Suburban Propane Partners LP (SPH) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Suburban Propane Partners' second-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Thursday, May 9, 2024. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Davin D'Ambrosio, Vice President and Treasurer. Thank you. Please go ahead.

早安，女士們，先生們。歡迎參加 Suburban Propane Partners 第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）此通話錄音時間為 2024 年 5 月 9 日星期四。現在我想將會議交給副總裁兼財務主管達文·丹布羅西奧先生。謝謝。請繼續。

Great. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us this morning for our fiscal 2024 second-quarter earnings conference call. Joining me this morning are Mike Stivala, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Mike Kuglin, our Chief Financial Officer; and Steve Boyd, our Chief Operating Officer. This morning, we will review our second quarter financial results, along with our current outlook for the business. Once we've concluded our prepared remarks, we will open the session to questions.

偉大的。謝謝。大家，早安。感謝您今天早上參加我們的 2024 財年第二季財報電話會議。今天早上與我一起出席的是我們的總裁兼執行長 Mike Stivala；麥克‧庫格林 (Mike Kuglin)，我們的財務長；和我們的營運長史蒂夫·博伊德。今天早上，我們將回顧第二季的財務業績，以及我們目前的業務前景。一旦我們準備好的發言結束，我們將開始提問。

Our conference call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended relating to the Partnership's future business expectations, predictions, financial condition, and results of operations. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties.

我們的電話會議包含經修訂的 1934 年《證券交易法》第 21E 條含義內的前瞻性陳述，涉及合夥企業的未來業務預期、預測、財務狀況和營運結果。這些前瞻性陳述涉及一定的風險和不確定性。

We have listed some of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements, which are referred to as cautionary statements in our earnings press release, which can be viewed on our website at suburbanpropane.com. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Partnership or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by such cautionary statements.

我們列出了一些可能導致實際結果與此類前瞻性聲明中討論的結果存在重大差異的重要因素，這些因素在我們的收益新聞稿中被稱為警告聲明，可以在我們的網站suburbanpropane.com 上查看。合夥企業或代表合夥企業的人員隨後發表的所有書面和口頭前瞻性陳述均明確符合此類警告性陳述。

Our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023, and Form 10-Q for the period ended March 30, 2024, which will be filed at the end of business today, contain additional disclosures regarding forward-looking statements and risk factors. Copies may be obtained by contacting the Partnership or the SEC.

我們將於今天營業結束時提交的截至2023 年9 月30 日的財政年度的10-K 表格年度報告和截至2024 年3 月30 日的期間的10-Q 表格年度報告包含有關前瞻性的額外披露。可以透過聯絡合夥企業或 SEC 取得副本。

Certain non-GAAP measures will be discussed on this call. We have provided a description of those measures as well as a discussion of why we believe this information to be useful in our Form 8-K, which was furnished to the SEC this morning. Form 8-K will be available through a link in the Investor Relations section of our website. At this point, I will turn the call over to Mike Stivala for some opening remarks. Mike?

本次電話會議將討論某些非公認會計準則措施。我們在今天早上向 SEC 提交的 8-K 表格中提供了這些措施的描述，並討論了為什麼我們認為這些資訊有用。表格 8-K 可透過我們網站投資者關係部分的連結取得。此時，我將把電話轉給 Mike Stivala，讓他發表一些開場白。麥克風？

Great. Thanks, Davin, and good morning. Thank you all for joining us today. The fiscal 2024 heating season presented widespread unseasonably warm weather across the vast majority of our operating territories, with the exception of a two-week period of extreme cold temperatures in mid-January. During which reported heating degree days were 33% colder than the prior year. For the fiscal 2024 second quarter, average temperatures were 8% warmer than normal, which followed a first quarter that was also 9% warmer than normal.

