NiSource Inc (NI) 2013 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the quarter four 2013 NiSource earnings conference call. My name is Patrick, and I'll be your coordinator for today.

(Operator Instructions)

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Glen Kettering, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs. Please proceed, sir.

Thank you, Patrick, and good morning, everyone. On behalf of NiSource, we would like to welcome you to our quarterly analyst call. Joining me this morning are Bob Skaggs, President and Chief Executive officer; Steve Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Randy Hulen, Managing Director of Investor Relations.

As you know, the focus of today's call is to review our financial performance for the fourth quarter and full year of 2013 and to provide a business update as we enter 2014. We will then open the call to your questions. At times during the call, we'll refer to the supplemental slides available on NiSource.com.

I'd like to remind all of you that some of the statements made on this conference call will be forward-looking. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements. Information concerning such risks and uncertainties is included in the MD&A and Risk Factors sections of our periodic SEC filings. ¶

And now I'd like to turn the call over to Bob Skaggs.

Thanks, Glen.

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. As we noted in this mornings release, for NiSource 2013 was another year of solid execution, notable achievement and industry-leading growth in shareholder value.

On our call today, we'll highlight a number of these achievements and discuss how they position NiSource for continued growth in 2014 and beyond. Then Steve Smith will review our financial highlights.

We'll also provide updates on key initiatives; outline our 2014 earnings and capital investment guidance; and of course, we'll have plenty of time for your questions.

With that agenda in mind, let's get started with some key 2013 take-aways. These are listed on slide 3 in the supplemental deck that was posted online this morning.

As you can see, our team continued to execute on NiSource's well-established strategy of generating long-term growth through disciplined infrastructure investments, supported by complimentary commercial and regulatory initiatives.

Notably, our team delivered earnings in line with our guidance for the seventh consecutive year. And we produced total shareholder return of 36%, which outperformed the broader utility indices by a wide margin for the fifth consecutive year.

The foundation of this progress continues to be our deep inventory of long-term accretive modernization and growth investments. That investment inventory exceeds $30 billion and continues to grow.

During 2013, our teams delivered against this inventory by executing on a record $2 billion capital program that include key system modernization, growth and environmental investments. We saw clear evidence of the value of these investments during this winter's extreme cold weather.

Our service territory has been particularly hard hit, and our systems have been tested at historic levels. I'm pleased to report that the system and our teams have performed extraordinarily well. A key factor in that success was our ongoing commitment to fundamentally strengthen and modernize our core infrastructure.

Unfortunately, despite this strong performance, we had an incident on the Columbia Gulf system in Adair County, Kentucky, last week. While we were able to meet our commercial commitments, we're disappointed the incident occurred.

We've been working closely with them to determine the cause. In parallel with that review, our immediate priority is to address the needs of those affected in the surrounding community.

With that, let's turn back to the key take-aways. One of the core pillars of our growth strategy is NiSource's thoughtful and disciplined financial approach. During 2013, we further strengthened NiSource's financial foundation and maintained our strong liquidity position.

And I'm pleased to note that we did so while also providing about a 4% increase in our dividend. In addition, just a few weeks ago, Moody's upgraded NiSource as an investment grade credit rating to Baa2 from Baa3, noting the significant regulatory advancements across our Company.

We'll touch on our financing strategies and core commitments again a bit later. But suffice it to say, we are well-positioned to continue delivering strong performance and steady growth in 2014 and beyond.

With those highlights, I'll now turn the call over to Steve Smith to take a look at our financial results on page 4 of the supplemental slides.

Thanks, Bob; and good morning, everyone.

As Bob mentioned, by any measure, the NiSource team delivered strong results in 2013.

We generated annual non-GAAP net operating earnings of about $494 million, or $1.58 per share. That was at the upper end of our guidance range, and compares with earnings of about $426 million, or $1.46 per share, in 2012.

On an operating basis, NiSource was up about $77 million when compared to 2012. On a GAAP comparison, our income from continuing operations was about $491 million for 2013 versus about $409 million in 2012.

At the segment level, you will see that each of our three core business units delivered solid earnings growth.

Columbia Pipeline Group, or CPG, delivered operating earnings of about $441 million, compared to about $398 million in 2012. CPG's net revenues, excluding the impact of trackers, were up about $59 million, primarily as a result of 2012 impacts from our system modernization customer settlement. We also saw increased revenues from new growth projects and higher royalties from mineral rights.

