Fortis Inc (FTS) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for standing by. My name is Joelle, and I will be your conference operator today. Welcome to Fortis Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions)

大家早安。謝謝你的支持。我叫 Joelle，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。歡迎參加富通 2024 年第三季財報電話會議及網路廣播。（操作員說明）

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Stephanie Amaimo. Please go ahead, Ms. Amaimo.

這次，我想把會議交給史蒂芬妮·阿邁莫。請繼續，阿邁莫女士。

Thanks, Joelle, and good morning everyone. Welcome to Fortis' Third Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. I'm joined by David Hutchens, President and CEO; Jocelyn Perry, Executive VP and CFO; other members of the senior management team as well as CEOs from certain subsidiaries.

謝謝喬爾，大家早安。歡迎參加富通 2024 年第三季業績電話會議。總裁兼執行長 David Hutchens 也加入了我的行列。 Jocelyn Perry，執行副總裁兼財務長；高階管理團隊的其他成員以及某些子公司的執行長。

Before we begin today's call, I want to remind you that the discussion will include forward-looking information, which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slide show. Actual results can differ materially from the forecast projections included in the forward-looking information presented today. All non-GAAP financial measures referenced in our prepared remarks are reconciled to the related US GAAP financial measures in our third quarter 2024 MD&A. Also, unless otherwise specified, all financial information referenced is in Canadian dollars.

在我們開始今天的電話會議之前，我想提醒大家，討論將包括前瞻性信息，這些信息以支持幻燈片中包含的警告聲明為準。實際結果可能與今天提供的前瞻性資訊中的預測有重大差異。我們準備好的評論中引用的所有非 GAAP 財務指標均與我們 2024 年第三季 MD&A 中的相關美國 GAAP 財務指標進行了調整。此外，除非另有說明，所有引用的財務資訊均以加幣為單位。

With that, I will turn the call over to David.

這樣，我就把電話轉給大衛。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. The third quarter was another solid quarter in the books for Fortis. Operationally, we continue to deliver safe and reliable service to our customers, and financially, our results continue to demonstrate the success of our regulated growth strategy. Through September, we invested $3.6 billion in our energy systems, and we expect capital expenditures of $5.2 billion for the year. During the quarter, we also announced our 2025 to 2029 capital plan of $26 billion, supporting average annual rate base growth of 6.5% through 2029.

謝謝大家，大家早安。第三季對富通來說是另一個穩健的季度。在營運上，我們繼續為客戶提供安全可靠的服務，在財務上，我們的業績繼續證明我們的監管成長策略是成功的。截至 9 月份，我們在能源系統上投資了 36 億美元，預計今年的資本支出為 52 億美元。在本季度，我們也宣布了 2025 年至 2029 年 260 億美元的資本計劃，支持到 2029 年平均年利率基數成長 6.5%。

Additionally, in September, our Board of Directors declared an increase in the fourth quarter dividend of approximately 4% and extended our 4% to 6% annual dividend growth guidance to 2029. And beyond the plan, momentum continues to build on the Tranche 2.1 projects associated with the MISO long-range transmission plan as well as other investment opportunities.

此外，9 月份，我們的董事會宣布將第四季度股息增加約 4%，並將 4% 至 6% 的年度股息成長指引延長至 2029 年。除該計劃外，與 MISO 遠端輸電計劃以及其他投資機會相關的 Tranche 2.1 項目的動力繼續增強。

As mentioned, our annual 2024 capital program is now expected to be $5.2 billion or $400 million higher, driven mainly by timing of expenditures associated with the Eagle Mountain Pipeline Project in British Columbia. Our new five-year capital plan of $26 billion is $1 billion higher than the previous five-year plan, driven primarily by projects associated with the MISO LRTP and resiliency investments at ITC as well as growth at FortisAlberta. The capital plan remains low risk and highly executable with nearly all being regulated investments and only 23% consisting of major capital projects. The five-year plan supports our transition to cleaner energy resources and includes investments that enhance and strengthen our infrastructure and support customer growth.

如前所述，我們的 2024 年年度資本計畫目前預計為 52 億美元或更高 4 億美元，這主要是由於不列顛哥倫比亞省鷹山管道項目相關支出的時間安排所致。我們的新五年資本計劃為 260 億美元，比之前的五年計劃高出 10 億美元，這主要是由與 MISO LRTP 相關的項目和 ITC 的彈性投資以及 FortisAlberta 的增長推動的。資本計畫保持低風險和高度可執行性，幾乎所有投資都是受監管的投資，只有 23% 是重大資本項目。該五年計畫支持我們向清潔能源轉型，並包括加強我們的基礎設施和支持客戶成長的投資。

As we execute our capital plan, we remain keenly focused on investing in the resiliency of our energy systems while maintaining customer affordability. We continue to control operating costs and support programs such as energy efficiency and bill assistance as well as secure tax credits for the benefit of our customers. Over the five-year horizon, rate base is expected to increase by approximately $14 billion to $53 billion by 2029, supporting average annual rate base growth of 6.5%, which is up from 6.3% in our prior five-year plan.

在執行資本計畫時，我們仍然專注於投資能源系統的彈性，同時保持客戶的承受能力。我們繼續控制營運成本並支持能源效率和帳單援助等計劃，並確保稅收抵免，以造福客戶。在五年內，到 2029 年，利率基數預計將增加約 140 億美元至 530 億美元，支持平均年利率基數成長 6.5%，高於我們先前五年計畫中的 6.3%。

In September, MISO released its final map of the Tranche 2.1 LRTP projects, with 24 projects totaling USD21.8 billion. The projects are subject to MISO Board approval, which is anticipated next month. ITC estimates its portion of Tranche 2.1 to be at least USD3 billion of investment. The majority of which is expected beyond 2029. The estimate assumes ITC's expected portions of two projects in Southern Minnesota and three projects in Michigan, where rights of first refusal are in effect.

9月，MISO發布了第2.1階段LRTP項目的最終地圖，共有24個項目，總金額達218億美元。這些項目需獲得 MISO 董事會的批准，預計下個月批准。ITC 估計其在第 2.1 階段的投資部分至少為 30 億美元。其中大部分預計在 2029 年之後完成。該估算假設 ITC 對明尼蘇達州南部的兩個項目和密西根州的三個項目的預期部分，這些項目的優先購買權均有效。

Other transmission investments continue to progress as they relate to customer connections. Notably, ITC in collaboration with Alliant Energy, received approval in October under MISO's expedited review process for the Big Cedar Load Expansion Project in Iowa. This project relates to transmission upgrades to serve up to 1,600 megawatts of new data center load at the Big Cedar Industrial Center. The first phase of the project would require transmission upgrades to support 800 megawatts of new load with a targeted in-service date of 2027, and Phase 2 requires another 800 megawatts with an in-service date of 2028. The project requires franchise approvals from the Iowa Utilities Commission prior to construction. The transmission project has a potential investment of up to USD400 million.

其他與客戶連接相關的輸電投資持續取得進展。值得注意的是，ITC 與 Alliant Energy 合作，於 10 月獲得了 MISO 愛荷華州 Big Cedar 負載擴建項目快速審查流程的批准。該專案涉及傳輸升級，以便為 Big Cedar 工業中心高達 1,600 兆瓦的新資料中心負載提供服務。該專案的第一階段需要進行輸電升級，以支援 800 兆瓦的新負載，目標投產日期為 2027 年；第二階段需要另外 800 兆瓦，投產日期為 2028 年。該項目在施工前需要獲得愛荷華州公用事業委員會的特許經營批准。該輸電項目潛在投資高達4億美元。

In our view, this development underscores the attractiveness of the Midwest region for future growth. With ample land availability, high renewable penetration, competitive utility rates and overall speed to market aided by MISO's expedited review process, we see this as a positive step forward in bringing tangible load growth to the region.

