this. We believe we have access to all the recovery mechanisms for our capital spend with the exception of Ohio where we will be in the middle of that rate case.

第三，你談到了這一點。我們相信，我們可以利用所有資本支出回收機制，但俄亥俄州除外，我們將處於該利率情況的中間。

And so I think those are the drivers that give us confidence for the '25 earnings guidance. You mentioned the withdrawal of the Texas rate case. And as you recall, we had filed a modest revenue increase in that case about $60 million.

因此，我認為這些驅動因素讓我們對 25 年獲利指引充滿信心。您提到撤銷德州利率案。正如您所記得的，在這種情況下，我們已經提交了約 6000 萬美元的適度收入成長。

And what we have historically said is that we expected that to be a rate case that resolve itself with flat, potentially maybe a small decrease in revenues. And so I don't think the timing of the Houston Electric rate case is a real driver for '25, given those other factors I mentioned.

我們過去說過的是，我們預計這種利率情況會以收入持平甚至可能小幅下降的方式自行解決。因此，考慮到我提到的其他因素，我認為休士頓電力公司費率案例的時機並不是 25 年的真正驅動因素。

Okay. That's perfect. Thanks. And then just lastly, on equity, obviously, it's increased by another $1.25 billion to $2.5 billion through 2030. I mean, obviously, you talked a little bit about the shape of that equity being more back end loaded. But can you prefund the needs? Is there an opportunity there to remove the overhang? And are asset sales still an opportunity with the LDCs or capital markets aren't there for that? Thanks.

好的。那很完美。謝謝。最後，在股權方面，很明顯，到 2030 年，它會再增加 12.5 億美元，達到 25 億美元。 我的意思是，顯然，您談到了更多後端負載的股權的形狀。但你能預先滿足需求嗎？是否有機會去除懸垂部分？資產出售對最不發達國家來說仍然是一個機會嗎？謝謝。

Yes, thanks again for the question, Shar. What I would say is we've established, I think, a pretty strong track record of efficiently raising the equity that we need with a series of transactions in the past. You can count on us doing the same here. We will efficiently fund this equity. I don't necessarily think it comes in the form of prefunding, but we will look at the most optimal way to finance these needs.

是的，再次感謝你的提問，莎爾。我想說的是，我認為，我們在過去透過一系列交易有效籌集所需股本方面已經建立了相當良好的記錄。您可以指望我們在這裡做同樣的事情。我們將有效地為該股權提供資金。我不一定認為它會以預先融資的形式出現，但我們會尋找為這些需求提供資金的最佳方式。

And as Chris mentioned, I think we're in a pretty strong position with having $3 billion of cash inflows over, call it, the next 12 to 18 months. That really gives us quite a bit of flexibility here as we think about the best possible way to efficiently raise the equity.

正如克里斯所提到的，我認為我們處於相當有利的地位，在未來 12 到 18 個月內將有 30 億美元的現金流入。當我們思考有效提高股本的最佳方式時，這確實給了我們相當大的靈活性。

Okay. That is perfect. Thanks guys. Appreciate it. See you in a couple weeks.

好的。那是完美的。謝謝你們。欣賞它。幾週後見。

Yes, thanks.

是的，謝謝。

Steve Fleishman, Wolfe Research.

史蒂夫‧弗萊什曼，沃爾夫研究中心。

Yeah, hi, good morning. Yes. So first, just the detail on the Texas low growth and the 30% growth in peak through 2030. Is that kind of include all the updates that you owe to, I think, (inaudible) for early next year for kind of low growth plans? Is that the kind of range that we should be expecting?

是的，嗨，早安。是的。首先，我們要詳細了解德州的低成長和 2030 年高峰成長 30% 的情況。這是我們應該期待的範圍嗎？

No. There's the potential for incremental load growth in that update with (inaudible) . That process with (inaudible) is really trying to capture kind of all speculative load in the 30% figure that I highlighted was a subset of that speculative load where we have a much higher degree of confidence.

不會。這個過程（聽不清楚）實際上是在嘗試捕獲 30% 數字中的所有投機負載，我強調的是該投機負載的子集，我們對此有更高的置信度。

And so as we look at and work with a number of companies in this region, as an example, hydrogen related activity could be multiples of what's included in that number as one example. So we will be working to categorize kind of all of what I'll call, speculative load activity, and then providing various degrees of confidence for each of those categories. And I think the headline number should be higher, but we feel a high degree of confidence in at least 30% through 2030.

