NorthWestern Energy Group Inc (NWE) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for joining NorthWestern Corporation's financial results webcast for the March 31, 2023, quarter ending. My name is Travis Meyer. I'm the Corporate Development and Investor Relations Officer for NorthWestern. Joining us today to walk you through the results and provide an overall update are Brian Bird, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Crystal Lail, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. (Operator Instructions)

感謝您收看西北公司截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日的季度財務業績網絡廣播。我叫特拉維斯·邁耶。我是西北航空的企業發展和投資者關係官員。今天加入我們，向您介紹結果並提供總體更新信息，總裁兼首席執行官布萊恩·伯德 (Brian Bird)；副總裁兼首席財務官 Crystal Lail。 （操作員說明）

NorthWestern's results have been released, and the release is available on our website at northwesternenergy.com. We also released our 10-Q premarket this morning. Please note that the company's press release, this presentation, comments by presenters and responses to your questions may contain forward-looking statements. As such, I'll direct you to the disclosures contained in our SEC filings and safe harbor provisions included in the second slide of this presentation.

西北大學的結果已經發布，該結果可在我們的網站 Northwesternenergy.com 上獲取。今天早上我們還發布了 10-Q 盤前報告。請注意，公司的新聞稿、本演示文稿、演示者的評論以及對您問題的答复可能包含前瞻性陳述。因此，我將引導您查看我們的 SEC 文件中包含的披露內容以及本演示文稿第二張幻燈片中包含的安全港條款。

Please also note, this presentation includes non-GAAP financial measures. Please see the non-GAAP disclosures, definitions and reconciliations also included in the presentation today.

另請注意，本演示文稿包括非公認會計準則財務指標。請參閱今天的演示文稿中還包含的非公認會計準則披露、定義和調節。

The webcast is being recorded. The archived replay of today's webcast will be available for 1 year beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern today and can be found in the Financial Results section of our website.

網絡廣播正在錄製中。今天網絡廣播的存檔重播將從下午 6 點開始提供一年。今天東部，可以在我們網站的財務結果部分找到。

With that, I'll hand the presentation over to NorthWestern's CEO, Brian Bird.

接下來，我將把演示文稿交給西北航空的首席執行官布萊恩·伯德 (Brian Bird)。

Thanks, Travis. We're actually speaking to you today from Billings, Montana. We have our Board meetings in our service territory primarily. And this particular trip to Billings has been also an opportunity not only to meet with our employees, but also to visit the Elliston County Generation Station, and it's approximately 2/3 completed as we've built that project. You know it's certainly in the pause at this point in time. But the Board, the management team and employees, a matter of fact, certainly understand the value that plant will have not just for the Billings area, but for Montana as a whole and demonstrate -- we'll continue to demonstrate our support. We'll talk about that more in a minute.

謝謝，特拉維斯。實際上，我們今天是在蒙大拿州比林斯與您交談。我們的董事會會議主要在我們的服務區域內舉行。這次特別的比林斯之行不僅是與我們的員工見面的機會，也是參觀埃利斯頓縣發電站的機會，該項目已完成約 2/3，因為我們已經建成了該項目。你知道此時此刻肯定處於暫停狀態。但事實上，董事會、管理團隊和員工當然了解該工廠不僅對比林斯地區，而且對整個蒙大拿州都有價值，並且將繼續展示我們的支持。我們稍後會詳細討論這個問題。

Regarding the first quarter, from a regulatory execution standpoint, we reached a constructive multiparty settlement on the Montana rate review. And I think you all know, we're currently pending a commission approval. We're hopeful that the sentiment will be approved. We also did receive final approval necessary for our holding company formation. We also safely executed our capital plan. During the first quarter, we invested nearly $150 million, and we're on track to invest a total of $510 million of capital this year in 2023. We also pointed out in the 10-Q that even with the delay in Yellowstone County, we do expect that, that plan will be ready to serve our customers by the end of 2024.

關於第一季度，從監管執行的角度來看，我們就蒙大拿州利率審查達成了建設性的多方和解。我想你們都知道，我們目前正在等待委員會的批准。我們希望這一觀點能夠得到批准。我們還確實獲得了組建控股公司所需的最終批准。我們還安全地執行了我們的資本計劃。在第一季度，我們投資了近 1.5 億美元，預計到 2023 年，我們將總共投資 5.1 億美元。我們還在 10-Q 中指出，即使黃石縣出現延誤，我們也預計該計劃將在 2024 年底前準備好為我們的客戶提供服務。

Driving reliability and affordability, we have announced an agreement with Avista to transfer its Colstrip ownership, 222 megawatts effective December 31, 2025. And I think as we conveyed, that transfer will be for $0 upfront. And lastly, a strong and growing service territories were overall 1.4% customer growth, that is better than industry average for the first quarter. We also have the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, not just better than the national average. We have from a national perspective, South Dakota is #1, Nebraska is #2 and Montana is #4 for lowest unemployment in the U.S.

為了提高可靠性和可承受性，我們宣布與 Avista 達成協議，轉讓其 Colstrip 所有權，222 兆瓦，自 2025 年 12 月 31 日起生效。我認為，正如我們所傳達的那樣，此次轉讓的預付費用為 0 美元。最後，強勁且不斷增長的服務領域總體客戶增長率為 1.4%，高於第一季度的行業平均水平。我們的失業率也是全國最低的，不僅高於全國平均水平。從全國角度來看，南達科他州排名第一，內布拉斯加州排名第二，蒙大拿州排名第四。

The last thing I would just note, I'm very proud of our employees and their response to storms in our respective jurisdictions. In May of last year, our response in South Dakota to derechos. We had 2 of those during the month, 5 very high wind experience. And then in Montana, storms and flooding that occurred in various parts of Southern Montana and Yellowstone National Park. And our response to that was so phenomenal that we did receive an award from EEIs and our peers from an emergency response perspective. So we're very proud in terms of our employees' reactions to serve our customers. And so with that, I'll pass it over to Crystal.