我們認為，這一發展凸顯了中西部地區對未來成長的吸引力。憑藉充足的土地供應、高再生能源滲透率、有競爭力的公用事業費率以及MISO 快速審查流程的幫助，我們認為這是在為該地區帶來有形負荷增長方面向前邁出的積極一步。

We continue to make progress on new data center, mining and manufacturing opportunities across several of our jurisdictions and are working to secure additional investments in Arizona related to our integrated resource plan as we transition to cleaner energy.

我們繼續在多個司法管轄區的新資料中心、採礦和製造機會方面取得進展，並努力確保在亞利桑那州向清潔能源過渡時與我們的綜合資源計劃相關的額外投資。

Last month, TEP's 2023 IRP was acknowledged by the Arizona Corporation Commission based on modest load growth projections of 1.5% per year. Since the IRP was prepared, our load growth expectations have increased as reflected in our current capital plan. In fact, TEP is seeing significant service requests from data centers and other large potential customers that could create substantial new energy needs above our current expectations. But at this point, it is difficult to estimate what percentage of that will come to fruition.

上個月，TEP 的 2023 年 IRP 獲得了亞利桑那州公司委員會的認可，該計劃基於每年 1.5% 的適度負載成長預測。自 IRP 準備就緒以來，我們的負載成長預期有所提高，這反映在我們目前的資本計畫中。事實上，TEP 看到來自資料中心和其他大型潛在客戶的大量服務請求，這些請求可能會產生超出我們目前預期的大量新能源需求。但目前，很難估計其中有多少比例會實現。

We are making progress in negotiations with one large new customer, while others are at various stages of the process. We are actively developing the infrastructure options to serve this growth. If this new retail growth materializes, it would drive significant upside to our existing capital plan and sales growth in Arizona. And with TEP being a vertically integrated utility, we have the ability to invest in generation, transmission and distribution to serve these opportunities. We expect this load growth to be met with a combination of gas, renewables and storage, depending on the customers' needs.

我們與一家大型新客戶的談判正在取得進展，而其他客戶則處於流程的不同階段。我們正在積極開發基礎設施選項來服務這一增長。如果這種新的零售成長成為現實，它將極大地推動我們在亞利桑那州現有的資本計劃和銷售成長。由於 TEP 是一家垂直整合的公用事業公司，我們有能力投資發電、輸電和配電來抓住這些機會。我們預計這種負載成長將透過天然氣、再生能源和儲存的組合來滿足，具體取決於客戶的需求。

To advance these opportunities, we expect regulatory approvals will be required outside our standard tariffs to ensure protections are in place to avoid negatively impacting our existing customers. We expect more visibility into these negotiations over the next few quarters. As a reminder, this new retail load would be on top of the USD2.5 billion to USD5 billion of investments expected from UNS' IRPs outside the existing plan as well as the at least USD3 billion at ITC for Tranche 2.1 as well as other transmission opportunities as part of the New York Transco.

為了推動這些機會，我們預計在我們的標準關稅之外還需要監管部門的批准，以確保保護措施到位，避免對我們現有的客戶產生負面影響。我們預計在接下來的幾季中這些談判會有更多的透明度。需要提醒的是，這項新的零售負載將不包括現有計劃之外的 UNS IRP 預計的 25 億美元至 50 億美元投資，以及 ITC 為 Tranche 2.1 和其他傳輸提供的至少 30 億美元的投資。成為紐約運輸公司一部分的機會。

Overall, we remain bullish about our long CapEx runway and the role we play to support climate adaptation, grid resiliency, load growth and the clean energy transition across our footprint. As highlighted, in September, our Board of Directors declared a 4.2% increase in our fourth quarter dividend, marking 51 years of consecutive dividend increases. During the third quarter, we also extended our annual dividend growth guidance of 4% to 6% through 2029.

總體而言，我們仍然看好我們長期的資本支出跑道，以及我們在支持氣候適應、電網彈性、負載成長和整個足跡的清潔能源轉型方面所發揮的作用。正如所強調的，9 月份，我們的董事會宣布第四季度股息增加 4.2%，標誌著股息連續 51 年增加。第三季度，我們也將年度股息成長指引從 4% 延長至 6%，直至 2029 年。

Now I will turn the call over to Jocelyn for an update on our third quarter financial results.

現在我將把電話轉給喬斯林，以了解我們第三季財務業績的最新情況。

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. For the third quarter, reported and adjusted EPS were $0.85, $0.01 higher than adjusted EPS last year. Year-to-date September reported and adjusted EPS were $2.45, $0.08 higher than adjusted EPS last year. Key drivers of growth for the third quarter were rate-base investments across our utilities and strong earnings in Arizona underscored by new customer rates that went into effect in September 2023. EPS growth quarter-over-quarter was impacted by timing of both the favourable cost of capital decision in British Columbia in September 2023 and the disposition of Aitken Creek in November 2023. And finally, unrealized gains on total return swaps, reflecting changes in the Corporation's share price year-over-year were largely offset by higher finance costs.

謝謝大衛，大家早安。第三季度，報告和調整後每股收益為 0.85 美元，比去年調整後每股收益高出 0.01 美元。年初至今 9 月報告和調整後的每股收益為 2.45 美元，比去年調整後的每股收益高出 0.08 美元。第三季成長的主要驅動力是我們對公用事業的費率投資，以及 2023 年 9 月生效的新客戶費率突顯了亞利桑那州的強勁盈利。每股盈餘環比成長受到 2023 年 9 月不列顛哥倫比亞省有利的資本成本決策時間和 2023 年 11 月處置 Aitken Creek 的影響。最後，反映公司股價同比變化的總回報互換的未實現收益在很大程度上被較高的財務成本所抵消。

The chart on Slide 10 highlights the EPS drivers for the third quarter by segment. Our U.S. Electric and Gas utilities contributed a $0.05 EPS increase quarter-over-quarter, driven by UNS Energy. The increase at UNS was mainly due to new customer rates, higher production tax credits associated with the Oso Grande wind facility and an increase in the market value of investments that support retirement benefits. These items were moderated by labour-related inflationary increases.

投影片 10 上的圖表按細分市場突顯了第三季的 EPS 驅動因素。在 UNS Energy 的推動下，我們的美國電力和天然氣公用事業公司每股收益環比增加了 0.05 美元。UNS 的成長主要是由於新客戶費率、與 Oso Grande 風電設施相關的更高的生產稅收抵免以及支持退休福利的投資市場價值的增加。這些項目受到與勞動力相關的通貨膨脹成長的緩和。

At Central Hudson, the EPS contribution was comparable to the third quarter of 2023. The favourable impact of rate base growth and a higher ROE effective July 1 were offset by the timing of operating costs in comparison to the related recovery in new customer rates effective July 1. At ITC, the $0.02 EPS increase reflects rate base growth, partially offset by higher finance costs. The EPS contribution from our Western Canadian Utilities segment was $0.04 lower for the quarter. As you'll recall, we recognized a favourable $0.05 retroactive adjustment in the third quarter of last year related to the cost of capital decision. Apart from this adjustment, earnings were higher at FortisAlberta, reflecting rate base and customer growth and a higher allowed ROE.