Earnings were also up for NIPSCO's Electric Operations, where earnings came in at about $265 million, compared with about $238 million for 2012. Net revenues, again excluding the impact of trackers, were up by about $38 million, primarily due to an increase in environmental investment cost recovery and higher industrial and commercial margins.

And finally, our Gas Distribution business delivered about $449 million in operating earnings, compared to about $438 million for the prior year. Net revenues, again excluding trackers, were up about $77 million, primarily due to regulatory and service programs related to our infrastructure replacement efforts.

All in all, another solid quarter and year, with full details available in our earnings release posted online this morning.

Turning to slide 5, I'd like to quickly touch on our financing and liquidity highlights. As Bob noted, our liquidity position remains strong at approximately $1.6 billion as of the end of the fourth quarter.

We took several steps to strengthen NiSource's financial foundation during 2013. This included issuing $1.25 billion of 30-year debt at attractive rates.

And our team also increased the size of our revolving credit facility by $500 million, to $2 billion, and extended its term until September of 2018. Overall, we ended 2013 with a debt-to-capitalization of 60%.

As Bob mentioned, another significant milestone: Moody's recently upgraded our credit rating to Baa2 from Baa3. In December, Fitch Ratings affirmed our credit rating of BBB-. And we anticipate hearing from Standard & Poor's in the next few weeks.

Looking ahead, our financial strategy continues to be strong, sustainable and fully aligned with our robust long-term capital investment outlook.

With that, I'll turn the call back to Bob to cover our business unit initiatives and our 2014 guidance.

Thanks, Steve.

Before opening the call to questions, we'll quickly hit on some key markers across each of our business units. Let's start with the CPG highlights on slide 6.

Our CPG team continues to deliver on all fronts, from modernization to midstream to regulated pipeline growth projects. From a modernization standpoint, I'm pleased to note that we received FERC approval in late January for recovery of CPG's first year of modernization investments.

That included more than 30 projects, representing a total investment of about $300 million. We started recovering on those investments on February 1.

Meanwhile, our CPG team is fully engaged in this year's modernization program, which includes another $300 million in investment. As you know, our customers have agreed to the initial five years of the program, with an opportunity to mutually extend that agreement. Overall, we've identified a total modernization opportunity of more than $4 billion.

In the late-breaking news category, I'm pleased to announce that CPG has entered into binding, preceding agreements for a major new project -- the Cameron Access Project. In addition to upgrades on the existing Columbia Gulf system in Southern Louisiana, this project involves construction of a new pipeline connecting the Gulf system with the planned Cameron LNG terminal in Southern Louisiana, which received Department of Energy export approval just last week.

This is a $300 million-plus investment for CPG that will connect numerous shale basins to the LNG export facility. Cameron Access will have an initial capacity of up to 800,000 dekatherms per day, and is expected to be in service by the end of 2017.

Meanwhile, CPG's Midstream team is continuing to capitalize on our strategic position in the Marcellus and Utica regions. In December, we began operating the Hickory Bend gathering and processing facility in Eastern Ohio. As you may recall, that project will provide about 600 million cubic feet per day of new gathering capacity, and about 200 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity in that region.

Our team also is moving forward with other related facilities in the Hickory Bend area, including a separate natural gas liquids pipeline that will connect the Hickory Bend plant to the UEO Kensington facility in Columbia County, Ohio. Starting in the third quarter of this year, the line will ultimately deliver up to 90,000 barrels of liquids per day. As a reminder, these projects are part of our joint venture with Hilcorp Energy.

Speaking of Hilcorp, our joint resource development arrangement in the Utica is moving forward consistent with our plans. Twenty wells are now in various stages of drilling, and another ten wells are currently in production.

We remain encouraged, as the initial production flows are consistent with some of the better flows reported in the area. Drilling activity will continue to accelerate in 2014, and we anticipate that beginning this year, we will be completing 25-30 wells annually.

All in all, it's very much in line with our expectations and strongly supportive of our complementary infrastructure investments. As a reminder, the production is dedicated to the Pennant Midstream gathering and processing facilities.