我要指出的最後一件事是，我為我們的員工以及他們對各自轄區風暴的反應感到非常自豪。去年五月，我們在南達科他州對 derechos 做出了回應。這個月我們經歷了 2 次、5 次大風經歷。然後在蒙大拿州，蒙大拿州南部和黃石國家公園的多個地區發生了風暴和洪水。我們對此的反應非常出色，以至於我們確實從緊急響應的角度獲得了 EEI 和同行頒發的獎項。因此，我們對員工為客戶服務的反應感到非常自豪。因此，我將把它交給克里斯托。

Thank you, Brian. I'll begin my comments on Page 4, but as Brian started us off with significant -- I think as we start off 2023, significant execution on both the operational side of doing what we do in a service territory that you'll hear me say we had significant weather in Q1, but also significant regulatory execution, driving a strong first quarter financially and then also the opportunity to conclude that first quarter sitting here in Billings and seeing that the key backbone of our system related to substations and also the under construction in the Yellowstone facility brings those things to a finer point.

謝謝你，布萊恩。我將在第 4 頁開始我的評論，但正如 Brian 開頭所說的那樣，我認為從 2023 年開始，我們在服務領域所做的工作的運營方面都有顯著的執行力，你會聽到我說我們在第一季度遇到了惡劣的天氣，而且監管執行也很重要，推動了第一季度的財務強勁，然後還有機會得出第一季度的結論，坐在比林斯這裡，看到我們系統的關鍵骨幹與變電站有關，以及黃石設施的正在建設，使這些事情變得很好r點。

From a Q1 execution, from a financial statement perspective, you see an improvement in net income versus Q1 of last year of $3.4 million or 5.8% and the improvement on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis of just under 6% versus 2022. However, on an EPS basis, you'll see a reduction of $0.03, and that's really the effect of shares outstanding from our prior equity issuance. When you compare quarter-over-quarter, that's about a $0.09 drag or impact versus last year. So really strong financial performance.

從第一季度的執行情況來看，從財務報表的角度來看，您會看到淨利潤與去年第一季度相比提高了 340 萬美元，即 5.8%，而按 GAAP 和非 GAAP 計算，與 2022 年相比，改善幅度略低於 6%。然而，在每股收益的基礎上，您會看到減少了 0.03 美元，這實際上是我們之前發行股票的流通股的影響。當您比較季度與季度時，會發現與去年相比，拖累或影響約為 0.09 美元。財務業績非常強勁。

And I'll give you a bit more color on Slide 5 as to what drove that. You can see the margin line, an improvement of 11.4% over first quarter of 2022, $289 million versus $259.4 million. And then you'll see that's offset by some pressure in operating costs, both at the OA&G level and then property taxes and depreciation, resulting in net income of $62.5 million for the first quarter of 2023 compared with $59.1 million in 2022 or $3.4 million or just under 6% that I have referenced, right, in my prior comments.

我將在幻燈片 5 上為您提供更多關於是什麼推動了這一點。您可以看到利潤線比 2022 年第一季度提高了 11.4%，為 2.89 億美元，而 2.594 億美元。然後你會發現，這被運營成本方面的一些壓力所抵消，無論是在 OA&G 層面，還是在財產稅和折舊方面，導致 2023 年第一季度的淨利潤為 6250 萬美元，而 2022 年為 5910 萬美元，即 340 萬美元，即我在之前的評論中提到的略低於 6%。

Slide 6 gives you the key drivers overall. Significant impacts quarter-over-quarter are improvement at the margin line that I just referenced. I'll give you some more color on that in a couple of slides later. Certainly driven by strong customer growth, weather and interim rates and then offset by operating costs. I would mention that the biggest drivers really on the OA&G side of that were generation and maintenance costs and labor and benefits. A bit on the generation maintenance side. Certainly, we saw colder weather in Q1, and that asks our generation facility some of them to run more, and those costs are not passed through an tracker. So we see an impact from that.

第 6 張幻燈片為您提供了總體的關鍵驅動因素。季度環比的重大影響是我剛才提到的利潤線的改善。稍後我將在幾張幻燈片中為您提供更多信息。當然是受到強勁的客戶增長、天氣和中期費率的推動，然後被運營成本所抵消。我要提到的是，OA&G 方面真正的最大驅動因素是發電和維護成本以及勞動力和效益。有點在一代維護方面。當然，我們在第一季度看到了更冷的天氣，這要求我們的發電設施中的一些運行更多，而這些成本不會通過跟踪器傳遞。所以我們看到了它的影響。

And then certainly, the inflationary pressures on labor and benefits. We're seeing some of that. You'll also see certainly us and everyone else, the interest expense line being higher than it was in the comparable first quarter of last year, and then depreciation, reflecting the assets that are serving customers.

當然，還有勞動力和福利方面的通脹壓力。我們看到了其中一些。當然，您還會看到我們和其他所有人的利息支出線高於去年同期第一季度的水平，然後是折舊，反映了為客戶服務的資產。

The other thing I would highlight here is the tax line. You'll see about $0.06 of detriment related to -- we received a notice from the IRS in the first quarter related to a previously claimed AMT credit and had a resulting adjustment out of that of approximately $3.2 million. All of that resulting in what I mentioned earlier, which is a $0.03 reduction versus last year of Q1, but an overall improvement at the net income line versus the prior period.

我在這裡要強調的另一件事是稅線。您會看到大約 0.06 美元的損失，我們在第一季度收到了 IRS 的通知，涉及之前申請的 AMT 抵免額，並進行了大約 320 萬美元的調整。所有這些導致了我之前提到的結果，即與去年第一季度相比減少了 0.03 美元，但淨利潤線與上一季度相比總體有所改善。

On Slide 7, you'll see I just mentioned tax impact. It is an out-of-period impact. And so we've adjusted that out from a non-GAAP adjustment perspective. You'll see the $3.2 million on that slide. Also, we adjusted out favorable weather on a net income basis of $2.7 million. You'll see that brings our non-GAAP earnings to $63 million. That compares with the first quarter of last year where we had a small amount of unfavorable weather, resulting in $59.5 million in the prior period as compared on a non-GAAP basis.