Central Hudson 的每股盈餘貢獻與 2023 年第三季相當。與 7 月 1 日生效的新客戶費率相關復甦相比，營運成本的時間表抵消了費率基數增長和 7 月 1 日生效的較高 ROE 的有利影響。在 ITC，每股盈餘增加 0.02 美元反映了利率基礎成長，但部分被較高的財務成本所抵銷。本季加拿大西部公用事業部門的每股收益貢獻下降了 0.04 美元。您可能還記得，我們​​認識到去年第三季與資本成本決策相關的 0.05 美元的有利追溯調整。除了這項調整之外，FortisAlberta 的利潤也有所增加，反映了費率基礎和客戶成長以及更高的允許淨資產收益率。

The Corporate and Other segment reflects a $0.02 EPS decrease due to the timing of the disposition of Aitken Creek in 2023. And as mentioned, the impact of unrealized gains on derivatives during the quarter were largely offset by higher finance costs. A higher average U.S. to Canadian dollar foreign exchange rate contributed a $0.01 EPS increase for the quarter. And lastly, higher weighted average shares reflect shares issued under our dividend reinvestment plan.

由於 Aitken Creek 的處置時間為 2023 年，企業及其他部門的每股盈餘減少了 0.02 美元。如前所述，本季衍生性商品未實現收益的影響在很大程度上被較高的財務成本所抵消。美元兌加元平均匯率上升導致本季 EPS 成長 0.01 美元。最後，較高的加權平均股票反映了根據我們的股息再投資計劃發行的股票。

Many of the drivers discussed for the quarter are the same for the year-to-date period. I do have a few notable comments. First, at the U.S. Electric and Gas segment, the EPS drivers at UNS are substantially the same as the quarter but also reflect higher margins on wholesale sales. Central Hudson was down $0.01 year-to-date, driven by higher operating costs, including timing of costs relative to recovery in new rates effective July 1, 2024. Also, there was a favourable regulatory adjustment recognized in 2023.

本季討論的許多驅動因素與今年迄今的驅動因素相同。我確實有一些值得注意的評論。首先，在美國電力和天然氣部門，UNS 的每股盈餘驅動因素與本季基本相同，但也反映出批發銷售利潤率較高。Central Hudson 今年迄今下跌 0.01 美元，原因是營運成本上升，包括相對於 2024 年 7 月 1 日生效的新費率恢復的成本時間安排。此外，2023 年也進行了有利的監管調整。

For the Western Canadian Utilities segment, unlike the quarter, the impact of the 2023 cost of capital decision in British Columbia was not a driver on a year-to-date basis. The $0.04 EPS increase reflects rate base growth and higher returns in Alberta.

對於加拿大西部公用事業部門來說，與本季不同的是，不列顛哥倫比亞省 2023 年資本成本決策的影響並不是年初至今的驅動因素。每股收益 0.04 美元的成長反映了艾伯塔省的利率基數成長和更高的回報率。

And in the Corporate and Other segment, the disposition of Aitken Creek accounted for approximately a $0.05 EPS decrease year-to-date. As we've stated previously, this is timing as the disposition of Aitken Creek will be neutral to EPS on an annual basis. The remaining $0.04 EPS decrease in this segment is driven by higher finance costs, which are somewhat offset by higher unrealized gains on derivatives. Overall, year-to-date earnings are in line with expectations and primarily reflect new rates and rate base growth across our utilities.

在企業及其他部門，Aitken Creek 的處置導致年初至今每股收益約下降 0.05 美元。正如我們之前所說，這是一個時機，因為 Aitken Creek 的處置對每年的每股盈餘而言是中性的。該部門每股收益剩餘 0.04 美元的下降是由較高的財務成本推動的，而衍生性商品未實現收益的增加在一定程度上抵消了這一影響。總體而言，今年迄今的收益符合預期，主要反映了我們公用事業公司的新費率和費率基礎成長。

Through September, we have raised approximately $2.6 billion of debt to repay borrowings and to fund our capital program. In terms of our preference share rate resets, our $600 million Series M will reset on December 1 with an annual dividend rate of 5.5%. Earlier this fall, we met with the rating agencies ahead of releasing our new five-year capital plan, and we continue to engage, particularly with S&P on Fortis' mitigation plans around physical and climate risk. In October, S&P did reaffirm our rating and maintained a negative outlook.

截至 9 月份，我們已籌集了約 26 億美元的債務來償還借款並為我們的資本計劃提供資金。在我們的優先股利率重置方面，我們的6億美元M系列將於12月1日重置，年股息率為5.5%。今年秋天早些時候，我們在發布新的五年資本計劃之前與評級機構進行了會面，並且我們將繼續參與，特別是與標準普爾合作，討論富通銀行圍繞自然和氣候風險的緩解計劃。十月份，標準普爾確實重申了我們的評級並維持負面展望。

Additionally, we updated our new funding plan, which remains largely consistent with the previous plan. It is comprised of cash from operations and regulated debt as well as equity proceeds from our dividend reinvestment plan. And we expect the corporation's $500 million at-the-market common equity program to remain available and provide funding flexibility as required. Our new funding plan supports average cash flow to debt metrics of over 12% through 2029.

此外，我們還更新了新的融資計劃，該計劃與先前的計劃基本上保持一致。它包括來自營運的現金和受監管的債務以及來自我們的股息再投資計劃的股權收益。我們預計該公司 5 億美元的市場普通股計畫將繼續可用，並根據需要提供融資彈性。我們的新融資計畫支持到 2029 年平均現金流與債務指標的比率超過 12%。

Turning now to recent regulatory activity. Last month, FERC issued an order lowering the base MISO ROE by 4 basis points to 9.98%, bringing ITC's MISO all-in ROE, including incentive adders, to 10.73%. Essentially, the order removed the use of the risk premium model in establishing the base ROE. Going forward, we anticipate this reduction in base ROE to impact EPS by less than $0.01 annually. The order also directs certain refunds by December 2025. The refunds for ITC are estimated to be approximately USD26 million, which will be recognized in the fourth quarter.

現在轉向最近的監管活動。上個月，FERC 發布命令，將基本 MISO 股本回報率降低 4 個基點至 9.98%，使 ITC 的 MISO 總股本回報率（包括激勵加成）降至 10.73%。本質上，該命令取消了在建立基本股本回報率時使用風險溢價模型的做法。展望未來，我們預期基本股本回報率的下降每年對每股收益的影響不到 0.01 美元。該命令還要求在 2025 年 12 月之前進行某些退款。ITC 的退款預計約為 2,600 萬美元，將於第四季度確認。

In August, MISO also concluded its variance analysis, reaffirming the original allocation of Tranche 1 projects, including the allocation to ITC. As a result, work on all ITC Tranche 1 projects in Iowa has resumed. In October, the Arizona Corporation Commission held a second workshop on their generic regulatory lag docket. As you'll recall, the ACC is looking at the possibility of using formulaic rates or forward-looking test years instead of historical test years currently in use. There is potential the commission will provide guidance in late 2024 or early next year. We remain encouraged by the prospect of improving rate stability for our customers while concurrently reducing regulatory lag.

