PG&E Corp (PCG) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the PG&E Corporation First Quarter 2024 Earnings Release. (Operator Instructions) As a 0reminder, today's call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，感謝大家的支持，歡迎來到 PG&E 公司 2024 年第一季財報發布。 （操作員說明） 作為 0 提醒，今天的通話正在錄音。

I will now hand today's call over to Jonathan Arnold, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

現在，我將把今天的電話會議交給投資者關係副總裁喬納森·阿諾德 (Jonathan Arnold)。請繼續，先生。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for PG&E's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. With us today are Patti Poppe, Chief Executive Officer; and Carolyn Burke, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We also have other members of the leadership team here with us in our Oakland headquarters.

大家早安，感謝您參加 PG&E 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我們在一起的有執行長 Patti Poppe；和卡羅琳·伯克，執行副總裁兼財務長。我們在奧克蘭總部還有領導團隊的其他成員。

First, I should remind you that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements about our outlook for future financial results. These statements are based on information currently available to management. Some of the important factors, which could affect our actual financial results are described on the second page of today's earnings presentation. Presentation also includes a reconciliation between non-GAAP and GAAP financial measures.

首先，我應該提醒您，今天的討論將包括有關我們未來財務表現展望的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述是基於管理層目前可獲得的資訊。今天收益報告的第二頁描述了一些可能影響我們實際財務表現的重要因素。簡報還包括非公認會計原則和公認會計原則財務指標之間的調節。

The slide with other relevant information can be found online at investor.pgecorp.com. We'd also encourage you to review our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

該幻燈片及其他相關資訊可在 Investor.pgecorp.com 上線上找到。我們也鼓勵您查看我們截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的季度的 10-Q 表格季度報告。

With that, it's my pleasure to hand the call over to our CEO, Patti Poppe.

至此，我很高興將電話轉交給我們的執行長 Patti Poppe。

Thank you, Jonathan. Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report another quarter of solid progress with our core earnings per share for the first quarter coming in at $0.37. We're also reaffirming our 2024 guidance range of $1.33 to $1.37, up at least 10% from 2023.

謝謝你，喬納森。大家，早安。我很高興地報告又一個季度取得了紮實進展，第一季核心每股收益為 0.37 美元。我們也重申 2024 年指引範圍為 1.33 美元至 1.37 美元，比 2023 年上漲至少 10%。

And we're reaffirming our longer-term earnings per share growth of at least 9% each year starting in 2025 and continuing through 2028. In addition, we remain firm in our commitment to no new equity in 2024. We're also pleased to share with you our 5-year financing plan, which Carolyn will discuss in more detail. What I want to emphasize is that our financing plan does not include the proposed sale of a minority interest in Pacific Generation.

我們重申，從 2025 年開始，一直到 2028 年，我們的長期每股收益每年至少增長 9%。 5 年融資計劃，卡羅琳將更詳細地討論該計劃。我想強調的是，我們的融資計畫不包括擬議出售太平洋發電少數股權。

As you may have seen, we continue to advocate for the Pac Gen sale with the CPUC. We see the minority sale as an efficient financing alternative while offering significant benefits to our customers, and it would further strengthen our plan. However, as you can come to expect, we plan conservatively, so the sale is not currently in the plan. The key takeaway is that we are comfortable reaffirming our earnings guidance and our $62 billion capital plan with or without Pac Gen.

正如您可能已經看到的，我們繼續倡導 CPUC 出售 Pac Gen。我們認為少數股權出售是一種有效的融資選擇，同時為我們的客戶帶來顯著的利益，這將進一步加強我們的計劃。然而，正如您所預料的那樣，我們的計劃比較保守，因此目前的銷售不在計劃之內。關鍵的一點是，無論有沒有 Pac Gen，我們都可以放心地重申我們的獲利指引和 620 億美元的資本計畫。

Our plan also enables us to grow our dividend payout to a level closer to our regulated utility peers with $2.5 billion included in the plan through 2028. Consistent with our conservative approach, the plan assumes up to $3 billion of equity starting in 2025, likely through a routine utility ATM program.

我們的計劃還使我們能夠將股息支付提高到更接近受監管公用事業同行的水平，到2028 年該計劃中將包含25 億美元。 30 億美元，可能透過常規實用 ATM 程式。

Moving to Slide 4. What I want to impress upon you is this. California and PG&E specifically have a favorable risk profile given significant changes made following catastrophic wildfire events we experienced in our state back in 2017 and 2018. California did the hard work to address challenges to the investor-owned utility model, policymakers passed key legislation.

轉到幻燈片 4。鑑於我們州在2017 年和2018 年經歷的災難性野火事件後發生的重大變化，加州和PG&E 的風險狀況特別有利。努力，政策制定者通過了關鍵立法。

Assembly Bill 1054 provides access to liquidity through a wildfire insurance fund with $21 billion of claims paying capacity. Cost recovery under the presumption that the utility's conduct is reasonable with a valid safety certificate, and a cap on shareholder exposure if a portion of our requested cost recovery were to be disallowed by the CPUC. These protections afforded to PG&E under AB 1054 are further complemented by our self-insurance model, which limits shareholder exposure to a deductible of only $50 million, paired with our proven progress mitigating wildfire risk, and significant actions the state has taken to strengthen fire prevention and response in our communities.

第 1054 號議會法案透過具有 210 億美元索賠支付能力的野火保險基金提供流動性。成本回收的假設是公用事業公司的行為是合理的，並且具有有效的安全證書，如果 CPUC 不允許我們要求的部分成本回收，則股東的風險承受上限。我們的自我保險模式進一步補充了AB 1054 規定向PG&E 提供的這些保護，該模式將股東的免賠額限制為僅5,000 萬美元，再加上我們在減輕野火風險方面取得的進展以及州政府為加強防火而採取的重大行動以及我們社區的回應。

California stands out as a model for all states that have wildfire risk, and PG&E's operating system delivers the physical risk reduction, which further differentiates our story. In fact, we've reduced our wildfire risk by 94% and are working every day to reduce that further.

加州成為所有有野火風險的州的典範，PG&E 的作業系統降低了物理風險，這進一步使我們的故事與眾不同。事實上，我們已將野火風險降低了 94%，並且每天都在努力進一步降低風險。

As one additional proof point of our wildfire risk mitigation efforts, I'll remind you here on Slide 5 that in 2023, we reduced ignitions by 68% compared to 2017. And through the end of the first quarter of 2024 on a rolling 12-month basis, our weather-normalized ignition rate remains at 0.93, more than a 70% reduction from 2017.

作為我們減輕野火風險努力的另一個證據，我將在幻燈片 5 上提醒您，與 2017 年相比，2023 年我們將火災減少了 68%。計算，我們的天氣正常化點火率維持在0.93，比2017 年下降了70% 以上。

As well as our differentiated wildfire risk reduction framework, we also have a differentiated approach for how we intend to grow our customer capital investments while keeping bills affordable. Here on Slide 6 is our simple affordable model. Since its introduction, we have exceeded our annual nonfuel O&M reduction target every year, reducing O&M by 3% in 2022 and 5.5% in 2023.

除了我們差異化的野火風險降低框架之外，我們還採用差異化的方法來增加客戶資本投資，同時保持帳單負擔得起。第 6 張投影片是我們簡單又實惠的模型。自推出以來，我們每年都超額完成年度非燃料 O&M 削減目標，2022 年 O&M 減少 3%，2023 年減少 5.5%。

This is new for PG&E, and it will take repeated performance for our customers and policymakers to believe in the benefit of our new capability and what it delivers for customers. As I like to say, performance is power. When we perform, when we keep our commitments, we have the power to influence the perception of PG&E with our customers and investors. We are differentiated in our potential and our system to deliver on these annual nonfuel O&M savings. Time will prove this out.

這對 PG&E 來說是全新的，我們的客戶和政策制定者需要反覆表現才能相信我們的新能力的好處及其為客戶提供的服務。正如我常說的，性能就是力量。當我們履行承諾、信守承諾時，我們就有能力影響客戶和投資者對 PG&E 的看法。我們的潛力和系統在實現這些年度非燃料運營和維護節省方面具有獨特性。時間會證明這一點。

One exciting element of our simple affordable model is the opportunity for load growth in our service area. Our electric load growth opportunities are not just electric vehicles and data centers but an eventual and necessary decarbonization of our entire economy with clean electricity as the primary energy of the future.

我們簡單實惠的模型的一個令人興奮的元素是我們的服務區域負載成長的機會。我們的電力負載成長機會不僅僅是電動車和資料中心，而是我們整個經濟最終和必要的脫碳，以清潔電力作為未來的主要能源。

PG&E is vital to our state's ambition and the need to heal our planet. 1% to 3% load growth per year in the near term with upwards of 70% load growth over the next 20 years will be required as California moves to carbon neutrality by 2045. California is not afraid to set ambitious targets and has proven repeatedly that we will innovate our way to achieving them.

