Spire Inc (SR) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Spire Inc. First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎來到 Spire Inc. 第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Scott Dudley. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給 Scott Dudley。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Spire's Fiscal 2023 First Quarter Earnings Call. We issued our news release this morning and you can access that on our website at spireenergy.com under Newsroom. There's also a slide presentation that accompanies our webcast, and you may download that from either the webcast site or from our website under Investors and then Events and Presentations.

謝謝。早上好，歡迎來到 Spire 的 2023 財年第一季度財報電話會議。我們今天早上發布了新聞稿，您可以在我們的網站 spireenergy.com 的新聞室下訪問該新聞稿。我們的網絡廣播還附有幻燈片演示，您可以從網絡廣播網站或我們網站的“投資者”下下載，然後是“活動和演示”。

Before we begin, let me cover our safe harbor statement and use of non-GAAP earnings measures. Today's call, including responses to questions, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although our forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are various uncertainties and risk factors that may cause future performance or results to be different than those anticipated. These risks and uncertainties are outlined in our quarterly and annual filings with the SEC.

在我們開始之前，讓我介紹一下我們的安全港聲明和非 GAAP 收益措施的使用。今天的電話會議，包括對問題的回答，可能包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。雖然我們的前瞻性陳述是基於合理的假設，但存在各種不確定性和風險因素，可能導致未來表現或結果與預期不同。我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的季度和年度文件中概述了這些風險和不確定性。

In our comments, we will be discussing net economic earnings and contribution margin, which are both non-GAAP measures we use when evaluating our performance and results of operations. Explanations and reconciliations of these measures to their GAAP counterparts are contained in both our news release and slide presentation.

在我們的評論中，我們將討論淨經濟收益和邊際貢獻，這都是我們在評估我們的業績和經營業績時使用的非公認會計原則衡量標準。我們的新聞稿和幻燈片演示中均包含這些措施與其 GAAP 同行的解釋和對賬。

On the call today is Spire's President and CEO, Suzanne Sitherwood; Steve Lindsey, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and Steve Rasche, Executive Vice President and CFO. Also in the room today is Adam Woodard, Vice President, Treasurer and CFO of our Gas Utilities.

今天接聽電話會議的是 Spire 的總裁兼首席執行官 Suzanne Sitherwood； Steve Lindsey，執行副總裁兼首席運營官；執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Steve Rasche。今天在場的還有我們的天然氣公用事業副總裁、財務主管兼首席財務官 Adam Woodard。

With that, I will turn the call over to Suzanne Sitherwood. Suzanne?

有了這個，我會把電話轉給 Suzanne Sitherwood。蘇珊娜？

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. It's our pleasure once again to provide our quarterly update on Spire's performance, recent developments and our outlook for the future of the industry and our company. Last quarter, I spoke to you about our long-term strategic priorities and commitments while being mindful of the vital role natural gas plays in ensuring a sustainable, reliable and affordable energy future.

謝謝斯科特，大家早上好。我們很高興再次提供有關 Spire 業績、近期發展以及我們對行業和公司未來展望的季度更新。上個季度，我向大家介紹了我們的長期戰略重點和承諾，同時注意到天然氣在確保可持續、可靠和負擔得起的能源未來方面發揮的重要作用。

As many of you may know, this year, I've taken them the role as Chair of the American Gas Association. I'm honored to lead AGA this critical time in our industry as the debate over energy policy and climate change intensifies. It's a debate I welcome. It gives us our industry the opportunity to share the remarkable story of natural gas and the long-term viability of natural gas as a vital part of America's energy future.

正如你們中的許多人所知，今年，我接替他們擔任美國天然氣協會主席。隨著關於能源政策和氣候變化的辯論愈演愈烈，我很榮幸能在我們行業的這個關鍵時刻領導 AGA。我歡迎這樣的辯論。它使我們的行業有機會分享天然氣的非凡故事以及天然氣作為美國能源未來重要組成部分的長期可行性。

The vision for our industry does not change. It's about protecting the people, deserting the planet and picturing the potentials for natural gas. During my year as chair, we are focused on ensuring that policymakers understand the unique and critical role natural gas plays in driving our economy, ensuring energy security and providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to 187 million Americans, while achieving a cleaner energy future for our nation.

我們行業的願景不會改變。這是關於保護人民、拋棄地球和想像天然氣的潛力。在我擔任主席的這一年裡，我們致力於確保政策制定者了解天然氣在推動我們的經濟、確保能源安全以及為 1.87 億美國人提供安全、可靠和負擔得起的能源方面發揮的獨特和關鍵作用，同時實現更清潔的能源未來我們的國家。

In fact, natural gas is the best way to deliver affordability and reliability today and emission reductions tomorrow. As an industry, we are confident in achieving our vision based on the abundance of natural gas in this country and the extensive and advanced infrastructure we continue to invest in that will deliver essential energy at affordable prices for decades to come. Customers need reliable energy to fuel their lives and businesses, and our industry works hard every day to ensure they have the energy they need when they need it.