偉大的。謝謝，達文，早安。感謝大家今天加入我們。2024 財年供暖季節，除 1 月中旬持續兩週的極端寒冷氣溫外，我們絕大多數營運地區都出現了普遍的反季節溫暖天氣。報告的暖氣天數比去年低 33%。2024 財年第二季的平均氣溫比正常高 8%，而第一季的平均氣溫也比正常高 9%。

While the warm weather negatively impacted customer demand for heating purposes, we were once again able to leverage our experience in managing our business through a challenging heating season and operating personnel did an outstanding job managing the things they can control, namely keeping safety as their highest priority, providing exceptional service to our customers, managing selling prices and controlling expenses. In addition, the recent and continued favorable trends in our customer base helped to offset some of the shortfall in heat-related demand. As a result, volumes for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 were just 2.7% below the prior year.

雖然溫暖的天氣對客戶的供暖需求產生了負面影響，但我們再次能夠利用我們在充滿挑戰的供暖季節管理業務的經驗，並且操作人員在管理他們可以控制的事情方面做得非常出色，即將安全放在首位我們的首要任務是為客戶提供卓越的服務、管理銷售價格和控制費用。此外，我們的客戶群最近持續的有利趨勢有助於抵消與供熱相關的需求的部分缺口。因此，2024 財年第二季的銷售量僅比去年同期下降 2.7%。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $147 million, down $2 million or 1.3% compared to the prior year second quarter. In our renewable natural gas operations, we are continuing to install an operational excellence mindset that has made us a leader in the propane industry, including driving efficiencies, modifying our manure collection practices to increase the amount of volatile solids to be processed, and identifying additional local dairies in the Stanfield, Arizona area to increase mineral intake.

本季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.47 億美元，比去年第二季減少 200 萬美元，成長 1.3%。在我們的再生天然氣業務中，我們將繼續建立卓越營運理念，這使我們成為丙烷行業的領導者，包括提高效率、修改我們的糞便收集實踐以增加待處理的揮發性固體的數量，以及確定額外的亞利桑那州斯坦菲爾德地區的當地乳製品廠增加礦物質攝入量。

As a result, we are continuing to improve the amount of average daily pipeline injected RNG at the Stanfield facility with an average level 1,139 MMBTUs injected per day during the second quarter of fiscal 2024, an improvement of 8.4% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2024. And with the continued enhancements that we are making, we have additional opportunities to increase production levels even further.

因此，我們正在繼續提高斯坦菲爾德設施的平均每日管道注入 RNG 量，2024 財年第二季度平均每天注入 1,139 MMBTU，與財年第一季相比提高了 8.4% 2024 年。隨著我們不斷進行改進，我們有更多機會進一步提高生產水準。

We're also continuing to advance our capital improvement plans for the installation of RNG upgrade equipment at our Columbus, Ohio facility and the construction of our anaerobic digester facility in Adirondack farms in upstate New York. We expect both facilities to be completed in the second half of calendar 2025.

我們也繼續推進資本改善計劃，在俄亥俄州哥倫布工廠安裝 RNG 升級設備，並在紐約州北部阿迪朗達克農場建造厭氧消化設施。我們預計這兩個設施將於 2025 年下半年竣工。

Finally, subsequent to the end of the second quarter, we closed on two small propane acquisitions in strategic markets in Florida and Nevada, investing a total of approximately $13 million. So while warm weather weighed on customer demand in the fiscal 2024 heating season, our operational personnel delivered solid results, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to our long-term strategic growth objectives of fostering the growth of our core propane business, while making strategic investments in lower carbon renewable energy alternatives.

最後，在第二季末後，我們在佛羅裡達州和內華達州的策略市場完成了兩筆小型丙烷收購，投資總額約 1,300 萬美元。因此，儘管2024 財年供暖季的溫暖天氣影響了客戶需求，但我們的營運人員仍取得了紮實的業績，我們仍然堅定地致力於實現長期戰略增長目標，即促進核心丙烷業務的增長，同時制定策略對低碳再生能源替代品的投資。

In a moment, I'll come back for some closing remarks. However, at this point, I'll turn it over to Mike equivalent to discuss the second quarter in more detail. Mike?