Shifting to the Marcellus region, NiSource Midstream recently entered into an agreement with Range Resources to provide firm transportation services on the Big Pine gathering system, which was placed in service in April 2013. The agreement provides for transportation of up to 100 million cubic feet per day.

As a reminder, the project was anchored with long-term gathering contracts with XTO Energy and PennEnergy. Big Pine is capable of transporting up to 425 million-cubic-foot-per-day of Marcellus production.

Finally, a quick touch on several key supply and market-driven growth projects being advanced by CPG. In total, our team is executing on more than $0.5 billion worth of projects that will add about 1 billion cubic feet of capacity to our system over the next two years. Looking a little further out, this number doubles in investment and doubles in capacity.

Most recently, the team received FERC approval on its Line 1570 and Giles County projects that we previously discussed. We also recently completed a key portion of the West Side Expansion Project when we reversed the flow on a portion of the Columbia Gulf system. That enables about 500 million cubic feet per day of shale gas to flow south from our Leach, Kentucky interconnect toward Rayne, Louisiana.

CPG also successfully completed non-binding open seasons for two companion projects: the Leach XPress and the Rayne XPress. Those projects would further connect shale production with markets on Columbia Transmission and Columbia Gulf. We're currently in active discussions with potential anchor shippers, and we'll keep you posted as these exciting projects move forward.

As you can see, the CPG team is executing on an impressive array of initiatives. Those efforts will result in a disciplined capital investment of about $800 million at CPG this year.

Now let's shift to our Indiana Electric Business, summarized on slide 7. NIPSCO continues to advance a broad agenda of customer service, reliability and environmental improvements.

Just yesterday, another vitally significant milestone for us: the IURC approved NIPSCO's seven-year electric modernization plan -- which encompasses approximately $1.1 billion of investments -- to modernize the electric infrastructure in Northern Indiana. Initial investments under this program will begin by mid-2014.

NIPSCO's $700 million gas modernization filing remains on schedule at the IURC, with a decision expected by mid-year. Both the electric and gas plants are closely aligned with Indiana legislation, providing for timely recovery of qualifying modernization investments.

Another significant milestone is the installation of the two new scrubber units at our Schahfer Generating Station. The first FGD was completed on budget and ahead of schedule late last year, and the second unit is on track for completion by the end of this year.

Work has also started on a third FGD project at our Michigan City station. That project is slated to be complete by the end of 2015. In total, more than $850 million in environmental investments are moving forward at NIPSCO.

NIPSCO also is on track with two major electric transmission projects: a 100-mile, 345 kV line and a 66-mile 765 kV line. These projects together constitute an investment of approximately $0.5 billion for NIPSCO, and are anticipated to be in service by the end of 2018.

All told, NIPSCO has an inventory of more than $6 billion in long-term investments that will benefit customers and provide a platform for economic development across Northern Indiana. During 2014, the capital investments in NIPSCO's electric business will total about $450 million.

Let's turn now to our Gas Distribution operations, discussed on slide 8. Our Gas Distribution teams continue to steadily execute on their long-term $10 billion-plus inventory of infrastructure programs. In fact, during 2013, our Gas Distribution capital investments reached a record level at $790 million, with the largest portion of that investment committed to modernization programs.

Under those programs, our Gas Distribution teams replaced more than 360 miles of aging pipelines last year. And as always, we've paired those investments with complementary customer programs and regulatory initiatives.

On the regulatory front, Columbia Gas of Kentucky received approval in December for its rate case settlement. The Company's new rates, which took effect December 29, provide for an increased fixed customer charge and about $8 million in additional annual revenues. The rates support the Company's ongoing modernization investments.

The Columbia Gas of Massachusetts rate proceeding also remains on track, with a decision expected and new rates in effect by March 1. You'll recall that CMA is seeking increased revenues of about $30 million to support the Company's expanded modernization plans.

Our Distribution team also continues to execute on organic and market-driven growth opportunities. This includes development of a $15 million project that will serve a major Columbia Gas and Virginia industrial customer starting in late 2014. As part of the same project, Columbia Gas Transmission will separately invest about $25 million to extend its system to interconnect with Columbia Gas of Virginia.

As we roll into 2014, we're confident our Gas Distribution team's well-established approach for creating shared value for customers and key stakeholders will continue to deliver solid results. We've targeted about $815 million in Gas Distribution capital spending for 2014, again focused primarily on modernization and growth initiatives.