在幻燈片 7 上，您會看到我剛剛提到了稅收影響。這是一種過時的影響。因此，我們從非公認會計準則調整的角度對此進行了調整。您會在幻燈片上看到 320 萬美元。此外，我們還根據 270 萬美元的淨利潤調整了有利的天氣因素。您會發現，這使我們的非 GAAP 收益達到 6300 萬美元。相比之下，去年第一季度我們遇到了少量不利天氣，導致上一季度按非公認會計準則計算的收入為 5,950 萬美元。

Slide 8 provides more detail about margin, which I was alluding to earlier as the most significant driver in Q1. You'll see higher retail and natural gas volumes. Those 2 taken together are approximately $13.5 million of improvement against solid customer growth. And then weather in our jurisdictions and a lot of the country was warmer. I can tell you from where we sat, it was definitely colder. And so that was across Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. So you see that impact in your first and third columns there.

第 8 張幻燈片提供了有關利潤率的更多詳細信息，我之前曾提到利潤率是第一季度最重要的驅動因素。您將看到更高的零售量和天然氣量。相對於客戶的穩健增長，這兩項合計帶來的改進約為 1,350 萬美元。然後我們轄區和全國大部分地區的天氣變暖了。我可以從我們坐的地方告訴你，天氣肯定更冷。蒙大拿州、南達科他州和內布拉斯加州都是如此。因此，您可以在第一列和第三列中看到這種影響。

The other thing I would highlight in the middle of there is the impact of Montana interim rates. And we'll talk a bit about the settlement that we've reached, but the interim rates were related to the settlement related to our base rates are certainly what's reflected in our financial statements here are lower than that settlement, but still a significant driver in Q1 of the impact of that of approximately $8.5 million.

我要強調的另一件事是蒙大拿州中期利率的影響。我們將討論一下我們已經達成的和解協議，但與我們的基本利率相關的和解協議相關的臨時利率肯定低於我們的財務報表中反映的和解協議，但仍然是第一季度約 850 萬美元影響的重要推動因素。

And the other thing I will note here, and for those of you who have followed. So in fleet, we talk about the PCCAM, and I will say I generally negatively talk about the PCCAM. If you're in first quarter, we actually have a favorable experience. You'll see that last year, there was about $800,000 of expense recognizance related to the sharing portion of that PCCAM. During Q1 of '23, we actually have $5 million of favorable associated with that PCCAM. So quarter-over-quarter, that's a $1.3 million favorable adjustment.

我將在這里為那些關注的人指出另一件事。因此，在《fleet》中，我們談論 PCCAM，我會說我通常對 PCCAM 持負面態度。如果你在第一季度，我們實際上有一個良好的體驗。您會看到，去年大約有 800,000 美元的費用擔保與 PCCAM 的共享部分相關。在 23 年第一季度，我們實際上有 500 萬美元與 PCCAM 相關的優惠。因此，與上一季度相比，這是 130 萬美元的有利調整。

What drove that payroll adjustment? I would point out the increase in base of the PCCAM amount that we received on an interim basis in October is the key piece of that. I think most of you who are familiar with that mechanism also know it's a noncalendar year basis, so it begins July 1, goes through June 30. So where we were at through December was a significant detriment to both our earnings, over $7 million last year, and our customers. And what happened in Q1 is a bit of a reduction to that deferred balance and certainly a reduction to the debt that we have taken. And so I would highlight that as a positive moment because I haven't had a chance to say that very often.

是什麼推動了工資調整？我想指出的是，我們在 10 月份臨時收到的 PCCAM 金額基數的增加是其中的關鍵部分。我想你們中大多數熟悉該機制的人也知道這是一個非日曆年的基礎，所以它從 7 月 1 日開始，一直到 6 月 30 日。因此，我們到 12 月的情況對我們去年超過 700 萬美元的收入和我們的客戶都造成了重大損害。第一季度發生的情況是遞延餘額有所減少，當然我們所承擔的債務也有所減少。所以我想強調這是一個積極的時刻，因為我沒有機會經常這麼說。

The other thing I would comment here is the continuing trend in the next column of transmission revenues where we see a favorable impact to our loads and our systems that, I think, position of strength with regard to transmission revenues in the future. And you can see a favorable impact of transmission revenues quarter-over-quarter of $1.2 million as well, all leading to what I alluded to, which is strengthened margin line versus last year of Q1. So the -- concluding at $285.1 million of gross margin in the business.

我在這裡要評論的另一件事是傳輸收入下一欄的持續趨勢，我們看到對我們的負載和系統的有利影響，我認為這在未來傳輸收入方面處於優勢地位。您還可以看到傳輸收入季度環比達到 120 萬美元的有利影響，所有這些都導致​​了我提到的，與去年第一季度相比，利潤率有所加強。因此，該業務的毛利率為 2.851 億美元。

The next page, I would refer you to cash flow impacts. Again, here, this all comes back to both the combination of the items I just mentioned from a margin perspective, being customer growth and weather and then also interim rates, resulting in solid improvement in our cash flows. And the interim rates contributing to collecting our supply cost on a more timely basis, driving stronger cash flows for the quarter. And that improvement is noted here.

下一頁，我將向您介紹現金流影響。同樣，這一切都回到了我剛才從利潤角度提到的項目的組合，即客戶增長和天氣，然後還有中期利率，從而導致我們的現金流量得到切實改善。中期利率有助於更及時地收取我們的供應成本，從而推動本季度更強勁的現金流。這裡記錄了這一改進。

The other thing I would note is we did issue first mortgage bonds, all of that leading to significant liquidity as we close out Q1 here. The other thing I would mention is consistent with our prior comments is that we do expect to issue the remaining $75 million on our after-market equity program that's offsetting currently, and we'll do that in the back part of 2023.