稍後我會回來做一些結束語。然而，此時，我將把它轉交給麥克，以更詳細地討論第二季。麥克風？

Thanks, Mike, and good morning, everyone. To be consistent with previous reporting, as I discussed our second quarter results, I'm excluding the impact of unrealized mark-to-market adjustments on our commodity hedges, which resulted in an unrealized gain of $5.9 million for the second quarter compared to an unrealized loss of $4.5 million in the prior year.

謝謝麥克，大家早安。為了與先前的報告保持一致，在我討論第二季度業績時，我排除了未實現的按市價調整對我們的商品對沖的影響，這導致第二季度未實現收益為 590 萬美元，而上一年未實現虧損450 萬美元。

Excluding these items, as well as the non-cash equity losses of unconsolidated subsidiaries, accounted for under the equity method, as well as a loss on debt extinguishment resulting from the refinancing of our credit agreement, and acquisition-related transaction costs in the prior year, net income for the second quarter was $110.3 million, or $1.71 per common unit compared to net income of $112.8 million or $1.76 per common unit in the prior year.

不包括這些項目，以及按照權益法核算的未合併子公司的非現金股權損失，以及我們的信貸協議再融資造成的債務清償損失，以及之前與收購相關的交易成本今年第二季度的淨利潤為1.103 億美元，即每個普通單位1.71 美元，而上一年的淨利潤為1.128 億美元，即每個普通單位1.76 美元。

Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $147 million compared to $149 million in the prior year. As Mike mentioned, our earnings for the quarter were impacted by lower heat related demand resulting from warm weather during most of the quarter, but benefited from organic growth in our customer base, unit margin expansion, and greater contribution from our RNG facilities. Retail propane gallons sold in the second quarter were 140.2 million gallons, which was 2.7% lower than the prior year, primarily due to the impact of widespread warm weather throughout much of the second quarter, except for a two-week period of extreme cold temperatures in mid-January.

第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.47 億美元，去年同期為 1.49 億美元。正如麥克所提到的，我們本季的收益受到本季度大部分時間溫暖天氣導致的熱相關需求下降的影響，但受益於我們的客戶群的有機增長、單位利潤率的擴張以及我們的RNG 設施的更大貢獻。第二季零售丙烷加侖銷售量為 1.402 億加侖，比去年同期下降 2.7%，主要是由於第二季度大部分時間（除了兩週的極端寒冷氣溫外）普遍溫暖天氣的影響一月中旬。

According to NOAA, average temperatures for the quarter, as measured in degree days, were 8% warmer than normal and 4% cooler than the prior year second quarter. Although we experienced increase in heating degree days compared to the prior year, the increase was heavily influenced by mid-January heating degree days that were 33% colder than the same period last year. Notwithstanding the shortly blast of cold weather, average temperatures for the month of January were 4% warmer than normal.

根據 NOAA 的數據，本季平均氣溫（以度日計算）比正常值高 8%，比去年第二季低 4%。儘管與去年相比，取暖度日數有所增加，但這一增長很大程度上受到 1 月中旬取暖度日數比去年同期冷 33% 的影響。儘管有短暫的寒冷天氣，1 月的平均氣溫仍比正常水平高 4%。

For the month of February, average temperatures were 12% warmer than normal and 1% warmer than the prior year. And for March, average temperatures were 10% warmer than normal and 7% warmer than the prior year. From a commodity perspective, propane inventory levels in the US experienced a seasonal decline during the quarter, but remained elevated relative to historical levels for this time of the year.

2 月平均氣溫比正常高 12%，比去年同期高 1%。3 月的平均氣溫比正常高 10%，比去年同期高 7%。從大宗商品的角度來看，美國丙烷庫存水準在本季經歷了季節性下降，但相對於今年同期的歷史水準仍處於較高水準。

At the end of the second quarter, US propane inventories were at 51.8 million barrels, which was 7% lower than March 2023 levels, yet 8% higher than the five-year average for March. Given the decline in inventories relative to the prior year and other factors, wholesale propane prices for the second quarter of $0.84 per gallon, basis Mont Belvieu, increased 3% compared to the prior year.