PG&E 對於我們州的雄心壯志和治癒地球的需要至關重要。隨著加州到2045 年實現碳中和，短期內每年的負載成長需要達到1% 至3%，未來20 年的負載成長需要達到70% 以上。並已多次證明這一點我們將創新方式來實現這些目標。

Cost savings and loan growth, coupled with continued efficient financing options are how we can execute on our commitment here on Slide 7 to control average annual bill increases to 2% to 4%. We appreciate that near-term build pressure due to consolidated years of GRC recovery and catch-up recovery of wildfire mitigation expense is difficult for some of our customers, and I look forward to the day when we can announce that customers' prices are coming down.

成本節約和貸款成長，加上持續高效的融資選擇，是我們履行投影片 7 上的承諾的方式，將平均年度帳單成長控制在 2% 至 4%。我們認識到，由於多年的 GRC 恢復和山火緩解費用的追趕性恢復，短期內的建設壓力對我們的一些客戶來說是困難的，我期待有一天我們可以宣布客戶的價格正在下降。

At the same time, we stand by the need for the near-term increase as this GRC is funding critical work, which is making our customers and communities safer than ever before.

同時，我們支持近期增加資金的需求，因為該 GRC 正在為關鍵工作提供資金，這使我們的客戶和社區比以往任何時候都更安全。

Here on Slide 8 are just a few examples of important safety and reliability work funded by our GRC. Installation of more than 10,000 devices for situational awareness, system hardening, automation and reliability, repair or replacement of over 175,000 units on our distribution lines.

投影片 8 中只是我們 GRC 資助的重要安全性和可靠性工作的幾個範例。安裝了 10,000 多台設備，用於態勢感知、系統強化、自動化和可靠性，維修或更換了我們配電線路上的 175,000 多台設備。

Inspection of $2 million and replacement of over 60,000 poles, replacement of more than 160 miles of gas distribution pipeline and under-grounding of 1,230 miles of distribution lines in high fire risk areas. As we perform this work, it is our responsibility to ensure every customer dollar is put to maximum use, which brings us to my story of the month here on Slide 9.

耗資 200 萬美元進行檢查，更換超過 60,000 根電線桿，更換超過 160 英里的天然氣分配管道，以及在高火災風險地區對 1,230 英里的分配管道進行地下接地。當我們進行這項工作時，我們有責任確保客戶的每一分錢都得到最大程度的利用，這就是幻燈片 9 中我本月的故事。

You may recall that last year, I shared a story on work bundling. Specifically, I highlighted an example of cross-functional bundling where we planned and executed 12 jobs under 1 planned outage. I also left you with a little teaser saying, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Well, my coworkers are now rolling out our next generation of work bundling with something we refer to as mega bundles.

你可能還記得，去年我分享了一個關於工作捆綁的故事。具體來說，我重點介紹了一個跨職能捆綁的範例，其中我們在 1 次規劃停機情況下規劃並執行了 12 項作業。我還給大家留下了一個小預告，這只是冰山一角。嗯，我的同事現在正在推出我們的下一代工作捆綁，我們稱之為大型捆綁。

Using breakthrough thinking and our lean operating system, we've identified over 9,000 individual scopes of work and converted them into 20 bundled projects. With mega bundling, we're looking at an entire circuit as 1 project. In the past, we plan and execute work at a granular level. For example, we roll a truck to replace a single pole or just 1 switch. When we look at an entire circuit, we may find 100 poles that need to be replaced.

利用突破性思維和精益作業系統，我們確定了 9,000 多個單獨的工作範圍，並將它們轉換為 20 個捆綁項目。透過大型捆綁，我們將整個電路視為一個專案。過去，我們計劃和執行工作是細粒度的。例如，我們滾動卡車來更換單一桿或僅一個開關。當我們查看整個電路時，我們可能會發現 100 個電極需要更換。

In Stockton, for example, we have 1 circuit with nearly 1,000 poles that will be completed this year. Bundling these pulls into a single project improve safety, the customer experience, quality, cost, delivery and coworker morale. Imagine assembly line style production, the potential for 1 permit for hundreds of poles rather than hundreds of separate permits as it is today, seeking multiple pole holes per day in a specific region, resulting in significant fuel savings and less hazardous drive time for our coworkers.

例如，在斯托克頓，我們有一條擁有近 1,000 個電線桿的賽道，將於今年完工。將這些因素捆綁到一個專案中可以提高安全性、客戶體驗、品質、成本、交付和同事士氣。想像一下裝配線式生產，有可能獲得數百個桿的1 個許可證，而不是像今天那樣獲得數百個單獨的許可證，每天在特定區域尋找多個桿孔，從而為我們的同事節省大量燃料並減少危險的駕駛時間。

Framing hundreds of poles at a time using manufacturing style production off-site rather than one by one on-site. And customer outreach to entire neighborhoods, reduced outages and lane closures versus one job at a time. This approach also allows us to negotiate better contract pricing and reduced overhead costs.

使用製造方式在場外生產，而不是在現場一根一根地生產，一次組裝數百根電線桿。與一次只做一項工作相比，客戶服務涵蓋整個社區，減少了停電和車道封閉。這種方法還使我們能夠協商更好的合約定價並降低管理成本。

Overall, with mega bundling, we expect to see cost savings of at least 20% compared to historical all-in cost, which will result in at least $20 million of our customers' dollars saved just this year, freeing up resources to do even more safety and reliability work for our customers.

總體而言，透過大型捆綁，與歷史總成本相比，我們預計成本將節省至少 20%，這將導致我們的客戶今年節省至少 2000 萬美元，從而騰出資源來做更多事情為我們的客戶提供安全性和可靠性。

When I joined PG&E, you may have heard one of my early observations. We're very good at engineering equipment, but we're not very good at engineering our work. Well, that's changing, thanks to our performance playbook. We are delivering improved performance every day, which serves both customers and investors.

當我加入 PG&E 時，您可能已經聽過我的早期觀察之一。我們非常擅長工程設備，但我們不太擅長工程設計我們的工作。嗯，由於我們的性能手冊，這種情況正在改變。我們每天都在提供更好的業績，為客戶和投資者服務。

With that, let me turn it over to Carolyn to walk you through the financial details.

接下來，讓我將其轉交給卡羅琳，向您介紹財務詳細資訊。

Thank you, Patti, and good morning, everyone. Today, I'm looking forward to covering 4 topics with you: first, our quarterly results; second, our 5-year financing plan; third, our continued execution against our simple, affordable model; and fourth, an update on our regulatory process.

謝謝你，帕蒂，大家早安。今天，我期待與大家討論四個主題：第一，我們的季度業績；第二，我們的5年融資計劃；第三，我們繼續執行我們簡單、實惠的模式；第四，我們的監管流程的最新情況。

Starting here with our first quarter walk on Slide 10. Our first quarter core earnings of $0.37 are up $0.08 over the first quarter last year. Remember, that our general rate case was approved in the fourth quarter when we booked the catch-up revenues for all of 2023.

從幻燈片 10 上的第一季開始。請記住，我們的一般費率方案在第四季度獲得批准，當時我們預訂了 2023 年全年的追趕收入。

Adjusting first quarter 2023 for the GRC timing, our first quarter results are up $0.05 year-over-year. This improvement is primarily driven by an increase in customer capital investment. And our CPUC rate base now provides an equity return of 10.7% as approved through the adjusted cost of capital mechanism advice letter.

根據 GRC 時間調整 2023 年第一季度，我們第一季的業績年增 0.05 美元。這項改善主要是由客戶資本投資的增加所推動的。我們的 CPUC 利率基礎現在提供 10.7% 的股本回報率，經調整後的資本成本機制建議函批准。

As a reminder, we said that we were not counting on this increase to meet our earnings guidance but it does give us more flexibility to redeploy resources for the benefit of our customers. Other drivers include nonfuel O&M savings of $0.01 offset by $0.02 reinvested back into the business to fund more work, such as increased transmission system inspections and electric acid mapping.

提醒一下，我們表示，我們並不指望這一增長來滿足我們的盈利指引，但它確實使我們能夠更靈活地重新部署資源，以造福於我們的客戶。其他驅動因素包括非燃料 O&M 節省 0.01 美元，並透過再投資回業務以資助更多工作（例如增加傳輸系統檢查和電酸測繪）的 0.02 美元來抵消。

Also this quarter, we revised our estimate for the duration of the wildfire fund established under AB 1054. Based on all the data available to us, including the progress we've achieved in reducing physical wildfire risk on our system, the fund will provide coverage for 20 years, that's up from our previous estimate of 15 years. Another example of how AB 1054 is working as intended.

同樣在本季度，我們修改了根據 AB 1054 設立的野火基金期限的估計。於我們之前估計的15 年。 AB 1054 如何如預期運作的另一個範例。

Turning to Slide 11. There are no changes to our CapEx or rate base guidance. Our plan includes $62 billion of customer investment over the next 5 years, and we still have at least another $5 billion to pull into the plan once we make it affordable for both our customers and our balance sheet. And please keep in mind that in 2024, 93% of our rate base has already been authorized with 90% authorized out in 2026.