事實上，天然氣是今天提供可負擔性和可靠性以及明天減排的最佳方式。作為一個行業，我們有信心實現我們的願景，基於這個國家豐富的天然氣以及我們繼續投資的廣泛和先進的基礎設施，這些基礎設施將在未來幾十年以可承受的價格提供基本能源。客戶需要可靠的能源來為他們的生活和業務提供動力，而我們的行業每天都在努力工作，以確保他們在需要時獲得所需的能源。

Reliance on natural gas continues to grow as more and more people who own homes and businesses come to understand all the benefits from using this abundant domestic resource. Every minute, another customer signs up to receive natural gas service from an AGA member company. More than 5.7 million businesses already use natural gas and realize the incredible savings over other energy sources. Nearly 30,000 new business sign up to use natural gas each year.

隨著越來越多的擁有房屋和企業的人開始了解使用這種豐富的國內資源的所有好處，對天然氣的依賴持續增長。每隔一分鐘，就有一位客戶註冊接受 AGA 成員公司提供的天然氣服務。超過 570 萬家企業已經使用天然氣並實現了與其他能源相比難以置信的節約。每年有近 30,000 家新企業簽約使用天然氣。

As increasing energy costs and overall inflation impacts consumers, it is important more than ever that people have the right to choose the most reliable and affordable source and that's natural gas. In fact, households that use natural gas for heating, cooking and closed drying save over $1,000 per year compared to using electricity. Natural gas utilities in the U.S. make significant investments in infrastructure upgrades and energy efficiency innovations that make our systems even safer and more reliable while reducing emissions. This investment totals more than $95 million every single day.

隨著不斷增加的能源成本和整體通貨膨脹對消費者的影響，人們比以往任何時候都更重要的是，人們有權選擇最可靠和負擔得起的能源，那就是天然氣。事實上，與使用電力相比，使用天然氣取暖、做飯和封閉式烘乾的家庭每年可節省 1,000 多美元。美國的天然氣公用事業公司在基礎設施升級和能源效率創新方面進行了大量投資，使我們的系統在減少排放的同時更加安全可靠。這項投資每天總計超過 9500 萬美元。

At Spire, we also remain committed to safety, reliability and service quality while protecting our planet and supporting our customers and communities. These are commitments we take seriously. Steve Lindsey and Steve Rasche will have more to say about Spire's operations and finances in a moment, plus they'll share what we're doing to minimize the impact of commodity costs on customer bills and provide more assistance to those who need it. Steve Lindsey will also share more about this year's regulatory environment.

在 Spire，我們還致力於安全、可靠性和服務質量，同時保護我們的星球並支持我們的客戶和社區。這些是我們認真對待的承諾。 Steve Lindsey 和 Steve Rasche 稍後將對 Spire 的運營和財務狀況發表更多看法，此外，他們還將分享我們正在採取的措施，以盡量減少商品成本對客戶賬單的影響，並為需要幫助的人提供更多幫助。 Steve Lindsey 還將分享更多有關今年監管環境的信息。

I'm pleased to note that we have reset rates across our utility footprint and are entering a quiet period from an overall regulatory perspective. Based on the strong first quarter earnings of $1.55 per share, driven by outperformance at our nonregulated gas marketing business, we are raising our guidance range for the full year.

我很高興地註意到，我們已經重新調整了整個公用事業足蹟的費率，並且從整體監管的角度來看正在進入一個安靜的時期。基於我們不受監管的天然氣營銷業務的優異表現推動的每股 1.55 美元的強勁收益，我們正在提高全年的指導範圍。

Now I'll pass the call to Steve Lindsey.

現在我將電話轉給史蒂夫林賽。

Thank you, Suzanne. I'll begin by acknowledging the outstanding performance of our employees who continued their focus on maintaining safe and reliable gas delivery operations and excellent service to our customers. Your efforts and dedication are especially important and greatly appreciated during the winter heating season. I would note that during the severe cold weather in late December, which included an all-time peak day in the Kansas City region, we met customer demand and kept essential energy plan to the homes and businesses that can us to keep them warm.

謝謝你，蘇珊娜。首先，我要感謝我們員工的出色表現，他們繼續專注於維護安全可靠的天然氣輸送業務並為我們的客戶提供優質服務。在冬季供暖季節，您的努力和奉獻尤為重要和高度讚賞。我要指出的是，在 12 月下旬的嚴寒天氣期間，包括堪薩斯城地區歷史上最高的一天，我們滿足了客戶的需求，並為家庭和企業保留了必要的能源計劃，使我們能夠讓他們保持溫暖。

Our ability to consistently and reliably serve our customers on the coldest days is no accident. It reflects all the advanced supply plan we move to ensure we have the resources needed to deliver essential energy at peak demand times.

我們能夠在最寒冷的日子裡始終如一地可靠地為客戶提供服務絕非偶然。它反映了我們為確保我們擁有在高峰需求時間提供基本能源所需的資源而採取的所有高級供應計劃。

Let me start with an update on our capital investment. For the first quarter, our CapEx totaled $155 million with 95% going toward our utilities. System upgrades accounted for about half of that utility spend and another 25% attributable to extending natural gas service to additional homes and businesses. For FY '23, our expected capital investment remains $700 million, reflecting an increase in gas utility spend focused on safety, reliability and emissions reduction, as Suzanne noted. Also early in the year, we are already seeing the benefits of these investments in our key operating metrics.