Before turning to your questions, let's quickly touch on our guidance for 2014 and a couple of key take-aways.

With over $2 billion in capital investments underway for 2014, we fully expect to deliver on our core commitments, including consistently generating earnings growth in the 5% to 7% range over the long term. For 2014, we expect to deliver net operating earnings within a range of $1.61 to $1.71 per share non-GAAP.

I'd also reiterate that we will execute on this proven strategy while staying true to our well-established core commitments. We'll maintain stable investment-grade credit ratings, strong financial liquidity, and dividend growth in the range of 3% to 5% annually.

As always, we'll communicate on all matters of importance in a transparent and timely manner through our analysts calls and news releases posted on NiSource.com. Thank you for participating today, and for your ongoing interest in and support of NiSource. ¶

Patrick, we can now open the call to questions.

(Operator Instructions)

Paul Ridzon with KeyBanc.

Leach and Rayne -- how big a capital opportunity is that?

Assuming we can drive this home, it's going to be a major investment. You can see that we have work on Columbia Gas Transmission. That typically requires a relatively large investment. But we'll also be investing on Columbia Gulf. And in the big scheme of things, that's relatively small. Expect the spends to be unfolding in 2016 and 2017 -- again, assuming we can close these deals.

And then on the modernization, the five-year settlement. Have you started talking about an extension of that? And what's the outlook to go above [$300 million] when you do extend it, if you extend it?

Well, I like when we extend it. Paul, a little bit too early to get into those sorts of discussions with our customers and other stakeholders. Clearly we've only been at this a year. We have been very pleased with the performance of the Columbia Gas Transmission system. We think the investments have shown their value to the customers. So we felt like we needed to get one year of construction, a hard winter under our belts, and another construction season in the ground. And then it will be appropriate to begin discussions with the stakeholders. So stay tuned.

And then lastly, latest thoughts on some of the hurdles around forming alternative structure in MLP.

Oh, the MLP. Yes, this discussion will be consistent with our prior discussions. We still consider the MLP vehicle to be very viable for NiSource. It's a viable approach, a viable option. We [can't] continue to closely study it, closely work the consideration among the Management team, but also the Board.

Paul, I'd add, true to our form, it's going to be a thoughtful, thorough, disciplined consideration. We continue to indicate to you and others to expect a decision, circa third quarter of 2014. And I'd just make the observation, not coincidentally, that's about 9 to 12 months in advance of when we believe we'll need equity, or an equity alternative in 2015. So in the meantime, as you can tell, the team is focused on projects, development and our initiatives. So just stay tuned.

Excellent. Thank you very much.

Stephen Maresca with Morgan Stanley.

I had two questions on the quarter, and one on growth. Columbia Pipe had a small drop in earnings, about $8 million in the quarter. And you talked about in the release, decrease in shorter-term transportation services. How much impact was that in the quarter? And then, in the increase and other revenues in that segment, is that from Midstream?

Yes, this is Steve. I would say the decrease in revenues for -- net revenues for CPG was around the $5 million range for the quarter. And Midstream did drive some benefits to us. But again, it was in the couple million-dollar range, nothing too significant.

Okay. And then looking in terms of throughput on Columbia Gulf, just want to understand. You saw it looks to be like a 30% year-on-year decline in the numbers Q4 over Q4. Can you just give some more color in there? And what is the outlook? Is this somehow related to part of the West Side Expansion reversing flow? Or what are we looking at with those numbers there?

Yes, Steve. I think in a macro sense, you are seeing what the entire industry is seeing with Marcellus and Utica. That customers are relying less on Gulf region gas, and they are relying on gas that's in the, quote -- northeast -- close quote. And that's what you're seeing. And you're seeing ourselves and others look at ways to re-purpose, turn around, go bidirectional on these long line pipes from the Gulf region to the market region. So we believe our efforts -- and an example would be the West Side, which renders one of our lines bidirectional. It's a great example of what we're attempting to do to move gas north to south to fully utilize Columbia Gulf.

What Paul also mentioned, the XPress's open season is really a variance on that as well -- moving gas out of the Marcellus-Utica region to liquid points of interconnection west on the Columbia Gas Transmission system. And then all the way down the Gulf system. So it's just a reflection of what's going on in the market.

