Spire Inc (SR) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Spire fiscal 2024 second quarter earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Megan Mcphail, Managing Director of Investor Relations.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Spire 2024 財年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意此事件正在被記錄。我現在想將會議交給投資者關係董事總經理梅根·麥克菲爾 (Megan Mcphail)。

Please go ahead morning and welcome to Spire's fiscal 2024 second quarter earnings call. We issued an earnings news release this morning. You may access it on our website at Spire energy.com under Newsroom and the slide presentation that accompanies our webcast may download either from the webcast site or from our website under Investors and then Events and Presentations before we begin, let me cover our safe harbor statements and use of non-GAAP operating earnings measures.

請早上好，歡迎參加 Spire 的 2024 財年第二季財報電話會議。我們今天早上發布了收益新聞稿。您可以在我們的網站Spire energy.com 的“新聞編輯室”下訪問它，我們的網絡廣播附帶的幻燈片演示文稿可以從網絡廣播網站或從我們的網站“投資者”下下載，然後在“活動和演示」下下載，在我們開始之前，讓我介紹一下我們的安全港報表和使用非公認會計原則運營收益指標。

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.

今天的電話會議（包括對問題的答覆）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。儘管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，可能導致未來的績效或結果與預期不同。我們向 SEC 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 used by management 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. On the call today is Steven Lindsey, President and CEO; Scott Doyle, Executive Vice President and COO; and Steven Rasche, Executive Vice President, CFO; also in the room today is Adam Woodard, Vice President and Treasurer. With that, I will turn the call over to Steve Lindsey.Steve?

在我們的評論中，我們將討論淨經濟收益和邊際貢獻，這都是管理階層在評估我們的績效和經營績效時所使用的非公認會計原則衡量標準。我們的新聞稿和投影片簡報中均包含這些措施與公認會計原則對應措施的解釋和調節。今天的電話會議由總裁兼執行長史蒂文·林賽 (Steven Lindsey) 主持。 Scott Doyle，執行副總裁兼營運長； Steven Rasche，執行副總裁兼財務長；今天也在場的還有副總裁兼財務長 Adam Woodard。這樣，我會將電話轉給 Steve Lindsey。

Thanks, Megan, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for a review of our second quarter performance and an update on recent developments and outlook.

謝謝，梅根，大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們，回顧我們第二季的業績以及最新進展和展望。

Let's start with our quarterly results. This morning, we reported fiscal second quarter net economic earnings of $3.45 per share compared to $3.70 per share a year ago. The year-over-year decrease was driven by a few key items, including lower usage in Missouri due to significantly warmer than normal weather and higher interest expense. Scott and Steve will discuss our results in more detail in a moment.

讓我們從季度業績開始。今天早上，我們報告第二財季每股淨經濟收益為 3.45 美元，而去年同期為每股 3.70 美元。同比下降是由幾個關鍵因素造成的，包括密蘇裡州由於天氣明顯變暖而導致的使用量下降以及利息支出增加。斯科特和史蒂夫稍後將更詳細地討論我們的結果。

Our results reflect our dedication and commitment to serve our customers and communities safe and reliable energy. And we continue to execute on our strategy to grow our businesses, invest in infrastructure and drive continuous improvement deliver value over the long term. Having a diverse portfolio of natural gas businesses enhances our ability to provide value further, consistent with our Board of Directors focused on strong oversight and governance. Last month, we announced the election of Sherry cut as the newest addition to our Board, our extensive business experience and leadership in human resources along their background and Economics and Finance will be vital as we execute our strategy for presence and involvement throughout our Alabama service territory. Further ensures we remain connected to our communities we serve, and I look forward to working closely with our in the future.

我們的成果反映了我們為客戶和社區提供安全可靠能源的奉獻和承諾。我們將繼續執行我們的策略，以發展業務、投資基礎設施並推動持續改進，創造長期價值。擁有多元化的天然氣業務組合可以增強我們進一步提供價值的能力，這與我們專注於強有力的監督和治理的董事會是一致的。上個月，我們宣布選舉Sherry cut 作為我們董事會的最新成員，我們豐富的業務經驗和在人力資源方面的領導力以及他們的背景和經濟和金融對於我們執行我們在整個阿拉巴馬州服務中的存在和參與戰略至關重要領土。進一步確保我們與我們所服務的社區保持聯繫，我期待未來與我們密切合作。

Before I wrap up, I would like to highlight the important role that natural gas plays and will continue to play as part of America's sustainable energy future, approximately 200 million Americans and businesses use natural gas because it's affordable, reliable and safe. In fact, according to the American Gas Association households that use natural gas for heating cooking and clothes drying save over $1,100 on average per year compared to homes using electricity together, natural gas utilities across the country, including Aspire, continued to invest billions of dollars of capital each year to enhance the natural gas distribution and transmission systems as an industry, we can be proud of the important work we've done in modernizing infrastructure and deploying technology that has led to increased safety, efficiency and reliability for natural gas customers.