讓我從我們資本投資的最新情況開始。第一季度，我們的資本支出總額為 1.55 億美元，其中 95% 用於我們的公用事業。系統升級約佔該公用事業支出的一半，另外 25% 歸因於將天然氣服務擴展到更多家庭和企業。對於 23 財年，我們的預期資本投資仍為 7 億美元，這反映了天然氣公用事業支出的增加，重點是安全性、可靠性和減排，正如 Suzanne 指出的那樣。同樣在今年年初，我們已經在我們的關鍵運營指標中看到了這些投資的好處。

We plan to continue our robust investment in new business as well as innovation and technology, most notably the further rollout of advanced meters. We've replaced over 300,000 meters across our footprint to date. I would note this effort is much more than just swapping out an old meter for a new one. The technology and advanced meters provides a number of benefits, including enhanced safety, improved efficiencies and the ability to use data to better serve our customers.

我們計劃繼續大力投資新業務以及創新和技術，最顯著的是進一步推出先進的儀表。迄今為止，我們已經更換了超過 300,000 米的足跡。我要指出的是，這項工作不僅僅是將舊儀表換成新儀表。該技術和先進的儀表提供了許多好處，包括增強安全性、提高效率以及使用數據更好地為客戶服務的能力。

As we noted previously, our expected fiscal 2023 spend includes a substantial investment in the expansion of Spire Storage, which remains on plan. Suzanne mentioned, we concluded a number of regulatory matters last year, and that has substantially cleared the deck so to speak, allowing us to focus our time and effort on our businesses and serving customers.

正如我們之前指出的那樣，我們預計 2023 財年的支出包括對 Spire Storage 擴建的大量投資，該項目仍在計劃中。 Suzanne 提到，我們去年結束了一些監管事務，可以說這已經大大清理了甲板，使我們能夠將時間和精力集中在我們的業務和服務客戶上。

We provide a quick recap. As you know, we recently concluded our Missouri rate review of the settlement amounting to $78 million in additional revenue. This includes $19 million of ISRS revenues already being collected. The new rates were effective December 26. In addition to recovery updated costs and investments, the rate settlement also resolved the treatment of overhead costs, and these costs being expensed or capitalized effective October 1 in accordance with our study. We began collecting the amounts previously deferred starting December 26.

我們提供一個快速回顧。如您所知，我們最近結束了密蘇里州對和解費率的審查，增加了 7800 萬美元的收入。這包括已經收取的 1900 萬美元 ISRS 收入。新費率於 12 月 26 日生效。除了收回更新的成本和投資外，費率結算還解決了間接費用的處理問題，根據我們的研究，這些費用將於 10 月 1 日起計入費用或資本化。我們開始收取之前從 12 月 26 日開始推遲的金額。

One important element in the settlement was the approval of our request to increase funding and expand eligibility for customer financial assistance, including Spire's dollar help program. This allows us to provide greater support from more households impacted by higher natural gas costs. We deferred a substantial amount of gas costs in order to lessen the impact to our customers. We are now set to recover these costs pursuant to effective gas cost riders in both Missouri and Alabama. We expect to recover these costs over the next 12 to 18 months.

和解中的一個重要因素是批准了我們增加資金和擴大客戶財務援助資格的請求，包括 Spire 的美元幫助計劃。這使我們能夠為更多受天然氣成本上漲影響的家庭提供更大的支持。我們推遲了大量的天然氣成本，以減少對客戶的影響。我們現在準備根據密蘇里州和阿拉巴馬州的有效天然氣成本附加條款來收回這些成本。我們預計將在未來 12 至 18 個月內收回這些成本。

We filed a new interest request for $8.8 million upon the conclusion of our latest rate review. This filing includes recovery of ISRS' eligible investment on system upgrades for the October to February period. For Spire Alabama and Spire Gulf, a reminder that the reset of the RSE parameters was completed late last year and new rates based on their 2023 budgets [or] effective January 1. And finally, as previously announced, Spire STL Pipeline received a new permanent operating certificate from the FERC in December.

在我們最新的利率審查結束後，我們提出了 880 萬美元的新利息請求。該備案包括收回 ISRS 在 10 月至 2 月期間對系統升級的合格投資。對於 Spire Alabama 和 Spire Gulf，提醒一下，RSE 參數的重置已於去年年底完成，新費率基於其 2023 年預算 [或] 從 1 月 1 日起生效。最後，正如之前宣布的那樣，Spire STL Pipeline 獲得了新的永久性12 月從 FERC 獲得運營證書。

With that, I'll turn it over to Steve Rasche for a financial review and update. Steve?

有了這個，我會把它交給 Steve Rasche 進行財務審查和更新。史蒂夫？

Thanks, Steve. Good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. Let's start with a brief review of our quarterly results, and then I'll update our outlook. For our fiscal first quarter, we reported net economic earnings of $85 million, an increase of $22.5 million over last year, driven by strong results in Spire Marketing, which was well positioned this quarter to take advantage of basis differentials to optimize the storage and transportation divisions.

謝謝，史蒂夫。大家早上好，感謝今天加入我們。讓我們首先簡要回顧一下我們的季度業績，然後我會更新我們的展望。對於我們的第一財季，我們報告的淨經濟收益為 8500 萬美元，比去年增加 2250 萬美元，這得益於 Spire Marketing 的強勁業績，該公司本季度處於有利地位，可以利用基差來優化存儲和運輸分裂。

Our midstream business also delivered results ahead of last year as storage was able to optimize its operations and withdrawal commitments. (inaudible) lagged last year as higher demand was more than offset by the timing of new rates and higher cost.