Okay, I appreciate that. And then, final for me, on Pennant Midstream. Just the thoughts on the 600 million cubic feet day of gathering, 200 million cubic feet of processing. In terms of how we should think about the volume ramp. And then as a reminder, are those capacities spoken for? Or are we expecting a volume ramp to get to those numbers over 2014 and into 2015? And does the same hold true for that NGL line?

Hilicorp will be the primary driver of the initial phases of volume ramp. So they are really driving the project. Now, are we looking at opportunities to bring additional volumes onto the Pennant system? That would be yes. But again, I'd repeat, Hilicorp is really the key driver in the gathering volumes and the processing volumes.

And Hilicorp's intent -- and you see it reflected in their drilling program: first things first. They want to fill up the 200 million a day processing facility. So that's what they're attempting do first and foremost, and as quickly as they can. And then Phases 2 and 3 would be additional processing facilities at the Hickory Bend site. So that's the game plan. And again, if we're successful in bringing additional volumes and activity to Pennant, then you might see that schedule accelerated.

Okay. Appreciate it guys, thanks.

Faisel Khan with Citigroup.

I'm wondering if you guys could discuss some of the -- taking place in the market over the last couple months. There was a trade publication article that talked about how Dominion was looking for a Midwest utility and was raising capital to possibly buy out a utility it in the Midwest. And around the same time -- I'm not sure if this is related or not --you guys changed your -- you're changing control in termination agreements. So can you discuss how you and the Board are thinking about M&A? And if any of this stuff is related to what's out there in the market?

Yes, let me talk about the change of control agreements. Every year, as you would expect, the Board is looking at change control agreements. And what we did with those was simply to remove the gross-up provision in those change of control agreements to make them contemporary or leading edge, with good corporate governance. That was absolutely all that was involved in that. And again, it's an annual process that we do with the Board, Board Comp Committee.

Now, rumors -- as you would expect, we don't comment on rumors. But maybe I could make a couple of observations. Number one, we're an $11 billion equity-value Company with, I think, an extraordinarily strong standalone plan. So everything we do is measured against what I think is a really, really strong, strong plan that we know we can execute on. And then the second observation is, we're always going to do the right thing for the shareholders. So that's really all we can say about rumors and speculation and things of that nature.

Okay, that's fair. I appreciate that. And then just going back to some of the comments around the XPress projects. What's the aggregate amount of capacity that's contemplated on those lines? And would all that capacity be eligible to be reversed, essentially, out of the Marcellus-Utica down to the Gulf Coast markets?

Well, again, these are two companion, open-seasons activity on Columbia Gas Transmission. So in the market, in the Marcellus and Utica region and Columbia Gulf, all told, capacities would be north of a Bcf a day.

Okay. So does that --

As I alluded to Paul, a major project, assuming it goes forward -- major projects, assuming it goes forward.

That entire 1 Bcf a day would be able to make it to the Gulf Coast markets?

A little south of that, all the way down to the Gulf. But again, we're looking at expansion opportunities on Columbia Gas Transmission, increased deliveries into Gulf. But then what ultimately moves south on Gulf would be more like 800 million to 900 million cubic feet a day.

Okay, got it.

Just again, give you the parameters. And I would just underscore, we're in discussions, the situation is fluid, a lot of wood to chop to get from here to there. But you've got a sense that it's bigger than a bread box.

Okay. And last question for me. On your overall storage capacity in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest market, are you guys seeing any change in the demand for storage capacity in your area, given all this production growth taking place?

Well, our storage is fully contracted under long-term agreements, so we are absolutely sold out. I think one thing that's instructive about this winter is how gosh-darn valuable storage is, regardless of what's going on in the Utica and the Marcellus. And how valuable firm transport capacity is in this region. If anything, it just underscores, we think, the value of the Columbia Gas Transmission system.

Okay, great. Thanks, Bob. Appreciate the time.

Thanks.

Charles Fishman with Morningstar.

If I could circle back to the MLP question again, I just want to make sure I understand it. The two hurdles we have discussed in the past are tax leakage and the lack of flexibility on the debt side. Which [you were relating] -- but obviously you got some help from Moody's. Is tax leakage still a concern, that you're going to have to invest before that happens?