在結束演講之前，我想強調天然氣作為美國永續能源未來的一部分所發揮的並將繼續發揮的重要作用，大約 2 億美國人和企業使用天然氣，因為它價格實惠、可靠且安全。事實上，根據美國天然氣協會的數據，使用天然氣取暖、烹飪和烘乾衣服的家庭與同時使用電力的家庭相比，平均每年節省1,100 美元以上，包括Aspire 在內的全國天然氣公用事業公司繼續投資數十億美元我們每年投入大量資金來增強天然氣分配和傳輸系統作為一個行業，我們可以為我們在基礎設施現代化和部署技術方面所做的重要工作感到自豪，這些工作提高了天然氣客戶的安全性、效率和可靠性。

To sum up, we are well positioned for success in the second half of fiscal year 24 and over the long term as we execute on our robust capital investment plan to support the growth and performance of our utilities and our gas related businesses. So armed with strong and well-positioned company with a proven growth strategy. We have confidence in that strategy and in the ability of our experienced management team and employees to successfully lead us into the future.

總而言之，隨著我們執行穩健的資本投資計劃以支持我們的公用事業和天然氣相關業務的成長和業績，我們已準備好在第 24 財年下半年以及長期內取得成功。因此，我們擁有強大且定位良好的公司以及經過驗證的成長策略。我們對該策略以及經驗豐富的管理團隊和員工成功領導我們走向未來的能力充滿信心。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Scott.

這樣，我現在將把電話轉給斯科特。

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to begin by thanking our employees for their hard work and continued focus, maintaining safe and reliable natural gas service to our customers through the winter heating season. I am extremely grateful and proud to be part of the Spire team.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，大家早安。首先，我要感謝我們的員工的辛勤工作和持續關注，在整個冬季供暖季節為我們的客戶提供安全可靠的天然氣服務。我非常感激和自豪能夠成為 Spire 團隊的一員。

Turning now to an update on the gas utility side, our commitment to strong operations and continued modernization of our system was visible when we were well positioned to deliver safe, reliable and affordable natural gas energy for our customers and communities who depend on this resource as a critical energy need. We remain focused on driving efficiencies throughout the organization, including streamlining systems and processes and maintaining an unwavering commitment to operational excellence.

現在轉向天然氣公用事業方面的更新，當我們處於有利位置，為依賴這種資源的客戶和社區提供安全、可靠和負擔得起的天然氣能源時，我們對強勁運營和持續現代化系統的承諾是顯而易見的。我們仍然專注於提高整個組織的效率，包括簡化系統和流程，並堅定不移地致力於卓越營運。

On the regulatory front in Missouri, we were pleased with the constructive outcome in our recent filing for an updated iSeries. Our semiannual capital recovery infrastructure rider. Last week, the Missouri Public Service Commission approved a $16.8 million in new revenues for recovery of system upgrade investments may September 2023 through February 2024, bringing our annualized interest revenue to $36.9 million rates are expected to be effective later this month. In Alabama, the rates that were effective January first were the result of working alongside the Public Service Commission staff during our annual rate-setting process.

在密蘇裡州的監管方面，我們對最近提交的更新版 iSeries 的建設性成果感到滿意。我們半年一次的資本回收基礎設施附加條款。上週，密蘇裡州公共服務委員會批准了1,680 萬美元的新收入，用於回收2023 年9 月至2024 年2 月的系統升級投資，使我們的年化利息收入達到3,690 萬美元，預計將於本月晚些時候生效。在阿拉巴馬州，一月份生效的費率是我們在年度費率制定過程中與公共服務委員會工作人員一起工作的結果。

As you may recall, our rates and Alabama percent using a forecasted budget for second quarter results reflect the benefits of these constructive regulatory mechanisms we have in each state as earnings benefited from new rates in Alabama and previously approved Missouri as worse revenue during the quarter, we experienced warm temperatures across all of our service territories and Alabama temperatures were approximately 10% warmer than normal. I'm glad to say as a result of our efforts with the Alabama PSC to incorporate more accurate customer usage patterns into rates.