因此，當我們研究並與該地區的許多公司合作時，舉個例子，與氫相關的活動可能是該數字中所包含的活動的數倍。因此，我們將努力對我所說的所有類型的投機負載活動進行分類，然後為每個類別提供不同程度的置信度。我認為總體數字應該更高，但我們對到 2030 年至少達到 30% 充滿信心。

Okay. And then just maybe you could just give us an update on, maybe a little more color on where things stand with the rating agencies and what they're keying off of from here? Is it just the metrics? Or is there other things that they are watching and care about? Thanks.

好的。然後也許您可以向我們提供有關評級機構的最新情況以及他們正在關注的內容的更多資訊？僅僅是指標嗎？或者還有其他他們正在關注和關心的事情嗎？謝謝。

Sure, Steve. Good morning. I think it's really both pieces. To start with the numbers, you saw us come out this morning with, we're consistently measuring as Moody's in a 13% downgrade threshold there. We came out with the adjusted number today of 13.8%. We're confident that as we continue to go forward, what we're really going to see change there over the next year is the combination of the Louisiana, Mississippi Gas LDC proceeds as well as the securitization related proceeds.

當然，史蒂夫。早安.我認為這確實是兩個部分。首先從數字開始，你看到我們今天早上公佈的數據，我們一直將穆迪的評級下調 13%。今天我們得出的調整後的數字為 13.8%。我們相信，隨著我們繼續前進，明年我們真正會看到的變化是路易斯安那州、密西西比州天然氣最不發達國家收益以及證券化相關收益的結合。

So it's certainly the case the rating agencies are watching closely, those securitization filings as well with the ultimate goal of really just seeing the really strong Texas Regulatory construct work, right? That's why you saw us today really highlight two things.

因此，評級機構肯定正在密切關注這些證券化申請，最終目標是真正看到真正強大的德州監管建設發揮作用，對吧？這就是為什麼您今天看到我們確實強調了兩件事。

First, again, the securitization process with a long history here in Texas of approvals of 11 different securitizations. And the second is the opportunity without the rate case in front of us to pursue the traditional capital trackers, which we do intend to do.

首先，再次是德州歷史悠久的證券化進程，批准了 11 種不同的證券化。第二個是在我們面前沒有利率案例的情況下追求傳統資本追蹤器的機會，我們確實打算這樣做。

Okay, great. Thanks, appreciate it.

好的，太好了。謝謝，感激不盡。

Thanks, Steve.

謝謝，史蒂夫。

Durgesh Chopra, Evercore.

杜爾吉什喬普拉，Evercore。

Hey, good morning team. Thanks for giving me time. Hey, Chris, just to kind of follow up on the credit metrics discussion. Maybe just, can you help us maybe a little bit more detail on the timing of the securitization proceeds in 2025?

嘿，早上好，團隊。謝謝你給我時間。嘿，克里斯，我只是想跟進一下信用指標的討論。也許只是，您能否幫助我們更詳細地了解 2025 年證券化收益的時間表？

And then just directionally speaking, where do you on a Moody's basis, where are you expecting 2024 metrics to be and then 2025? I'm thinking if they dip towards the end of the year and then pick back up in 2025 as you receive those proceeds, but just more color there. Thank you, Chris.

然後從方向上來說，在穆迪的基礎上，您對 2024 年和 2025 年的指標有何預期？我在想，如果它們在年底時下跌，然後在 2025 年收到這些收益時回升，但只是更多的顏色。謝謝你，克里斯。

Sure, Durgesh. Happy to do it. Let me just remind everybody, again, the highest order of the focus of the company for the long term is the focus on a cushion of 100 to 150 basis points as we go. But let me unpack the securitization pieces for you in particular.

當然，杜爾吉什。很高興做這件事。讓我再次提醒大家，公司長期關注的最高順序是專注於 100 至 150 個基點的緩衝。但讓我特別為您解開證券化的部分。

First, you should assume that we filed two different securitization requests. The first will be for the associated May storm (inaudible) storm costs. We'll file that soon. But as a result, I think you should generally assume a roughly Q3 resolution and associated proceeds of 2025.