轉向投影片 11。我們的計劃包括未來 5 年 620 億美元的客戶投資，一旦我們的客戶和資產負債表都能負擔得起，我們至少還有 50 億美元可以投入該計劃。請記住，到 2024 年，我們的費率基礎的 93% 已獲得授權，2026 年將授權 90%。

This is higher than most utilities given our 4-year GRC cycle, and we continue to pursue cost recovery to increase that percentage. As an example, we filed an application for our gas metering replacement program last month, seeking revenue requirement to support nearly $500 million in capital additions from 2023 through 2026. That's in addition to the request filed late last year for revenue requirement to support the capital costs associated with moving our headquarters from San Francisco to Oakland.

鑑於我們 4 年的 GRC 週期，這一比例高於大多數公用事業公司，並且我們將繼續追求成本回收以提高該百分比。例如，我們上個月提交了燃氣計量更換計劃申請，尋求收入要求以支持 2023 年至 2026 年近 5 億美元的資本增加。總部從舊金山遷至奧克蘭的相關費用。

Here on Slide 12. Again, no changes from what we shared with you on our year-end call. Our operating cash flow grew substantially from $5 billion last year to $8 billion this year. This reflects collection of both our 2023 GRC revenue increase and 2024 GRC revenues as well as the catch-up recoveries of our prior work, including interim rate relief. Our operating cash flow continues to rise through the plan period, reflecting our growing capital investment on behalf of customers.

在投影片 12 上。我們的經營現金流從去年的 50 億美元大幅成長到今年的 80 億美元。這反映了我們 2023 年 GRC 收入成長和 2024 年 GRC 收入的收取，以及我們先前工作的追趕性恢復，包括臨時利率減免。在整個計畫期內，我們的營運現金流持續成長，反映出我們代表客戶不斷增加的資本投資。

In total, we're forecasting $50 billion in operating cash flow from 2024 through 2028.

總體而言，我們預計 2024 年至 2028 年營運現金流將達到 500 億美元。

Turning to Slide 13. With $50 billion as the starting point, we are pleased to share our 5-year financing plan to support our $62 billion of capital investment. As Patti mentioned, our financing plan does not include the proposed Pac Gen minority interest sale, which would further strengthen what we're showing here.

轉向幻燈片 13。正如帕蒂所提到的，我們的融資計劃不包括擬議的 Pac Gen 少數股權出售，這將進一步加強我們在這裡展示的內容。

Now for the highlights. First, we plan to grow our dividend over the next 5 years. Given our commitment to prioritize customer capital investment in the near term, we anticipate growing the dividend more slowly at the front end of our plan, with the payout stepping up more quickly in the later years. In the meantime, we are benefiting from nearly $2.5 billion of annual retained earnings this year, and we consider this a valuable source of internally generated equity.

現在是亮點。首先，我們計劃在未來五年內增加股利。鑑於我們承諾在短期內優先考慮客戶資本投資，我們預計在計劃的前端會更緩慢地增加股息，而在隨後的幾年中支付會更快地增加。同時，我們今年也受惠於近 25 億美元的年度留存收益，我們認為這是內部產生股本的寶貴來源。

Second, we forecast incremental utility long-term debt needs of approximately $14 billion. Third, we continue with our plan to reduce our parent company debt by $2 billion by the end of 2026.

其次，我們預測公用事業長期債務增量需求約為 140 億美元。第三，我們繼續執行到 2026 年底將母公司債務減少 20 億美元的計畫。

finally, we are contemplating (inaudible) over the 2025 to 2028 planning horizon, likely through a routine ATM program. This supports our $62 billion of customer capital investment and our consistent earnings guidance of at least 10% this year and at least 9% each and every year through 2028. Importantly, our commitment to no new equity in 2024 remains firm.

最後，我們正在考慮（聽不清楚）2025 年至 2028 年的規劃範圍，可能是透過常規 ATM 計畫。這支持了我們 620 億美元的客戶資本投資，以及我們今年至少 10%、到 2028 年每年至少 9% 的持續盈利指導。

In developing this plan, we had several key objectives in mind for our customers and our investors. One, funding the significant safety and reliability investments our customers deserve; two, keeping customer bills affordable, and we gain 2% to 4% assumed inflation; three, delivering on our premium earnings per share growth; and four, achieving solid investment-grade ratings.

在製定該計劃時，我們為客戶和投資者考慮了幾個關鍵目標。第一，為我們的客戶應得的重大安全和可靠性投資提供資金；第二，讓客戶的帳單負擔得起，假設通膨率我們能獲得 2% 到 4% 的收益；三、實現每股盈餘的溢價成長；第四，實現穩健的投資等級。

We want to reinforce that final objective here on Slide 14. We're targeting investment-grade ratings at the corporate level. And since 2020, our ratings have improved steadily with all 3 agencies. We're now just 1 notch below investment grade at both Moody's and Fitch and on positive outlook at both. The recent improvements in our ratings are a function of demonstrated financial and operational progress since 2020, especially mitigating wildfire risk. Our 5-year financing plan is designed to build on the progress we've made in all of these areas and reflect our laser focus on improving the balance sheet.

我們希望在投影片 14 上強調這個最終目標。自 2020 年以來，我們在所有 3 個機構中的評級均穩步提高。目前，我們的評級僅比穆迪和惠譽的投資評級低 1 級，且兩者的前景都樂觀。我們最近評級的提高是自 2020 年以來所取得的財務和營運進展的結果，尤其是在減輕野火風險方面。我們的五年融資計劃旨在以我們在所有這些領域取得的進展為基礎，並反映出我們對改善資產負債表的高度關注。

And as a reminder, our operating cash flow increased $3 billion from $5 billion in 2023 to $8 billion in 2024 with continued growth through the planned period. This growing operating cash flow supports including credit metrics, including our mid-teens goal for FFO to debt. We also generate new investment dollars every year as we execute on our simple, affordable model, as shown here on Slide 15. I'll remind you that in 2023, we realized net cost gains of just over $500 million. mega bundling, which Patti discussed is just one more example of the wealth of opportunities we see here at PG&E to deliver more for our customers while keeping build growth in the 2% to 4% range.

需要提醒的是，我們的營運現金流從 2023 年的 50 億美元增加到 2024 年的 80 億美元，增加了 30 億美元，並在計畫期間持續成長。這種不斷增長的營運現金流支持包括信貸指標，包括我們的 FFO 債務比中十幾歲的目標。如投影片15 所示，當我們執行簡單、經濟實惠的模型時，我們每年還會產生新的投資資金。美元。帕蒂討論的巨型捆綁只是我們在 PG&E 看到的豐富機會的又一個例子，這些機會可以為我們的客戶提供更多服務，同時保持 2% 至 4% 範圍內的增長。

Moving to Slide 16. Our progress working with policymakers continues. Just during March, we saw a number of constructive regulatory decisions, which together, accelerate well over $1 billion of cash flow. On March 7, the CPUC approved interim rate release in the amount of $516 million, while our wildfire and gas safety cost application moves through the typical process.

轉向幻燈片 16。就在 3 月份，我們看到了許多建設性的監管決定，這些決定加起來加速了超過 10 億美元的現金流。 3 月 7 日，CPUC 批准了 5.16 億美元的臨時費率發放，而我們的野火和天然氣安全成本申請則按照典型流程進行。

Next, on March 15, the commission's Executive Director approved our request to delay until 2025, $650 million of contributions to the customer credit trust established as part of our great neutral securitization. And finally, on March 20, the commission issued a proposed decision denying the petition for modification filed by joint rate payers to suspend the formulae cost of capital adjustment mechanism for 2024. The proposed decision finds that the mechanism operated as intended, it also offers strong regulatory support for our return on equity.

接下來，3 月 15 日，委員會執行董事批准了我們的請求，將向客戶信用信託捐款 6.5 億美元推遲到 2025 年，該信託是我們偉大的中立證券化的一部分。最後，委員會於3 月20 日發布了一項擬議決定，駁回了聯合納稅人提出的暫停2024 年資本成本公式調整機制的修改申請。支持。

In terms of Pac Gen, we continue to believe this transaction is highly beneficial for customers. It has clear potential to lower bill while accelerating our return to investment grade and bringing them a partner to invest in these assets, which are key to California's energy transition. We'd appreciate the commission wanted to take some time from additional time before making a final decision.

就 Pac Gen 而言，我們仍然相信這筆交易對客戶來說非常有利。它具有降低帳單的明顯潛力，同時加速我們恢復投資級別，並為他們帶來投資這些資產的合作夥伴，這是加州能源轉型的關鍵。我們希望委員會能夠在做出最終決定之前多花一些時間。

Looking ahead, as you know, the California legislature has passed a series of constructive measures, which have the potential to add upside to our plan and important benefits to our customers. This legislation, including Senate Bill 410 and 84 continue to move through the regulatory implementation stages. Regarding SB 410, our proposed decision in Phase 2 of our general rate case, which we're now calling the capacity phase is scheduled for later this quarter. This would authorize CapEx to support energization incremental to what was approved in our GRC.