您可能還記得，我們​​使用第二季度業績預測預算的費率和阿拉巴馬州百分比反映了我們在每個州擁有的這些建設性監管機制的好處，因為阿拉巴馬州的新費率使收入受益，而先前批准的密蘇裡州本季度收入較差，我們所有服務區域都經歷了溫暖的氣溫，阿拉巴馬州的氣溫比正常情況高出約 10%。我很高興地說，這是我們與阿拉巴馬州 PSC 共同努力將更準確的客戶使用模式納入費率的結果。

The weather normalization mechanism in Alabama continues to be effective. However, in our Missouri separate service territory service, severe fluctuations in temperatures throughout the quarter resulted in the weather normalization adjustment rider or WNA are being less effective than last year, and the lost weather related margins in our residential customer class during the quarter were only partially mitigate. Overall weather for the quarter was 15% warmer than normal. However, combined the months of February and March were nearly 32% warmer than normal.

阿拉巴馬州的天氣正常化機制繼續有效。然而，在我們的密蘇裡州獨立服務區域服務中，整個季度氣溫的劇烈波動導致天氣正常化調整附加條款或 WNA 的效果不如去年，本季度我們住宅客戶類別中與天氣相關的利潤損失僅為部分緩解。本季的整體天氣比正常溫度高 15%。然而，2 月和 3 月合計比正常溫度高出近 32%。

During these months, we saw periods of extremely warm days, followed by periods of more normal temperatures. These significant fluctuations in weather can cause usage to be lower than what the degree days would imply. We look forward to working with the Missouri PSC staff to evaluate how to better work cover lost weather related margin in the future as a reminder, the WNA our does not apply to the less weather sensitive commercial, industrial and transportation customer classes.

在這幾個月裡，我們經歷了一段時期極度溫暖的日子，隨後又經歷了一段氣溫較為正常的時期。天氣的這些顯著波動可能會導致使用量低於度日所暗示的水平。我們期待與密蘇裡州 PSC 工作人員合作，評估未來如何更好地彌補與天氣相關的損失損失，提醒您，WNA 不適用於對天氣不太敏感的商業、工業和運輸客戶類別。

Slides 15 and 16 in our appendix include further information on weather and customer usage for the quarter and year to date. During the quarter, interest costs increase in O&M costs were also slightly higher than last year's second quarter, increasing $2.3 million or approximately 2%. However, year to date, our O&M expenses remain below last year. Let me assure you we are laser focused on navigating these headwinds on the cost side, we continue to control our O&M expenses. We believe that going forward, controlling O&M increases will enable our utility financial performance to further improve fiscal 2024.

附錄中的幻燈片 15 和 16 包含有關本季和本年度迄今為止的天氣和客戶使用情況的更多資訊。本季度，營運和維護成本中的利息成本增幅也略高於去年第二季度，增加了 230 萬美元，約 2%。然而，今年迄今，我們的營運和維護費用仍低於去年。讓我向您保證，我們將專注於應對成本方面的這些不利因素，我們將繼續控制我們的營運和維護費用。我們相信，展望未來，控制營運和維護的成長將使我們的公用事業公司的財務表現進一步改善 2024 財年。

We are working to improve efficiencies and reduce costs across the organization. We are targeting elements of our cost structure that can be reduced based on enhancements and technology that have occurred or will occur in the coming years. In addition, we are working to ensure our shared services are efficiently aligned and supportive of our capital investment programs.

我們正在努力提高整個組織的效率並降低成本。我們的目標是根據未來幾年已經發生或將發生的增強和技術來降低成本結構中的要素。此外，我們正在努力確保我們的共享服務有效協調並支持我們的資本投資計劃。

Moving to Slide 5 and an update on our capital investment plan, we continue to invest significant amounts of capital focused on modernizing our gas utilities. Fiscal year to date, our CapEx totaled $409 million, which was primarily at our gas utilities year over year. Our gas utility CapEx increased 7% to $311 million with an emphasis on upgrading distribution infrastructure and connecting more homes and business. We continue to install advanced meters for residential customers across our service territory. And fiscal year to date, we have installed over 120,000 advanced meters bringing the total number of customers benefiting from this technology to 660,000.

轉到幻燈片 5 並更新我們的資本投資計劃，我們繼續投入大量資金，重點關注天然氣公用事業的現代化。財政年度迄今，我們的資本支出總計 4.09 億美元，年比主要用於天然氣公用事業。我們的天然氣公用事業資本支出增加了 7%，達到 3.11 億美元，重點是升級分銷基礎設施並連接更多家庭和企業。我們繼續為整個服務區域的住宅客戶安裝先進的電錶。截至本財年，我們已安裝了超過 12 萬個先進儀表，使受益於該技術的客戶總數達到 66 萬人。

Investment in our Midstream segment totaled $98 million fiscal year to date, largely for the expansion of Spire Storage West.