8月，MISO也完成了變異數分析，重申了第一批項目的原始分配，包括對ITC的分配。因此，愛荷華州所有 ITC 第 1 階段專案的工作均已恢復。十月，亞利桑那州公司委員會就其通用監管滯後問題舉辦了第二次研討會。您可能還記得，ACC 正在考慮使用公式率或前瞻性測試年而不是目前使用的歷史測試年的可能性。該委員會有可能在 2024 年底或明年初提供指導。我們仍然對提高客戶費率穩定性同時減少監管滯後的前景感到鼓舞。

In August, Central Hudson filed its 2025 general rate application with the New York Public Service Commission, requesting an increase in its electric and gas delivery rates effective July 1, 2025. The application seeks a 10% allowed ROE and 48% common equity component of the capital structure. The timing and outcome of this proceeding remain unknown. In October, the New York Public Service Commission issued a show cause order directing Central Hudson to explain why a proceeding should not commence in connection with the gas-related explosion that occurred in November 2023 when a third-party contractor struck a gas line while performing work on Central Hudson's behalf. Central Hudson will file a response within 30 days of the order. And while not on the slide, we expect FortisAlberta's 2025 allowed ROE to be set at approximately 9%.

8 月，Central Hudson 向紐約公共服務委員會提交了 2025 年一般費率申請，要求從 2025 年 7 月 1 日起提高電力和天然氣輸送費率。該申請尋求資本結構中允許的 ROE 為 10%，普通股為 48%。該訴訟的時間和結果仍未知。10 月，紐約公共服務委員會發布了一項說明理由命令，指示Central Hudson 解釋為什麼不應啟動與2023 年11 月發生的天然氣相關爆炸有關的訴訟，當時第三方承包商在執行任務時撞擊了天然氣管道。Central Hudson 將在命令發出後 30 天內提交答覆。雖然沒有出現在幻燈片上，但我們預計 FortisAlberta 的 2025 年允許 ROE 設定為約 9%。

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

現在，我將把電話轉回給大衛。

Thank you, Jocelyn. We are very pleased with our operational and financial results so far in 2024 and the advancements made on the regulatory front, particularly at ITC. Looking ahead, we are focused on executing our new five-year capital plan as well as securing growth opportunities beyond the plan. Delivering reliable and affordable energy is at the heart of what we look to do for our customers, while providing dependable yet strong total returns for our shareholders.

謝謝你，喬斯琳。我們對 2024 年迄今的營運和財務表現以及監管方面的進展（尤其是 ITC）感到非常滿意。展望未來，我們的重點是執行新的五年資本計劃，並確保計劃之外的成長機會。提供可靠且負擔得起的能源是我們為客戶提供服務的核心，同時為股東提供可靠且強勁的總回報。

That concludes my remarks. I will now turn the call back over to Stephanie.

我的發言到此結束。我現在將把電話轉回給史蒂芬妮。

Thank you, David. This concludes the presentation. At this time, we'd like to open the call to address questions from the investment community.

謝謝你，大衛。演示到此結束。此時，我們想透過電話會議來解答投資界的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Rob Hope, Scotiabank.

（操作員指示）Rob Hope，豐業銀行。

Good morning everyone, I want to talk about the potential upside levers on the capital plan that you highlighted specifically in Arizona. It looks like more in the near term and longer term in MISO. How do you think about funding it, just given, you know, where you are on the balance sheet, and so if you do see an uptick in near-term capital requirements, so could that then push more on the ATM? Could you look at asset sales? Or can you maybe broadly think about how you're going to finance it?

大家早安，我想談談你們在亞利桑那州特別強調的資本計畫的潛在上行槓桿。MISO 的近期和長期看起來更多。您如何看待為其提供資金，您知道，您在資產負債表上的位置，因此，如果您確實看到近期資本需求上升，那麼這是否會推動ATM機上的更多資金？您能看一下資產銷售狀況嗎？或者你能廣泛地考慮一下你將如何為其提供資金嗎？

Sure, Rob. Let me kick that over to Jocelyn.

當然，羅布。讓我把這個問題交給喬斯琳。

Yeah, Rob, it's hard to say, right, in terms of how we're specifically going to fund these because it all depends on timing of when these projects come to play, but you know the one thing we have said for a while now is that you know, we're committed to keeping our balance sheet, you know, in the position that it's in today. We've done a lot to bring it to where it is today so we don't plan to walk that backwards. I think you're right, I mean we do have the ATM available to us, and I guess, I'll say what I always say which is it all goes back on the table. And I hope that that's the problem that we have in terms of trying to fund incremental capital but everything goes back on the table, but in first instance, we do have the ATM available to give us immediate flexibility but we don't need it -- we don’t need it right now.

是的，羅布，就我們具體如何資助這些項目而言，很難說，因為這完全取決於這些項目開始發揮作用的時間，但你知道我們已經說過了一段時間的一件事你知道，我們致力於將我們的資產負債表保持在今天的位置。為了達到今天的水平，我們做了很多工作，所以我們不打算倒退。我認為你是對的，我的意思是我們確實有可用的自動櫃員機，我想，我會說我一直說的，那就是一切都回到桌面上。我希望這就是我們在嘗試為增量資本提供資金方面遇到的問題，但一切都會回到桌面上，但首先，我們確實有 ATM 可以為我們提供立即的靈活性，但我們不需要它 - -我們現在不需要它。

Alright, appreciate that, and then sticking with the theme of upside growth, you know Dave, you mentioned Arizona a number of large kind of we'll call it, potential demand increases in electrical load. When you think about the data center opportunity or even large users of electricity there, how do you think about adding new capacity versus just the poles and wires investment, and could you see some of these large users of electricity potentially co-locate some of their own generation there? Or would that be something that you'd prefer to be done on the broader system?

好吧，欣賞這一點，然後堅持上行增長的主題，你知道戴夫，你提到了亞利桑那州的一些大型電力負荷的潛在需求增加。當您考慮資料中心的機會甚至是那裡的大用電用戶時，您如何考慮增加新容量而不是僅對電線桿和電線進行投資，您是否會看到這些大用電用戶中的一些可能將他們的一些電力集中在一起？或者這是您更願意在更廣泛的系統上完成的事情？

So I would say generally, knowing the footprint here in Arizona, there's probably very limited co-location type opportunity, so -- and plus when you think about how condensed our TEP system is down in Southern Arizona, it would probably make more sense to you know just connect it to the grid and supply it from a grid perspective than, you know co-location. The only really remote plants that we have that you can consider co-location are a couple of combined cycles, one in New Mexico and another one in Arizona that isn't necessarily all that conducive to co-location and of course, the coal plants that we have already shutdown timeframes for.

因此，我想說，一般來說，了解亞利桑那州的足跡，託管類型的機會可能非常有限，所以，再加上當您考慮我們的 TEP 系統在亞利桑那州南部的密集程度時，可能更有意義你知道只需將其連接到電網並從電網的角度提供它，而不是協同定位。我們唯一可以考慮並置的真正偏遠工廠是幾個聯合循環，一個在新墨西哥州，另一個在亞利桑那州，這不一定有利於並置，當然還有燃煤電廠我們已經制定了關閉時間表。

So overall, we're looking at resources in every spot that we currently have resources to replace them like, you know like-for-like generation maybe and where we have some of the coal, renewables, storage, et cetera, that we can add across the entire grid. So we're looking at it more from a portfolio perspective than sort of what you're seeing in these conversations around co-location. Because you know obviously, the generation has to have, you know, the things that we need, which are, you know, depending on the type of generation, obviously, land, transmission, interconnection; then if it's natural gas generation, we also need, you know, water and gas pipelines, and then, of course, you throw on top of that the fiber access that's needed for data centers and you can kind of define that pot of available sites but keeping it wide open right now for sure.