我們的中游業務也比去年提前取得了成果，因為存儲能夠優化其運營和撤回承諾。 （聽不清）去年落後，因為更高的需求被新利率的時機和更高的成本所抵消。

Slide 8 provides more detail on key variances for the quarter. Hitting a couple of the highlights, as utility margins were higher as we benefited from the full year impact of last year's rate increases. It's important to remember there are most recent rate increases in both Missouri and Alabama had little impact this quarter given their effectiveness in late December and January 1, respectively.

幻燈片 8 提供了有關本季度主要差異的更多詳細信息。由於我們受益於去年加息的全年影響，公用事業利潤率更高，因此成為了幾個亮點。重要的是要記住密蘇里州和阿拉巴馬州最近的加息對本季度影響不大，因為它們分別在 12 月底和 1 月 1 日生效。

Usage was also higher this quarter as temperatures were colder than last year. Margins for marketing and midstream were higher for the reasons I spoke to a second ago. And looking at operations and maintenance expenses. Gas utility expenses were up at a pension reclassification by $14.6 million due to, first, a roughly $6 million from Missouri overhead costs that were deferred in the prior year but expensed this year.

由於氣溫低於去年，本季度的使用量也有所增加。由於我剛才談到的原因，營銷和中游的利潤率更高。並查看運營和維護費用。燃氣公用事業費用在養老金重新分類時增加了 1,460 萬美元，首先是來自密蘇里州的間接費用約 600 萬美元，這些費用在上一年被推遲但今年被支出。

Second, higher bad debt expenses by $2.6 million, reflecting higher commodity costs. And lastly, higher nonemployee costs, especially third-party contractor expenses as we focus on high customer service levels this winter. Overall, gas utility O&M cost [net of bad debts], are trending as we expected, and we remain focused on opportunities to offset the headwinds of inflation the rest of this year.

其次，壞賬費用增加 260 萬美元，反映出商品成本增加。最後，更高的非員工成本，尤其是第三方承包商的費用，因為我們今年冬天專注於高水平的客戶服務。總體而言，天然氣公用事業 O&M 成本 [扣除壞賬] 的趨勢符合我們的預期，我們仍然專注於抵消今年剩餘時間通脹不利因素的機會。

Our marketing costs were also higher, representing mostly costs driven by the higher margins, including employee-related costs. Interest expense reflects higher short-term debt levels driven by gas costs and higher interest rates. As a reminder, we do get recovery on most of our utility interest expense, either in new rates in Alabama or through credits in Missouri, which show up in the income statement in the other income line. I would also point out that a portion of the higher interest expense supported our marketing and midstream businesses that had a strong quarter.

我們的營銷成本也更高，主要是由更高的利潤率驅動的成本，包括與員工相關的成本。利息支出反映了天然氣成本和利率上升導致的短期債務水平上升。提醒一下，我們確實可以收回大部分公用事業利息費用，無論是阿拉巴馬州的新利率還是密蘇里州的信貸，這些都顯示在損益表的另一條收入線中。我還要指出，部分較高的利息支出支持了我們季度表現強勁的營銷和中游業務。

Turning to our outlook. We remain confident in our long-term net economic earnings per share growth target of 5% to 7%. Starting from the midpoint of our initial fiscal year '23 guidance range or $4.15 per share. This growth is driven by our utility rate base growth, and we also reaffirm both our current year and 10-year CapEx targets. We are raising our '23 guidance range by $0.10 to $4.15 to $4.35 per share, given Gas Marketing's Q1 results, combined with the change in how we report the impact of spot storage West expansion.

轉向我們的前景。我們對 5% 至 7% 的長期每股淨經濟收益增長目標充滿信心。從我們最初的 23 財年指導範圍的中點或每股 4.15 美元開始。這種增長是由我們的公用事業費率基礎增長推動的，我們還重申了我們今年和 10 年的資本支出目標。鑑於 Gas Marketing 第一季度的業績，以及我們報告現貨存儲西部擴張影響的方式發生變化，我們將 23 年的指導範圍提高了每股 0.10 美元至 4.15 美元至 4.35 美元。

Looking at the segments. We are raising gas marketing range to between $25 million and $30 million due to strong results this quarter. We are adjusting our full year midstream earnings range to reflect both first Q1 results; and secondly, the impact of the Spire Storage's West expansion project. This project had no impact this quarter due to capitalized interest and its forecasted impact for the full year has been revised downward as we refined our estimates for capitalized interest and overall project cash flows and funding. As a result, we will not adjust our net economic earnings calculations for the project's impact, and we have reflected that in the forecast impact for the revised range for the midstream business. We will continue to provide project and earnings impacts each quarter.

看著細分市場。由於本季度的強勁業績，我們將天然氣營銷範圍提高到 2500 萬美元至 3000 萬美元之間。我們正在調整全年中游收益範圍，以反映第一季度的業績；其次，Spire Storage 西擴建項目的影響。由於資本化利息，該項目在本季度沒有影響，並且隨著我們改進對資本化利息和整體項目現金流量和資金的估計，其對全年的預測影響已經下調。因此，我們不會針對該項目的影響調整我們的淨經濟收益計算，我們已將這一點反映在對中游業務修訂範圍的預測影響中。我們將繼續每個季度提供項目和收益影響。

A couple of quick observations on financing. We have ample liquidity as we hit our peak borrowing and to supplement that capacity, we funded a 9-month term loan for $250 million in January. As Steve mentioned earlier, we have a clear path to recovery of the underlying gas cost over the next 12 to 18 months, which will also provide a big boost to our cash flow beginning this quarter, our second fiscal quarter. We have not changed our long-term financing forecast, but I would observe that we're a bit lower in the target range for equity due to the higher earnings from gas marketing.