本財年迄今為止，我們中游部門的投資總額為 9,800 萬美元，主要用於 Spire Storage West 的擴張。

Looking ahead, the expected fiscal year '24 capital investment at the Gas Utilities segment remains unchanged. However, we are increasing our total fiscal year '24 capital investment target by $35 million to $800 million in support of our storage expansion projects.

展望未來，預計 24 財年天然氣公用事業部門的資本投資將維持不變。不過，我們將 24 財年的總資本投資目標增加了 3,500 萬美元至 8 億美元，以支持我們的儲存擴展項目。

I will now hand the call over to Steve Rasche to discuss this project in more detail and provide a financial update.

我現在將把電話轉給 Steve Rasche，以更詳細地討論該專案並提供最新的財務資訊。

Thanks, Scott, and good morning, everyone. Let's start with our midstream segment. As you know, we closed the acquisition of MoGas and Omega in January of this year, and we are pleased with both our progress and integration as well as the solid performance of the system this winter. We've also updated our expansion plan in Spire Storage West, supporting our targeted completion in fiscal year '25.

謝謝斯科特，大家早安。讓我們從中游部分開始。如您所知，我們於今年 1 月完成了對 MoGas 和 Omega 的收購，我們對今年冬天我們的進展和整合以及系統的穩定表現感到滿意。我們也更新了 Spire Storage West 的擴張計劃，支持我們在 25 財年完成目標。

Here are a few key points. During the quarter, we completed our open season and recontracting activities for the capacity that is coming online in fiscal years, '24 and '25, consistent with the higher demand we've been seeing in the Western US, we were able to lock in rates well above our initial estimates and for contract terms, consistent with current market of three to five years, we also increased our total targeted investment by $55 million to $250 million, with $35 million of that investment falling in fiscal year '24.

以下是幾個關鍵點。在本季度，我們完成了 24 財年和 25 財年上線產能的開放季節和重新承包活動，這與我們在美國西部看到的較高需求一致，我們能夠鎖定費率遠高於我們最初的估計，並且就合約條款而言，與目前三到五年的市場一致，我們還將目標投資總額增加了5,500 萬美元，達到2.5 億美元，其中3,500 萬美元在24 財年下降。

This increase was driven by expanded scope of the project, including enhancing the power supply line heating and maintenance capabilities, higher drilling costs for the injection and withdrawal wells and increased construction costs, especially for electrical equipment and labor, reflected the high demand across the energy sector and the market overall. Combining these factors, the returns on the project have improved from our original target. To put this in perspective, the total impact of the Spire Storage, West expansion and a full year of MoGas is expected to increase our Midstream earnings by $10 million to $12 million and fiscal year '25.

這一增長是由項目範圍擴大推動的，包括增強供電線路加熱和維護能力、注入井和回採井的鑽井成本增加以及建築成本增加，特別是電氣設備和勞動力，反映了整個能源領域的高需求行業和整個市場。綜合這些因素，該項目的回報比我們最初的目標有所提高。從長遠來看，Spire Storage、西部擴張和全年 MoGas 的整體影響預計將使我們的中游收入在 25 財年增加 1,000 萬美元至 1,200 萬美元。

Now turning to our results. Earlier today, we reported fiscal second quarter net economic earnings of $197 million, down $2.6 million from last year.

現在轉向我們的結果。今天早些時候，我們報告第二財季淨經濟收入為 1.97 億美元，比去年減少 260 萬美元。

Looking at the segments, our gas utility had earnings of $188 million, an increase of $4 million from last year. As Scott just touched on, higher rates and effective weather mitigation in Alabama were offset in large part by lower usage known and only partial mitigation in Missouri. Our gas, Marketing and Midstream had very tough comps from the prior year. And as we guided earlier, we did not expect those highly favorable market conditions to recur this year. We did benefit from the cold snap in January, and both segments were well positioned to capture value for marketing. That value is reflected in the second quarter results. Midstream also capture value, and we anticipate seeing that showing up in the back half of this year.