我要指出的另一件事是，我們確實發行了第一抵押貸款債券，所有這些都導致​​我們在第一季度結束時產生了大量的流動性。我要提到的另一件事與我們之前的評論一致，那就是我們確實希望在我們的售後股權計劃中發行剩餘的 7500 萬美元，該計劃目前正在抵消，我們將在 2023 年下半年做到這一點。

So having covered the financial results, I'll turn my attention to the Montana rate review. We were able to reach a constructive settlement with the primary interveners from a revenue requirement standpoint and filed debt in early April. That was after filing rebuttal testimony in early March. And the comments I made earlier is that the interim rates were a significant positive to us from a cash flow perspective and margin perspective, but also as a reminder, those set the dates of which we would expect the settlement outcome to be retroactive to and is certainly driving improved metrics already.

因此，在介紹了財務業績之後，我將把注意力轉向蒙大拿州的利率審查。從收入要求的角度來看，我們能夠與主要干預者達成建設性和解，並於 4 月初提交了債務。那是在三月初提交反駁證詞之後。我之前發表的評論是，從現金流角度和利潤率角度來看，臨時利率對我們來說是一個重大的積極因素，但也提醒一下，這些設定了我們期望結算結果追溯的日期，並且肯定已經推動了指標的改進。

You'll see the detail provided on Slide 10 gives you a view of our rebuttal revenue request versus what we had received through interim rates. And then the impacts of the settlement are noted in the far right column. The base rate settlement provides what we believe is a reasonable revenue requirement outcome with also adjustments for a very -- a variety of policy items as it relates to the settlement, including the ability to recover some degree of costs for the Yellowstone generating station once that is placed in service and also to defer certain costs related to our enhanced Wildfire program.

您將看到幻燈片 10 中提供的詳細信息，讓您了解我們的反駁收入請求與我們通過臨時費率收到的收入。然後最右欄中註明了和解的影響。基本費率和解提供了我們認為合理的收入要求結果，同時還對與和解相關的各種政策項目進行了調整，包括黃石發電站投入使用後收回一定成本的能力，以及推遲與我們增強的野火計劃相關的某些成本的能力。

Again, the key of this settlement and what was presented to the commission over the last couple of weeks is what we believe is a fair outcome based on our cost of service and assets already serving customers and updating our rates to reflect that. The process with the commission was a well-run hearing, a hearing from all sides. We expect briefing to continue from that hearing, which concluded, I believe that was last week. My days are running together -- with briefing going through the months of May and June, and hopefully a hearing or a final decision on the commission sometime in the July, August time frame.

同樣，這項和解的關鍵以及過去幾周向委員會提交的內容是我們認為基於我們已經為客戶提供服務的服務和資產成本並更新我們的費率以反映這一點的公平結果。委員會的整個過程是一次運行良好的聽證會，來自各方的聽證會。我們預計聽證會會繼續進行簡報，我相信聽證會是在上週結束的。我的日子是在一起度過的——五月和六月的簡報會持續進行，希望在七月、八月的某個時間框架內舉行聽證會或委員會的最終決定。

From a financial outlook perspective, I think you're all familiar with us not issuing guidance for 2023 due to the significant impact of the Montana rate review. With that, we still are not issuing guidance for the year, but I would point you to Slide 10 as to the impacts of that most significant item, again pending approval by the Montana Commission. And once we do have an outcome there, we will issue guidance for the period.

從財務前景的角度來看，我想大家都知道，由於蒙大拿州利率審查的重大影響，我們沒有發布 2023 年的指引。因此，我們仍然沒有發布今年的指導意見，但我想向您指出幻燈片 10，了解該最重要項目的影響，同樣有待蒙大拿州委員會的批准。一旦我們確實取得了成果，我們將發布該時期的指導。

The other thing I would note is each year in Q1, we announced whether we expect to file a rate review. And we do expect to file in our South Dakota jurisdiction on the electric side. And that, as many of you know, we closed out the Bob Glanzer generating station last year, and we'll be coming into request recovery of that in our other assets. In addition, we remain on plan for our capital plan for 2023. You heard Brian mention some of the challenges with the construction at Yellowstone County, but we expect to remain on course for that to be in service in 2024. And then our overall targets from an EPS and rate base have remained unchanged.

我要注意的另一件事是，每年第一季度，我們都會宣布是否希望提交費率審查。我們確實希望在電力方面向南達科他州管轄區提交申請。正如你們許多人所知，我們去年關閉了鮑勃·格蘭澤發電站，我們將要求恢復我們其他資產的發電站。此外，我們仍在製定 2023 年的資本計劃。您聽到 Brian 提到了黃石縣建設的一些挑戰，但我們預計將繼續按計劃在 2024 年投入使用。然後，我們的每股收益和費率基礎的總體目標保持不變。

And with that, I will turn it back to Brian.

說到這裡，我會把它轉回給布萊恩。

Thanks, Crystal. Slide 12, speaking about capital investment, I think it's quite impressive when you look at the capital. The growth in our capital over the 5-year time period shown nearly 16% CAGR over that time period, a total of $2.1 billion. That high level of investment is going to need to continue on as we think about investment necessary for capacity, asset-light reliability, compliance. And much of that investment is in the transmission and distribution. Crystal just mentioned Yellowstone, but there are some other generation investment that is included in that plan. And any other new resources brought on is not included in that $2.4 billion. And until those assets are ever identified and they don't -- they are not included in our plan. But nonetheless, our forecast going forward is an increase in investment over where we were over the last 5 years. That investment level should continue to provide a rate base growth of approximately 4% to 5%.