關於融資的一些快速觀察。我們在達到借貸高峰時擁有充足的流動性，為了補充這一能力，我們在 1 月份提供了 2.5 億美元的 9 個月定期貸款。正如史蒂夫之前提到的那樣，我們有一條明確的途徑可以在未來 12 到 18 個月內收回潛在的天然氣成本，這也將極大地促進我們從本季度開始的現金流，即我們的第二個財政季度。我們沒有改變我們的長期融資預測，但我認為由於天然氣營銷的收益較高，我們的股權目標範圍略低。

So in summary, we have started the year well. Much like our Kansas City Chiefs, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that. We congratulate the team and a Chiefs Kingdom and will be cheering for them in the Super Bowl.

所以總而言之，我們今年開局不錯。就像我們的堪薩斯城酋長隊一樣，如果我不提這一點，那就是我失職了。我們祝賀球隊和酋長王國，並將在超級碗中為他們歡呼。

With that, let me turn it back over to you, Suzanne.

有了這個，讓我把它交還給你，Suzanne。

Thank you, Steve. In closing, we're off to a good start in 2023. We are poised to grow and deliver stronger overall performance for our customers, communities and investors. As always, I would like to express my gratitude for each and every Spire employee as well as extend my thanks to all who work in this remarkable industry. We look forward to updating you as the year progresses. Until then, we thank you for your continued interest and investment in fire, and we're now ready to take your questions.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。最後，我們在 2023 年有了一個良好的開端。我們準備好成長並為我們的客戶、社區和投資者提供更強大的整體績效。一如既往，我要對每一位 Spire 員工表示感謝，並向所有在這個非凡行業工作的人表示感謝。隨著時間的推移，我們期待著為您更新。在此之前，我們感謝您對火的持續關注和投資，我們現在準備好回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Richard Sunderland with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的理查德桑德蘭。

Just to start off with the guidance revision and the commentary around Spire Storage, is that just a change for '23 in terms of how you're reflecting Spire Storage in the results? Or is that a move to include storage in 2024 as well? And then just alongside that, is it just to be clear so that the $0.10 change is both marketing outperformance, net of the Spire Storage change and then everything else is kind of on track with original expectations?

只是從指導修訂和圍繞 Spire Storage 的評論開始，就您如何在結果中反映 Spire Storage 而言，這只是 23 年的變化嗎？還是在 2024 年也包括存儲？然後除此之外，是否需要明確說明 0.10 美元的變化既是營銷表現，Spire Storage 變化的淨值，然後其他一切都與最初的預期相符？

Yes. Rich, this is Steve. Let me take a shot. Yes, after refining our calculation, the impact this year, which is roughly 1/3 of what we had originally guided, we originally guided $0.9 really made the numbers so immaterial as do not really want to deal with it as an adjustment to net economic earnings. And that's a final decision that will impact all years going. (inaudible) and no years going forward. And you can expect the dilution in the out years to go down just a little bit also.

是的。里奇，這是史蒂夫。讓我拍一張。是的，在改進我們的計算之後，今年的影響大約是我們最初指導的 1/3，我們最初指導的 0.9 美元確實使這些數字變得如此無關緊要，以至於我們真的不想將其作為對淨經濟的調整來處理收益。這是將影響所有年的最終決定。 （聽不清）並且沒有幾年前進。你可以預期未來幾年的稀釋度也會下降一點點。

We'll speak to the next year as we get through this year, let's at least get through the winter heating season this year. It will impact the bottom line, as I said, this quarter, storage had no impact whatsoever on our results of operations because the capitalized interest, the interest was the only one, and it was capitalized. So there was no particular impact.

今年過完了再說明年，今年至少熬過冬季供暖季吧。正如我所說，這將影響底線，本季度，存儲對我們的運營結果沒有任何影響，因為利息是資本化的，利息是唯一的，而且是資本化的。所以沒有特別的影響。

And as we go forward, especially into '24, we will see some pull-through from margins. We'll see the full impact of the dilution of the equity that we will raise in order to keep a 50-50 cap structure on the project. And I think those all balance out, but they balance out in a much better spot than we had originally estimated.

隨著我們前進，尤其是進入 24 世紀，我們將看到一些利潤率的提升。我們將看到我們將籌集的股權稀釋的全部影響，以保持該項目的 50-50 上限結構。我認為這些都平衡了，但它們的平衡比我們最初估計的要好得多。

Got it. Understood. What are the drivers behind those revised expectations for storage? And could you just walk through, I guess, the financing side and how that's changed versus, I don't know, construction schedule or revenue timing expectations?

知道了。明白了。這些修改後的存儲期望背後的驅動因素是什麼？我猜你能不能簡單地介紹一下融資方面，以及它是如何改變的，我不知道，施工進度或收入時間預期？

Yes. Nothing has changed on the project in terms of its timing. The total spend at $185 million or how we would roll out the capacity as we get through the project. So that's all very good news. What has changed is our ability to only capitalize the interest component of the financing, which has -- which took out about half of the dilution this year, as we talked about earlier before we came to that realization. We also took a really hard look at the underlying cash flows for the business, the timing of the actual spend and when we would ultimately issue the equity to finance the equity component of the overall project, and that traded in our favor. In addition to our shares trading at a little bit different range than they were when we were making the initial estimates last summer.