從細分市場來看，我們的燃氣公司獲利為 1.88 億美元，比去年增加了 400 萬美元。正如斯科特剛剛提到的，阿拉巴馬州較高的費率和有效的天氣緩解措施在很大程度上被密蘇裡州已知的較低使用率和僅部分緩解措施所抵消。與前一年相比，我們的天然氣、行銷和中游的業績非常艱難。正如我們之前的指導，我們預計今年不會再次出現這種非常有利的市場條件。我們確實從一月份的寒流中受益，這兩個細分市場都處於有利位置，可以獲得行銷價值。該價值反映在第二季的業績。中游也能獲取價值，我們預期這一點將在今年下半年顯現出來。

And lastly, lower corporate costs were offset by higher interest expense. On a per-share basis, we reported net economic earnings of $3.45 per share compared to $3.70 last year, with most of the decline attributed to the impact of higher share count this year as a result of our forward sale that settled in December and the equity unit conversion in March.

最後，較低的企業成本被較高的利息支出所抵銷。以每股計算，我們公佈的每股淨經濟收益為 3.45 美元，而去年為 3.70 美元，其中大部分下降歸因於今年 12 月結算的遠期銷售以及3月份股權單位轉換。

Slide 8 provides detail on key variances hitting a couple of the highlights. As I just mentioned, gas utility margins were higher overall and the volume metric component net of weather mitigation was $10.3 million higher in Alabama and $8.6 million lower in Missouri Gas Marketing margins, net of fair value adjustments were lower, as I just touched on, and Midstream was higher as a result of the addition of MoGas and Salt Plains.

幻燈片 8 提供了有關關鍵差異和幾個亮點的詳細資訊。正如我剛才提到的，天然氣公用事業利潤率總體較高，阿拉巴馬州扣除天氣影響後的容量指標增加了1030 萬美元，密蘇裡州天然氣營銷利潤率降低了860 萬美元，扣除公允價值調整後的利潤率較低，正如我剛才提到的，由於添加了汽油和鹽平原，中游的水位較高。

Looking at operations and maintenance expenses, gas utility expenses increased by $2.3 million as lower operational costs and third-party spend were offset by higher employee related costs.

從營運和維護費用來看，天然氣公用事業費用增加了 230 萬美元，因為較低的營運成本和第三方支出被較高的員工相關成本所抵消。

I would also echo the point that for the first half of our fiscal year, our utility O&M costs are actually down $900,000 compared to last year. Marketing and Midstream costs moved up consistent with the underlying business drivers and interest expense was higher by $5 million, driven mostly by higher long term and short term interest rates this quarter.

我還想強調的是，在我們的上半財年，我們的公用事業營運和維護成本實際上比去年下降了 90 萬美元。行銷和中游成本的上升與基本業務驅動因素一致，利息支出增加了 500 萬美元，主要是由於本季長期和短期利率上升。

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 fiscal year '24 guidance range. Our growth is driven by our utility rate base investments, a key component of our 10-year CapEx target of [$7.3 billion]. Despite the headwinds faced in the first half of the year, we are reaffirming our fiscal year '24 net economic earnings range of $4.25 to $4.45 per share.

談到我們的前景，我們仍然對從 24 財年指導範圍中點開始的 5% 至 7% 的長期每股淨經濟收益成長目標充滿信心。我們的成長是由公用事業費率基礎投資推動的，這是我們 10 年資本支出目標的關鍵組成部分[73億美元]。儘管今年上半年面臨阻力，我們仍重申 24 財年每股淨經濟收益範圍為 4.25 美元至 4.45 美元。

We are updating our business segment targets to reflect our first half results and expectations for the rest of the year. We are lowering our gas utility range by $10 million as we expect to offset some of the headwinds we discussed earlier.

我們正在更新我們的業務部門目標，以反映我們上半年的業績和今年剩餘時間的預期。我們將天然氣公用事業範圍降低 1000 萬美元，因為我們希望抵消我們之前討論過的一些不利因素。

By cost management, we've raised the range for gas marketing by $5 million on stronger than expected earnings in the first half of the year. We've also increased the range for midstream by $4 million to reflect the pull for approval of new storage rates and the value created during the winter and corporate costs move up by $2 million to reflect higher interest expense.

透過成本管理，我們將天然氣行銷範圍提高了 500 萬美元，因為上半年的獲利好於預期。我們還將中游的範圍增加了 400 萬美元，以反映新儲存費率的批准以及冬季創造的價值，而企業成本則增加了 200 萬美元，以反映更高的利息支出。

Moving to Slide 10.

轉到投影片 10。

Our three-year financing plan is unchanged from last quarter and this year's financing needs are now largely complete. On the equity side, we completed both the forward sale settlement and then we had equity units conversion and our ATM program placed [$12 million] and forward settlements this quarter. This leaves very modest equity needs through 2026 and with the $350 million note placement by Spire, Inc., our long-term debt needs are also largely satisfied and the remaining long term debt financing and our plan is largely tied to future refinancing activity.