展望未來，如您所知，加州立法機構已經通過了一系列建設性措施，這些措施有可能為我們的計劃增加優勢，並為我們的客戶帶來重要利益。這項立法，包括參議院第 410 號和第 84 號法案，繼續進入監管實施階段。關於 SB 410，我們在一般費率案例第二階段（我們現在稱之為容量階段）中提出的決定計劃於本季稍後進行。這將授權資本支出支援在 GRC 中批准的增量能源。

Regarding SB 884 on March 7, the commission approved of resolution establishing CPUC guidelines for approving under-grounding plans. We remain prepared to file our 10-year under-grounding plans later this year when our safety regulator is ready to accept our submission.

關於 3 月 7 日的 SB 884，委員會批准了製定 CPUC 批准地下計畫指南的決議。我們仍然準備在今年稍後提交我們的 10 年地下計劃，屆時我們的安全監管機構已準備好接受我們的提交。

I'll end here on Slide 17, with a reminder of our value proposition: 9.5% great base growth through 2028, at least $5 billion of incremental investment opportunities, at least 10% core earnings per share growth in 2024 and at least 9% in 2025 through 2028. Growing momentum around credit ratings with 2 agencies, Moody's and Fitch now just 1 notch below investment grade and with positive outlook and the continued consistent execution of our simple affordable model, delivering both for our customers and you, our investors.

我將在投影片17 上結束，提醒我們的價值主張：到2028 年實現9.5% 的巨大基礎成長，至少50 億美元的增量投資機會，2024 年每股核心收益成長至少10%，以及至少9 % 2025 年至2028 年。您（我們的投資者）帶來好處。

With that, I'll hand it back to Patti.

說完，我會把它交還給帕蒂。

Thanks, Carolyn. As I reflect on the progress we've made over the last 3 years, just imagine our performance in the next (inaudible). With the wildfire-related legal and regulatory protections in place and with our physical and financial risk mitigation progress, well understood and managed, we look to the energy transition in front of us and see nothing but opportunities.

謝謝，卡洛琳。當我反思我們過去 3 年的進步時，想像一下我們接下來的表現（聽不清楚）。隨著與野火相關的法律和監管保護措施的到位，以及我們在物理和財務風險緩解方面取得的進展，以及良好的理解和管理，我們展望眼前的能源轉型，除了機會之外什麼也沒有。

The future California energy system calls on PG&E to deliver the clean electricity of the future. Growth will fuel the simple affordable model and California's economy. We can't wait to share more with you at the New York Stock Exchange for our investor update on June 12.

未來的加州能源系統需要 PG&E 提供未來的清潔電力。成長將推動簡單的負擔得起的模式和加州的經濟。我們迫不及待地想在紐約證券交易所與您分享更多 6 月 12 日投資者動態的資訊。

With that, operator, please open the line for questions.

那麼，接線員，請開通提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question is from the line of Shahriar Pourreza with Guggenheim Partners.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Shahriar Pourreza 和 Guggenheim Partners 的線路。

Patti just running off on the new financing disclosures. Can we maybe elaborate sort of on the timing of equity needs and the levers to manage the equity needs over time. The $2.5 billion dividend use of funds implies kind of a big step up from the current levels. So is the timing and the amount of the dividend, kind of a lever to minimize dilutive equity? And do you assume -- have an assumption around getting to IG status at the parent as a potential headroom for the equity needs?

帕蒂剛剛披露了新的融資資訊。我們能否詳細說明股權需求的時機以及隨著時間的推移管理股權需求的槓桿。 25 億美元的股息資金使用意味著比目前的水準有了很大的進步。那麼，股利的時間和金額是否是一種盡量減少稀釋股權的槓桿？您是否假設—是否有一個關於獲得母公司的 IG 地位作為股權需求的潛在空間的假設？

Sure, Carolyn. So I'm going to take that. So thanks for the question. There's a lot to unpack there. So let me just maybe start from the fact that we intentionally built a very reasonable -- potentially built our plan to assume a reasonable balance of utility debt, parent company debt, dividend growth and a routine equity financing.

當然，卡羅琳。所以我要接受這個。謝謝你的提問。那裡有很多東西需要解壓。因此，讓我也許從這樣一個事實開始：我們有意制定了一個非常合理的計劃，可能製定了一個計劃，以實現公用事業債務、母公司債務、股息增長和常規股權融資的合理平衡。

Importantly, the plan is consistent with our earnings guidance of 10% in 2024 and at least 90% in 2025 to 2028. We -- as we look at the plan, a couple of things, we will remain focused on accessing the most efficient finance decisions. The plan does introduce a routine ATM program. So in routine, I think that what you can expect from that is sort of a ratable program over the course of our plan. That's the assumption.

重要的是，該計劃與我們2024 年10% 的盈利指引一致，2025 年至2028 年至少90% 的盈利指引一致。有效的融資決定。該計劃確實引入了常規 ATM 程序。因此，在日常工作中，我認為您可以期望在我們的計劃過程中獲得一個可評級的計劃。這就是假設。

And then on the dividend, we did give you a number of $2.5 billion. And what we said to expect from the dividends is that we will grow it more slowly in the front end of our 5-year plan and then it will ramp up over the course of the 5-year plan. So I think that's how we're thinking about the balance between all of those elements of the plan.

然後在股息方面，我們確實給了你們 25 億美元。我們所說的對股息的期望是，我們將在五年計劃的前期以更緩慢的速度增長股息，然後在五年計劃的過程中逐步增加。所以我認為這就是我們考慮計劃中所有這些要素之間的平衡的方式。

On IG status, we continue to make good progress there and we can talk about that in detail in a bit. But yes, the plan assumes that we continue to make progress on our credit metrics.

在 IG 狀態方面，我們繼續取得良好進展，我們可以詳細討論一下。但是，是的，該計劃假設我們繼續在信用指標方面取得進展。

Got it. Perfect. And then just maybe just top level, and I appreciate that, Carolyn. Patti, on just -- do you have any sort of thoughts on kind of the [Buffet] letter on sector wildfire risk, I mean, obviously caused a bit of a stir, painted everyone kind of in that same brush. It hasn't arguably helped valuation levels for a lot of the West Coast Pacific Northwest names. I guess it's certainly -- just I guess any thoughts there on how we should be thinking about that because it's a question that we get a lot in [bounce]?

知道了。完美的。然後也許只是頂級水平，我很感激，卡羅琳。派蒂，您對有關部門野火風險的[自助餐]信有什麼想法嗎？可以說，這並沒有提高西海岸太平洋西北地區許多公司的估值水準。我想這是肯定的——只是我想我們應該如何思考這個問題，因為這是我們在[反彈]中得到很多的問題？

Yes. Shar, thank you for asking that question because frankly, I think [Buffet] got it wrong in California. California has done the hard work to mitigate both physical and financial risk. When I think about the physical risk reductions and the wildfire mitigation that we have in place, we reduced 94% of our wildfire risk, and that remaining 6% is protected with all of our situational awareness and the investments that the state has made and CAL FIRE's ability to respond. Our weather stations that have AI-enabled cameras that are often the first notification, the first responders. We used to have to wait for a citizen to notice smoke and call it in.

是的。莎爾，謝謝你問這個問題，因為坦白說，我認為 [巴菲特] 在加州搞錯了。加州為降低實體和財務風險做出了艱苦的努力。當我想到我們已經採取的物理風險降低和野火緩解措施時，我們降低了 94% 的野火風險，而剩下的 6% 則通過我們所有的態勢感知以及州政府和 CAL 的投資得到了保護FIRE的反應能力。我們的氣象站配備了人工智慧攝像頭，它們通常是第一個通知、第一個響應者。我們過去必須等待公民注意到煙霧並報警。

Now we have technology that is the backbone of our wildfire mitigations and the incredible work that we're doing to rebuild our infrastructure to the new climate standards and to the new extreme weather is something we're very proud of. But then you combine that with AB 1054 in the financial risk mitigation. There is -- we -- investors are able to invest in California. The wildfire risk exposure for an investor is restricted to the $50 million deductible of our self-insurance. $50 million deductible of our self-insurance. It's important for investors to know that. And the wildfire fund with $21 billion of claim capacity, we just revealed today that we've extended the life of that fund for 20 years, up from 15 because AB 1054 and our physical risk reduction is working.

現在，我們擁有的技術是我們減輕野火的支柱，我們為重建基礎設施以適應新的氣候標準和新的極端天氣而所做的令人難以置信的工作是我們感到非常自豪的事情。但是，您可以將其與 AB 1054 結合起來，以減輕財務風險。我們——投資者能夠在加州投資。投資者的野火風險敞口僅限於我們自我保險的 5,000 萬美元免賠額。我們的自我保險免賠額為 5000 萬美元。投資人了解這一點很重要。對於擁有 210 億美元索賠能力的野火基金，我們今天剛剛透露，我們已將該基金的壽命從 15 年延長了 20 年，因為 AB 1054 和我們的實體風險降低措施正在發揮作用。

So I can just share that, Shar, I think California is very much investable. And I think PG&E specifically has put us in a position, the citizens of California have never been safer from wildfire risk. And I think that investors will soon come to believe that and definitely should not be swayed by a broad brush about all Western states. California is notably unique.