首先，您應該假設我們提出了兩個不同的證券化請求。第一個是相關的五月風暴（聽不清楚）風暴成本。我們很快就會歸檔。但因此，我認為您通常應該假設 2025 年的第三季決議和相關收益大致相同。

Second, we'll file the Hurricane Beryl related costs. We're generally targeting roughly Q2 of next year once we get all those costs in to file for those Beryl associated requests. Cumulatively, what we did this morning is we updated towards the low end of the cost themselves.

其次，我們將歸檔與颶風 Beryl 相關的費用。一旦我們獲得所有這些費用來提交與 Beryl 相關的請求，我們的目標通常是明年第二季。總的來說，我們今天早上所做的就是朝著成本本身的低端進行更新。

Previously, our guide was $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. We updated today, given the greater certainty we have now at $1.6 billion. So ultimately, Durgesh, I'd say the first piece, roughly Q3 '25, second component of Hurricane Beryl related costs, either late Q4 or early Q1 2026.

此前，我們的指導價為 16 億至 18 億美元。鑑於我們現在 16 億美元的確定性更大，我們今天進行了更新。因此，最終，Durgesh，我想說的是，第一部分大約是 25 年第三季度，颶風 Beryl 相關成本的第二部分是 2026 年第四季末或第一季初。

Thanks Chris. And then just, so I guess, by the end of next year, are you sort of in that 14 to 15, I mean you're very close to it as of the end of 3Q. I'm just thinking about CapEx picking up next year and new securitization proceeds. Where do you shake out in that 14 to 15? Are you going to be solidly in that range next year? Or is that more of a '26 event?

謝謝克里斯。然後，我想，到明年年底，您是否會處於第 14 到 15 位，我的意思是，截至第三季末，您已經非常接近了。我只是在考慮明年資本支出的回升和新的證券化收益。在 14 到 15 的時間裡你會在哪裡擺脫困境？明年你會穩定在這個範圍內嗎？還是這更像是 26 年的活動？

Yes. I think it's ultimately, once we get the securitization proceeds, and Durgesh, we'll be stepping back into that substantial cushion, right? So you'd ultimately probably be looking at Q1 '26, once we've got all that done.

是的。我認為最終，一旦我們獲得證券化收益和杜爾格甚，我們將重新回到那個巨大的緩衝中，對嗎？因此，一旦我們完成所有這些工作，您最終可能會關注 26 年第一季。

Keep in mind that we've also emphasized this morning, the consistent focus we've got on the balance sheet. You saw us pull forward even the 2025 equity being front footed at that point. So you're just going to consistently see the focus here from the team.

請記住，我們今天早上也強調了我們對資產負債表的一貫關注。你看到我們甚至在 2025 年的資產處於領先地位的情況下都在向前推進。因此，您將始終看到團隊的關注焦點。

Understood. Really appreciate the detailed color. Thank you.

明白了。真的很欣賞細緻的色彩。謝謝。

Jeremy Tonet, JPMorgan Securities.

傑里米·託內特，摩根大通證券。

Hi, good morning.

嗨，早安。

Good morning, Jeremy.

早上好，傑里米。

Just want to start off, I guess, looking at the state as a whole, how things stand in Texas. How have stakeholder conversations trended there since completing your GHRI Phase I work versus the initial aftermath of the storm?

我想，我只是想開始，看看整個州，看看德克薩斯州的情況如何。自從完成 GHRI 第一階段工作以來，與風暴最初的後果相比，利害關係人對話的趨勢如何？

Thanks, Jeremy, for the question. I think things continue to improve. I mean we've conducted obviously extensive outreach, elected officials, customers, our communities, community leaders. And what we've heard, it consistently is that everybody wants a more resilient system.

謝謝傑里米提出的問題。我認為事情正在繼續改善。我的意思是，我們顯然已經進行了廣泛的外展活動，包括民選官員、客戶、我們的社區、社區領袖。據我們所知，每個人都希望有一個更具彈性的系統。

We want to improve communications. I think they saw improved communications as we prepare for Francine. And I think they have appreciated the progress that we made in August and that we're carrying forward with the resiliency investments in the second phase of GHRI.