謝謝，水晶。第12張幻燈片，談到資本投資，我認為當你看資本時，這是相當令人印象深刻的。我們的資本在過去 5 年期間的複合年增長率接近 16%，總計 21 億美元。當我們考慮容量、輕資產可靠性和合規性所需的投資時，這種高水平的投資將需要繼續下去。其中大部分投資用於輸電和配電。克里斯托剛剛提到了黃石公園，但該計劃中還包括一些其他發電投資。而帶來的任何其他新資源並不包含在這 24 億美元中。在這些資產被確定之前，它們不會包含在我們的計劃中。但儘管如此，我們預測未來的投資將比過去 5 年有所增加。該投資水平應繼續提供約 4% 至 5% 的利率基礎增長。

The next slide, speaking to our supply update. Crystal also mentioned the Bob Glanzer station, 58-megawatt facility that was put in place in May of 2022 for a total cost of approximately $83 million. That plan has been dispatched even more than we anticipated. So we're extremely pleased with our ability to provide customer capacity to our South Dakota customers.

下一張幻燈片講述了我們的供應更新。 Crystal 還提到了 Bob Glanzer 電站，該電站容量為 58 兆瓦，於 2022 年 5 月建成，總成本約為 8300 萬美元。該計劃的執行情況甚至超出了我們的預期。因此，我們對為南達科他州客戶提供客戶容量的能力感到非常滿意。

Speaking of capacity, that's exactly what we're trying to do with our Montana Yellowstone County Generating Station. The 175-megawatt facility went -- started construction in April of '22. We're about 2/3 of the way in terms of the investment at investing $173.5 million of the $275 million anticipated. And as I mentioned earlier, we anticipate that the plant will be in service during 2024.

說到容量，這正是我們正在嘗試對蒙大拿州黃石縣發電站實現的目標。這座 175 兆瓦的設施於 2022 年 4 月開始建設。我們的投資額約為 2/3，預計投資額為 2.75 億美元，投資額為 1.735 億美元。正如我之前提到的，我們預計該工廠將於 2024 年投入使用。

Regarding IRPs. We did file our South Dakota IRP in September '22. That plan identified 43 megawatts of need, some of which is due to retirements and just incremental capacity, and we will be running a competitive solicitation in the '23-'24 time period associated with that IRP. In Montana, we'll be filing our IRP here at the end of April. And so stay tuned. You'll get a chance to look at that very, very soon.

關於IRP。我們確實於 22 年 9 月提交了南達科他州 IRP。該計劃確定了 43 兆瓦的需求，其中一些是由於退役和增量容量造成的，我們將在與該 IRP 相關的“23-24”期間進行競爭性招標。在蒙大拿州，我們將於四月底在這裡提交 IRP。請繼續關注。很快你就會有機會看到這一點。

And with that, I guess we'll turn it back over to Travis to help us handle any questions.

這樣，我想我們會將其轉回給特拉維斯，以幫助我們處理任何問題。

Thank you, Brian. (Operator Instructions) I think we'll take our first question from Julien at BofA.

謝謝你，布萊恩。 （操作員說明）我想我們將回答美國銀行 Julien 提出的第一個問題。

Can you hear me now?

你能聽到我嗎？

There we go.

我們開始吧。

All right. Sweet. Sorry about that. I apologize. You got to hit Accept when you unmute me here. I got excited. So just coming back to Yellowstone here in the time line, obviously, reaffirm, but can you talk a little bit about the legislative angle here, 971? Just what that could portend for the project and ultimately, maybe some of the construction-related items?

好的。甜的。對於那個很抱歉。我道歉。當你在這裡取消我的靜音時，你必須點擊“接受”。我很興奮。所以，回到黃石公園的時間線，顯然，重申一下，但是你能在這裡談談立法角度嗎，971？這對於該項目以及最終可能預示著一些與建築相關的項目意味著什麼？

Yes. I would say this, that 2 pieces of legislation were introduced late in the session as a result of the decision regarding the air quality permit. And so I think what happened is people looked at that, and I'm sure some was thinking about Yellowstone County, but many were thinking about how this could impact other construction going on in the state. And there was a very quick move by the legislature. I believe 557 is already on its way to the governor, and 971 is in its third reading, I believe, is this afternoon. So I'm cautiously optimistic that 971 will fasten its third reading and ultimately be on its way to the governor.

是的。我想說的是，由於有關空氣質量許可證的決定，在會議後期提出了兩項立法。所以我認為發生的事情是人們看到了這一點，我確信有些人正在考慮黃石縣，但許多人正在考慮這會如何影響該州正在進行的其他建設。立法機關很快就採取了行動。我相信 557 已經在送交州長的路上，而 971 正在三讀，我相信是在今天下午。因此，我對 971 法案將加快三讀並最終送交州長持謹慎樂觀態度。

I'd appreciate the state understanding what that ruling could have for the growth of Montana. And from -- I would argue that our ability to service that growth in terms of serving our customers. So we feel good about it. What does it do, Julien? Those 2 pieces of legislation, in combination, effectively should be able to allow us to expedite our ability to get a renewed or reissued air quality permit.

我希望該州能夠了解該裁決對蒙大拿州的發展有何影響。我認為我們有能力在服務客戶方面為這種增長提供服務。所以我們對此感覺良好。朱利安，它有什麼作用？這兩項立法結合起來，應該能夠有效地讓我們加快獲得更新或重新頒發的空氣質量許可證的能力。

Right. And either way the time line is looking like 2024. And do you want to be any more precise than that?

正確的。不管怎樣，時間線看起來都像是 2024 年。你想要比這更精確的嗎？

Yes. I guess what I'd say this. I'm hopeful that if things could move quickly, we might be able to meet our summer peak, which is really what was our intent is with the plant. And obviously, we want to be able to meet the winter peak in 2024. So our hope is to be able to achieve both of those. But I'm cautiously optimistic that those things happen and it helps us expedite. But in either way, we feel confident that we'll get this thing -- construction going in again and having in service by the end of '24.