我們的三年融資計畫與上季相比沒有變化，今年的融資需求目前已基本完成。在股權方面，我們完成了遠期銷售結算，然後進行了股權單位轉換，我們的 ATM 計劃在本季度放置了 [1200 萬美元] 和遠期結算。這使得得到2026 年的股權需求非常有限，並且透過Spire, Inc. 發行的3.5 億美元票據，我們的長期債務需求也基本上得到了滿足，剩餘的長期債務融資和我們的計劃在很大程度上與未來的再融資活動有關。

I would also note that we blended the short term, $200 million loan in January, and this loan will be fully repaid in early May, and we continue to target FFO-to-debt of 15% to 16% on a consolidated basis.

我還要指出的是，我們在 1 月混合了 2 億美元的短期貸款，這筆貸款將在 5 月初全額償還，我們繼續將合併後的 FFO 債務比目標定為 15% 至 16%。

So in summary, we are well positioned to continue growing and delivering strong overall performance for our customers, communities and investors. Thank you for your continued interest in Spire, and we look forward to seeing many of you at the AGA Financial Forum later this month.

總而言之，我們有能力繼續發展，為我們的客戶、社區和投資者提供強勁的整體業績。感謝您對 Spire 的持續關注，我們期待在本月稍後的 AGA 金融論壇上見到您。

Operator, we're now ready to take questions.

接線員，我們現在準備好回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Richard Sunderland, JPMorgan.

（操作員指令）Richard Sunderland，摩根大通。

Hi, good morning. Can you hear me?

早安.你聽得到我嗎？

We can Rich.

我們可以豐富。

Thank you for the time today. A couple of ones on the weather to start, I guess, looking across the business and given these weather headwinds, where are you trending in the guidance range off the segment revisions?

謝謝你今天的時間。我想，首先要談幾個關於天氣的問題，縱觀整個業務，考慮到這些天氣逆風，您在細分市場修訂的指導範圍內的趨勢是什麼？

I think Dan made some assets, maybe a 1% decline all to new. So is it fair that that's putting you in the bottom half of the range? And then I'm also curious, kind of where FFO-to-debt stands and currently given this weather headwind as well?

我認為 Dan 創造了一些資產，也許下降了 1%，全部變成新的。那麼，這讓您處於該範圍的下半部分公平嗎？然後我也很好奇，在目前這種天氣逆風的情況下，FFO 與債務的關係如何？

Yes. Rich, let me let me start on that yet. You know, we have a range and I can argue with the logic that you put forward. If you look at the individual business units, it would show a little bit of degradation in total and it's weather in the utility and a little bit of interest rates at the corporate. And that when I what I would say is that as you think about this half year and then play it forward as we think about next year that the beauty of the weather head winds, if there's any if there's any bright sides of that, that cloud that we've dealt with is that we would expect to get back to normalized weather and mitigation next year, which is essentially what we had in Missouri last year.

是的。Rich，讓我開始吧。你知道，我們有一個範圍，我可以反駁你提出的邏輯。如果你看一下各個業務部門，你會發現整體上有一點退化，這是公用事業的天氣和公司的一點利率。當我我要說的是，當你思考這半年，然後向前看，當我們思考明年時，美麗的天氣逆風，如果有任何光明的一面，那片雲我們已經處理過的問題是，我們預計明年將恢復正常的天氣和緩解措施，基本上就是我們去年在密蘇裡州所做的事情。

And that if you look at the material and we did again in the appendix during that presentation provide a lot more granular information on the whether it would point to a rebound of the 18% range. So if you think about how to model the rest of this year. But then what does that look like as you rebase this year going forward that we're very confident that we're still on track.

如果你看一下這些資料，我們在演講期間的附錄中再次做了一遍，提供了更多關於它是否會指向 18% 範圍反彈的詳細資訊。因此，如果您考慮如何為今年剩餘時間建模。但是，當你今年重新調整基準時，我們非常有信心我們仍然走在正軌上，那會是什麼樣子。

Yeah, Richard, I think that's a good good question. Ffo-to-debt connecting that to our weather pull through. But as you know, we've given our volume, the volumes that we count on for cash flow that that has those lower volumes have negatively impacted that cash flow growth trajectory. So we do while we still see very steady progress. And so that target range that we do now expect that to happen after year end '24 on Monday, by the bright side, we do see deferred gas costs almost completely recovered here at the end of the quarter and hope to be I've completely recovered here shortly.