截至第二季末，美國丙烷庫存為 5,180 萬桶，比 2023 年 3 月水準低 7%，但比 3 月份五年平均高出 8%。鑑於庫存相對於上年下降以及其他因素，第二季度丙烷批發價格為每加侖 0.84 美元（以 Mont Belvieu 為基礎），與前一年相比上漲了 3%。

Excluding the impact of the mark-to-market adjustments on our commodity hedges that I mentioned earlier, total gross margin of $302.1 million for the second quarter increased $2.7 million or 1% compared to the prior year primarily due to higher propane unit margins and higher margin contribution from the RNG assets, offset to extent by lower propane volumes sold. Propane unit margins for the second quarter increased $0.08 per gallon or 4.2% compared to the prior year.

不包括我之前提到的按市價調整對我們的商品對沖的影響，第二季度的總毛利率為3.021 億美元，比上一年增加了270 萬美元，即1%，這主要是由於丙烷單位利潤率上升和RNG 資產的利潤貢獻在一定程度上被丙烷銷售量下降所抵消。第二季丙烷單位利潤率比去年同期增加了每加侖 0.08 美元，即 4.2%。

With respect to expenses, combined operating and G&A expenses of $154.4 million for the second quarter increased $1.2 million or 0.8% compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher payroll and benefit related expenses, partially offset by lower fuel costs and other volume-related variable operating costs. The year-over-year comparison of our expenses was also impacted by acquisition related costs of $3.4 million in the prior year, which is reported in G&A excluded from adjusted EBITDA.

在費用方面，第二季營運和一般管理費用合計為1.544 億美元，與上年同期相比增加了120 萬美元，即0.8%，這主要是由於工資和福利相關費用增加，但部分被燃料成本下降和其他與銷售相關的費用所抵銷。我們費用的年比比較也受到上一年 340 萬美元收購相關成本的影響，該成本在一般管理費用中報告，不包括在調整後的 EBITDA 中。

Net interest expense of $19.9 million for the second quarter was essentially flat compared to the prior year. The savings from a lower level of average outstanding borrowings under our revolving credit facility was offset by higher benchmark interest rates for borrowings under the revolver.

第二季淨利息支出為 1,990 萬美元，與去年同期基本持平。我們的循環信貸安排下平均未償還借款水準較低所節省的資金被循環貸款下較高的基準利率所抵銷。

Total capital spending for the quarter of $14.5 million was $1.3 million higher than the prior year, primarily due to growth capital associated with improving operating performance and RNG production at our facility in Stanford, Arizona and for advancing construction efforts at our Columbus and Adirondack facilities, partially offset by lower level of spending on propane tanks and cylinders as we leveraged and refurbished the inventory on hand.

本季總資本支出為1,450 萬美元，比上年增加130 萬美元，主要是由於與改善我們位於亞利桑那州斯坦福工廠的運營績效和RNG 生產相關的資本增長，以及推進我們哥倫布和阿迪朗達克工廠的建設工作，由於我們利用和翻新現有庫存，丙烷罐和鋼瓶支出水平較低，部分抵消了這種影響。

Turning to our balance sheet. During the second quarter, we utilized cash flows from operating activities to repay $32.3 million in borrowings under the revolver. As a result of the debt repayment, our consolidated leverage ratio for the trailing 12-month period ended March 2024 improved to 4.61 times compared to 4.72 times at the end of the first quarter. Although the leverage metric has been elevated relative to our historical levels following the RMG acquisition from the impact of the warm weather on earnings, we remain well within our debt covenant requirement of 5.75 times and continue to make progress in strengthening the balance sheet with debt repayments from excess cash flows.

