New Jersey Resources Corp (NJR) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the New Jersey Resources Fiscal 2022 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Conference Call. My name is Emily, and I will be your conference call operator today. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎來到新澤西資源公司 2022 財年第四季度和年終電話會議。我叫艾米麗，今天我將擔任你們的電話會議接線員。 （操作員說明）

I will now turn the call over to our host, Adam Prior at New Jersey Resources. Please go ahead, Adam.

我現在將把電話轉給我們的主持人 New Jersey Resources 的 Adam Prior。請繼續，亞當。

Thank you. Welcome to New Jersey Resources Fiscal 2022 Fourth Quarter and Year-end Conference Call and Webcast. I'm joined here today by Steve Westhoven, our President and CEO; Roberto Bel, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; as well as other members of our senior management team.

謝謝你。歡迎來到 New Jersey Resources 2022 財年第四季度和年終電話會議和網絡廣播。今天，我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Steve Westhoven 和我一起來到這裡；我們的高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Roberto Bel；以及我們高級管理團隊的其他成員。

Certain statements in today's call contain estimates and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws. We wish to caution listeners of this call that the current expectations, assumptions and beliefs forming the basis for our forward-looking statements include many factors that are beyond our ability to control or estimate precisely. This could cause results to materially differ from our expectations, as found in Slide 1.

今天電話會議中的某些陳述包含證券法含義內的估計和其他前瞻性陳述。我們希望提醒本次電話會議的聽眾，構成我們前瞻性陳述基礎的當前預期、假設和信念包括許多我們無法控製或準確估計的因素。這可能會導致結果與我們的預期大不相同，如幻燈片 1 所示。

These items can also be found in the forward-looking statements section of today's earnings release furnished on Form 8-K and in our most recent forms 10-Q and 10-K as filed with the SEC. We do not, by including this statement, assume any obligation to review or revise any particular forward-looking statements referenced herein in light of future events.

這些項目也可以在 8-K 表格和我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-Q 和 10-K 表格中提供的今天收益發布的前瞻性陳述部分找到。通過包含此聲明，我們不承擔任何義務根據未來事件審查或修改此處引用的任何特定前瞻性聲明。

We'll also be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures such as net financial earnings or net fee. We believe that NFE, net financial loss, utility gross margin, adjusted funds from operations and financial margin provide a more complete understanding of our financial performance. However, these non-GAAP measures are not intended to be a substitute for GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial measures are discussed more fully in Item 7 of our 10-K.

我們還將提及某些非 GAAP 財務指標，例如淨財務收益或淨費用。我們認為，NFE、淨財務損失、公用事業毛利率、調整後的運營資金和財務利潤率可以更全面地了解我們的財務業績。但是，這些非 GAAP 措施無意替代 GAAP。我們的 10-K 項目 7 中更全面地討論了我們的非 GAAP 財務措施。

Our agenda today is found on Slide 2. Steve will begin with this quarter's highlights, followed by Roberto, who will review our financial results. Then we'll open the call for your questions. The slides accompanying today's presentation are available on our website and were furnished on our Form 8-K filed this morning. We'll begin with an overview on Slide 3.

我們今天的議程在幻燈片 2 上。史蒂夫將從本季度的亮點開始，然後是羅伯托，他將審查我們的財務業績。然後我們將打開您的問題的電話。今天演示文稿的幻燈片可在我們的網站上找到，並在我們今天早上提交的 8-K 表格中提供。我們將從幻燈片 3 的概述開始。

With that said, I will turn the call over to our President and CEO, Steve Westhoven. Please go ahead, Steve.

話雖如此，我將把電話轉給我們的總裁兼首席執行官史蒂夫韋斯特霍文。請繼續，史蒂夫。

Thanks, Adam, and good morning, everyone. Our performance this past year speaks to the strength of our diversified business model, and our ability to adapt to challenges in ways that benefit our customers and investors. At our core, NJR is an energy infrastructure company with a portfolio of complementary businesses positioned to leverage our utility experience while also investing for a clean energy future. This morning, we reported fiscal 2022 net financial earnings per share earned a EPS of $2.50. This represents a 16% increase compared to last year and is at the top of our guidance range. At New Jersey Natural Gas, we reported solid results driven by new base rates. Our hedging policy and BGSS incentive programs have helped to mitigate the impact of rising natural gas prices to customers. This reflects our commitment to delivering safe, reliable energy at a reasonable cost.

謝謝，亞當，大家早上好。我們過去一年的表現證明了我們多元化業務模式的優勢，以及我們以有利於客戶和投資者的方式適應挑戰的能力。 NJR 的核心是一家能源基礎設施公司，擁有一系列互補業務，旨在利用我們的公用事業經驗，同時投資於清潔能源的未來。今天早上，我們報告了 2022 財年每股淨財務收益，每股收益為 2.50 美元。這比去年增長了 16%，處於我們指導範圍的頂部。在 New Jersey Natural Gas，我們報告了受新基準利率推動的穩健業績。我們的對沖政策和 BGSS 激勵計劃有助於減輕天然氣價格上漲對客戶的影響。這反映了我們以合理的成本提供安全、可靠的能源的承諾。

Clean Energy Ventures now has our largest ever project pipeline. During the fourth quarter, we placed our first New York project into service, consistent with CEV's geographic diversification strategy.

Clean Energy Ventures 現在擁有我們有史以來最大的項目管道。在第四季度，我們將第一個紐約項目投入使用，這與 CEV 的地域多元化戰略一致。

At Energy Services, the asset management agreements or AMA signed in December 2020 became effective this year providing predictable, fee-based revenues to this business. The significant uptick in natural gas price volatility through the summer allowed the energy services team to generate additional value from our remaining physical assets.