是的。我猜我會說什麼。我希望，如果事情能夠迅速進展，我們也許能夠達到夏季高峰，這正是我們對該工廠的意圖。顯然，我們希望能夠在 2024 年達到冬季高峰。所以我們希望能夠實現這兩個目標。但我對這些事情的發生持謹慎樂觀的態度，這有助於我們加快進程。但無論哪種方式，我們都相信我們會得到這個東西——施工再次開始，並在 24 年底投入使用。

Excellent. And Brian, just if I can follow up on this. I mean, we've talked at various times about a new baseline for an outlook, and you reaffirmed here this 4% to 5% rate base outlook. Can you talk a little bit about EPS CAGR and maybe kind of the time line for adjusted net considering the newfound settlement and visibility coming on the Montana?

出色的。布萊恩，如果我能跟進此事就好了。我的意思是，我們曾多次討論過新的展望基準，而您在此重申了 4% 至 5% 的利率基準展望。您能否談談每股收益複合年增長率，以及考慮到蒙大拿州新發現的沉降和能見度，調整淨值的時間線？

Well, Julien, I appreciate you asking me that question, but I believe that question is really appropriate for Crystal. I'm looking at her now to answer your question.

好吧，朱利安，我很感謝你問我這個問題，但我相信這個問題非常適合克里斯托。我現在看著她來回答你的問題。

Sure. Julien, a happy Friday afternoon. The question, I think, on everyone's mind is certainly our long-term outlook and EPS growth. And the key, I would say, there is the settlement we reached in the Montana case is critical to providing us visibility as to where we're headed, but I also don't want to front run the Montana Commission. And so you see in the materials here, what you've heard from us in the past. And once we receive an outcome from the Montana commission, we will certainly be updating everyone at where we think that growth looks like coming out of that rate review.

當然。朱利安，一個快樂的周五下午。我認為，每個人都關心的問題肯定是我們的長期前景和每股收益增長。我想說，關鍵是我們在蒙大拿州案件中達成的和解對於讓我們了解我們的發展方向至關重要，但我也不想領導蒙大拿州委員會。因此，您可以在此處的材料中看到您過去從我們那裡聽到的內容。一旦我們收到蒙大拿州委員會的結果，我們肯定會向所有人通報我們認為利率審查可能帶來增長的最新情況。

Okay. And considerably by next quarter, we could get some updated baseline for what that would look like, too, not just an update of the (inaudible)?

好的。到下個季度，我們也可以獲得一些更新的基線，而不僅僅是（聽不清）的更新？

Indeed, I think what you're referring to is the question of what is our base period that we would be driving that growth off of. And I can tell you it won't still be 2020. We will refresh what the growth period is off of. And I think that most likely looks like 2022.

事實上，我認為你指的是我們將推動增長的基期是多少的問題。我可以告訴你，不會仍然是2020年。我們將刷新生長期的結束情況。我認為最有可能的是 2022 年。

Excellent. Sorry, one last one. On the outlook, I mean your core retail sales looking quite solid here. Any commentary? I mean, Crystal, you alluded to it in your remarks here, but any further thoughts about just what supported the outlook here in the first quarter on the gas electric side?

出色的。抱歉，最後一張。就前景而言，我的意思是你們的核心零售銷售看起來相當穩健。有什麼評論嗎？我的意思是，克里斯托，您在講話中提到了這一點，但是對於支撐第一季度燃氣電力前景的因素還有什麼進一步的想法嗎？

Certainly, other than don't jinx it, Julien, it was just a really solid first quarter. I think you -- we all know that there was a good solid customer growth in our service territory. We certainly saw that in -- we are both the winter and summer peaking utility, but certainly in the winter here, we saw significant usage trends there. So we'll be paying most attention to how those roll forward.

當然，朱利安，除了別胡思亂想之外，第一季度的表現非常出色。我認為我們都知道我們的服務領域的客戶增長良好。我們當然看到了這一點——我們在冬季和夏季都達到了公用事業高峰，但當然在冬季，我們看到了顯著的使用趨勢。因此，我們將最關注這些進展如何。

Excellent. Certainly, I don't want to jinx it. All right. I'll leave it there guys. Have a good one.

出色的。當然，我不想給它帶來厄運。好的。我會把它留在那裡，伙計們。祝你有個好的一天。

Thanks, Julien.

謝謝，朱利安。

We'll take our next question from Alex Mortimer at Mizuho.

我們將回答瑞穗銀行的亞歷克斯·莫蒂默的下一個問題。

Beautiful. So you highlight the need for kind of increased generation, or I guess the generation shortfall kind of multiple times during the call and in your Q. So how do you look at potential upside on the CapEx side above what's in your forecast, just given the additional need for generation that you've highlighted?

美麗的。因此，您強調了增加發電量的需求，或者我猜想發電量短缺在電話會議和問題中多次出現。那麼，考慮到您強調的發電量的額外需求，您如何看待資本支出方面高於您預測的潛在上行空間？

Yes, I don't necessarily want to front run our IRP here too much, but I would tell you that one thing we've been talking about for years is just the deficit on capacity and that the ability of incremental Colstrip and the Yellowstone County Generating Station brings us to a level of sufficient capacity for a number of years. That doesn't mean that we have to stop there. Obviously, we're going to need incremental capacity in a relatively short term. And also, we have to -- as a commitment, start thinking about opportunities to invest in noncarbon-emitting resources and then commit it as a company not to invest in carbon-emitting resources in 2035 and beyond. And so we'll be doing planning beyond that, too. But I think there's still going to be some needs for some capacity investment in the latter half of this decade.

是的，我不一定想在這裡過多地提前運行我們的 IRP，但我想告訴你，我們多年來一直在談論的一件事就是容量赤字，而 Colstrip 和黃石縣發電站的增量能力使我們在數年內達到了充足容量的水平。這並不意味著我們必須就此止步。顯然，我們將需要在相對較短的時間內增加產能。此外，作為一項承諾，我們必須開始考慮投資非碳排放資源的機會，然後作為一家公司承諾在 2035 年及以後不再投資碳排放資源。因此，我們也會做除此之外的計劃。但我認為在本世紀後半葉仍然需要一些產能投資。

Okay. Understood. And then quickly just to sort of round out the question on Yellowstone. Can you give some detail on sort of the scale of cost that you might be currently incurring with construction currently being halted? And then is there any concern that they could potentially be disallowed when you do eventually go to get this project into rates?