我們希望改善溝通。我認為當我們為弗朗辛做準備時，他們看到了溝通的改善。我認為他們對我們在 8 月取得的進展以及我們正在推進 GHRI 第二階段的彈性投資表示讚賞。

As I highlighted on the call, I think the area where we can make a single biggest sort of improvement in a short period of time is on this concept of segmentation and automation and the plan that we've got here in the second phase when it's all implemented. We'll save our customers about $125 million outage minutes annually and I think that's the direction that our stakeholders want to see us go ahead.

正如我在電話會議上強調的那樣，我認為我們可以在短時間內做出最大改進的領域是細分和自動化的概念以及我們在第二階段製定的計劃全部實施。我們每年將為客戶節省約 1.25 億美元的停機時間，我認為這是我們的利害關係人希望看到我們前進的方向。

And so obviously, there's more to be done. It is a focus of ours to continue to re-earn trust. We know that we've got to continue to lean into those conversations, both with elected officials as well as our communities. But I think we're heading in a direction that everybody wants. That's again, a more resilient, reliable grid and much better communication.

顯然，還有更多工作要做。繼續重新贏得信任是我們的重點。我們知道，我們必須繼續與民選官員以及我們的社區進行這些對話。但我認為我們正朝著每個人都希望的方向前進。這又是一個更有彈性、更可靠的網格和更好的通訊。

Got it. That's helpful there. Thanks. And just moving to 2024 guide real quick here. Despite the $0.11 O&M drag this quarter, reaffirming 2024 whole. This suggests, I guess, a lot of offsets in 4Q. Just wondering if you could walk us through that a bit more, what is contemplated there as far as the offsets? And then I guess, how does this position for 2025?

知道了。這很有幫助。謝謝。在這裡快速轉向 2024 年指南。儘管本季營運和維護成本下降了 0.11 美元，但仍重申了 2024 年的整體情況。我猜這表明第四季度有很多抵消。只是想知道您是否可以進一步向我們介紹一下，就偏移量而言，有哪些考慮因素？然後我想，2025 年的情況如何？

Sure, good morning. I think there's a few pieces to keep in mind there, which informally the confidence in maintaining our guidance. I think the first piece, again, is just the consistency of the trackers that we've got. The last couple of quarters there have seen a benefit of roughly $0.09 to $0.10 quarter-over-quarter related to those trackers specifically. And so we're going to expect that trend to continue really across our jurisdictions relative to the fourth quarter of last year.

當然，早安。我認為有幾點需要牢記在心，即非正式地保持我們的指導的信心。我認為第一部分再次強調我們所擁有的追蹤器的一致性。過去幾個季度，與這些追蹤器相關的季度環比收益約為 0.09 至 0.10 美元。因此，與去年第四季相比，我們預計這一趨勢將在我們的司法管轄區真正持續下去。

The second piece, and I hit this one in my prepared remarks, specifically, but again, just to reiterate, we did a lot of incremental work on the system in Q3, certainly highlighting the critical vegetation management work during the spring we undertook during August of this year. And a lot of that work was incremental to the year. But keep in mind, some of it was an acceleration for Q4. So I'd expect that to result in about a $0.01 benefit to Q4 as well.

第二部分，我在準備好的演講中特別提到了這一點，但再次重申，我們在第三季度在系統上做了很多增量工作，當然強調了我們在8 月進行的春季的關鍵植被管理工作今年的。其中很多工作都是今年增量的。但請記住，其中一些是第四季度的加速。因此，我預計這也將為第四季度帶來約 0.01 美元的收益。

And on top of that, recall last year that we pulled forward work into the fourth quarter. And so that work was about $0.03 from 2024 to 2023. And so that again should benefit us here as we look at Q4 2024 when we do the quarter-over-quarter look. All in all, confident here for the year.

最重要的是，回想去年我們將工作延後到第四季。因此，從 2024 年到 2023 年，這項工作約為 0.03 美元。總而言之，今年對這裡充滿信心。

Okay, great, helpful. Thank you.

好的，太好了，有幫助。謝謝。

Thanks, Jeremy.

謝謝，傑里米。

David Arcaro, Morgan Stanley.

大衛‧阿卡羅，摩根士丹利。

Hey, thank you. Good morning. Wondering if you could give an update on kind of where you stand with the proposal that you put forth regarding the temporary gen recovery or what the next move is with that proposal?