因此，總的來說，我們正在尋找目前擁有資源來替代它們的每個地方的資源，例如，你知道，可能是同類發電，以及我們擁有一些煤炭、可再生能源、儲存等的地方，我們可以新增到整個網格。因此，我們更多地從投資組合的角度來看待它，而不是您在圍繞託管的對話中看到的那種情況。因為你顯然知道，這一代人必須擁有我們需要的東西，你知道，這取決於一代人的類型，顯然是土地、傳輸、互連；然後，如果是天然氣發電，我們還需要水和天然氣管道，當然，您還需要在其上添加資料中心所需的光纖接入，您可以定義可用站點但現在肯定要保持開放。

Maurice Choy, RBC Capital Markets.

莫里斯‧蔡 (Maurice Choy)，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場部。

Good that the data center theme and ask for a little bit more elaboration on your prepared remarks at TEP and ITC. So at TEP, I know that there is firm resource capacity of about 3,000 megawatts today. Could you see a situation where this doubles or maybe even triples if data center load rise? And at ITC, how many of these Big Cedar load expansion projects are there, do you think?

很好，資料中心主題，並要求對您在 TEP 和 ITC 上準備好的發言進行更多闡述。因此，在 TEP，我知道目前的固定資源容量約為 3,000 兆瓦。如果資料中心負載增加，您是否會看到這種情況會增加一倍甚至三倍？在 ITC，您認為有多少 Big Cedar 負載擴充專案？

So yeah, there's a lot in the queue to speculate as to how much of that is actually going to come down to getting customers to locate here. You know, there's probably a fair bit that have gotten in our queue that are in other people's queues. There's obviously you know a bit of an early rush to get data centers in places that have existing capacity. And that, I think, gives you a bit of a leg up for longer-term potential growth. So yes, there is big potential, I wouldn't want to put it in like the multiple of current system peak, but it's pretty darn substantial.

所以，是的，有很多事情需要猜測，其中有多少實際上會歸結為讓顧客來到這裡。你知道，我們的隊列中可能有相當多的人在其他人的隊列中。顯然，您知道人們很早就急於在擁有現有容量的地方建立資料中心。我認為，這為您的長期潛在成長提供了一些幫助。所以，是的，有很大的潛力，我不想把它當作目前系統峰值的倍數，但它是相當大的。

So we -- and then, of course, on a smaller system like TEP, you know a larger data center would have a bigger impact than maybe on a on a broader -- on a much larger system from a percentage perspective. Well, I guess that's just obvious math Maurice, sorry about that. But that's -- but it does change the way that we have to operate the system, too, when you get a big load on that.

因此，當然，從百分比的角度來看，在像 TEP 這樣的較小系統上，您知道較大的資料中心可能比在更廣泛的系統上產生更大的影響。嗯，我想這只是顯而易見的數學，莫里斯，對此感到抱歉。但這確實改變了我們作業系統的方式，當你承受很大的負荷時。

But I also got to emphasize that when we talk about these data center opportunities, well data centers or other manufacturing opportunities that we see in the queue, these have the potential of not just good investment opportunities, but an overall good story for our -- the rest of our retail customers, right, because this is bringing in a big large facility that take -- that uses a lot of energy to spread those fixed costs that we have in our system across much more megawatt hours. So that allows us to, you know, hopefully have a downward impact on our customer rates. So that's what we're shooting for.

但我還必須強調，當我們談論這些資料中心機會、油井資料中心或我們在隊列中看到的其他製造機會時，這些機會不僅有可能帶來良好的投資機會，而且對我們來說是一個整體的好故事——我們其他的零售客戶，對，因為這正在引進一個大型設施，需要使用大量能源來將我們系統中的固定成本分攤到更多兆瓦時。因此，您知道，這使我們有望對我們的客戶率產生下降的影響。這就是我們拍攝的目的。

And as far as ITC, Linda will probably have a little bit better view than me on the rest of the potentials like we see at Big Cedar in Iowa, but we have seen that just go from the a little bit of conversation that we had at the beginning of the year around the data center that was you know had two phases going from 300 up to 600,and now we're talking about one of these behemoth, you know 1,600-megawatt type sites. Those are the ones that really can dramatically change the view of some of the smaller utilities and the footprints. Linda, you got any color on additional opportunities up there?

就ITC 而言，琳達可能比我對其他潛力有更好的看法，就像我們在愛荷華州的Big Cedar 看到的那樣，但我們已經從我們在愛荷華州Big Cedar 進行的一點對話中看到了這一點。這些確實可以極大地改變一些小型公用事業公司的觀點和足跡。琳達，你對那裡的其他機會有什麼看法嗎？

Yes. I would just say, I mean, I think similar theme, I think it's difficult to specifically say what the kind of opportunity set is, however, there is no doubt, right, both whether it's in Iowa or here in Michigan. You know obviously, there's a lot of different potential prospective customers that we are working with, we're knocking on – that are knocking on doors. It's you know, one of those things that, obviously, they have multiple options. Some of them are waiting for potential legislation, and so it's premature to specifically say or quantify what those are but I would say directionally speaking, there is no doubt there are some other significant load potentials that exist. But we're just not at a point that we can specifically identify them or announce that they are confirmed.

是的。我只想說，我的意思是，我認為類似的主題，我認為很難具體地說出什麼樣的機會集，但是，毫無疑問，對，無論是在愛荷華州還是在密西根州。顯然，您知道，我們正在與許多不同的潛在潛在客戶合作，我們正在敲門——他們正在敲門。你知道，其中之一顯然是他們有多種選擇。其中一些正在等待潛在的立法，因此具體說明或量化這些內容還為時過早，但我想說，從方向上講，毫無疑問地還存在著其他一些重要的負載潛力。但我們還不能具體識別他們或宣布他們得到確認。

Understood. Maybe just to finish up, I'm sure someone's going to ask you about U.S. elections so I want to turn your attention to the other election that just finished or somewhat finished here in BC. Slender majority for the NDP, but the Green party may have some kind of influence. Any thoughts on FortisBC’s gas distribution growth prospects under this new political landscape for the next coming four years?

明白了。也許只是為了結束，我確信有人會問你有關美國選舉的問題，所以我想把你的注意力轉向 BC 省剛結束或部分結束的另一場選舉。新民主黨佔微弱多數，但綠黨可能有某種影響力。在未來四年的新政治格局下，對 FortisBC 的天然氣分銷成長前景有何想法？

Well, Maurice, Roger is sitting right next to me, who's our expert from BC to answer that question.

嗯，莫里斯，羅傑就坐在我旁邊，他是我們來自 BC 的專家來回答這個問題。

Maurice. Of course, the BC election just as important as one happening today for some of us. I'd say that if there was a minority with the Greens having more influence, it might have been a bit of a different answer. But the NDP still maintains a majority, obviously, a reduced majority. I think there was a focus on affordability on other issues, less than climate given past elections, so I would say that we don't see much change going forward.