是的。就時間安排而言，該項目沒有任何變化。總支出為 1.85 億美元，或者我們將如何在完成項目時推出容量。所以這都是非常好的消息。發生變化的是我們只將融資的利息部分資本化的能力，正如我們在意識到這一點之前所說的那樣，今年已經消除了大約一半的稀釋。我們還非常認真地研究了業務的基礎現金流、實際支出的時間以及我們最終發行股權為整個項目的股權部分融資的時間，以及對我們有利的交易。此外，我們的股票交易區間與我們去年夏天做出初步估計時的區間略有不同。

Okay. Understood. That's very helpful. Just one last one for me. You mentioned some of the O&M trends. And if I followed your commentary there, it sounds like it's tracking expectations, except for bad debt? Is it the case? And just how much of the headwind is that debt?

好的。明白了。這很有幫助。最後一張給我。您提到了一些運維趨勢。如果我聽了你的評論，聽起來像是在跟踪預期，除了壞賬？是這樣嗎？債務到底有多大的不利因素？

Yes. At this juncture, it's hard to tell, Rich. It's really all driven by gas cost. And if you -- like everyone else in the gas space, our customer bills have gone up fairly significantly because of the higher gas cost, which is a major component of their bill. So as a matter of caution and mechanics, when you see higher amounts of receivables, we generally raise our bad debt reserves in potential anticipation of there being more bad debts.

是的。在這個關頭，很難說，里奇。這實際上都是由天然氣成本驅動的。如果你 - 像天然氣領域的其他人一樣，由於天然氣成本較高，我們的客戶賬單已經大幅上漲，這是他們賬單的主要組成部分。因此，作為謹慎和機制問題，當您看到更高的應收賬款金額時，我們通常會提高壞賬準備金，以應對可能出現更多壞賬的預期。

At the same time, and Steve Lindsey mentioned it, we're doubling down on our assistance to our customers. So I wouldn't take that dot and draw a line off into the stratosphere. But given where we are now, we want to remain conservatively positioned, and we'll continue to monitor that as we get through the heating season and really through the spring season, which is when a lot of the collections come in, that may be hung up, especially if we have some cold weather late in the winter heating season.

與此同時，Steve Lindsey 提到了這一點，我們正在加倍努力為客戶提供幫助。所以我不會拿那個點畫一條線進入平流層。但考慮到我們現在所處的位置，我們希望保持保守的定位，並且我們將在我們度過供暖季節並真正度過春季時繼續監測這一點，那時很多系列都會進來，這可能是掛斷電話，特別是如果我們在冬季供暖季節晚些時候天氣寒冷。

Our next question comes from David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 David Arcaro。

I was wondering what are you seeing in terms of market conditions in the second quarter here for the marketing business? I'm wondering if there's more opportunity for strong marketing contributions.

我想知道您對第二季度營銷業務的市場狀況有何看法？我想知道是否有更多機會做出強有力的營銷貢獻。

David, this is Steve. I'll take a shot at that. Yes, the conditions that we saw in the first quarter continued into January. You can look at the very basis differentials in the markets that we operate in. Equally though, if you look at the price of natural gas, which traded at Henry Hub in mid-2s yesterday and has been down in that level here for a little while. We haven't seen that level in a long time.

大衛，這是史蒂夫。我會嘗試一下。是的，我們在第一季度看到的情況一直持續到一月份。你可以看看我們經營的市場中的基差。同樣，如果你看看天然氣的價格，它昨天在 Henry Hub 交易，價格為 2s 中期，並且已經在該水平下跌了一點儘管。我們已經很久沒有看到這樣的水平了。

It does present a little bit of caution from our standpoint, especially as we exit the heating season and start thinking about what the back half of the year is going to be from 2 standpoints. One, what will the demand for gas-fired electric generation being it's impossible to tell that now, but there's always a small bit of demand that we get the opportunity to serve their LNG, and that continues to be an area that we're watching closely, especially the operations of the LNG facilities. And then lastly, how we look at the next winter, yes, believe it or not, we're already starting to think about the winter of '23, '24 and how do we position ourselves for the next winter, which could present some economic drag as we get to the latter part of the year, especially if we ramp up storage, but all of that is in the opportunity set that we haven't yet looked at.

從我們的角度來看，這確實有點謹慎，尤其是當我們結束供暖季節並開始從兩個角度考慮今年下半年的情況時。第一，對燃氣發電的需求是什麼，現在還無法確定，但總有一些需求，我們有機會為他們的液化天然氣提供服務，這仍然是我們正在關注的領域密切相關，尤其是液化天然氣設施的運營。最後，我們如何看待下一個冬天，是的，信不信由你，我們已經開始考慮 23 年、24 年的冬天，以及我們如何為下一個冬天定位自己，這可能會帶來一些到今年下半年，經濟會受到拖累，特別是如果我們增加存儲量，但所有這些都在我們尚未考慮的機會集中。

So right now, our focus is on -- as it is in the utility to focus on serving our customers and optimizing everything we can do this winter. And when we get to that March, April time frame, then we really start turning our focus to the remainder of the year to make sure that we're positioned not only to serve our customers this summer, but also position ourselves for the next heating season.