轉向我們的資產負債表。第二季度，我們利用經營活動產生的現金流償還了 3,230 萬美元的循環貸款。由於債務償還，我們截至 2024 年 3 月的過去 12 個月期間的綜合槓桿率從第一季末的 4.72 倍改善至 4.61 倍。儘管由於溫暖天氣對收益的影響，收購 RMG 後槓桿指標相對於我們的歷史水平有所上升，但我們仍完全符合 5.75 倍的債務契約要求，並繼續在透過債務償還強化資產負債表方面取得進展來自過剩的現金流。

As we've previously reported, during the second quarter, we took steps to further strengthen our liquidity position and extend debt maturities with the refinancing of our $500 million revolver, which was scheduled to mature in March 2025. This new 5-year facility further extend our debt maturities, maintains interest rate, pricing grid, and financial ratio covenants and provides enhanced financial flexibility in support of our long-term strategic growth initiatives.

正如我們之前報導的那樣，在第二季度，我們採取措施進一步加強流動性狀況，並通過對原定於 2025 年 3 月到期的 5 億美元左輪手槍進行再融資來延長債務期限。這項新的 5 年期貸款進一步延長了我們的債務期限，維持了利率、定價網格和財務比率契約，並提供了增強的財務靈活性，以支持我們的長期策略成長計畫。

We're very pleased with the outcome of this opportunistic refinancing and are appreciative of the continued support by our Bank Group. With that, I'll turn the call back to Mike.

我們對這次機會性再融資的結果感到非常滿意，並對世銀集團的持續支持表示讚賞。這樣，我會將電話轉回給麥克。

Thanks, Mike. As announced on April 25, our Board of Supervisors declared our quarterly distribution of $0.325 per common unit in respect of our second quarter of fiscal 2024 that equates to an annualized rate of $1.30 per common unit. Our quarterly distribution will be paid on May 14 to our unit holders of record as of May 7. Our distribution coverage continues to remain healthy at 1.99 times for the trailing 12-month period ended March 2024.

謝謝，麥克。正如 4 月 25 日宣布的那樣，我們的監事會宣布 2024 財年第二季度的季度分配為每普通單位 0.325 美元，相當於每普通單位的年化率為 1.30 美元。我們的季度分配將於 5 月 14 日支付給截至 5 月 7 日記錄在案的單位持有人。截至 2024 年 3 月的過去 12 個月內，我們的分配覆蓋率持續維持在 1.99 倍的健康水準。

Looking ahead to the rest of fiscal 2024, now that we are beyond the critical period for heat related demand, our operations personnel and the propane segment will turn to some of our initiatives to further enhance our operating model to continue executing on our customer base growth and retention initiatives and to support our market expansion efforts in several strategic markets throughout our national footprint.

展望 2024 財年剩餘時間，既然我們已經過了供熱相關需求的關鍵時期，我們的營運人員和丙烷部門將採取一些舉措，以進一步增強我們的營運模式，以繼續執行我們的客戶群成長和保留計劃，並支持我們在全國範圍內幾個戰略市場的市場擴張工作。

In our RNG operations, while overall revenues have been influenced by lower California LCFS prices, and to a lesser extent, lower benchmark natural gas prices, the improvements we are making to the operating performance at our Stanfield facility are stabilizing and increasing the level of RNG production at that facility.

在我們的RNG 業務中，雖然總體收入受到加州LCFS 價格下降的影響，並且在較小程度上受到基準天然氣價格下降的影響，但我們對斯坦菲爾德工廠運營績效所做的改進正在穩定和提高RNG 的水平該工廠的生產。

We're also continuing to support our minority owned subsidiaries, Oberon Fuels and Independence Hydrogen as they scale their platforms for the production and sale of ultra-low carbon renewable dimethyl ether and clean hydrogen, respectively.