莫里斯.當然，對於我們中的一些人來說，BC 省選舉與今天發生的選舉一樣重要。我想說的是，如果綠黨有更大影響力的少數派，答案可能會有所不同。但新民主黨仍然保持多數，顯然是減少了多數。我認為，考慮到過去的選舉，人們更關注其他議題的承受能力，而不是氣候議題，所以我想說，我們認為未來不會有太大變化。

I think if you look at the power in BC, energy environment plan that was published in July, that would be my best guess as to the near-term road map where they're going to go on energy, there will be still a focus on expansion of electrification opportunities. We launched our own request for energy in our electric service territory following BC Hydro's call for power. I don't see a near-term change to the direction of the gas infrastructure opportunity. We just filed our Tilbury Storage facility plan last week and, you know, the expectation is that they are going to be focused on you know, promoting their Powering BC plan, which they publish in the summer.

我認為，如果你看看 BC 省的電力，即 7 月發布的能源環境計劃，這將是我對近期能源路線圖的最佳猜測，仍然會是一個焦點擴大電氣化機會。在 BC Hydro 發出電力需求後，我們在電力服務領域發起了自己的能源需求。我認為天然氣基礎設施機會的方向短期內不會改變。我們上週剛提交了蒂爾伯里儲存設施計劃，您知道，我們的期望是他們將重點關注您知道的，推廣他們在夏天發布的 Powering BC 計劃。

Ben Pham, BMO.

本‧範 (Ben Pham)，BMO。

Thanks and Good morning. On your CapEx program, part of that increase was FortisAlberta, and I'm just wondering if you can provide us with an update on how you see -- how have you seen rate base growth trending in the near-term and long-term outlook on FortisAlberta franchise?

謝謝，早安。在你們的資本支出計劃中，成長的一部分是 FortisAlberta，我只是想知道你們是否可以向我們提供你們的最新看法——你們如何看待近期和長期前景中的利率基礎增長趨勢富通阿爾伯塔特許經營權？

Yes. We're seeing some good upward growth projections in the short term here. When you look at our five-year capital plan for FortisAlberta, we see a 5% -- a little over 5%, 5.2% rate base CAGR, which is stronger than it's been in the past, not as strong as it's been in the very -- say, 10 years ago. But it's always been a good strong growth jurisdiction. So we're seeing customer growth there. We're seeing additional investment opportunities in you know obviously, in the distribution system to connect those customers. We're hoping to see some knock-on impacts from things like data center growth that will -- while we typically won't have -- we won't serve data centers from a generation or transmission perspective, but depending on what voltage they hook up at and then also you know, some overall growth opportunities that economic growth in that area brings, we’ll have some kind of secondary impacts and then we're also seeing growth opportunities in some of the other kind of bigger projects that we're focused on like our AMI Project up there as well as additional investments in wildfire technology from a rate base perspective.

是的。我們在短期內看到了一些良好的向上成長預測。當你看看我們 FortisAlberta 的五年資本計畫時，我們會看到 5%——略高於 5%、5.2%的利率基礎複合年增長率，這比過去更強，但不像過去那麼強。非常——比如說，10年前。但它一直是一個強勁成長的管轄區。所以我們看到那裡的客戶成長。您顯然知道，我們在連接這些客戶的分銷系統中看到了額外的投資機會。我們希望看到資料中心成長等因素帶來的連鎖反應——雖然我們通常不會——我們不會從發電或傳輸的角度為資料中心提供服務，而是取決於它們的電壓然後你也知道，該地區的經濟成長帶來了一些總體成長機會，我們將產生某種次要影響，然後我們也會在其他一些更大的項目中看到成長機會我們專注於AMI 項目，以及從費率基礎角度對野火技術進行額外投資。

Okay, that's good to hear. And maybe on the ITC’s MISO ROEs, is that pretty much in terms of incrementals going forward, is that pretty much laid to rest? And then, are you hearing anything on the incentive adders timing from the FERC?

好的，很高興聽到這個消息。也許就 ITC 的 MISO ROE 而言，就未來的增量而言，這基本上是靜止的嗎？然後，您是否從 FERC 聽到有關激勵措施時間表的任何消息？

Yes. So it's a bit TBD to see who will throw in for rehearings on that order. I think we're pretty darn happy with it. I think it landed in the right spot. They pulled out the risk premium left everything else intact. It was not a big delta to the ROE for us. So that was definitely a positive. What was the second part of your question?

是的。因此，誰會參與該命令的排練還需要等待。我想我們對此非常滿意。我認為它落在了正確的位置。他們撤回了風險溢價，而其他一切都完好無損。對我們來說，ROE 的增量並不大。所以這絕對是正面的。你問題的第二部分是什麼？

Incentive adders.

激勵加法器。

Yes, that's still -- yes, that's still back burner. We haven't heard anything from FERC on any scheduled discussion on that as well, so we have not seen anything that we would concern us about that.

是的，這仍然是——是的，這仍然是次要的。我們還沒有收到 FERC 就此事進行任何預定討論的任何消息，因此我們沒有看到任何令我們擔心的事情。

Mark Jarvi, CIBC Capital Markets.

馬克‧賈維 (Mark Jarvi)，CIBC 資本市場部。

Good morning everyone, Just coming back to the emerging retail load increases in Arizona. At what point would you have clarity in terms of being able to define the scope and timing of that? And then I think, Dave, you said something about requiring any sort of different tariff structures to protect existing customers, is this going to be a little bit of a longer process before if you can put this into the backlog in both CapEx until you have that sort of regulatory clarity?

大家早上好，剛回到亞利桑那州新興的零售負載增加。您在什麼時候能夠清楚地定義其範圍和時間？然後我想，戴夫，你說過需要任何不同的關稅結構來保護現有客戶，如果你可以將其放入兩個資本支出的積壓中，直到你有那種監管清晰度？

It will take us some time, I think once we get to the stage of getting you know agreements in principle, that's the first step that you would hear from us on, okay, we've got this customer, we've got an MOU, this is, in essence, what we plan broader -- from a big picture perspective and then start you know figuring out what the CapEx would be required, and on a very high-level basis, and then draw sort of that timeline on what we would need to do to bring that deal to kind of a final status ready to start building. That would require not just you know, the contractual agreements between us and that counterparty, but typically, and I'm expecting that we would have maybe a special tariff for serving them because these -- we don't have a specific data center type service or tariff, so we would want to make sure that we got an agreement that covered the costs and we've done this for large customers in the past. We’ve done it not just in Arizona, but in BC, where we create these sort of one-off tariffs to make sure that we have the protections needed, especially if we're building a large amount of infrastructure for them. So that can be -- that's a regulatory process, but I wouldn't expect it to be a very long one because it feels that Arizona and our regulators are very supportive of this type of growth in our area and obviously, when it has a positive impact for our customers, we can get stuff done extremely quickly, so I don't expect it to be like a long drawn-out regulatory process but would be a process nonetheless. But that would also be done in parallel with the development and supply chain and the rest of the things that you would have to do to bring it online.