是的，理查德，我認為這是一個很好的問題。Ffo-to-debt 將其與我們的天氣聯繫起來。但如你所知，我們已經給出了我們的數量，我們所依賴的現金流量，這些較低的數量對現金流成長軌跡產生了負面影響。所以我們這樣做了，同時我們仍然看到非常穩定的進展。因此，我們現在預計目標範圍將在 24 年底後週一實現，從好的方面來看，我們確實看到遞延天然氣成本在本季度末幾乎完全恢復，並希望我已經完全恢復很快就恢復過來了。

Got it. Thank you. Very helpful color all around. And then I think you unpack this in the script but did want to revisit in terms of how this weather impact is showing up. You were mentioning extreme fluctuations and then there's a greater usage impact relative to the what the degree days are. Is that is that effectively the difference between your 2Q results now and 1Q? I'm just trying to think about where the degree days were light on both sides but the weather, the weather impact in the results is actually really showing up this quarter. If you could help parse kind of 2Q versus one for you, that'd be helpful.

知道了。謝謝。周圍的顏色非常有用。然後我認為你在腳本中解壓縮了這一點，但確實想重新審視這種天氣影響是如何顯現的。您提到了極端波動，然後相對於度數天數而言，使用影響更大。這實際上就是第二季結果與第一季結果之間的差異嗎？我只是想想想雙方的氣溫都比較低的地方，但天氣，天氣對結果的影響實際上在本季真正顯現出來。如果您可以幫助您解析 2Q 與 1Q 的關係，那將會很有幫助。

Hey, Richard, it's Scott Doyle.

嘿，理查德，我是史考特‧道爾。

Yes, hey, maybe I can help with that a little bit.

是的，嘿，也許我可以幫忙一點。

Maybe just start with the response and if that tie back to the quarter last year, we were at we were this quarter, we were 2% warmer than the quarter last year. And so if you just look at last year, we had good weather mitigation with the same mechanism in place. When you look at this quarter, really February, March were much warmer than normal. And again, it was variable weather so much so that there was no real consistent weather pattern across those two months. What we saw as we've been analyzing the data is that the customer usage is off significantly during those months and are not correlated to the eight towards the HDDs, which show that for that same time period.

也許從反應開始，如果這與去年季度聯繫起來，那麼我們本季的情況是，我們比去年季度溫暖了 2%。因此，如果你看看去年，我們就採用了相同的機制，並取得了良好的天氣緩解效果。當你看這個季度時，確實二月、三月比正常情況溫暖得多。再說一次，天氣變化太大，以至於這兩個月沒有真正一致的天氣模式。在分析數據時我們發現，這幾個月的客戶使用量顯著下降，並且與硬碟的八個使用量無關，這表明​​同一時間段內的情況。

So on balance, what that tells us is there's some work we need to do relative to that mechanism to get better correlation work we have to do with PSC staff. The timing of that will be in a rate case is the form which that takes place, but dialogue and certainly take place in advance of that as well. So look for that for us to dig more deeply into that more closely with staffs, we work to enhance and improve that mechanism.

因此，總的來說，這告訴我們，我們需要做一些與該機制相關的工作，以便更好地與 PSC 工作人員進行相關工作。其時間安排將以利率案件的形式發生，但對話也肯定會在此之前發生。因此，我們希望與員工更密切地深入探討這一點，我們努力加強和改進這項機制。

Understood. Understood. And then just one last one, if I could. I know you reiterated the growth outlook here, but we've also had, I guess, a couple of quarters now with some interest rate commentary and rate impacts and results. Just curious what you're assuming now on a forward basis for interest rates, given kind of the latest market backdrop and then your view relative to your plan outlook here?

明白了。明白了。如果可以的話，最後一張。我知道您在這裡重申了成長前景，但我想，我們現在已經有幾個季度出現了一些利率評論以及利率影響和結果。只是好奇，考慮到最新的市場背景以及您對此處計劃前景的看法，您現在對利率的遠期假設是什麼？

Yes, Rich, great question. We have continued to take a higher for longer tack and obviously the interest rate forecasts are moving as well. I think a lot of the fee extra interest expense receipt is more balanced based rather than interest rate base. So again, going back to that kind of the volumetric pull through that's probably having more of a kind of a stubborn stubbornly long impact there than actual our actual interest rates forecast.