在 Energy Services，2020 年 12 月簽署的資產管理協議或 AMA 今年生效，為該業務提供可預測的收費收入。整個夏季天然氣價格波動的顯著上升使能源服務團隊能夠從我們剩餘的實物資產中產生額外的價值。

Finally, I want to thank the entire S&T team as we were able to place Adelphia Gateway fully into service prior to the end of the fiscal year. Adelphia is an 84-mile pipeline converted from oil to gas that runs from Morgans Creek, Pennsylvania to just south of Philadelphia. This completion is a major accomplishment for our company. Adelphia is now delivering reliable energy to a capacity-constrained region, fueling further economic growth and helping downstream customers achieve emissions reductions by replacing coal and oil.

最後，我要感謝整個科技團隊，因為我們能夠在本財年結束前將 Adelphia Gateway 全面投入使用。 Adelphia 是一條 84 英里長的從石油到天然氣的管道，從賓夕法尼亞州的摩根溪一直延伸到費城南部。這一完成是我們公司的一項重大成就。 Adelphia 現在正在向容量受限的地區提供可靠的能源，進一步推動經濟增長，並幫助下游客戶通過替代煤炭和石油實現減排。

Moving to Slide 4. We are introducing fiscal 2023 NFEPS guidance of $2.42 a share to $2.52 per share and expect that most of our net financial earnings for the year will come from our utility business. We are also maintaining our 7% to 9% long-term NFEPS growth rate. In addition, at Energy Services, this will be the second year in which our expected NFE contribution will come primarily from the fixed payments associated with the AMAs.

轉到幻燈片 4。我們將 2023 財年 NFEPS 指引定為每股 2.42 美元至 2.52 美元，並預計我們今年的大部分淨財務收益將來自我們的公用事業業務。我們還維持 7% 至 9% 的長期 NFEPS 增長率。此外，在能源服務方面，這將是我們預期的 NFE 貢獻將主要來自與 AMA 相關的固定付款的第二年。

Moving to the next slide. For fiscal year 2023, we have raised our dividend to an annualized rate of $1.56 per share, a 7.6% increase compared to fiscal 2022. With this increase, we have now raised our dividend every year for the last 27 years. And to provide context, NJR is one of only 57 other publicly traded companies that have raised their dividend throughout this period. This reflects our long-term commitment to building shareholder value.

移動到下一張幻燈片。對於 2023 財年，我們將股息提高至每股 1.56 美元的年化率，與 2022 財年相比增長 7.6%。隨著這一增長，我們現在在過去 27 年中每年都提高股息。為了提供背景信息，新日本無線是在此期間提高股息的僅有的 57 家上市公司之一。這反映了我們對建立股東價值的長期承諾。

With that, I'll turn to the discussion of our business units, which begins on Slide 6. New Jersey Natural Gas, during fiscal year 2022, we invested more than $335 million of capital across a variety of programs with over 42% of that capital providing near real-time returns. We added over 7,800 new customers in 2022 through a combination of new construction and conversions. And notably, we were able to help customers lower their energy usage with successful capital deployment through our SAVEGREEN program. We spent over $53 million to help our customers save money and reduce their carbon footprint, which is usually Natural Gas' largest ever annual investment in the program. We plan to file our next base rate case in fiscal 2024, consistent with the expected in-service dates of some of our major technology investments.

說到這裡，我將開始討論我們的業務部門，從幻燈片 6 開始。新澤西天然氣公司，在 2022 財年，我們在各種項目中投入了超過 3.35 億美元的資金，其中超過 42%提供近乎實時回報的資本。通過新建和改建相結合，我們在 2022 年增加了 7,800 多個新客戶。值得注意的是，我們能夠通過我們的 SAVEGREEN 計劃成功部署資本，從而幫助客戶降低能源使用量。我們花費了超過 5300 萬美元來幫助我們的客戶省錢並減少他們的碳足跡，這通常是天然氣在該計劃中最大的年度投資。我們計劃在 2024 財年提交下一個基本費率案例，與我們一些主要技術投資的預期投入使用日期一致。

Moving to a discussion of our solar business on Slide 7. CEV reported a 35% increase in revenues for fiscal 2022, benefiting from elevated electricity prices that contributed to NJR's overall strong financial performance. During the fourth quarter, CEV advanced its regional diversification strategy with the Airport Road project, a 4.9 megawatts solar installation in Orange County, New York. Including this project, CEV now has a portfolio of approximately 387 megawatts of assets in service.

在幻燈片 7 上討論我們的太陽能業務。CEV 報告稱，2022 財年的收入增長了 35%，這得益於電價上漲，這有助於 NJR 整體強勁的財務業績。在第四季度，CEV 通過 Airport Road 項目推進了其區域多元化戰略，該項目位於紐約奧蘭治縣，是一個 4.9 兆瓦的太陽能裝置。包括該項目在內，CEV 目前擁有約 387 兆瓦的在役資產組合。

On Slide 8, you can see CEV continue to grow its project pipeline, which includes ongoing expansion outside the State of New Jersey. CEV now has exclusivity of contractual rights on approximately 700 megawatts of capital deployment options, in addition to another 63 megawatts of projects under construction. Our current pipeline of regionally diverse projects would nearly triple the present size of CEV's clean energy portfolio.