好的。明白了。然後很快就解決了有關黃石公園的問題。您能否詳細說明目前因施工暫停而可能產生的成本規模？那麼，當您最終將該項目納入費率時，是否擔心它們可能會被拒絕？

Yes, 2 things. First of all, Alex, I should have finished my first thought on your first question. I should remind you that in South Dakota, there will be incremental investment there from a capacity standpoint. I think we're looking at approximately 40-ish megawatts there. And then we're looking at long-term solutions in that state as well.

是的，有兩件事。首先，亞歷克斯，我應該完成對你的第一個問題的第一個想法。我應該提醒您，在南達科他州，從產能的角度來看，那裡將會有增量投資。我認為我們正在尋找大約 40 兆瓦的電力。然後我們也在該州尋找長期解決方案。

Back to what's happening at Yellowstone County from a delay perspective and how that could impact costs. Yes, there were going to be some costs of demobilization and the like. And from our perspective, we don't anticipate that's going to be for a very long time. We certainly hope not. But if there are incremental costs here, I would hope that the commission would understand that this was based upon a judge's decision that I think we had very little control over, and I hope that's how they look at it. So I will say there's always risk. They're going to be looking at any project that we have and think about it from a prudence perspective. But I'd like to think, particularly in the response we've seen in the legislature associated with the decision that I think they won't look upon this delay and very really towards NorthWestern at least. That's my hope and my view.

從延遲的角度回到黃石縣正在發生的事情以及這將如何影響成本。是的，將會有一些復員等費用。從我們的角度來看，我們預計這種情況不會持續很長時間。我們當然希望不會。但如果這裡存在增量成本，我希望委員會能夠理解這是基於法官的決定，我認為我們對此幾乎沒有控制權，我希望他們就是這樣看待它的。所以我會說風險總是存在的。他們將審視我們擁有的任何項目，並從謹慎的角度進行思考。但我想，特別是我們在立法機關看到的與該決定相關的反應，我認為他們不會考慮這種延誤，至少不會考慮西北大學。這是我的希望和我的觀點。

Okay. Understood. Congrats on the quarter.

好的。明白了。恭喜本季度。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Alex. Appreciate it. Our call from Chris Ellinghaus at Siebert Williams Shank.

謝謝，亞歷克斯。欣賞它。我們來自 Siebert Williams Shank 的 Chris Ellinghaus 的電話。

Question about the rate case. I just wanted to sort of get your perception of this. There certainly were some disagreements from the interveners in their cross-examination and testimony. But the commissioners seem to be less contentious and maybe less voluminous in their line of questioning. Would you agree with that sort of perception?

關於費率情況的問題。我只是想了解一下你對此的看法。介入者在質證和證詞中肯定存在一些分歧。但委員們的爭議似乎較少，而且提問的數量也較少。您同意這種看法嗎？

I wouldn't say this. Chris, I believe that -- and I've been through quite a few rate cases at the commission. I thought the commission handled this extremely well. They allowed public -- tremendous amount of public contrary. They ran a good hearing. It was -- I thought the process is really well done throughout. I feel good about how the case has been handled.

我不會說這個。克里斯，我相信這一點——而且我在委員會處理過不少費率案件。我認為委員會處理得非常好。他們允許公眾——大量的公眾反對。他們進行了很好的聽證會。我認為這個過程自始至終都做得很好。我對案件的處理方式感到滿意。

Okay. Great. Outside of the potential legislation, can you just sort of walk through what you would envision the Yellowstone process being in terms of reviewing or re-examining the air permit?

好的。偉大的。除了潛在的立法之外，您能否簡單介紹一下您所設想的黃石公園在審查或重新審查航空許可證方面的流程？

Yes. I think if you're saying excluding the legislation?

是的。我想如果你是說排除立法？

Yes.

是的。

Yes, I think excluding the -- we'll have to do, and the DEQ also has to think this through, too. Obviously, it's -- the DEQ has issued air quality permit. And there's going to be some time associated with what we actually need to do from an evaluation standpoint, from a greenhouse gas perspective. And after that's done, there's reissue -- and this is my expectation. There would be a reissued permit. They would have a comment period and during that time period before the permit is actually issued. So it would be a time period that would have to take place if, in fact, they have to do that analysis again, sans the legislation.

是的，我認為排除——我們必須這樣做，而且 DEQ 也必須仔細考慮這一點。顯然，DEQ 已經頒發了空氣質量許可證。從評估的角度、從溫室氣體的角度來看，我們需要花一些時間來了解我們實際需要做的事情。完成之後，就會重新發行——這是我的期望。將會有重新頒發的許可證。在實際頒發許可證之前，他們將有一個評論期。因此，如果事實上他們必須在沒有立法的情況下再次進行分析，那麼這將是必須進行的一段時間。

Okay. The South Dakota filing, I might have missed this, what Crystal was talking about it, but what's your anticipation of that filing time frame? And what do you see that process thereafter looking like?

好的。南達科他州的申請，我可能錯過了這一點，水晶在談論它，但是您對該申請時間框架的預期是什麼？您認為此後的過程是什麼樣的？

So from a timing perspective, Chris, I would say we'll file it sometime over the summer here. We're working through that. We'll turn our attention from the Montana rate review, which has been a little bit all encompassing to finalizing that filing. The South Dakota Commission, in the past, has run a very efficient process, and they've been very good to work with. So I would think that we'll be able to work with them on interim rates sometime in the latter part of the year and then progress the filing along.