所以我可以分享一下，Shar，我認為加州非常值得投資。我認為 PG&E 特別讓我們處於這樣一個位置：加州公民從未像現在這樣安全地免受野火風險。我認為投資者很快就會相信這一點，並且絕對不應該被所有西方國家的籠統影響所動搖。加州的情況尤其獨特。

No for many of us, that's obvious, but for a lot of us, it may not be so. Thank you so much for the clarity.

對我們許多人來說不，這是顯而易見的，但對我們許多人來說，情況可能並非如此。非常感謝您的澄清。

Your next question is from the line of Steve Fleishman with Wolfe.

你的下一個問題來自史蒂夫·弗萊什曼（Steve Fleishman）和沃爾夫（Wolfe）的對話。

On the -- just a clarification on the dividend comment. When you talk about slower kind of early and then ramping up, is that kind of more on a cents per share basis or a percent basis? Because obviously, the dividend's low -- a little bit of increased big percent. So just want to see if you can clarify that?

關於——只是對股息評論的澄清。當您談論早期放緩然後加速時，這種增長是按每股美分計算還是按百分比計算？因為顯然，股息很低——有一點點增加了很大的百分比。所以只是想看看你能否澄清這一點？

Yes. I mean I think our intent is to have a competitive payout ratio over the long term, right? And our financing here with the 5 years is that we intend to make meaningful progress towards having that competitive payout ratio. So when we think about it, you're right, yes, we're going to start slower.

是的。我的意思是，我認為我們的目的是長期擁有有競爭力的支付率，對吧？我們在這五年的融資中打算在實現具有競爭力的支付率方面取得有意義的進展。所以當我們思考這個問題時，你是對的，是的，我們會開始放慢速度。

So we think about it in terms of percent or we really haven't revealed that or talked about that publicly. But I think the key is that we're going to go slower in current half of our 5-year plan because we're, again, committed to prioritizing customer capital investment. And then on the back end, it will go -- it will ramp up more quickly.

因此，我們以百分比來考慮，或者我們確實沒有透露或公開談論過這一點。但我認為關鍵是我們將在五年計畫的當前一半放慢腳步，因為我們再次致力於優先考慮客戶資本投資。然後在後端，它會加速——它會加速得更快。

Yes. And Steve, when I think about that dividend payout, combined with our sector-leading EPS growth, we feel that's a pretty compelling investment thesis. So we look forward to layering that on top of our -- already forecast at least 9% EPS growth in '25 through '28.

是的。史蒂夫，當我想到股息支付，再加上我們行業領先的每股收益成長時，我們認為這是一個非常引人注目的投資論點。因此，我們期待將這一點放在我們已經預測的 25 年至 28 年每股收益至少成長 9% 的基礎上。

Got it. And then a question on the FFO to debt in the mid-teens. With that operating cash flow improving, is it fair to say maybe mid-teens can be kind of a wide range? Is it fair to say you're kind of improving within the mid-teens ratio over the period? Yes.

知道了。然後是關於 FFO 債務的問題。隨著經營現金流的改善，可以公平地說，十幾歲左右的範圍可能會很寬嗎？可以公平地說，在此期間，您的比例在十幾歲左右的範圍內有所改善嗎？是的。

Yes. I think that's fair. We've not changed our FFO. We haven't changed any of our guidance for 2024. So we remain on target with our capital investment and our lean O&M savings and our EPS growth and the FFO to debt. And as our operating cash flow increases and again, it increases $3 billion just from '23 to '24, but then you see it continuing to increase, we would -- this is what's driving our balance sheet health and improving our credit metrics over the plan period.

是的。我認為這是公平的。我們沒有改變我們的 FFO。我們沒有改變 2024 年的任何指引。隨著我們的經營現金流量不斷增加，從23 年到24 年就增加了30 億美元，但隨後你會看到它繼續增加，我們會——這就是推動我們的資產負債表健康並改善我們的信用指標的原因計畫期。

Okay. And then one last question, just a topic to your data centers. And I know Santa Clara is one of the biggest current data center area. So just -- I think when you came out with your initial plan for low growth, data centers were probably not as front and center of that. But Patti, I'm curious just how you're thinking about that now? And just are you in a position to be able to kind of get them served, so to speak, with power on a timely basis?

好的。最後一個問題，只是您的資料中心的一個主題。我知道聖克拉拉是目前最大的資料中心區域之一。所以，我認為，當您提出最初的低成長計劃時，資料中心可能不是其中的首要和中心。但是派蒂，我很好奇你現在是怎麼想的？可以這麼說，你是否能夠及時為他們提供服務？

Yes. Great question, Steve. And I'll share a couple of thoughts. One, I think we will definitely be one of the big ancillary winners of the demand growth for data centers as well as electric transportation given our state policies and electrification of the state, the decarbonizing of our energy system.

是的。好問題，史蒂夫。我將分享一些想法。第一，鑑於我們的國家政策和國家電氣化以及能源系統的脫碳，我認為我們肯定會成為資料中心和電動交通需求成長的主要贏家之一。

But I do want to just tell a quick story. I was -- I had a visit to our (inaudible), which is one of the critical substations, transmission substations across the nation. And we invited some customers to come. And when I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see AWS, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Equinix, Cisco, Western Digital Semiconductors, Tesla, all in attendance. These are our customers that we serve who want us to serve more.

但我確實想講一個簡短的故事。我參觀了我們的（聽不清楚）全國最重要的變電站之一——輸電變電站。我們邀請了一些客戶來。當我到達那裡時，我驚訝地看到AWS、微軟、蘋果、谷歌、Equinix、思科、西部資料半導體、特斯拉都出席了會議。這些是我們服務的客戶，他們希望我們提供更多服務。

And they were very clear that they would build where if we can provide. And so we're working on a plan that's going to be a big part of what we share in New York at Investor Day. We really want people to come out and see what the future looks like. I'm so proud of this team here at PG&E, who has been able to mitigate the near-term risk of physical and financial risk of wildfire so that we can now play our rightful position in the industry and in the nation as a leader in the clean energy transition.

他們非常清楚，如果我們能夠提供，他們會在哪裡建造。因此，我們正在製定一項計劃，該計劃將成為我們在紐約投資者日分享的內容的重要組成部分。我們真的希望人們走出來看看未來會是什麼樣子。我為 PG&E 的這個團隊感到非常自豪，他們能夠減輕野火的近期物理和財務風險，這樣我們現在就可以在行業和國家中發揮應有的地位，成為火災領域的領導者。

Our state has ambitious goals. We're going to be the energy provider to fuel those ambitious goals and data centers are a piece of the puzzle.

我們的國家有雄心勃勃的目標。我們將成為能源供應商，為這些雄心勃勃的目標提供動力，而資料中心就是這個難題的一部分。

I'll also just add 1 recent publication from CISO shared. CISO forecast an additional 120 gigawatts of clean electricity to be added in the next 20 years in California. That's 120 gigawatts on top of our 67 gigawatt system today.

我還將新增 CISO 共享的最近 1 篇出版品。 CISO 預測未來 20 年加州將新增 120 吉瓦的清潔電力。在我們今天 67 吉瓦的系統之上，這相當於 120 吉瓦。

That is a 2x increase. And we are going to be the energy provider here in California, the transmission load that comes with that, we're in a position to win on the clean energy transition and so is California. And one last -- this data point I'll share with you, Steve. We forecast that as we decarbonize the economy and reduce carbon emissions by 70%, we forecast a reduction in household energy spend.

即增加了 2 倍。我們將成為加州的能源供應商，隨之而來的傳輸負載，我們有能力贏得清潔能源轉型，加州也是如此。最後一點——我將與您分享這一數據點，史蒂夫。我們預測，隨著經濟脫碳並將碳排放量減少 70%，家庭能源支出也會減少。

In the neighborhood of 20% to 30%, household energy spend reduction as we decarbonize the economy because electricity is a more efficient fuel than gasoline. That is a win for citizens. That's a win for the planet. And certainly, that's a win for PCG investors.

隨著經濟脫碳，家庭能源支出會減少 20% 到 30%，因為電力是比汽油更有效的燃料。這對公民來說是一場勝利。這是地球的勝利。當然，這對 PCG 投資者來說是一場勝利。

Your next question is from the line of Nicholas Campanella with Barclays.

你的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的尼古拉斯·坎帕內拉（Nicholas Campanella）。

Appreciate everything on the financing plan. I guess, can you talk about how this kind of takes into account your views on the authorized cap structure and the operating company, just knowing that you have that waiver through '25. Do you kind of continue to assume that you get back to that over time? Or how should we kind of think about that?

欣賞融資計劃中的一切。我想，您能否談談這種方式如何考慮您對授權上限結構和經營公司的看法，只要知道您在 25 年之前擁有豁免。你是否繼續認為隨著時間的推移你會回到那個狀態？或者說我們該如何思考這個問題？

Yes. Nick, thanks for the question. So what's important about our plan is that it solves for 2 things. First is the $62 billion of customer capital but it also does solve for meeting our regulatory and balance sheet targets, including the 52% utility equity ratio by mid-2025, which is when the waiver expires. Does that answer your question? I think so.