在幻燈片 8 上，您可以看到 CEV 繼續擴大其項目管道，其中包括在新澤西州以外的持續擴張。除了另外 63 兆瓦的在建項目外，CEV 現在擁有約 700 兆瓦資本部署選項的獨家合同權利。我們目前的區域多元化項目管道將是 CEV 清潔能源組合目前規模的近三倍。

Moving to our Storage and Transportation segment on Slide 9. NJR is proud to announce the completion of our Adelphia Gateway project. Place in Adelphia fully into service was an important milestone for our company, and we appreciate the collaboration with the municipalities, regulatory agencies and local residents. Adelphia Gateway will play an important role in meeting the region's energy needs well into the future.

轉到幻燈片 9 上的存儲和運輸部分。NJR 很自豪地宣布我們的 Adelphia Gateway 項目已經完成。 Adelphia 的全面投入使用是我們公司的一個重要里程碑，我們感謝與市政當局、監管機構和當地居民的合作。 Adelphia Gateway 將在滿足該地區未來的能源需求方面發揮重要作用。

One of our larger customers, Kimberly-Clark, replaced coal-fired plant in Chester, Pennsylvania's natural gas, which is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the facility by 50% and supports Kimberly-Clark's goal of cutting its carbon footprint in half by 2030.

我們的大客戶之一金佰利 (Kimberly-Clark) 更換了賓夕法尼亞州切斯特 (Chester) 的天然氣燃煤電廠，預計該工廠的溫室氣體排放量將減少 50%，並支持金佰利 (Kimberly-Clark) 將碳足跡減半的目標2030 年。

From a financial perspective, our S&T segment had an excellent year, driven by higher revenues at both, Leaf River and Adelphia Gateway.

從財務角度來看，我們的科技部門今年表現出色，這得益於 Leaf River 和 Adelphia Gateway 的收入增加。

And finally, before I turn the call over to Roberto for our financial review, I want to briefly discuss the performance and stability of our Energy Services segment, which we highlight on Slide 10. Energy Services owns a portfolio of physical gas assets with pipeline and storage operators. The geographic diversity and strategic location of these physical assets creates the ability to generate significant returns during periods of increased market volatility.

最後，在我將電話轉給 Roberto 進行財務審查之前，我想簡要討論一下我們能源服務部門的業績和穩定性，我們在幻燈片 10 中強調了這一點。能源服務擁有一系列物理天然氣資產，包括管道和存儲操作員。這些有形資產的地理多樣性和戰略位置創造了在市場波動加劇期間產生可觀回報的能力。

Notwithstanding the tremendous success that we've had with our long option strategy at Energy Services, a key objective has been to provide more predictable fee-based earnings. We made progress towards that goal through the AMA secured in December of 2020 that became effective in fiscal year 2022. And in fact, the majority of Energy Services projected financial margins in fiscal years 2023 and '24 is expected to come from these fee-based revenues, far exceeding our fixed costs.

儘管我們在 Energy Services 的長期期權策略取得了巨大成功，但一個關鍵目標是提供更可預測的收費收益。通過 2020 年 12 月獲得的 AMA，我們在實現該目標方面取得了進展，該 AMA 在 2022 財年生效。事實上，大多數能源服務公司預計 2023 財年和 24 財年的財務利潤率將來自這些基於費用的費用收入，遠遠超過我們的固定成本。

With that, I'll turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Roberto Bel, for a review of our financial results.

有了這個，我將把電話轉給我們的首席財務官羅伯托貝爾，讓他審查我們的財務業績。

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. As usual, I'll highlight a few of the operational and financial metrics for the year. Slide 12 shows the main drivers of our net financial earnings or NFE for fiscal 2022. We reported NFE of $240.3 million or $2.50 per share compared with NFE of $207.7 million or $2.16 per share last year.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，大家早上好。像往常一樣，我將重點介紹今年的一些運營和財務指標。幻燈片 12 顯示了我們 2022 財年淨財務收益或 NFE 的主要驅動因素。我們報告的 NFE 為 2.403 億美元或每股 2.50 美元，而去年的 NFE 為 2.077 億美元或每股 2.16 美元。

New Jersey Natural Gas, an improvement of $32.7 million from the prior year, an increase of more than 30%, primarily due to the positive impact of new base rates that went into effect on December 1.

新澤西天然氣，比上年增加 3270 萬美元，增幅超過 30%，這主要是由於 12 月 1 日生效的新基準利率的積極影響。

Turning to our nonutility businesses. Clean Energy Ventures increased NFE by $22.6 million, more than twice last year's NFE due to higher electricity sales and highest revenues.

轉向我們的非公用事業業務。由於更高的電力銷售和最高收入，Clean Energy Ventures 將 NFE 增加了 2260 萬美元，是去年 NFE 的兩倍多。

Storage and Transportation reported an improvement of $9.4 million, driven by increased revenues at Leaf River and higher contracted capacity from the facility is a went into service at Adelphia during the year, partially offset by higher depreciation expenses. Finally, Energy Services reported NFE of $39.1 million compared to $71.1 million in the prior year. As a reminder, last year's NFE was higher due to national gas (inaudible) volatility from the extreme weather generated by winter storm, Uri. The decrease in NFE was partially offset by the contribution of the (inaudible).

存儲和運輸報告稱增長了 940 萬美元，這得益於 Leaf River 的收入增加以及該設施更高的合同容量，該設施已於年內在 Adelphia 投入使用，部分被更高的折舊費用所抵消。最後，能源服務報告的 NFE 為 3910 萬美元，而上一年為 7110 萬美元。提醒一下，由於冬季風暴 Uri 產生的極端天氣導致全國天然氣（聽不清）波動，去年的 NFE 較高。 NFE 的減少部分被（聽不清）的貢獻所抵消。

Turning to Slide 13. Given the recent increase in natural gas prices, I want to take a moment to discuss how our utility manages the cost of natural gas. As you know, the cost of our natural gas supply is a pass-through to our customers. To mitigate the risk of sudden and dramatic price changes, New Jersey Natural Gas has a robust hedging program in place. By policy, at least 75% of our estimated winter send-out for residential and small commercial customers must be hedged prior to November 1. We currently have around 90% of our estimated winter needs already in storage at prices that were hedged more than a year ago. As a result, while natural gas prices fluctuated throughout the year, we're able to secure an average hedge price that is significantly below current spot prices.