我們也將繼續支持我們的少數股東子公司 Oberon Fuels 和 Independence Hydrogen 分別擴大其生產和銷售超低碳可再生二甲醚和清潔氫的平台。

The energy transition is still in the early stages, and we are positioning Suburban Propane for long-term growth and sustainability through our comprehensive growth strategy that builds on the low carbon attributes of propane and our investments in innovative renewable energy products and technologies through our suburban renewable energy subsidiary.

能源轉型仍處於早期階段，我們透過基於丙烷低碳屬性的全面成長策略以及我們對郊區丙烷創新再生能源產品和技術的投資，將郊區丙烷定位為長期成長和永續發展。 。

And from a balance sheet perspective, as Mike mentioned, we reduced our overall debt by more than $32 million during the second quarter, using excess cash flow and successfully renewed and extended our revolving credit facility. As always, we are committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet to help support our long-term growth objectives.

從資產負債表的角度來看，正如麥克提到的，我們在第二季度利用多餘的現金流減少了超過 3,200 萬美元的總體債務，並成功更新並延長了我們的循環信貸額度。一如既往，我們致力於維持強勁的資產負債表，以幫助支持我們的長期成長目標。

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank the more than 3,200 employees at Suburban Propane for their hard work and unwavering focus on the safety and comfort of our customers and the communities we serve. I'm extremely proud of all of their efforts during another challenging heating season. And as always, we appreciate your support and attention this morning, and we'll now open it up to questions. And Ina, if you can help us with that?

最後，我想藉此機會感謝 Suburban Propane 的 3,200 多名員工的辛勤工作以及對客戶和我們所服務社區的安全和舒適的堅定關注。我為他們在另一個充滿挑戰的供暖季節所做的所有努力感到非常自豪。像往常一樣，我們感謝您今天上午的支持和關注，現在我們將接受提問。伊娜，你能幫我們嗎？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Christopher Jeffrey, Mizuho Securities.

克里斯多福·傑弗裡，瑞穗證券。

Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe just on how you see the expectations for excess of cash flow kind of in the long term, maybe with normalized weather in the coming years? And then maybe talk about what the priorities are to do with those excess funds? You talked about lowering the leverage, but it seems like also bolstering of propane and renewables businesses are important.

嘿，大家早安。感謝您提出我的問題。也許只是關於您如何看待長期現金流過剩的預期，也許未來幾年天氣會正常化？然後也許可以談談這些多餘資金的優先事項是什麼？您談到了降低槓桿率，但支持丙烷和再生能源業務似乎也很重要。

Yeah. Thanks, Chris. I think if you look at our -- the last several years, we've taken a very balanced approach towards utilizing our excess cash flow. We've done a fair amount of debt delevering. We've obviously invested in the build-out of our renewable energy platform, and we're also doing tuck-in propane acquisitions. I think you're going to see a bit more of the same.

是的。謝謝，克里斯。我認為，如果你看看過去幾年，我們在利用過剩現金流方面採取了非常平衡的方法。我們已經進行了大量的債務去槓桿化。顯然，我們已經投資了再生能源平台的建設，而且我們還在進行丙烷收購。我想你會看到更多相同的情況。

I mentioned in our opening remarks about the stage that we see the country and frankly, the world in the energy transition. I think we're in the very early innings of that transition. And we intend to ensure that we set the business up for the long term by making good investments in renewable energy platforms that we see as real benefactors of the future of cleaner energy sources. And we want to leverage our 95-year history as trusted distributors of energy to local markets as those newer cleaner energy sources developed and further advance in their maturity over the coming decade.

我在開場白中提到了我們所看到的國家乃至世界處於能源轉型的階段。我認為我們正處於這一轉變的早期階段。我們打算透過對再生能源平台進行良好的投資來確保我們的業務能夠長期發展，我們認為這些平台是清潔能源未來的真正受益者。我們希望利用我們 95 年作為當地市場值得信賴的能源分銷商的歷史，隨著這些更新的清潔能源的發展並在未來十年進一步成熟。

So I think you're going to see a bit more of the same from us. As you know, we always maintain balance sheet strength as a core principle of ours, and that's why we've done a good job of bringing leverage down following a bit of a leveraging event with the acquisition in December of 2022. And so I think that's what you could expect to see from us. Obviously, as the investments we're making and begin to mature and deliver the kind of expectations that we see in the coming years will also be generating incremental EBITDA and cash flows that will give us opportunities to be strategic as well.