嘿，謝謝你。早安.想知道您是否可以更新您對臨時發電恢復提案的立場，或者該提案的下一步是什麼？

Yeah, just as a quick reminder. I think the real focus of the state's attention on the temporary generation portfolio, it's really on the large units. And when we look at the amount of investment in those large units, there's a little less than $100 million of profit or equity earnings has not yet been recognized on those units.

是的，只是作為一個快速提醒。我認為國家對臨時發電組合的真正關注重點是大型機組。當我們查看這些大型單位的投資金額時，我們發現這些單位的利潤或股本收益略低於 1 億美元尚未得到確認。

And the proposal that we made in August was basically to forgo the equivalent, a little bit more than the equivalent of that remaining profit. We put forward a proposal where we would forego about $110 million of profit.

我們在八月提出的建議基本上是放棄等值的，比剩餘利潤等值多一點的。我們提出了一項放棄約 1.1 億美元利潤的提案。

Clearly, I think stakeholders saw that as a good step forward. I think there's still discussion around the use of these units. And as we've indicated on many occasions, we are working with everybody in the state to find solution that works, a solution that works for our customers in times of load shed. We still have an obligation to rotate our once every 12 hours in a load shed event.

顯然，我認為利害關係人認為這是向前邁出的良好一步。我認為圍繞這些單位的使用仍然存在討論。正如我們在許多場合表示的那樣，我們正在與該州的每個人合作，尋找有效的解決方案，一個在減載時期為我們的客戶提供幫助的解決方案。在減載事件中，我們仍然有義務每 12 小時輪換一次。

And given our industrial load profile, critical facilities like the Texas Medical Center. We believe that we need those large units to comply with that order. But if the state wants us to, they want to change that requirement or want us to look at these units differently, we're happy to work with the state in that regard. And so there's no prescribed timing. We attempt to address the concerns on the profit, the remaining profit on the large units and we'll work with the state to find a final resolution.

考慮到我們的工業負荷情況，德克薩斯醫療中心等關鍵設施。我們相信我們需要那些大型單位來遵守該命令。但如果國家希望我們這樣做，他們想要改變這個要求，或希望我們以不同的方式看待這些單位，我們很樂意在這方面與國家合作。所以沒有規定的時間。我們試圖解決對利潤、大型單位剩餘利潤的擔憂，我們將與州政府合作找到最終解決方案。

Okay. Got it. Appreciate the update there. And then maybe on the transmission outlook in the state, there are a couple of big programs out there. We've got the Permian plan, potential for 765 KV investments. Wondering if you could talk about how you could be involved there? When might we see some of the potential projects or upside opportunities start to crystallize for your plan? .

好的。知道了。感謝那裡的更新。然後，也許就該州的傳輸前景而言，有幾個大型計劃。我們有二疊紀計劃，有潛力投資 765 KV。想知道您是否可以談談您如何參與其中？我們什麼時候可以看到一些潛在的項目或上升機會開始具體體現在您的計劃中？ 。

I think more directly the opportunities around the 765 KV project, there are a couple of our substations that would tie into that project. And as you know, the standard here in Texas is right of first refusal for the lines that connect into our substations. And so we see the opportunity for significant investment in the 765 KV lines that are outside or not incorporated in the $47 billion CapEx plan that we've highlighted here. So that's potential upside.

我更直接地認為圍繞 765 KV 專案的機會，我們有幾個變電站將與該專案相關聯。如您所知，德克薩斯州的標準是連接到我們變電站的線路的優先拒絕權。因此，我們看到了對 765 KV 線路進行重大投資的機會，這些線路不屬於或未納入我們在此強調的 470 億美元資本支出計劃中。所以這是潛在的好處。

I think there's less potential upside with the Permian Basin directly. That's really focused kind of outside of our service territory. What I would say indirectly, though, and back to my response earlier, (inaudible) will update the speculative load study in early '25.

我認為二疊紀盆地的直接潛在上升空間較小。這確實是我們服務範圍之外的事。不過，我要間接地說，並回到我之前的回答，（聽不清楚）將在 25 年初更新投機負荷研究。

At that point, they will incorporate an estimate of speculative load in the Greater Eastern region. Given the explosive growth that we talked about, I have to believe that there are going to be more transmission lines that are needed to serve that increasing load as a reminder.