轉到幻燈片 13。鑑於最近天然氣價格上漲，我想花點時間討論一下我們的公用事業公司如何管理天然氣成本。如您所知，我們的天然氣供應成本會轉嫁給我們的客戶。為降低價格突然劇烈變化的風險，新澤西天然氣公司製定了強大的對沖計劃。根據政策，在 11 月 1 日之前，我們至少有 75% 的估計冬季向住宅和小型商業客戶發送的貨物必須進行對沖。我們目前有大約 90% 的估計冬季需求已經以對沖超過 1 年的價格儲存起來一年前。因此，儘管天然氣價格全年波動，但我們能夠確保平均對沖價格大大低於當前現貨價格。

By securing a cost-effective supply and leveraging our BGSS incentive program, New Jersey Natural Gas has been able to mitigate the rising cost of natural gas on behalf of our customers.

通過確保具有成本效益的供應並利用我們的 BGSS 激勵計劃，New Jersey Natural Gas 已經能夠代表我們的客戶減輕天然氣成本的上漲。

On Slide 14, we have highlighted the details of CEV's SREC hedging program. The sale of SREC remains a large portion of CEV's revenue, and we lock in these cash flows by hedging our expected production of SREC. As you can see, our expected SREC generation is almost fully hedged through energy year 2025, significantly risky CEV revenues.

在幻燈片 14 中，我們強調了 CEV 的 SREC 對沖計劃的細節。 SREC 的銷售仍然佔 CEV 收入的很大一部分，我們通過對沖 SREC 的預期產量來鎖定這些現金流。如您所見，我們預期的 SREC 發電量在 2025 年能源年之前幾乎已完全對沖，這對 CEV 收入構成重大風險。

I will now turn to our capital projections on Slide 15. For the next 2 years, we expect to invest between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion across the company, supporting growth at our utility and at our nonutility businesses, consistent with our long-term NFEPS growth target of 7% to 9%. At New Jersey National Gas, we anticipate spending between $800 million and $870 million in the next 2 years. While at CEV, we expect to spend between $240 million and $490 million over the same period. CEV's wide range is a consequence of uncertainty in the implementation timelines of New Jersey's new regulatory program and PJM's interconnection reform, as we have outlined in prior calls. We will tighten our projections for fiscal 2023 and 2024 as those timelines become more clear.

我現在將轉向我們對幻燈片 15 的資本預測。在接下來的兩年裡，我們預計將在整個公司投資 11 億至 14 億美元，以支持我們的公用事業和非公用事業業務的增長，這與我們的長期 NFEPS 一致7%至9%的增長目標。在新澤西國家天然氣公司，我們預計未來 2 年的支出將在 8 億至 8.7 億美元之間。在 CEV，我們預計同期支出在 2.4 億美元至 4.9 億美元之間。正如我們在之前的電話會議中概述的那樣，CEV 的廣泛範圍是新澤西州新監管計劃和 PJM 互連改革實施時間表不確定性的結果。隨著這些時間表變得更加清晰，我們將收緊對 2023 和 2024 財年的預測。

Finally, note that Adelphia Gateway is fully in service. We expect capital spending to moderate at S&T. However, incremental organic growth opportunities may arise, and we'll update you when they become more visible.

最後，請注意 Adelphia Gateway 已全面投入使用。我們預計 S&T 的資本支出將放緩。但是，可能會出現增量有機增長機會，我們會在它們變得更加明顯時通知您。

Turning to Slide 16. We're now projecting a slightly stronger operating cash flows than those communicated during our last earnings call for the 2-year period, including fiscal years 2022 and 2023. This is mainly due to better-than-expected operating cash generation across our businesses last summer. In addition to the overall improvement, you will notice a shift in operating cash flows between fiscal years 2022 and 2023. This was due to working capital timing considerations. In particular, most of energy services storage injections took place during Q1 of fiscal 2023 and not at the end of fiscal 2022. And for fiscal 2024, we expect even stronger operating cash generation.

轉到幻燈片 16。我們現在預計，運營現金流量將略強於我們上次財報電話會議上公佈的 2 年期（包括 2022 和 2023 財年）。這主要是由於運營現金流好於預期去年夏天我們業務的一代。除了整體改善外，您還會注意到 2022 財年和 2023 財年之間的運營現金流發生了變化。這是出於營運資金時間安排方面的考慮。特別是，大部分能源服務存儲注入發生在 2023 財年第一季度，而不是在 2022 財年末。對於 2024 財年，我們預計運營現金產生會更強勁。

Our operating cash flows translate into strong credit metrics with an FFO to net ratio in the high teens that supports a healthy investment-grade credit rating equivalent and our long-term dividend growth rate of 7% to 9%. Given the strength of our operating cash flows and our strong credit metrics, we have no plans to issue any block equity in the near future.