所以我想你會從我們身上看到更多相同的事情。如您所知，我們始終將保持資產負債表實力作為我們的核心原則，這就是為什麼我們在 2022 年 12 月的收購中發生了一些槓桿事件後，在降低槓桿方面做得很好。所以我認為這就是您可以從我們身上看到的。顯然，隨著我們正在進行的投資開始成熟並實現我們在未來幾年看到的預期，也將產生增量 EBITDA 和現金流，這也將為我們提供策略機會。

Thank you, Mike. Maybe just going back to the first part of that question is there any kind of ballpark of the excess cash flows? I think -- or just cash flows generated? I think like you've kind of talked about $100 million in the past. Any updated thoughts around that number?

謝謝你，麥克。也許回到這個問題的第一部分，是否存在過剩現金流的大致情況？我想——或者只是產生現金流？我想您過去曾談到 1 億美元。關於這個數字有什麼最新的想法嗎？

Yeah, that's going to fluctuate with earnings. This year has been a warmer winter scenario. The first quarter we were down -- year to date, we're down about $17 million in year-over-year EBITDA. Second quarter was a great quarter in relation to what the weather was, but that followed a tough first quarter. So that that decline in earnings is going to be a temporary impact on the level of excess cash flow that we have. But our cash flow post-distributions, post-debt service and post-growth CapEx, generally is going to range between $50 million and $100 million depending on the amount of growth CapEx and the level of earnings as the heating season continues to affect.

是的，這會隨著收入而波動。今年是一個暖冬。第一季我們的 EBITDA 年減了約 1700 萬美元。就天氣而言，第二季度是一個很好的季度，但緊接著是艱難的第一季。因此，獲利的下降將對我們擁有的過剩現金流水準產生暫時的影響。但我們的現金流量分配後、債務償還後和成長後資本支出通常在 5,000 萬至 1 億美元之間，具體取決於成長資本支出金額和受暖氣季節影響的獲利水準。

Great, thank you. And then maybe just an update on something brought up last quarter. As far as interested in participating in the voluntary RNG market as compared to the transportation market. Just any update there or any particular gating item that you're waiting to see here?

太好了謝謝。然後也許只是上個季度提出的一些內容的更新。與運輸市場相比，有興趣參與自願性 RNG 市場。只是有任何更新或您在這裡等待看到的任何特定的門控項目嗎？

Yeah, I think, well, first of all, we hired a resource dedicated to the RNG commercial development. So we now have some dedicated commercial sales activities that are building relationships in the voluntary market. That is long term, the way we see the market for RNG developing. I'm sure you've seen California LCFS prices have been pretty depressed as of late. I think we're down this quarter about 6% from the average from the first quarter. So that does create some volatility in revenue opportunities in that market.

是的，我認為，首先，我們聘請了專門負責 RNG 商業開發的資源。因此，我們現在有一些專門的商業銷售活動，正在自願市場上建立關係。從長遠來看，這是我們看待 RNG 市場發展的方式。我相信您已經看到加州 LCFS 的價格最近相當低迷。我認為本季我們比第一季的平均值下降了約 6%。因此，這確實會導致該市場的收入機會出現一些波動。

So I think for the longer term, we do see, again, back to the concept of we're in the early innings, we do see the markets for RNG developing in a way where RNG demand is going to expand beyond just transportation I think as more and more of the demand for electricity grows from the adoption of electric vehicles and expanded AI with the need for enhanced computing and data centers, I think you're going to see a significant uptick in demand for RNG to be a good source of power generation for the electric grid because the reality of powering with pure renewable sources from wind and solar is never going to keep up with the amount of demand increase on the electric grid.