是的。尼克，謝謝你的提問。所以我們的計劃的重要之處在於它解決了兩件事。首先是 620 億美元的客戶資本，但它也確實解決了滿足我們的監管和資產負債表目標的問題，包括到 2025 年中期（即豁免到期時）公用事業股本比例達到 52%。這是否回答你的問題？我想是這樣。

It does. I appreciate that. And then I guess just on (inaudible). I think the liability is $1.6 billion, and I'm just thinking about your prepared remarks about AB 1054 framework. And maybe you can kind of walk us through the process of when you file up the administrator or the time line (inaudible), if any? And how is your going to be thinking about funds potential against that liability?

確實如此。我很感激。然後我猜就在（聽不清楚）。我認為負債是 16 億美元，我只是在考慮您準備好的有關 AB 1054 框架的評論。也許您可以引導我們完成向管理員或時間軸（聽不清楚）（如果有）進行歸檔的過程？您將如何考慮針對該負債的資金潛力？

Yes. So just to update you on the numbers. So at the end of Q1, we have paid out cash settlements of about $870 million we cannot tap the earthquake fund until we've actually cash settled $1 billion in settlements. We expect to hit that $1 billion over the course of the summer. And we've been having continued conversations with the earthquake authority to ensure that, that is as smooth of a claims process as possible.

是的。只是為了向您提供最新的數字。因此，在第一季末，我們已經支付了約 8.7 億美元的現金和解金，在我們實際支付了 10 億美元的現金和解金之前，我們無法動用地震基金。我們預計今年夏天的銷售額將達到 10 億美元。我們一直在與地震當局進行持續對話，以確保索賠過程盡可能順利。

Yes, it's $1.6 billion. A couple of things other to note is that, one, the statute of limitations on Dixie runs out in October. And the earthquake authority actually booked a $600 million loss on their books for payout. And so it's just -- it's very -- we've been working very closely with them. I think we're expecting a very smooth process at this point in time. And I think I answered all your questions there, so I'd leave anything else.

是的，是 16 億美元。其他需要注意的幾件事是，第一，Dixie 的訴訟時效將於 10 月到期。地震當局實際上在其帳簿上記入了 6 億美元的損失以進行賠償。所以我們一直在與他們密切合作。我認為我們目前期望一個非常順利的過程。我想我已經回答了你們所有的問題，所以我會留下其他的東西。

Your next question is from the line of Carly Davenport with Goldman Sachs.

您的下一個問題來自高盛的卡莉·達文波特。

Maybe just on Pac Gen. Can you just refresh us on kind of the next steps to watch there? Obviously, you mentioned it got held at the last meeting until potentially May 9. So just what should we be watching on that front?

也許就在 Pac Gen 上。顯然，您提到上次會議可能會持續到 5 月 9 日。

Yes. At this point, as you know, we did submit comments and we requested a supplemental phase. And as you stated, the PD is held until the -- at least the May 9 CPUC meeting. We don't know yet whether they're going to agree to our request to come forward with more information, including the identity of our minority partner. But we appreciate that the CPUC is taking more time to finalize this decision.

是的。如您所知，此時我們確實提交了意見，並要求進行補充階段。正如您所說，PD 會持續到至少 5 月 9 日的 CPUC 會議為止。我們還不知道他們是否會同意我們提供更多資訊的要求，包括我們少數派合作夥伴的身份。但我們感謝 CPUC 花費更多時間來完成這項決定。

And we're going to use that time, obviously, to advocate because we continue to believe that Pac Gen is highly beneficial for our customers. It brings affordability to the bills. It helps accelerate our return to investment grade. And importantly, it brings in a partner who's going to help us grow these assets that are critical to California's energy transition.

顯然，我們將利用這段時間進行宣傳，因為我們仍然相信 Pac Gen 對我們的客戶非常有利。它帶來了賬單的負擔能力。它有助於加快我們恢復投資等級的速度。重要的是，它帶來了一個合作夥伴，他將幫助我們發展這些對加州能源轉型至關重要的資產。

So at this point in time, we're -- we believe Pac Gen is a good transaction. We're going to continue to advocate for it, and we are waiting for the final decision or an approval to do the second phase. I will just add that we provided our financing plan. Again, I'll note that it was without Pac Gen. But with Pac Gen, that current plan would certainly be strengthened.

所以在這個時候，我們相信 Pac Gen 是一筆很好的交易。我們將繼續倡導它，我們正在等待最終決定或批准進行第二階段。我只想補充一點，我們提供了融資計劃。再次，我會指出，這是沒有 Pac Gen 的情況。

Got it. I appreciate that color. And then maybe just on the balance sheet, thanks for the commentary before on the FFO to debt levels. Just curious what your latest views are on sort of the milestones or the time line to get back to the IG rating?

知道了。我很欣賞那種顏色。然後也許只是在資產負債表上，感謝先前對 FFO 債務水準的評論。只是好奇您對恢復 IG 評級的里程碑或時間表的最新看法是什麼？

Yes. Both -- thanks for the question. We're very proud of the progress that we've made there and rating agencies, both Moody's and Fitch have us just 1 notch below investment grade and have us on positive outlook. Both have indicated that they're continuing to look at the way we -- our wildfire risk mitigation. And as Patti has noted that we continue to make really good progress there. And so we would expect another action by both of them over the course of the next 12 months.

是的。兩位——謝謝你的提問。我們對我們在這方面取得的進展感到非常自豪，穆迪和惠譽等評級機構均給予我們僅比投資等級低 1 級的評級，並給予我們積極的前景。兩人都表示，他們正在繼續研究我們減輕野火風險的方式。正如帕蒂指出的那樣，我們繼續在這方面取得了良好的進展。因此，我們預計他們將在接下來的 12 個月內採取另一項行動。

And I think they're both looking at maybe another season and our financial metrics continue to improve, and they're continuing to watch those as well.

我認為他們都在考慮下一個賽季，我們的財務指標繼續改善，他們也繼續關注這些。

Your next question is from the line of Jeremy Tonet with JPMorgan Securities.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通證券的 Jeremy Tonet。

Just wanted to come back to the financing plan a little bit more, if I could, parsing through there. And just want to make sure I understood things right, think about the right way. If I think about the holdco debt, our understanding is it's more of a commitment to pay down as opposed to an obligation, which would seem to imply some flexibility there. And if that is the case, how do you weigh that versus, I guess, equity dilution or even capital deployment pace? Just wondering how this all kind of mixed together. It seems like that could be a lever to reduce (inaudible) there, Pac Gen doesn't materialize as hoped.

如果可以的話，我只是想再回到融資計劃上來，在那裡進行解析。只是想確保我正確理解事情，以正確的方式思考。如果我考慮控股公司債務，我們的理解是，它更多的是償還債務的承諾，而不是義務，這似乎意味著那裡有一定的靈活性。如果是這樣的話，我想你如何權衡股權稀釋甚至資本部署速度？只是想知道這一切是如何混合在一起的。看起來這可能是一個減少（聽不清楚）的槓桿，Pac Gen 並沒有像希望的那樣實現。

Again, the plan assumes that does not include Pac Gen. Pac Gen would only strengthen the plan. That's number one. Number two, the plan does include paying down $2 billion of parent debt by the end of 2026. And so again, we are managing a couple of things in this plan. As you said, our capital investments. We have more capital than needs on the system than our plan of $62 billion.

同樣，該計劃假設不包括 Pac Gen。這是第一名。第二，該計劃確實包括在 2026 年底前償還 20 億美元的母公司債務。正如你所說，我們的資本投資。我們的資本超出了系統的需求，超出了我們 620 億美元的計劃。

We are managing the equity -- the utility equity ratio of 52%. So -- but what's really important as we look at equity, I just -- again, we'll say that we will always look to access the most efficient financing alternatives, and we'll be very mindful of market conditions. And so I think those are the key points to be mindful about. Does that answer your question?

我們管理的股權－公用事業股權比例為52%。所以，但當我們考慮股權時，真正重要的是，我再次強調，我們將始終尋求最有效的融資替代方案，我們將非常關注市場狀況。所以我認為這些都是需要注意的關鍵點。這是否回答你的問題？

Got it. Yes, just curious if I had the understanding of the holdco debt paydown being a commitment, not an obligation.

知道了。是的，只是好奇我是否理解控股公司債務償還是一種承諾，而不是義務。

P That's right. It's a commitment. We're -- and as we said, we're very focused on our balance sheet health and reaching investment-grade status.

P 沒錯。這是一個承諾。正如我們所說，我們非常關注資產負債表的健康狀況並達到投資等級狀態。

Got it. That's helpful there. And then maybe just kind of pivoting here, given continued national attention wildfires and everything that's happened as discussed on the call, could you talk to PCG's kind of leadership role in the industry engagement with peers to socialize best practices? Clearly, PCG has really advanced in this mitigation and wondering how you think about your role within the industry at this point?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後，考慮到全國持續關注的野火以及電話會議中討論的所有發生的事情，您能否談談 PCG 在與同行進行行業互動以社交化最佳實踐方面的領導角色？顯然，PCG 在這項緩解措施方面確實取得了進展，想知道您目前如何看待自己在業界的角色？

Yes, Jeremy, thanks for asking the question. We feel compelled to play our part. We've learned a lot through some tough times. And so it would be a shame if we didn't share those learnings with others, just like other energy and utility providers have shared with us, and we have learned from them. So we do feel that we can play an important role nationally.