我們的經營現金流轉化為強大的信用指標，FFO 與淨額的比率處於十幾歲，支持健康的投資級信用評級，以及我們 7% 至 9% 的長期股息增長率。鑑於我們的經營現金流量和強大的信用指標，我們沒有計劃在不久的將來發行任何大宗股權。

I'd like to close with a few comments, addressing the impact of the current interest rate environment on Slide 17. Our NFEPS guidance for fiscal 2023 and our long-term NFEPS growth guidance in corporate interest rate projections consistent with current market expectations. Furthermore, since most of our debt is fixed and we don't have significant maturities in any particular year, we expect the potential impact of even higher interest rates to be limited and within our long-term NFEPS guidance range.

最後，我想發表一些評論，解決當前利率環境對幻燈片 17 的影響。我們對 2023 財年的 NFEPS 指導和我們在企業利率預測中的長期 NFEPS 增長指導與當前市場預期一致。此外，由於我們的大部分債務都是固定的，而且我們在任何特定年份都沒有重大到期日，因此我們預計更高利率的潛在影響將是有限的，並且在我們的長期 NFEPS 指導範圍內。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Steve.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回給史蒂夫。

Thanks, Roberto. Sustainability is not new to NJR. Over the last several years, we've invested in our distribution network, making it the tightest in the state with nearly 100% of our system used plastic or protected steel. We are safely and affordably delivering energy through 7,700 miles of high-quality infrastructure that has already been permitted, built and paid for.

謝謝，羅伯托。可持續發展對 NJR 來說並不陌生。在過去的幾年裡，我們對我們的分銷網絡進行了投資，使其成為該州最緊密的網絡，我們的系統幾乎 100% 使用塑料或受保護的鋼材。我們通過 7,700 英里的高質量基礎設施安全且經濟地提供能源，這些基礎設施已經獲得許可、建造和支付。

The value of our energy delivery network will only continue to grow as we start to transport increasing percentage of low and zero carbon energy, helping the state to reach its climate goals in the most affordable and resilient way possible.

隨著我們開始運輸越來越多的低碳和零碳能源，我們的能源輸送網絡的價值只會繼續增長，幫助該州以最負擔得起和最具彈性的方式實現其氣候目標。

At CEV, our portfolio of clean energy infrastructure continues to perform well, delivering 100% renewable energy to homes, businesses in the grid. We are working to navigate near-term state policy and regional interconnection delays. But with the support of a proactive federal policy, corporate ESG goals and the strongest project pipeline we've ever had, CEV is well positioned to drive growth and be a mechanism for sustainable investment for years to come.

在 CEV，我們的清潔能源基礎設施組合繼續表現良好，為電網中的家庭和企業提供 100% 的可再生能源。我們正在努力應對近期的國家政策和區域互連延遲。但在積極的聯邦政策、企業 ESG 目標和我們有史以來最強大的項目管道的支持下，CEV 處於推動增長並成為未來幾年可持續投資機制的有利位置。

Let's turn to Slide 20. One of our key priorities is ensuring that our environmental strategy aligns with that of public policy. And in August, the inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was signed into law. This legislation represents an unprecedented investment in addressing U.S. energy security, clean energy infrastructure and climate change. The extension of solar tax credits and incentives and renewable fuels such as green hydrogen and RNG, has the potential to help accelerate our existing efforts to decarbonize.

讓我們轉到幻燈片 20。我們的主要優先事項之一是確保我們的環境戰略與公共政策相一致。 8 月，《2022 年通貨膨脹減少法案》簽署成為法律。這項立法代表了在解決美國能源安全、清潔能源基礎設施和氣候變化方面前所未有的投資。擴大太陽能稅收抵免和激勵措施以及綠色氫和可再生天然氣等可再生燃料，有可能幫助加快我們現有的脫碳努力。

While we're incorporating the extension of the 30% ITC out multiple years in our growth plans, we feel that there are additional opportunities in which we can take advantage of incentives included in the IRA. These would be incremental to our growth expectations, but we understand that these will take some time to develop.

雖然我們將 30% ITC 的延長期納入我們的增長計劃多年，但我們認為還有更多機會可以利用 IRA 中包含的激勵措施。這些將增加我們的增長預期，但我們知道這些需要一些時間來發展。

To conclude on Slide 21, for more than 7 decades, we have successfully built, acquired and operated energy assets to meet market needs and policy demands. Our reputation for acting responsibly with our regulated suppliers and customers, along with our proven ability to execute, allows us to deliver value for our shareholders.

在幻燈片 21 上總結一下，在 7 年多的時間裡，我們成功地建設、收購和運營能源資產以滿足市場需求和政策要求。我們對受監管的供應商和客戶採取負責任行動的聲譽，以及我們久經考驗的執行能力，使我們能夠為股東創造價值。

We reported strong financial performance through passing our initial targets and raised our guidance twice during the fiscal year. These results reflect the great work of our team and combined the strength of our businesses.

我們報告了通過我們的初始目標實現強勁的財務業績，並在本財年兩次提高了我們的指導。這些結果反映了我們團隊的出色工作，並結合了我們業務的實力。

NJR currently offers investors an attractive 11% to 13% total return based on our current dividend yields and long-term NFEPS expected growth rate of 7% to 9%.

根據我們當前的股息收益率和 7% 至 9% 的長期 NFEPS 預期增長率，NJR 目前為投資者提供了 11% 至 13% 的有吸引力的總回報率。

We appreciate that you took the time to join us today. And with that, I'll open the call for questions.

感謝您今天抽出時間加入我們。有了這個，我將打開問題電話。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from the line of Gabe Moreen with Mizuho.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 Gabe Moreen 與 Mizuho 的合作。

Quick 2-part question for me on S&T. Just first of all, I guess, with Adelphia now back online, should we take the fourth quarter run rate for that segment, as kind of the run rate -- the quarterly run rate going forward at this point? Or is there something else in there?