這需要我們一些時間，我想一旦我們進入原則上讓您了解協議的階段，這是您收到我們訊息的第一步，好吧，我們已經找到了這個客戶，我們已經有了諒解備忘錄，本質上，這就是我們更廣泛的計劃——從大局角度出發，然後開始在非常高的層面上弄清楚需要什麼資本支出，然後根據什麼繪製時間表我們需要做的就是使該協議達到準備開始建設的最終狀態。這不僅需要我們和交易對手之間的合約協議，而且通常情況下，我預計我們可能會為他們提供特殊的服務費率，因為我們沒有特定的資料中心類型服務或關稅，因此我們希望確保我們達成了涵蓋成本的協議，並且我們過去曾為大客戶這樣做過。我們不僅在亞利桑那州這樣做了，還在不列顛哥倫比亞省這樣做了，我們在那裡制定了這種一次性關稅，以確保我們擁有所需的保護，特別是如果我們正在為他們建造大量基礎設施的話。所以這可能是一個監管過程，但我不認為它會是一個很長的過程，因為亞利桑那州和我們的監管機構非常支持我們地區的這種類型的增長，顯然，當它有一個對我們的客戶產生正面影響，我們可以非常快速地完成工作，所以我不認為它會像一個漫長的監管過程，但仍然是一個過程。但這也將與開發和供應鏈以及將其上線所需要做的其他事情同時完成。

Is the expectation that you'd be able to sort of put them on the table and provide some clarity at some point in 2025 and then would this be investment in rate base growth within the current five-year period?

是否期望您能夠在 2025 年的某個時候將它們擺在桌面上並提供一些澄清，然後這會是當前五年內對利率基礎增長的投資嗎？

Yes. So yes, I think 2025 is a reasonable period, mostly because that's a pretty broad target there. You're asking me to pick a quarter in 2025, be a bit tougher, but yes, I think this would be something that we would have a fair level of clarity in 2025. For sure, that would be our goal.

是的。所以，是的，我認為 2025 年是一個合理的時期，主要是因為這是一個相當廣泛的目標。你要求我選擇 2025 年的一個季度，有點強硬，但是，是的，我認為這將是我們在 2025 年有相當明確水平的事情。當然，這將是我們的目標。

And then in terms of timelines to put capital to work and its impact to the actual growth in the current five-year forecast.

然後是資本投入使用的時間表及其對當前五年預測中實際成長的影響。

Yes. Yes. So we would see probably -- we would see some -- given how fast these data centers want to move, and given, of course, with a caveat of getting the things that we need from a supply chain perspective, this would definitely have some impact in the five-year period and I can't swear that it would have -- it would have a complete impact in the five-year period, but probably a significant impact within -- because that's you know -- if we have an agreement one year from now and then they would be probably looking at a two- to three-year type timeframe from their construction standpoint. I think they typically put out about a two-year timeframe for them to be able to stand up a data center, so we'd be really rushing to get that done. But again, that has to do with all the rest of the timing related to supply chain, permitting if you and siting if you have to put in a new generation to support them, et cetera.

是的。是的。因此，我們可能會看到——我們會看到一些——考慮到這些資料中心希望移動的速度有多快，當然，考慮到從供應鏈的角度獲得我們需要的東西，這肯定會有一些我不能發誓它會在五年內產生全面的影響，但可能會在五年內產生重大影響，因為你知道，如果我們有一個一年後達成協議，然後從建設的角度來看，他們可能會考慮兩到三年的時間框架。我認為他們通常會為他們提供大約兩年的時間框架來建立資料中心，所以我們真的會急於完成這項工作。但同樣，這與與供應鏈相關的所有其他時間有關，如果你和選址允許，如果你必須投入新一代來支持他們，等等。

Understood. And then Jocelyn, just a follow-up on Rob's question about funding. Even absent new investments this year, some higher spend pull forward, FX, how are you thinking where you are in terms of balance sheet buffer, and is there something where you have to maybe tap the ATM a little bit sooner just given how timing of CapEx is flowing through the business this year?

明白了。然後喬斯林，只是羅布有關資金問題的後續行動。即使今年沒有新的投資，一些更高的支出也會向前推進，外匯，你如何看待你在資產負債表緩衝方面的情況，以及考慮到你的時間安排，你是否需要提前一點點使用ATM 機？

No, Mark. We don't see any need to do anything different than what we've outlined with the changes that we're seeing. I mean, the pull forward of the Woodfibre Project is not changing our funding plan. So right now, it's steady with the plan that we have in place. The ATM is available, but there is no expectation that we need to tap it for anything we see today or anything we’ve seen today.

不，馬克。我們認為沒有必要做任何與我們所看到的變化所概述的不同的事情。我的意思是，木纖維計畫的進展並沒有改變我們的融資計畫。所以現在，我們現有的計畫是穩定的。ATM 是可用的，但我們不需要利用它來獲取我們今天看到的任何東西或我們今天看到的任何東西。

(Operator Instructions) Patrick Kenny, National Bank Financial.

（操作員指示）Patrick Kenny，國家銀行金融部門。

Maybe just to dive a little bit deeper into the Alberta footprint, and as you mentioned, even though you don't have the same vertically integrated model as you do in Arizona, just given the -- some of the big numbers we've seen thrown around in terms of the opportunity set around co-location opportunities, new load coming into the province. Just how should we be thinking about the rate base upside as you look at connecting some of these behind the meter customers for their redundant power needs?

也許只是為了更深入地了解艾伯塔省的足跡，正如您所提到的，即使您沒有像亞利桑那州那樣的垂直整合模型，只要考慮到我們所看到的一些大數字就機會而言，圍繞協同定位的機會，新的負載進入該省。當您考慮將一些電錶後面的客戶連接起來以滿足他們的冗餘電力需求時，我們應該如何考慮費率基礎的上升趨勢？

Yes. Let me, I'll kick that over to Janine to add a little color. Obviously, as you know, Alberta has been extremely receptive to the conversation around data centers. They've got their bring your own power kind of policy up there but as far as the transmission and distribution investments, Janine, do you want to opine on that a little bit?

是的。讓我，我會把它交給珍妮來添加一點色彩。顯然，如您所知，阿爾伯塔省非常樂於接受有關資料中心的對話。他們有自備電力的政策，但就輸電和配電投資而言，珍妮，你想對此發表一點意見嗎？

Yes, for sure. It's certainly an evolving story here in Alberta as the province has been very vocal in terms of wanting to attract them, yet still going through the process of understanding how we're going to support them. So we've been certainly on a bit of an education journey as to the importance of interconnecting these loads to the grid to ensure the reliability of power that a lot of these customers will require. So you know clearly, there's a balance between supporting a fossil fuel-based economy which this province would still want to do and why it references using gas for example, as backup power supplies for these types of data centers but also looking at the reliability -- from the reliability aspect, the interconnection with the grid is another consideration, and that's where we've been focused in terms of understanding how we can best support the customer from a distribution perspective, and understanding what the implications for those behind-the-meter types of generation can mean in terms of accessibility and reliability so lots of conversations going on. We're certainly front and center with discussions with customers as well as with the government in terms of how policies might be determined around these, and waiting to see how some of these might actually interconnect and what they might bring when they decide to come to Alberta.