所以從時間的角度來看，克里斯，我想說我們會在夏天的某個時候在這裡提交它。我們正在解決這個問題。我們將把注意力從蒙大拿州的費率審查上轉移開，該審查對於最終確定該申請來說已經有點全面了。南達科他州委員會過去一直運行著非常高效的流程，並且與他們合作得很好。因此，我認為我們將能夠在今年下半年的某個時候與他們就臨時費率進行合作，然後繼續進行備案。

All right. We'll take our next question from a line that ends in 252E.

好的。我們將從以 252E 結尾的行中提出下一個問題。

Quick question. Just to understand the time line. If the legislation is adopted, when would you be able to -- in your best estimation, be able to recommence construction on Yellowstone?

快問。只是為了了解時間線。如果這項立法獲得通過，您什麼時候能夠——按照您的最佳估計，能夠重新開始黃石公園的建設？

Yes. I don't know exactly. I think the legislation is passed -- greenhouse gas wouldn't necessarily have to be a consideration. And so I think we still have to deal with the lighting issue. Obviously, DEQ would have to evaluate that and have a comment period, not knowing what that comment period is. But I hope it's a matter of a couple of months instead of multi-months, if you will. So that's my expectation as I sit here today.

是的。我不太清楚。我認為立法已經通過了——溫室氣體不一定是一個考慮因素。所以我認為我們仍然需要處理照明問題。顯然，DEQ 必須對此進行評估並有一個意見徵詢期，但不知道意見徵詢期是什麼。但如果你願意的話，我希望這只是幾個月的時間，而不是幾個月的時間。這就是我今天坐在這裡的期望。

Got it. And then when the plant goes into commercial operations, do you have to wait for it to go into commercial operation to file for rate relief on the plant? Or what would be the timing of when you would file for rate relief?

知道了。那麼當工廠投入商業運營時，是否必須等到其投入商業運營後才能申請該工廠的費率減免？或者您什麼時候申請利率減免？

Crystal here. From a rate perspective, we do receive AFUDC on the plant while under construction. And so once that plant is in service and part of the settlement that we reached, we had asked for, I think most of you know, all reliability rider, we settled for something less than that. But we agreed that once that plant is serving customers, we could come in and ask for a reset on our PCCAM base because, of course, the cost today, we're buying the service on that Yellowstone will provide in the market. So we've reset that base but at the same time, get some recovery of the operating costs. And at that same time, work through the prudency evaluation of that plant if we choose to make that filing. So that was coincide with about the timing of in-service to again provide core recovery across on a timely fashion as it relates to the operating side of that, but importantly, recovery of the rate base would be subject to another rate filing.

水晶在這裡。從費率角度來看，我們確實在建設期間收到了該工廠的 AFUDC。因此，一旦該工廠投入使用，並且成為我們達成的和解協議的一部分，我想你們大多數人都知道，所有可靠性騎手都要求我們滿足於低於此的要求。但我們同意，一旦該工廠為客戶提供服務，我們就可以進來並要求重置我們的 PCCAM 基礎，因為當然，以今天的成本，我們正在購買黃石公園將在市場上提供的服務。因此，我們重置了該基礎，但同時也收回了一些運營成本。同時，如果我們選擇進行備案，請對該工廠進行審慎評估。因此，這與服務中再次及時提供核心恢復的時間是一致的，因為它與運營方面相關，但重要的是，費率基礎的恢復將取決於另一次費率備案。

So the operating cost would somehow be incorporated into the PCCAM proceeding or?

那麼運營成本會以某種方式納入 PCCAM 程序中嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Okay. And then last question. Can you talk at all about sort of equity need beyond this year?

好的。然後是最後一個問題。您能談談今年之後的股權需求嗎？

We haven't given guidance beyond this year as to our financing plans. We mentioned, as I noted earlier, we'll finish out the ATMs planned. The thing I would just note overall there is we're looking to fund our capital plans on a self-funded basis absent when we have additional growth, things like Yellowstone or other opportunities that aren't based into our current capital plan. Those are the types of things that would push us into more equity needs.

今年之後我們還沒有就我們的融資計劃提供指導。正如我之前提到的，我們提到，我們將完成計劃的 ATM 機。我要指出的是，總的來說，我們希望在自籌資金的基礎上為我們的資本計劃提供資金，而當我們有額外的增長時，例如黃石公園或其他不基於我們當前資本計劃的機會。這些都會促使我們產生更多的股權需求。

So should we not assume sort of continuing equity beyond this year? I'm not understanding what you're trying to say?

那麼，我們是否不應該假設今年之後股票會持續存在呢？我不明白你想說什麼？

Sure. I'll say it this way. We haven't given guidance past 2023 as to our equity needs.

當然。我就這樣說吧。我們尚未就 2023 年之後的股權需求給出指導。

And with that, I think we've exhausted our Friday afternoon queue. I'll turn it back over to Brian for any closing remarks.

至此，我想週五下午的隊列已經排完了。我會將其轉回布賴恩以供結束語。

I just -- obviously, we're pleased to begin with the settlement. Again, we hope the commission gives it a good hard look, and hopefully, we get approval of that settlement so we can continue to do as we must, continue to invest in the Montana system and help it grow. And I think also we ultimately need to build the Yellowstone County plant for our customers. We need to have this incremental capacity from Colstrip to serve our customers. And ultimately, we believe we'll get to that point, and people appreciate will we're trying to do to serve our customers.

我只是——顯然，我們很高興能夠開始和解。再次，我們希望委員會認真對待它，並希望我們能獲得該和解的批准，以便我們可以繼續做我們必須做的事情，繼續投資蒙大拿州系統並幫助其發展。我認為我們最終還需要為我們的客戶建造黃石縣工廠。我們需要 Colstrip 增加產能來為我們的客戶提供服務。最終，我們相信我們會達到這一點，人們會欣賞我們為服務客戶而所做的努力。

So with that, thank you all, and have a great weekend. See you.

所以，謝謝大家，祝週末愉快。再見。