關於 S&T 的快速 2 部分問題。首先，我想，隨著 Adelphia 現在重新上線，我們是否應該將該部分的第四季度運行率作為運行率——此時的季度運行率？或者裡面還有別的東西？

And then secondly, Roberto, you referenced the potential (inaudible). Some organic growth CapEx to potentially arise in the segment. I'm wondering if that's alluding to Leaf River or if there's other opportunities you guys might be looking at?

其次，羅伯托，你提到了潛力（聽不清）。該部門可能會出現一些有機增長的資本支出。我想知道這是否指的是 Leaf River，或者你們是否還有其他機會？

Yes. This is Roberto. So regarding your first question, I would say no, because as you know -- I mean, we are just ramping up at Adelphia and there are still new customers that we're bringing in. So I wouldn't say that the run rate we have right now is a run rate that we're going to have in the future. So we expect that to actually improve over the next, I would say, year or so.

是的。這是羅伯托。所以關於你的第一個問題，我會說不，因為如你所知 - 我的意思是，我們剛剛在 Adelphia 增加業務，我們仍在引進新客戶。所以我不會說運行率我們現在擁有的是我們將來要擁有的運行率。因此，我們預計在接下來的一年左右時間裡，情況會有所改善。

And regarding your second question, yes, so potential revenue opportunities are coming from potentially actually both, Adelphia and Leaf. I mean we're not ready to discuss what those are, but there are potential opportunities there that may arise.

關於你的第二個問題，是的，所以潛在的收入機會實際上可能來自 Adelphia 和 Leaf。我的意思是我們還沒有準備好討論這些是什麼，但那裡可能會出現潛在的機會。

Great. And then maybe if I can ask kind of on CEV in the range of CapEx. Can you talk about kind of the next milestones you're expecting either sort of in the New Jersey regs or the interconnection bottlenecks, just sort of what you're looking for and maybe the timing on potentially getting some more visibility there?

偉大的。然後也許我可以問一下資本支出範圍內的 CEV。您能否談談您期待的下一個里程碑，無論是在新澤西州的法規還是互連瓶頸，只是您正在尋找的東西，以及可能在那裡獲得更多知名度的時機？

Gabe, it's Steve. Yes. I mean we're expecting New Jersey to continue to work on their new program. And certainly, I guess, over the coming months, there are some commitments that they'll finally bring the program to bear. Also, PJM should be resolving relatively soon, but we don't know certainly -- for certainty when that's going to take place. So that's why we've got a little bit of a wide range there. But the thought that I want to leave you with is that CEV is well supported, certainly, in New Jersey and many of the surrounding states in which we're making investments. So we feel pretty good about our project pipeline and the growth prospects in that business going forward.

加布，是史蒂夫。是的。我的意思是我們期待新澤西州繼續致力於他們的新計劃。當然，我想，在接下來的幾個月裡，他們最終會做出一些承諾，讓這個項目付諸實施。此外，PJM 應該會相對較快地解決，但我們不確定——不確定何時會發生。所以這就是為什麼我們在那裡有一些廣泛的範圍。但我想留給你的想法是，CEV 在新澤西州和我們正在投資的許多周邊州當然得到了很好的支持。因此，我們對我們的項目管道和該業務未來的增長前景感到非常滿意。

If I could just squeeze one more in on bad debt expense, where that stands, kind of, I guess, moratoriums, no moratoriums? How that's factored into your guidance for this upcoming year, particularly with what might be some? Appreciating that you're in a better position than many of your peers as far as gas costs go, but what might be some higher bills for this next winter?

如果我能在壞賬費用上多擠一筆，我想那是什麼，有點暫停，沒有暫停？這如何影響您對即將到來的一年的指導，特別是可能有一些？感謝您在汽油成本方面比許多同行處於更好的位置，但是下一個冬天可能會有更高的費用嗎？

Yes. This is Roberto again, Gabe. Yes. So the moratoriums related to COVID have been lifted. Of course, we're -- during winter, we cannot shut off customers. But in terms of bad debt in general, it's actually trending well. It's -- a lot of the deferrals that we had during the COVID period are actually coming down. So it's actually trending in a good direction right now.

是的。又是羅伯托，加布。是的。因此，與 COVID 相關的禁令已經解除。當然，我們 - 在冬天，我們不能關閉客戶。但就一般壞賬而言，它實際上趨勢良好。它是 - 我們在 COVID 期間的許多延期實際上正在下降。所以它現在實際上正朝著一個好的方向發展。

Our next question comes from Richard Sunderland with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的理查德桑德蘭。

Circling back the inflation reduction acts impacts you outlined, can you speak a little bit more to CEV's potential upside from the IRA adders? And how much of the pipeline could take advantage of these? Curious if this also impacts your return assumptions.

回過頭來看看你概述的降低通貨膨脹行為的影響，你能從 IRA 加法器中多談談 CEV 的潛在優勢嗎？有多少管道可以利用這些優勢？好奇這是否也會影響您的回報假設。

Yes. Certainly, it's a positive impact, right? But we've got to wait for how exactly it's going to be implemented. We said during the call there that we've embedded a 30% ITC, but there's certainly upside again, on the way it's described, but we've got to wait for implementation to see how that's going to play out. Also, there's subsidies in the IRA for hydrogen development as well, which is positive for our business. We've talked about the carbonized fuel delivery at the utilities for quite some time with our hydrogen plant, bringing those costs down or productive. There's subsidies for battery storage. So all these things are trending very positively for our business and specifically how it aligns with our strategy, but we've got to wait for those details to really come through to put those into a presentation or put some numbers to them.