是的，當然。這在艾伯塔省無疑是一個不斷發展的故事，因為該省一直非常直言不諱地希望吸引他們，但仍在經歷了解我們將如何支持他們的過程。因此，我們確實進行了一些教育之旅，了解將這些負載互連到電網以確保許多客戶所需的電力可靠性的重要性。所以你清楚地知道，在支持該省仍然想要做的以化石燃料為基礎的經濟與為什麼它提到使用天然氣（例如，作為這些類型的數據中心的備用電源）和可靠性之間存在平衡 - - 從可靠性方面來看，與電網的互連是另一個考慮因素，這就是我們一直關注的重點，即了解如何從分銷角度最好地支持客戶，並了解對幕後人員的影響。類型可能意味著可訪問性和可靠性，因此正在進行大量對話。我們當然處於與客戶以及政府討論如何圍繞這些問題制定政策的討論的前沿和中心，並等待著看看其中一些實際上如何相互關聯，以及當他們決定加入時它們可能會帶來什麼。省。

Okay. That's great colour. Thank you and then maybe for Jocelyn, I know you've touched on it already, but with this rate base or capital plan upside, the potential for an even weaker Canadian dollar outlook going forward. Just curious if there's been any change to your thoughts in trying to lock in the longer-term cash flows at a higher FX rate as well? Or is it just status quo on the currency hedging policy for now?

好的。那顏色真棒。謝謝你，然後也許是喬斯林，我知道你已經談到了這個問題，但隨著利率基礎或資本計劃的上行，加元前景可能會更加疲軟。只是好奇您在嘗試以更高的匯率鎖定長期現金流方面的想法是否有任何改變？或者說這只是目前貨幣避險政策的現狀？

It's never status quo, Patrick and we're always looking at the market. We did extend our hedging program to be two years out for our U.S. cash flows a little while ago, and we're still there, but it's something we are looking at. We're definitely taking we've stepped it up quite significantly in terms of just locking in the current rate. So no, it's an evolving item that we're always evaluating but right now, we're two years out on our U.S. cash flows.

派崔克，這從來都不是現狀，我們一直在關注市場。不久前，我們確實將美國現金流的對沖計劃延長了兩年，現在仍然如此，但這是我們正在考慮的事情。我們肯定認為，在鎖定當前利率方面，我們已經相當顯著地加大了力度。所以不，這是一個我們一直在評估的不斷發展的項目，但現在，我們的美國現金流還剩兩年了。

Michael Sullivan, Wolfe Research.

麥可‧沙利文，沃爾夫研究中心。

Hey good morning, couple more questions on Arizona. Just how do we think about the timeline for implementation of whatever may come of the remainder of these workshops. What is the process from here?

嘿早上好，還有幾個關於亞利桑那州的問題。我們如何考慮實施這些研討會剩餘部分可能發生的事情的時間表。從這裡開始的流程是什麼？

Yes, let me turn it over to Susan since we're in Arizona this week for their Board meetings. We've got her right here in person to answer that.

是的，讓我把它交給蘇珊，因為我們本週在亞利桑那州參加他們的董事會。我們已經請她親自來回答這個問題了。

Yes Good morning Michael, thanks for the question. So as you probably know, on October 3, we had a recent workshop, brought in a couple of FERC representatives to talk about how the formula rate works for FERC, and -- so the commission may hold another one to two workshops, but I think they're motivated to get something done fairly soon, I'd say late this year or early next year, so I think we're getting pretty close to a solution and I think that's going to be good for our customers in terms of more gradual impact on rate increases and obviously good for us in terms of regulatory lag. But I think we're narrowing in on a solution pretty quick here.

是的，早上好，邁克爾，謝謝你的提問。正如您可能知道的那樣，10 月3 日，我們最近舉辦了一次研討會，邀請了幾位FERC 代表來討論FERC 的公式費率如何運作，並且- 因此委員會可能會再舉辦一到兩次研討會，但我認為他們有動力很快完成某件事，我會說在今年年底或明年初，所以我認為我們已經非常接近解決方案，我認為這對我們的客戶來說是有好處的對加息的影響更加漸進，在監管滯後方面顯然對我們有利。但我認為我們很快就找到了解決方案。

Okay. Great and then I think just in the spirit of elections here, I think there's one in Arizona as well. How do you think about the range of candidates there and just what that could mean for regulation in the state?

好的。太棒了，我想本著這裡選舉的精神，我認為亞利桑那州也有一個。您如何看待那裡的候選人範圍以及這對該州的監管意味著什麼？

Go ahead, Susan.

繼續吧，蘇珊。

Yes, so there's three open seats. The Chairman is not re-running, so that's a Republican open seat. Commissioner Marquez Peterson is running for re-election; and then Commissioner Tovar is not running for re-election. So three open seats, three candidates on each party. Your guess is as good as mine on how that's going to turn out today.

是的，所以還有三個空位。主席不會重新競選，因此這是共和黨的空缺席位。委員馬克斯彼得森 (Marquez Peterson) 正在競選連任；然後托瓦爾專員不再競選連任。三個空缺席位，每黨三名候選人。對於今天的結果，你的猜測和我的一樣好。

Okay, and then just pivoting to Iowa. I think there's been some talks out there of potentially the Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant coming back. Would you all have any involvement with that, if that were to happen?

好的，然後轉向愛荷華州。我認為已經有一些關於杜安阿諾德核電廠可能回歸的討論。如果真的發生的話，你們都會參與其中嗎？

On the nuclear side, no and Linda, I don't -- I'm not sure if that would have any impact on the LRTP, like maybe in the 2.2 phase because that obviously would be putting a big additional generator back online, which might have to go back into the calculus of what's needed from a transmission perspective. But Linda, have you guys thought about if that's got any impact on you all?

在核子方面，不，琳達，我不知道——我不確定這是否會對 LRTP 產生任何影響，就像可能在 2.2 階段一樣，因為這顯然會讓一個額外的大型發電機重新上線，這可能必須從傳輸的角度重新計算所需的內容。但是琳達，你們有沒有想過這對你們有什麼影響嗎？

Yes. I mean, obviously, we're tracking and monitoring some of the conversation. Remember, the existing -- there's existing transmission infrastructure that is still there and in place that was there to serve the Duane Arnold facility when it was in operation.

是的。我的意思是，顯然我們正在追蹤和監視一些對話。請記住，現有的傳輸基礎設施仍然存在，並且在運行時為杜安·阿諾德設施提供服務。

But as Dave mentioned, certainly on a going-forward basis, as we continue to invest and build out the regional transmission infrastructure, certainly bringing new generation back online certainly has an impact on system dynamics, and so it's certainly something that we would have to study to determine what impact, if any, it has on the power flows, obviously, delivering load, and so I would say it's TBD, but I would say there is some pretty robust transmission infrastructure that currently serves that location.

但正如戴夫所提到的，當然在未來的基礎上，隨著我們繼續投資和建設區域傳輸基礎設施，讓新一代重新上線肯定會對系統動態產生影響，所以這肯定是我們必須做的事情研究以確定它對電力流的影響（如果有的話），顯然，輸送負載，所以我會說這是待定，但我會說目前有一些相當強大的傳輸基礎設施為該位置提供服務。

Okay, and just to be clear, that's your transmission infrastructure or someone else's?

好的，需要明確的是，這是您的傳輸基礎設施還是其他人的？

That is ours, ITC.

這是我們的，ITC。

As there are no further questions, I would like to turn the call back over to Ms. Amaimo.

由於沒有其他問題，我想將電話轉回給 Amaimo 女士。

Thank you, Joelle. We have nothing further at this time. Thank you for participating in our third quarter 2024 results conference call. Thank you for your time, and have a great day.

謝謝你，喬爾。目前我們沒有任何進一步的資訊。感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第三季業績電話會議。感謝您抽出寶貴時間，祝您有美好的一天。

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

感謝您的參與。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。