所以我認為從長遠來看，我們確實再次回到了我們正處於早期階段的概念，我們確實看到 RNG 的市場正在以一種方式發展，我認為 RNG 的需求將擴展到運輸以外的領域隨著電動汽車的採用和人工智慧的擴展以及對增強計算和資料中心的需求，對電力的需求越來越多，我認為您將看到對RNG 的需求顯著上升，成為良好的電力來源電網發電，因為使用風能和太陽能等純再生能源供電的現實永遠無法跟上電網需求的成長。

So I think we see voluntary markets for RNG demanding over the -- developing over the course of the next 5 to 10 years as the reality of the transition towards electrification sets in that we need additional cleaner energy alternatives. And that's, I think, the opportunities of the future that we see.

因此，我認為我們看到 RNG 的自願市場在未來 5 到 10 年內將不斷發展，因為向電氣化過渡的現實表明我們需要更多的清潔能源替代品。我認為，這就是我們看到的未來​​的機會。

Great. Understood. Maybe just a follow-up on that as well. Any kind of update on the Oberon Fuels and Independence Hydrogen? Should we kind of expect -- in the past, there's been more like ratable capital put into those businesses? Is that still kind of the expectation going forward?

偉大的。明白了。也許也只是對此的後續行動。關於 Oberon Fuels 和 Independence Hydrogen 有什麼更新嗎？我們是否應該期待──在過去，有更多類似的應納稅資本投入這些企業？這仍然是未來的期望嗎？

Well, they're both advancing towards commercial scale. They're both going to be seeking capital to enhance their opportunity to grow. Their supply of the respective products. And we've been supporting those businesses as they as they get closer and closer to full scale commercialization of their business models. And I think over the course of the next year, both of them will continue to advance towards bigger scale production of the products that they serve.

嗯，他們都在朝商業規模邁進。他們都將尋求資本來增加他們的發展機會。他們供應各自的產品。當這些企業越來越接近其商業模式的全面商業化時，我們一直在為他們提供支援。我認為在明年，他們兩家公司都將繼續推進其所服務產品的更大規模生產。

And we'll continue to pay attention to whether we should be continuing to put in additional capital to maintain our ownership stake or welcome in additional investors to continue to support that while we continue to support them from the perspective of what I like to say, the weight of Suburban Propane behind us behind to support these the start-up companies that need resources beyond just capital. And we've been a great source of capital, but we've been a bigger source of resources.

我們將繼續關注我們是否應該繼續投入額外的資本來維持我們的股權，或者歡迎更多的投資者繼續支持，同時我們從我想說的角度繼續支持他們，郊區丙烷的力量支持我們支持這些新創公司，這些公司不僅需要資本，還需要資源。我們一直是個龐大的資本來源，而且我們也是一個更大的資源來源。

And so I think those two businesses are progressing nicely, frankly. And a lot is going to be determined over the next year.

坦白說，我認為這兩項業務進展順利。明年將確定很多事情。

Got it. All right, looking forward to it. Thank you all very much. Have a great day.

知道了。好的，敬請期待。非常感謝大家。祝你有美好的一天。

Great. Thanks, Chris.

偉大的。謝謝，克里斯。

(Operator Instructions) There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back to Mr. Michael Stivala for closing remarks.

（操作員說明） 目前沒有其他問題。我想請 Michael Stivala 先生致閉幕詞。

Okay, great. Thanks for your support, Ina, and thank you all for your attention today. We look forward to catching up with you in August after the close of our third quarter. And I hope you all stay safe and healthy and enjoy the summer as it approaches.

好的，太好了。感謝您的支持，伊娜，也感謝大家今天的關注。我們期待在第三季結束後的八月與您會面。我希望你們都保持安全和健康，享受即將到來的夏天。

Thank you. That concludes our conference for today. Thank you all for participating. You may all disconnect.

謝謝。我們今天的會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與。你們都可以斷開連線。