是的。當然，這是一個積極的影響，對吧？但我們必須等待它的具體實施方式。我們在那裡的電話會議上說，我們已經嵌入了 30% 的 ITC，但按照描述的方式，肯定還有上行空間，但我們必須等待實施，看看它會如何發揮作用。此外，IRA 也對氫氣開發提供補貼，這對我們的業務有利。我們已經與我們的製氫廠討論了在公用事業中輸送碳化燃料已經有一段時間了，這可以降低這些成本或提高生產率。電池存儲有補貼。因此，所有這些事情都對我們的業務產生了非常積極的趨勢，特別是它如何與我們的戰略保持一致，但我們必須等待這些細節真正通過才能將它們放入演示文稿或給它們一些數字。

But maybe just from a financial perspective, all we have in our numbers right now is the assumptions that ITC will go to 30%. In the others, we may get on top of that of our new projects will be incremental.

但也許只是從財務角度來看，我們現在所有的數字都是 ITC 將達到 30% 的假設。在其他方面，我們可能會超越我們的新項目將是增量的。

Understood. That's very clear. And sticking with CEV here, if you look at the CapEx relative to your 2020 Analyst Day plan, you're still certainly spread. I know you spoke just a minute ago about New Jersey and PJM and some of the timing there. But I guess, at a high level, thinking about your post-2024 growth, when do you need those 2 plans to start converging, I guess? When do you need CEV's development return to that kind of initially contemplated run rate?

明白了。這很清楚。在這裡堅持使用 CEV，如果您查看與 2020 年分析師日計劃相關的資本支出，您肯定會分散。我知道你剛才談到了新澤西和 PJM 以及那裡的一些時間。但我想，在較高的層面上，考慮到您 2024 年後的增長，我想您什麼時候需要這兩個計劃開始融合？您什麼時候需要 CEV 的開發恢復到那種最初預期的運行率？

So the way I'd answer that question is that we reaffirmed our 7% to 9% growth rate this morning. So we've got a strong portfolio of businesses, we're able to make investments and we feel confident that we'll be able to do so. We're in a good position, and we've got a lot of tailwinds associated with IRA and other things that are taking place. So not to get into specific CapEx numbers in 2025, which we certainly don't project out that far. But generally speaking, in our planning, we feel confident that we'll be able to hit our numbers.

所以我回答這個問題的方式是，我們今天早上重申了 7% 到 9% 的增長率。因此，我們擁有強大的業務組合，我們能夠進行投資，並且我們有信心能夠做到這一點。我們處於一個有利的位置，我們有很多與 IRA 和其他正在發生的事情相關的順風。所以不要進入 2025 年的具體資本支出數字，我們當然不會預測那麼遠。但總的來說，在我們的計劃中，我們有信心能夠達到我們的目標。

Fair enough. And then if I could slip one more in here. On the NJNG side, you've spoken a little bit about the R&D efforts in the past. Just curious what's in the plan right now and how this might change going forward.

很公平。然後如果我能在這裡再放一個。在 NJNG 方面，您談到了過去的研發工作。只是好奇現在的計劃是什麼，以及這可能會如何改變。

So I've got Pat Migliaccio here. He's a blast from the past, coming back to the investor call. So I'm going to turn it over to Pat as COO of the utility. Pat?

Pat Migliaccio 在這裡。他是過去的爆炸，回到投資者電話會議上。所以我打算把它交給帕特作為公用事業公司的首席運營官。拍？

So we're pursuing opportunities on both the RNG supply and the investment side, and we've reflected some modest assumptions in our capital plan for both, '23 and '24.

因此，我們正在 RNG 供應和投資方面尋求機會，並且我們在 23 年和 24 年的資本計劃中反映了一些適度的假設。

And any sense on if there might be an acceleration there? Any potential on that over, say, the next 12 months?

對那裡是否有加速有任何意義嗎？在接下來的 12 個月內，這方面有任何潛力嗎？

Whether and if we have any information, we'll update you at that time.

無論是否以及如果我們有任何信息，我們都會及時通知您。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Julien Dumoulin-Smith。

This is Sam Schwartz on for Julien. I was wondering if you could just kind of walk us through the latest, you're seeing on supply-chain availability for your solar projects. Do you have the panels on site that you need to be at '23 projects? And just broadly speaking, how much of the capital is procured for '23 and '24?

這是 Julien 的 Sam Schwartz。我想知道你是否可以帶我們了解一下最新的情況，你看到了你的太陽能項目的供應鏈可用性。現場是否有參加 '23 項目所需的面板？從廣義上講，為'23 和'24 採購了多少資金？

So I've got Amy Cradic on the call, and she's the CEO of our nonutility businesses, and she's going to take that question. Amy?

所以我讓 Amy Cradic 接聽電話，她是我們非公用事業業務的首席執行官，她將回答這個問題。艾米？

We're in a good position for the capital projects that we have moving forward from a solar panel perspective. We're not seeing any -- we don't have any risks or concerns in the near term. We'll continue to monitor the supply-chain situation, but we're in a good spot.

從太陽能電池板的角度來看，我們在推進資本項目方面處於有利地位。我們沒有看到任何 - 我們在短期內沒有任何風險或擔憂。我們將繼續監控供應鏈情況，但我們處於有利位置。

Excellent. And then just on interest rates, could you provide some color on what's embedded in your plan? And what kind of offsets you're kind of expecting in '23 and beyond?

出色的。然後就利率而言，您能否提供一些關於您計劃中嵌入的內容的顏色？您在 23 世紀及以後期待什麼樣的抵消？

Yes. Our -- this is Roberto again. Our guidance incorporates already the current interest rate environment. So these higher interest rates we're facing right now and the current projections from the market on interest are embedded in our plan. So that's already in. We don't see any risk with that right now.