所以現在，我們的重點是——就像公用事業一樣，專注於為我們的客戶提供服務，並優化我們今年冬天能做的一切。當我們到達 3 月、4 月的時間框架時，我們就會真正開始將注意力轉移到今年剩餘時間，以確保我們不僅能在今年夏天為客戶提供服務，還能為下一次供暖做好準備季節。

Great. That's helpful color. And I was just curious, maybe following on to that. It was such a strong quarter in terms of results, and it sounds like the Spire Storage drag is quite a bit smaller. I know you've baked that into the '23 guidance here for the segment. But I was just wondering, is there any natural offset. I would have expected the full year to be higher just based on how strong this quarter was. So is that partly conservatism? Or are there natural offsets, natural potential losses or reversals coming in the rest of the year in the marketing business?

偉大的。這是有用的顏色。我只是好奇，也許會繼續下去。就結果而言，這是一個如此強勁的季度，聽起來 Spire Storage 的拖累要小得多。我知道您已經將其納入了此處針對該細分市場的 23 年指南。但我只是想知道，是否有任何自然抵消。根據本季度的強勁程度，我預計全年會更高。那麼這是部分保守主義嗎？或者在今年餘下的時間裡，營銷業務是否會出現自然抵消、自然潛在損失或逆轉？

Well, there clearly are there could be natural offsets depending upon how we see the summer play out, how the market actually plays out because we've enjoyed a period of geographic volatility and basis price differentials that we've been able to capitalize on, but those can go away fairly quickly depending upon the flows of gas demand, the pipeline capacity and a bunch of other factors that we cannot control. So it is something we're going to have to watch.

好吧，顯然可能存在自然抵消，這取決於我們如何看待夏季的表現，市場實際表現如何，因為我們已經享受了一段時間的地理波動和我們能夠利用的基礎價格差異，但這些可能會很快消失，這取決於天然氣需求的流動、管道容量和一系列我們無法控制的其他因素。所以這是我們必須要注意的事情。

The way we view our marketing business is, we know what our base level of expectations for that business should be and if we're well positioned like we were this quarter, we can capture a lot of value, which ultimately we can recycle into investments in the utility and reduce our equity needs. And we will clearly provide an update when we get through the winter. And if that means that we were able to create more value, we'll upgrade our forecast there, but take a holistic look at the entire rest of the business.

我們看待營銷業務的方式是，我們知道我們對該業務的基本期望水平應該是多少，如果我們像本季度一樣處於有利地位，我們就可以獲得很多價值，最終我們可以將其回收到投資中在公用事業中減少我們的股權需求。當我們度過冬天時，我們將明確提供更新。如果這意味著我們能夠創造更多價值，我們將在那裡升級我們的預測，但要全面審視整個業務的其餘部分。

Our next question comes from Christopher Jeffrey with Mizuho Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞穗證券的克里斯托弗杰弗裡。

I was just wondering if we could turn to the kind of FFO to debt number, the general sense of where you are their outlook for the year and where the short-term debt is kind of playing into that I think we've talked about before, I think some of that might roll off in the near term? I just get an update on that.

我只是想知道我們是否可以將 FFO 轉化為債務數量，即他們今年的前景以及短期債務在哪些方面發揮作用的總體感覺，我認為我們之前已經討論過，我認為其中一些可能會在短期內減少？我剛得到更新。

Yes. Chris, this is Adam. Right now, our calc on FFO to debt, and there's always some puts and takes in that calc is about 13.5% at the enterprise level, we do see us trending into our target range in 2024. As Steve mentioned, both Steves mentioned, we have a recovery in place on those gas costs that should boost cash flow substantially here starting this quarter, and I feel like we have a pretty good path forward on that.

是的。克里斯，這是亞當。現在，我們對 FFO 與債務的計算，在企業層面總是有一些投入和投入，計算大約為 13.5%，我們確實看到我們在 2024 年趨向於我們的目標範圍。正如史蒂夫提到的那樣，史蒂夫都提到了，我們從本季度開始，這些天然氣成本應該會大幅增加現金流，我覺得我們在這方面有一條很好的前進道路。

Great. And then more of just a confirmation, but the $6 million expense versus deferred this quarter. Is that kind of an outlier to this quarter because there was that just timing differential of the rate case? Or should we kind of expect a similar cadence throughout the year?

偉大的。然後更多的只是確認，但本季度推遲了 600 萬美元的費用。這是否是本季度的異常值，因為利率案例只是時間差異？還是我們應該期待全年都有類似的節奏？

Are you talking about the $6 million on the overhead?

您是在談論 600 萬美元的間接費用嗎？

Yes.

是的。

That is now in rates. So we would not expect that to reoccur.

那是現在的利率。所以我們不希望這種情況再次發生。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Shahriar Pourreza with Guggenheim Partners.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Shahriar Pourreza 和 Guggenheim Partners。

Just real quick, just maybe shifting to the 5% to 7% CAGR. Obviously, look, the rate case is kind of behind you guys. You guys are growing the transportation and storage segment. There's some pushes and takes. There's obviously some macro pressures. I guess, how do we think about the profile of the 5% to 7%, should we assume kind of the midpoint of the CAGR, so something more linear as we're modeling forward? Or there's just some items that may impact the shape of the growth in the near term?