屆時，他們將納入對大東部地區投機負載的估計。考慮到我們談到的爆炸性增長，我不得不相信，將需要更多的輸電線路來服務不斷增加的負載，作為提醒。

On any given day, we're importing about 60% of electricity needed to serve our customers. And as that electricity demand grows, there will be more need for incremental transmission lines and substations. And so we see electric transmission as being sort of a long term tailwind for our CapEx plan. And I'd like to really start to kind of see that come into greater focus probably in '25 around this speculative load update.

在任何一天，我們都會進口大約 60% 的電力來為我們的客戶提供服務。隨著電力需求的成長，對增量輸電線路和變電站的需求將會增加。因此，我們認為電力傳輸是我們資本支出計畫的長期推動力。我希望真正開始看到，圍繞這一推測性負載更新，可能會在 25 年成為人們更加關注的焦點。

Okay, great. That's helpful. Thanks so much.

好的，太好了。這很有幫助。非常感謝。

Operator. I think we have time for one more if there's another in the queue.

操作員。我想如果隊列裡還有另一個的話我們還有時間再做一個。

Julian Dumoulin-Smith, Jefferies.

朱利安·杜穆蘭-史密斯，杰弗里斯。

Hey, good morning team. Thank you guys very much. It's nice to chat with you guys again. If I can follow up on a few different things, just a little bit pick here from the call thus far. With respect to mobile generation, I mean, just to understand the contract terms and the permutations here.

嘿，早上好，團隊。非常感謝你們。很高興再次與大家聊天。如果我可以跟進一些不同的事情，請從迄今為止的通話中挑選一些。關於移動一代，我的意思是，只是為了了解合約條款和此處的排列。

How do you think about any strategic avenues here to the extent to which it ultimately the state, whether the legislative session or otherwise ultimately effectively pushes you into a decision to effectively divest, if you will in the broadest terms? How do you think about what is possible within the construct that you have here? Especially for a state that's short.

您如何看待這裡的任何戰略途徑，最終達到國家的程度，無論是立法會議還是其他方式，最終有效地推動您做出有效剝離的決定（如果您願意的話）？您如何看待您這裡的構造中可能發生的事情？特別是對於一個短暫的狀態。

I think that's the key to it, your last comment, right? There's been very little net generate, dispatchable generation build. Clearly, there's been a lot of generation build when we think about intermittent renewables. But on a net basis, in terms of new build less retirements, the state has really seen very little in the way of dispatchable build.

我認為這就是關鍵，你最後的評論，對嗎？網路生成、可調度生成的建置非常少。顯然，當我們考慮間歇性再生能源時，已經進行了大量的發電建設。但從淨值來看，就新建案減去退役工程而言，該州在可調度建設方面確實很少見。

And so I think the focus for the state is really trying to, in particular, these days, find a path for the winter peak. We saw that benefit of the battery storage deployment here this past summer. I think those battery storage investments are really helping kind of the summer peak where we're talking about hours. They're not necessarily as helpful in the winter peak where we're potentially short for days.

因此，我認為該州的重點實際上是在努力尋找應對冬季高峰的路徑，特別是在這些天。去年夏天我們看到了電池儲存部署的好處。我認為這些電池儲存投資確實有助於我們談論的夏季高峰時間。在冬季高峰期，它們不一定有幫助，因為冬季高峰期的時間可能會很短。

And so I think what we're looking for is a solution that could help address dispatchable needs here in the state. That could mean subleasing our equipment to others, so that it doesn't leave the state but is an available resource at the same level. Otherwise, obviously, we will work with our elected officials if they have a different point of view.

因此，我認為我們正在尋找一種解決方案，可以幫助解決該州的可調度需求。這可能意味著將我們的設備轉租給其他人，這樣它就不會離開國家，而是成為同一層級的可用資源。否則，顯然，如果我們當選的官員有不同的觀點，我們將與他們合作。

And so I don't think there's a definitive path forward, but I think everybody is trying to find a solution that protects customers in the event of load shed, but also does so sort of optimally from a cost standpoint and we're happy to find that balance with everyone.