是的。我們——這又是羅伯托。我們的指引已經納入了當前的利率環境。因此，我們現在面臨的這些更高的利率以及當前市場對利率的預測都包含在我們的計劃中。所以這已經存在了。我們現在沒有看到任何風險。

Our next question comes from Michael Gaugler with Janney Montgomery.

我們的下一個問題來自 Michael Gaugler 和 Janney Montgomery。

Steve, I'd like to get your thoughts on the New England gas supply situation and how that could play out for the Energy Services segment? We've had Joe Nolan with Eversource actually writing the White House asking for a relief in terms of the Jones Act to get more gas into New England, if that's possible.

史蒂夫，我想听聽您對新英格蘭天然氣供應情況的看法，以及這對能源服務部門有何影響？我們已經讓 Eversource 的喬·諾蘭 (Joe Nolan) 實際寫信給白宮，要求根據《瓊斯法案》(Jones Act) 減輕負擔，以便向新英格蘭輸送更多天然氣，如果可能的話。

Yes. Mike, I think certainly, it's a constrained market up there and all evidence points to it, not only the letter that was written, but the pricing associated ahead of the winter period. I guess the way I'd address that, we're not in New England. We don't participate in that market from a utility perspective and from a trading perspective. I couldn't comment on how much of the book is up there. But overall, I think the general direction is that the gas industry has some constraints in these assets that we own, not only our utility but our sort of transportation assets are extremely valuable and certainly, the contractual assets that we hold in Energy Services as well.

是的。邁克，我認為當然，這是一個受限的市場，所有證據都表明這一點，不僅是寫的信，還有冬季之前的相關定價。我想我要解決這個問題的方式是，我們不在新英格蘭。我們不從實用角度和交易角度參與該市場。我無法評論這本書的內容有多少。但總的來說，我認為總的方向是天然氣行業對我們擁有的這些資產有一些限制，不僅是我們的公用事業，而且我們的運輸資產都非常有價值，當然，我們在能源服務中持有的合同資產也是如此.

So it sets up nicely for our infrastructure businesses and being able to take advantage of that, and you saw that last year provides for outsized returns as well. So we're looking forward to the winter. We're prepared for it. We understand the risks associated with it and we like the infrastructure that we have.

因此，它為我們的基礎設施業務做好了準備，並能夠利用這一點，你看到去年也提供了超額回報。所以我們期待著冬天。我們為此做好了準備。我們了解與之相關的風險，我們喜歡我們擁有的基礎設施。

Okay. And maybe just as a follow-up to that. I'm wondering what -- how are you thinking about it, this year versus last year? Are there better opportunities this year versus last year, given what we're seeing?

好的。也許只是作為後續行動。我想知道 - 今年與去年相比，您如何看待它？鑑於我們所看到的情況，今年是否有比去年更好的機會？

We look at our businesses and certainly how to quantify those opportunities and the risks and how they're embedded in our earnings and projections going forward. We try to take a baseline and put that as a projection to speculate on how big those opportunities are. That's extremely difficult. We look at our earnings and the performance and really try to stay in the fairway of a certain risk profile that I think would be acceptable to our investors. So we can provide a nice base of earnings and give them a potential upside. And we've proven that year and year again. Sometimes the upside comes, sometimes it doesn't, but we've got a very strong base of earnings, and that's what we project going forward.

我們著眼於我們的業務，當然還有如何量化這些機會和風險，以及它們如何融入我們的收益和未來預測。我們嘗試採用基線並將其作為預測來推測這些機會有多大。那是極其困難的。我們著眼於我們的收益和業績，並真正努力保持在我認為我們的投資者可以接受的特定風險狀況的正道上。因此，我們可以提供良好的收益基礎，並為他們提供潛在的上漲空間。我們已經年復一年地證明了這一點。有時會出現上行，有時不會，但我們有非常強大的盈利基礎，這就是我們未來的預測。

Okay. That wasn't actually where I was going with the question. Maybe I can rephrase it. As you look at the market, does it appear more constrained this year versus last year? That's probably the way I should have asked the question.

好的。那實際上不是我要問的問題。也許我可以改寫一下。當你觀察市場時，今年是否比去年更受限制？這可能是我應該問這個問題的方式。

That's hard to say without getting to like a very detailed supply and demand side of the market. But certainly, as the natural gas markets and all these markets continue to grow, and you've got a slowdown of some infrastructure being put in place. You could say that. Weather is a big variability, exports are a big variability. There's a lot of variance around -- variability that comes to this market.

如果不喜歡非常詳細的市場供需方面，就很難說。但可以肯定的是，隨著天然氣市場和所有這些市場的持續增長，一些基礎設施的建設速度已經放緩。你可以那樣說。天氣是一個很大的變數，出口是一個很大的變數。周圍有很多差異 - 這個市場的可變性。

(Operator Instructions) At this time, we have no further questions. I'll pass the call back to management for any closing remarks.

（操作員說明）此時，我們沒有進一步的問題。我會將電話轉回給管理層，徵求任何結束語。

Thank you, Emily. I'd like to thank all of you for joining us this morning. As a reminder, a recording of this call is available for replay on our website. And as always, we appreciate your interest in investment in NJR. Take care, everyone.

謝謝你，艾米麗。我要感謝大家今天早上加入我們。提醒一下，此通話的錄音可在我們的網站上重播。一如既往，我們感謝您對新日本無線的投資興趣。大家保重。

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. This concludes our call. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們的通話到此結束。您現在可以斷開線路。