是的，傑里米，謝謝你提出這個問題。我們感到有必要發揮自己的作用。透過一些艱難時期，我們學到了很多。因此，如果我們不與其他人分享這些經驗，就像其他能源和公用事業提供者與我們分享並且我們從他們身上學習一樣，那將是一種恥辱。所以我們確實覺得我們可以在全國範圍內發揮重要作用。

I do think California can serve as an important model for how perhaps a regional or national solution might be able to be implemented. California has scale on its side so we can have a regulatory and financial protection that goes with our physical protections. But at some of our smaller states might benefit from a national solution. And we certainly will have a voice in that.

我確實認為加州可以作為如何實施區域或國家解決方案的重要典範。加州擁有一定的規模，因此我們可以擁有與我們的實體保護相符的監管和財務保護。但在我們的一些較小的州可能會受益於國家解決方案。我們當然會在這方面擁有發言權。

I'm thankful for EEI as a good platform where we work together as an industry. It's one of the things I love about this industry that we share lessons with one another. We've been spending time together in the recent months, learning from each other and sharing best practices. And so we will continue to do that, and I do believe that PG&E and I intend to personally work hard to make sure that the nation learns the lessons that we've learned.

我感謝 EEI 作為一個我們作為一個產業共同合作的良好平台。我喜歡這個行業的原因之一就是我們互相分享經驗教訓。近幾個月來，我們一直在一起，互相學習並分享最佳實踐。因此，我們將繼續這樣做，我確實相信 PG&E 和我個人打算努力工作，以確保國家吸取我們所學到的教訓。

We've taken a stand here at PG&E that catastrophic wildfire shall stop. And when we took that stance, some people thought we were a little overzealous, but I see that stand coming to life every day. And we didn't say in California or we didn't say California -- or catastrophic wildfire caused by PG&E's equipment, we think catastrophic wildfire shall stop, just like the nation learned to mitigate risk of earthquake and hurricanes, we can learn to mitigate the effects of drought that cause wildfire conditions.

我們 PG&E 已表明立場，災難性的野火將會停止。當我們採取這一立場時，有些人認為我們有點過於熱心，但我看到這種立場每天都在變得生氣勃勃。我們沒有說在加州，或者我們沒有說加州——或者由PG&E 的設備引起的災難性野火，我們認為災難性野火將會停止，就像國家學會了減輕地震和颶風的風險一樣，我們也可以學習減輕導致野火的乾旱影響。

And so we certainly will be active nationally to help others know. And I'm just gratified by the people of California who have done the hard work to put in the mitigations that exist today here as we speak, that we don't have to wait for those mitigations to be in place. They exist here in California today, and they serve as a blueprint for the nation.

因此，我們當然會在全國範圍內積極幫助其他人了解情況。我對加州人民感到滿意，他們付出了辛勤的努力，落實了今天這裡存在的緩解措施，我們不必等待這些緩解措施到位。它們今天存在於加利福尼亞州，它們是國家的藍圖。

Got it. That's very helpful. And just want to go a little bit more with that. I guess, on the national level, how do you think about the potential for some national policy here? Conversations really starting, moving in earnest or how do you think about the possibility of that over time?

知道了。這非常有幫助。只是想多做一點。我想，在國家層級上，您如何看待某些國家政策的潛力？對話真正開始，認真進行，或者您如何看待隨著時間的推移這種情況的可能性？

Yes. I think there is a possibility. I think one of the things we lack at the national level is a national safety regulator for wildfire. Like we have FEMSA on the gas pipeline. FEMSA did a great job of bringing together all the parties and establishing safe practices that have then been implemented nationwide that regulators can look to and know that their utilities are not gold plating, but their utilities are doing the recommended safety standards.

是的。我認為有可能。我認為我們在國家層級缺乏的事情之一是國家野火安全監管機構。就像我們在天然氣管道上有 FEMSA 一樣。 FEMSA 做得很好，將所有各方聚集在一起，建立了安全實踐，然後在全國範圍內實施，監管機構可以查看並知道他們的公用事業公司並未鍍金，但他們的公用事業公司正在執行建議的安全標準。

We need the same thing on the electric side. So I do think that's something that we're having a lot of conversation about who is that appropriate safety regulator and how do we establish standards because right now, plaintiff's attorneys are setting the standards and they use whatever the highest standard that someone else did, and that might not be the appropriate standard in certain states. And so we want to make sure that the safety standards are clear, and then some sort of national fund makes a lot of sense to us that mirrors the California fund that exists today.

我們在電力方面也需要同樣的東西。所以我確實認為我們正在就誰是合適的安全監管機構以及我們如何制定標準進行很多對話，因為現在原告的律師正在製定標準，他們使用其他人使用的最高標準，在某些州，這可能不是適當的標準。因此，我們希望確保安全標準明確，然後某種國家基金對我們來說很有意義，這反映了當今存在的加州基金。

Your next question is from the line of Gregg Orrill with UBS.

您的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Gregg Orrill。

Just maybe a clarification, please, on the equity guidance of sort of up to $3 billion. What would change that? Or should we just think about the $3 billion? And then is there -- should we also sort of assume that the FFO to debt metrics continue to show improvement through the plan? Or is there a plateauing there?

請對高達 30 億美元的股權指導進行澄清。什麼會改變這一點？或者我們應該只考慮這 30 億美元？那麼，我們是否也應該假設 FFO 與債務指標透過該計劃繼續顯示出改善？或者那裡有穩定期嗎？

Yes. I think let me just take the second one first, and then we can go back. I think on the FFO to debt, as we mentioned answering Steve's question. So yes, so our FFO to debt does is one, we -- one we're hitting our target for this year. And two, as you look at our operating cash flow, that's where I really draw your attention to. You can see that our operating cash flow continues to improve throughout the 5-year plan. And our FFO to debt is really improving across the plan as our operating cash flow improves.

是的。我想我先拿第二個，然後我們就可以回去了。正如我們在回答 Steve 的問題時所提到的，我認為 FFO 與債務有關。所以，是的，所以我們的 FFO 與債務之比確實是一個，我們正在實現今年的目標。第二，當您查看我們的營運現金流時，這就是我真正提請您注意的地方。您可以看到，在整個五年計畫中，我們的營運現金流持續改善。隨著我們經營現金流的改善，我們的 FFO 債務比率在整個計劃中確實有所改善。

So you can see that. Now does it plateau? We haven't given you that information at this point in time. No, the $3 billion in equity is what's in our plan. That is the amount. And how you should think about that, as we've said, is that we will be very mindful of market conditions, and we will always be looking to access the most efficient financing alternatives available to us. And I think that's the bottom line. Is there any other question on that?

所以你可以看到這一點。現在已經趨於平穩了嗎？目前我們還沒有向您提供該資訊。不，30 億美元的股本是我們計畫中的內容。這就是金額。正如我們所說，您應該如何看待這一點，我們將非常關注市場狀況，並且我們將始終尋求獲得最有效的融資替代方案。我認為這是底線。對此還有其他問題嗎？

No. Understood. Got it.

不，明白了。知道了。

Your next question is from the line of Ryan Levine with Citi.

您的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Ryan Levine。

In terms of cost-cutting initiatives, how much visibility do you have in achieving your goals? I know you've been making a lot of progress there, but trying to get a sense of how many quarters or years out you have line of sight to achieving these (inaudible) goals?

在削減成本措施方面，您對實現目標的可見度有多少？我知道您在這方面已經取得了很大進展，但想了解您有多少個季度或幾年的時間來實現這些（聽不清楚）目標？

Ryan, this is my favorite question. Thank you for asking it. We -- I swear, we have unlimited line of sight for places where we can continue to do more for customers at a lower unit cost. And I have the most gratifying visit this week to a place in Dublin, California, where we say we're reinventing inspections, where the team was completely data-driven and focused on how can we do the right inspections that predict the right failures and do the right repairs at a lower cost using technology and process design.

瑞安，這是我最喜歡的問題。謝謝你的提問。我發誓，我們擁有無限的視野，可以繼續以更低的單位成本為客戶提供更多服務。本週我對加州都柏林的一個地方進行了最令人滿意的訪問，我們說我們正在重塑檢查，那裡的團隊完全由數據驅動，專注於我們如何進行正確的檢查來預測正確的故障和利用技術和流程設計以較低的成本進行正確的維修。

And it was just unbelievable how fast this team is learning to embrace our lean operating system and our performance playbook our safety management system, combined with our lean operating place and our breakthrough thinking is unlocking extraordinary ideas from this team. And I am so proud of what I see them doing and I can see that we are just getting started. I have a lot of experience in this area, and it has long been my experience that no process is ever finished. That we will always find ways to improve what we do, do it smarter, do it for less, save customers' money while we're improving the service we deliver to them.