因此，我認為沒有明確的前進道路，但我認為每個人都在努力尋找一種解決方案，在減載時保護客戶，而且從成本角度來看也是最佳的，我們很高興與每個人找到平衡。

Excellent. And just a quick [nitpick] on the last response. Just a transmission update from (inaudible) here. Obviously, (inaudible) released their own load forecast here recently. You talked about this 8 gigawatt number on the call momentarily ago. How does that inbound, again, I get this is a fluid situation, reconciled against (inaudible) demand?

出色的。對最後的回覆做一個簡短的[挑剔]。只是來自此處（聽不清楚）的傳輸更新。顯然，（聽不清楚）最近在這裡發布了他們自己的負載預測。您剛才在電話中談到了這個 8 吉瓦的數字。再次，我如何得知這是一個不穩定的情況，與（聽不清楚）需求相協調？

And effectively, are you suggesting as a further sort of net uptick in (inaudible) demand and, or that updated load forecast that came up with doesn't necessarily yet reflect their transmission expectations? I'm just trying to understand, I think you're suggesting that there's an uptick in both the demand as well as their transmission planning to reflect the 8 gigawatts that you just alluded to on data center specifically potentially?

實際上，您是否建議（聽不清楚）需求進一步淨增長，或者更新後的負載預測不一定反映他們的傳輸預期？我只是想了解一下，我認為您是在暗示需求及其傳輸規劃都有所增加，以反映您剛才提到的資料中心可能出現的 8 吉瓦電力？

Yes, Julian, I think that's the short of it. It's an uptick both on demand and transmission. The updated numbers still don't reflect the potential development here in the Greater Eastern region. That update, as I mentioned, really is coming kind of in early '25. What we have seen this summer is like a fundamental shift in data center activity, up until early summer, we had about a gigawatt of demand in the queue, and now it's over 8 gigawatts as of the time of this call.

是的，朱利安，我認為這就是它的缺點。需求和傳輸都在增加。更新後的數字仍然沒有反映大東部地區的潛在發展潛力。正如我所提到的，該更新確實會在 25 年初發布。今年夏天我們看到資料中心活動發生了根本性轉變，直到夏初，我們的需求量大約有 1 吉瓦，而現在截至本次電話會議時已超過 8 吉瓦。

And I think that really reflects the fact that as we talk to developers and hyperscalers, latency becomes less of an issue as it move more development to AI-driven data centers. Texas remains very attractive in terms of being able to build new transmission lines, new generation.

我認為這確實反映了這樣一個事實：當我們與開發人員和超大規模提供者交談時，隨著更多開發轉移到人工智慧驅動的資料中心，延遲變得不再是一個問題。德州在建造新的新一代輸電線路方面仍然非常有吸引力。

Our interconnection timelines compare very favorably in a state that can move quickly with large infrastructure investments. And so I think that's why we've seen it dramatically change this summer. All of that, to your point will get incorporated into (inaudible) low forecast early next year.

相較之下，我們的互連時間表非常有利，可以透過大量基礎設施投資快速推進。所以我認為這就是為什麼我們今年夏天看到它發生巨大變化的原因。就您而言，所有這些都將納入明年初的（聽不清楚）低預測中。

And just given the point that I've recently highlighted, we continue to highlight that 60% of our electricity is important on any given day, that's likely going to mean more transmission here for the Greater Eastern region.

鑑於我最近強調的一點，我們繼續強調 60% 的電力在任何一天都很重要，這可能意味著大東部地區有更多的輸電。

Right. So even accelerating in the last quarter despite (inaudible) update even the last couple of months here, it seems like there's an upward bias there. Thank you for the time and clarifying that.

正確的。因此，即使在最後一個季度加速，儘管（聽不清楚）甚至在過去幾個月都有更新，但似乎仍然存在向上偏差。感謝您抽出時間並澄清這一點。

Thanks, Julian.

謝謝，朱利安。

Thanks Julian. And with that operator, I think that will conclude our Q&A for the day. Thanks everyone for participating in this quarterly call.

謝謝朱利安。對於那位接線生，我認為我們今天的問答就到此結束了。感謝大家參與本季電話會議。

This concludes Centerpoint Energy third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Centerpoint Energy 2024 年第三季財報電話會議至此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。