真的很快，也許只是轉向 5% 到 7% 的複合年增長率。顯然，看，利率案件有點落後於你們。你們正在發展運輸和倉儲領域。有一些推動和需要。顯然存在一些宏觀壓力。我想，我們如何考慮 5% 到 7% 的概況，我們是否應該假設複合年增長率的中點，所以在我們建模時更線性？或者只有一些項目可能會影響近期的增長形態？

Shar, this is Steve. Thanks for the question. Yes hopefully, the base for our growth is clear, not with everybody after all the discussions the last. And as much as we would love to be able to claim absolute linear growth, I think that would be Pollyannish, given our scale and our jurisdictions. We strive mightily to tap on growth year-over-year. But as you know, the regulatory compact does create some variances year-over-year. We're dealing with high commodity costs this year. Not sure whether we're going to deal with that next year. So that creates some ripples.

莎爾，這是史蒂夫。謝謝你的問題。是的，希望我們增長的基礎是明確的，而不是在最後一次討論之後與每個人一起。儘管我們很希望能夠聲稱絕對線性增長，但我認為考慮到我們的規模和管轄範圍，這將是盲目樂觀的。我們努力爭取逐年增長。但如您所知，監管契約確實逐年產生了一些差異。今年我們正在處理高商品成本。不確定我們明年是否會處理這個問題。所以這會產生一些漣漪。

And who knows what other things will be in our sites going forward, including inflation. I think we've got a plan to address all of those. So I think we are very comfortable that the drivers of our growth are and begin with as they should, our gas utility businesses and rate base growth of 7% to 8%. And we're lock stuck on, as Steve mentioned, our capital plan for this year and our 10-year plan, we should give you and the investors a lot of comfort in our ability to grow the business.

誰知道我們的網站未來還會有什麼其他東西，包括通貨膨脹。我認為我們已經制定了解決所有這些問題的計劃。因此，我認為我們很高興我們的增長驅動力是我們的天然氣公用事業業務和 7% 至 8% 的基礎增長率。正如史蒂夫提到的那樣，我們堅持我們今年的資本計劃和我們的 10 年計劃，我們應該讓您和投資者對我們發展業務的能力感到非常欣慰。

There are clearly always going to be pluses and minuses around the edges. It's the stuff we have to deal with every day, and we'll do the best we can. And the only thing that is certain is we will continue to inform you in the market of what those pushes and pulls are, so you can fully understand how we're driving the business.

顯然，邊緣總會有優點和缺點。這是我們每天都要處理的事情，我們會盡力而為。唯一可以肯定的是，我們將繼續在市場上告知您這些推力和拉力是什麼，這樣您就可以充分了解我們是如何推動業務發展的。

Perfect. And then, yes, I echo your comments that growing off the 23% original midpoint is very well received and obviously very constructive. So kudos there. Just on the STL pipeline, while FERC has obviously given you a permanent operating certificate, it looks as though EDF may try to take the matter to the circuit courts. Do you anticipate any kind of protracted legal battles in appeals corridor? Is there a reason to believe the matter could soon be finished once and for all? Just a little bit of an update there.

完美的。然後，是的，我贊同你的評論，即從 23% 的原始中點開始增長是非常受歡迎的，而且顯然非常有建設性。所以那裡的榮譽。就在 STL 管道上，雖然 FERC 顯然已經給了你永久運營證書，但看起來 EDF 可能會嘗試將此事提交巡迴法庭。您預計上訴通道中會出現任何曠日持久的法律糾紛嗎？有理由相信這件事會很快一勞永逸地結束嗎？那裡只是一點點更新。

Shar, this is Mark Darrell, Chief Legal Officer. At this point, EDF has just asked for rehearing at the FERC. So I think I would just wait and see what EDF or what the FERC ultimately does with EBS petition for rehearing. And then we'll see what EBS does after that. I don't know -- I can't predict at this point whether there would be litigation in the court of appeals yet or not. We just don't know.

Shar，我是首席法務官 Mark Darrell。此時，EDF 剛剛要求在 FERC 進行複審。所以我想我會等著看 EDF 或 FERC 最終對 EBS 複審申請做了什麼。然後我們將看看 EBS 在那之後做了什麼。我不知道——我目前無法預測上訴法院是否會提起訴訟。我們只是不知道。

And this is Steve. Just on the operation, I would go back and reiterate the value of the pipeline. We've now gone through multiple lenders. We just saw with this recent winter event. We were able to deliver both reliable services as well as excess commodity that we didn't have years ago on the eastern side of the state. So I think anything that goes or extends, we continue to have more evidence of the value of this pipeline for the customers on the East side of (inaudible).

這是史蒂夫。就操作而言，我會回去重申管道的價值。我們現在已經經歷了多個貸方。我們剛剛看到最近的冬季活動。我們能夠提供幾年前在該州東部所沒有的可靠服務和過剩商品。因此，我認為任何進展或延伸的事情，我們都會繼續有更多證據證明這條管道對東側（聽不清）的客戶的價值。

Perfect. Congrats on the execution, very good.

完美的。祝賀執行，非常好。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Scott Dudley for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回斯科特·達德利 (Scott Dudley) 的閉幕詞。

Thank you all for joining us. We'll be around the rest of the day for any follow-ups. Take care, stay warm.

謝謝大家加入我們。我們將在當天剩下的時間裡進行任何後續行動。保重，注意保暖。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。