令人難以置信的是，這個團隊學習接受我們的精實作業系統、績效手冊、安全管理系統的速度有多快，再加上我們的精實營運環境和突破性思維，正在從這個團隊中釋放出非凡的想法。我為我看到他們所做的事情感到非常自豪，我可以看到我們才剛剛開始。我在這方面有很多經驗，而且我長期以來的經驗是，沒有一個過程是永遠不會完成的。我們將始終找到方法來改善我們的工作，做得更聰明，做得更少，節省客戶的錢，同時改善我們為他們提供的服務。

And we are just unlocking that potential. We are in the first inning of unlocking that potential here at PG&E, and it has the opportunity to provide benefits for customers for decades to come.

我們正在釋放這種潛能。我們正處於 PG&E 釋放這一潛力的第一階段，它有機會在未來幾十年為客戶提供利益。

Great. And then one on financing to the extent you're able to comment. So with the stated intention, correct me if I'm not hearing this correctly around a programmatic ATM starting in '25. To the extent that Pac Gen were to be monetized in some way or form. Would that -- is that viewed to be direct offset to equity? Or are there other considerations that we should take in mind?

偉大的。然後是關於融資的問題，您可以發表評論。因此，出於上述意圖，如果我在 25 年開始的程序化 ATM 上沒有正確聽到這一點，請糾正我。在某種程度上，Pac Gen 將以某種方式或形式貨幣化。這是否會被視為直接抵消股權？或者我們還應該考慮其他因素嗎？

Yes, I wouldn't necessarily assume that. I think, one, a Pac Gen approval certainly strengthens the plan. And so it's better for our balance sheet, and it's better for our customers. It's going to allow us to consider a number of different elements in the current plan, but particularly how much customer work we get done, because as we've said, we have more customer work than the $62 billion.

是的，我不一定會這麼認為。我認為，第一，Pac Gen 的批准肯定會加強該計劃。因此，這對我們的資產負債表更好，對我們的客戶也更好。這將使我們能夠考慮目前計劃中的許多不同要素，特別是我們完成了多少客戶工作，因為正如我們所說，我們的客戶工作比 620 億美元還要多。

And we'll also consider our debt financing assumptions. I think what's important, again, I go back to is that we will always look at the most efficient financing, and we'll be mindful of market conditions.

我們也將考慮我們的債務融資假設。我認為重要的是，我再次強調，我們將始終專注於最有效的融資，並且我們將關注市場狀況。

Your next question is from the line of David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley.

你的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的大衛‧阿卡羅。

I was just -- maybe a bit of a follow-on that. As I'm thinking about the $5 billion in potential upside CapEx opportunities, how would you think about financing that in terms of potential equity needs incremental to the plan?

我只是——也許是個追隨者。當我考慮 50 億美元的潛在上行資本支出機會時，您如何看待在計劃中需要增量的潛在股權融資？

We're -- on the $5 billion. So thanks for the question. So what's important for us on the $5 billion is that it is affordable. It needs to be affordable both for our customers and fitting within our target of bill increases in line with inflation of the 2% to 4%. And then it needs to be affordable on our balance sheet.

我們正在籌措 50 億美元。謝謝你的提問。所以對我們來說，50 億美元重要的是它是負擔得起的。它需要讓我們的客戶負擔得起，並符合我們根據 2% 至 4% 的通貨膨脹率增加帳單的目標。然後我們的資產負債表上需要負擔得起。

And so I go back to -- our plan has a reasonable balance of the debt, both utility debt and company debt and dividend and routine equity. And as we implement that plan, we will again be very mindful of market conditions and look for the most efficient financing for that $5 billion.

所以我回到——我們的計劃有一個合理的債務平衡，包括公用事業債務和公司債務以及股息和常規股本。當我們實施該計劃時，我們將再次密切關注市場狀況，並為這 50 億美元尋找最有效的融資方式。

And David, I'll just add that, keep in mind, things like, for example, a 1% reduction in O&M is $100 million of additional -- or additional cash flow. And so as we think about we continue to do more for less, that frees up cash flow to do more work and pull in additional capital and fund it through efficiencies through some of our more efficient financing.

David，我只想補充一點，請記住，營運和維護成本減少 1% 就會帶來 1 億美元的額外現金流，或者說額外的現金流。因此，當我們考慮繼續以更少的投入做更多的事情時，這將釋放現金流來完成更多的工作並吸引額外的資本，並透過我們一些更有效率的融資提高效率為其提供資金。

One of the things we wanted everyone to really hear today is this financing plan is a conservative plan. It's a good plan. And it can only improve from here. So this is a good starting point, a good baseline, and we're excited to share it with you today.

今天我們希望每個人真正聽到的一件事是，這個融資計劃是一個保守的計劃。這是一個好計劃。而且只能從這裡開始改進。所以這是一個很好的起點，一個很好的基線，我們很高興今天與您分享。

Got it. Yes, that's helpful. I was wondering, as we think about the load growth outlook and the potential for data centers, could you speak to maybe just how long it takes to connect a new large load to the system? And any initiatives that you're involved in that could reduce that time and increase the efficiency there?

知道了。是的，這很有幫助。我想知道，當我們考慮負載成長前景和資料中心的潛力時，您能否談談將新的大型負載連接到系統需要多長時間？您參與了哪些可以減少時間並提高效率的措施？

Yes, it's a great question. I will say that I think there's a national challenge with the supply chain and being able to access some of the necessary equipment to build out that capacity as well as timely cash recoveries and cost recoveries for that investment.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我想說的是，我認為供應鏈面臨全國性的挑戰，無法獲得一些必要的設備來建造產能，以及及時收回現金和收回投資成本。

We've got the cost recoveries improvement here in flight in California with SB 410. We're looking forward to that process coming so that we can have certainty about the cash flow recovery associated with building out that new capacity. So that's been a delay for -- certainly for some people and certainly for us. But I'd say the biggest delay right now is the supply chain.

我們在加州透過 SB 410 實現了成本回收的改善。因此，這對某些人來說是一個延遲，當然對我們來說也是如此。但我想說，目前最大的延遲是供應鏈。

And so we're doing something called a cluster study where we have brought together, that was one of the reasons we had all those customers at the (inaudible) with us the other day is we're doing a study with them collectively so that they can understand there, instead of one project at a time, looking at a suite of these projects, really understanding their growth forecast, and we can get way further ahead in the planning for their ability -- their plans to build out and our ability to serve that load.

因此，我們正在進行一項稱為集群研究的活動，我們將這些研究聚集在一起，這就是前幾天我們讓所有這些客戶（聽不清楚）與我們在一起的原因之一，就是我們正在與他們一起進行一項集體研究，以便他們可以在那裡理解，而不是一次一個項目，而是查看一系列項目，真正了解他們的成長預測，我們可以在規劃他們的能力方面取得更大進展——他們的建設計劃和我們的能力來服務該負載。

So we're very excited about the transparency that's being created here with our big customers, so that we can better build out their large load demands.

因此，我們對與我們的大客戶一起創造的透明度感到非常興奮，這樣我們就可以更好地滿足他們的大負載需求。

At this time, there are no further questions. I will now hand today's call over to Patti Poppe, Chief Executive Officer, for closing remarks.

目前，沒有其他問題了。現在，我將把今天的電話會議轉交給執行長 Patti Poppe 致閉幕詞。

Thanks, Tamica for being our operator today. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We're glad that you were with us. We hope that you appreciate the information that we shared.

謝謝 Tamica 今天成為我們的接線生。感謝大家今天加入我們。我們很高興你和我們在一起。我們希望您欣賞我們分享的訊息。

We're excited to see you in June 12 at the New York Stock Exchange. We are going to be sharing our latest wildfire mitigation technologies. You're going to meet some of our brightest and best who are closest to the improvements that have been made here, so you can have more and more confidence, both in the physical and the financial risks that have been mitigated here in California.

我們很高興 6 月 12 日在紐約證券交易所見到您。我們將分享我們最新的野火緩解技術。您將見到我們最聰明、最優秀的一些人，他們最接近這裡所取得的進步，因此您可以對加州已經減輕的實際風險和財務風險越來越有信心。

And because of that success that we've experienced in the physical and financial risk mitigation of wildfire, we have the privilege of looking forward and planning for the energy system of the future for California. We are proud to be the providers of that clean energy and clean electricity that will fuel the decarbonizing of our nation and our state. And we are proud to serve the role and answer the call from California, and we'll be able to share more with you about our plans in that light and what the growth of PG&E looks like going forward.

由於我們在減輕野火的物理和財務風險方面取得的成功，我們有幸展望和規劃加州未來的能源系統。我們很自豪能夠成為清潔能源和清潔電力的提供者，這將推動我們國家和州的脫碳。我們很自豪能夠擔任這一角色並響應來自加利福尼亞州的號召，我們將能夠與您分享更多有關我們的計劃以及 PG&E 未來發展的情況。

So we look forward to seeing you in New York. Thanks so much for tuning in today. Everybody, please be safe out there.

因此，我們期待在紐約見到您。非常感謝您今天的收聽。大家在外面請注意安全。

This concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。