Just for clarity for everybody that's listening, we -- in the past, we've talked about investment grade credit, how sacrosanct that is. And so we've been very mindful of credit considerations and anything that might be a negative on our credit. We've also talked about tax leakage because our assets are low-basis assets. We've also tried to consistently indicate that we are working, studying, engineering on both fronts. And that we have gotten more comfortable with credit considerations in general.

And we've also been more comfortable in ways to manage a structure in and around tax leakage. But that's as far as we've gone. Again, I alluded in my comments to Paul, we continue to closely study, we continue to closely work, and we will be thorough and disciplined as we go through those issues.

So let's say you're going to try and make a decision on this by later this year -- third quarter, I believe you said. That would impact the amount of equity in 2015, if that were to occur?

Well, speaking hypothetically, if we pursued an MLP, that would be in lieu of common equity.

Right.

So we do one or the other.

Yes, size and (multiple speakers) -- those, you'd have to get there and make those determinations. But again, hypothetically, it would replace the need for common equity.

Bob, just in general, you have this new line going to an investment customer in Virginia. [Do you lever] utilities talk about the impact -- industrial growth's impact, because of industrial's forward yield natural gas prices in the US for an extended period of time. Do you think that's [true] for this customer?

These were -- I don't want to speak directly, but we've seen environmental considerations drive certain projects of this nature. Now, obviously they have a strong business. But there are environmental considerations at play.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Carl Kirst with BMO Capital.

Just a couple of clean-up questions I've got. One, going back to the Leach and Rayne XPress. Can you queue up how you see the milestones going? You mentioned, Bob, maybe spending in 2016, 2017. So I would think that would mean if this project were to move forward, FERC filing by the end of this year. And is this a project that, after you come out of the non-binding, you would take first two precedent agreements? Or would you go directly into a binding open season? And what might you think the timing of that might be?

All right, you've got a lot of stuff going on in that question. (laughter) Wow. Let me just put it this way. We're still in active discussions. And so the scenarios around a binding open season, going strictly to binding agreements -- just premature at this point. We're speaking with folks, potential anchor shippers. We think those discussions are going forward on an expedited basis. But it's still too early to say what the next steps are.

I do think an FERC filing -- I think you suggested mid-year. I don't see that being feasible at all. But I do see possibilities that this could move on an expedited basis.

Great. I appreciate the color. The second question was just could you -- and I apologize if you had this in your opening commentary, as I was taking notes down. But could you refresh my memory what the milestones are for the NIPSCO gas modernization, as far as when we would expect to see a decision from the IURC?

We believe we will see a decision or an outcome mid-year of this year. Just a point of reference, we're holding -- or the IURC is holding -- a hearing on the gas filing today, as we speak, in Indianapolis. Now, I'd also make the observation that with yesterday's order on the electric TDISC, we certainly have gotten some instructions, some clarity, some insight. And hopefully, that's going to be helpful as we processed the gas case.

Excellent, thanks so much.

John Edwards with Credit Suisse.

Just to follow up on the MLP question. It sounds like you're getting more comfortable with the possibility of the MLP option. Maybe -- and I don't know if you have a comment on this at this point. But is there anything at this point that you think would prevent you from pursuing the MLP option?

I think we just need to complete the process, working closely with the Board and the team. And we need to work through the process.

Okay, great. That's all I had. Thank you.

Thank you.

(Operator Instructions)

Charles Fishman with Morningstar.

Thank you. Just a quick follow-up, Bob. Last time on the last call, you talked about the fact that with SB560, because it's a new law in Indiana, there was a high probability there would be some litigation.

Is that -- does the approval and the order you got yesterday reduce that? Or isn't that is still the case?

The decision yesterday was the product litigation. The case went through the hearing process, the briefing process, all phases of litigation. And so what the commission did was, they acted on a complete record on the program, and made the decision.

Okay. So there's no really -- there's a very low probability or no probability of any continuing litigation on that?

Well, parties would have the right to appeal and that sort of thing. Again, we feel good about the order. We feel good the way the process has unfolded. So we're bullish that we will be executing against the program beginning mid-year.

Okay, fantastic. Thank you.

Thanks.

Being that there are no remaining questions in queue, I would now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Bob Skaggs for closing remarks.

Patrick, thanks so much. And thanks to everyone for your participation today, your ongoing support of NiSource. And as we mentioned, we will communicate clearly and frequently. So thank you very much. Have a good day.

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect. Have a great day.