是的，里奇，好問題。我們繼續採取更高的長期策略，顯然利率預測也在變動。我認為很多額外利息支出的收入是基於更平衡的而不是基於利率的。再說一遍，回到那種體積拉動，這可能比我們實際的利率預測產生更多的頑固的長期影響。

Got it. Got it tough while I'll leave it there. Thank you for the time today.

知道了。事情很艱難，我會把它留在那裡。謝謝你今天的時間。

(Operator Instructions) Shar Pourreza, Guggenheim.

（操作員說明）Shar Pourreza，古根漢。

Yes, hi, guys. It's Jamieson Ward on for Shar.

是的，嗨，夥計們。賈米森沃德 (Jamieson Ward) 替補沙爾 (Shar)。

How are you?

你好嗎？

Good morning Jamieson.

早上好，賈米森。

So on actually which had some good questions there. There are a couple of the ones I had, but I did have I wanted to just delve a little bit more into on the weather you mentioned. So rate case will be the proper avenue to go about making adjustments mechanism. And then there's a lack of correlation in Missouri between degree days and the amount of mitigation. Just sort of wondering, has the cause of that been identified? Is it something that needs to be studied?

實際上，其中有一些很好的問題。我有幾個，但我確實有，我想更深入地研究你提到的天氣。因此，利率案件將是進行調整機制的適當途徑。而且密蘇裡州的度數天數和緩解量之間缺乏相關性。只是想知道，到底是什麼原因造成的？這是需要研究的嗎？

I'm just trying to get a sense of where we're at like is there a solution in mind and you're just waiting for the next rate case? Have you filed to kind of tack on to that or is it something that requires maybe a bit more modeling to figure out why they're not connecting the way that you would expect them to and the way they are working properly in other jurisdictions that you have and just kind of how we should think about and sort of the work to be done there in order to get them to match up. And then the follow-up would just be a timing of when we might see, I guess in this case asking about the case. But really the question is when we might see a new mechanism take effect.

我只是想了解我們現在的處境，例如是否有解決方案，而您只是在等待下一個利率案例？您是否已提出解決方案，或者是否需要更多的建模來弄清楚為什麼它們沒有按照您期望的方式連接以及它們在您所在的其他司法管轄區正常工作的方式我們應該如何思考和排序要在那裡完成的工作，以便讓它們匹配。然後後續行動只是我們可能會看到的時間，我想在這種情況下詢問案件。但真正的問題是我們什麼時候才能看到新機制生效。

Hey, Jamison, Scott Doyle Again, thank you for your question. I think the simple answer to your question is, is this something that does require a little more study and more modeling, just to see if there's an opportunity to correlate this particular weather pattern. Just recall, this weather pattern was unique in its It was not a normal weather pattern and it doesn't follow the norms perhaps within the mechanism. And so we just need to take a deeper dive look at that alongside the PSC staff as we do that and answer your question about the timing of the rate case as a result of us using that is risk mechanism. We have a must file date by May of 2026, but expect our rate case to be filed sooner than that as we work to reduce regulatory lag associated with our significant capital investment program that we're on. We have underway right now.

嘿，賈米森，斯科特·多伊爾，再次感謝您的提問。我認為你的問題的簡單答案是，這是否需要更多的研究和更多的建模，只是為了看看是否有機會將這種特定的天氣模式關聯起來。請記住，這種天氣模式的獨特之處在於它不是正常的天氣模式，而且它可能不遵循機制內的規範。因此，我們只需要與 PSC 工作人員一起更深入地研究這一點，並回答您關於由於我們使用風險機製而導致的費率案例時間的問題。我們的提交日期必須在 2026 年 5 月之前提交，但預計我們的費率案件會比該日期更早提交，因為我們正在努力減少與我們正在進行的重大資本投資計劃相關的監管滯後。我們現在正在進行中。

Perfect. Very clear. I really appreciate the color. Thanks, guys.

完美的。非常清楚。我真的很欣賞這種顏色。多謝你們。

(Operator Instructions) Christopher Jeffrey, Mizuho Securities.

（操作員指示）克里斯多福·傑弗裡（Christopher Jeffrey），瑞穗證券。

Thanks for the question on maybe turning to the midstream and the storage in particular, looks like the guidance there was raised for the new storage rates like Steve was talking about. I'm just curious how we should think about is there any more room for expansion, any spare capacity there and kind of how we should think about the fee is expected after the capacity expansion and '25 are those rated at? Are those kind of locked in at the current rates right now at Red.

感謝您提出關於可能轉向中游，尤其是存儲的問題，看起來像史蒂夫所說的那樣，針對新的存儲速率提出了指導。我只是好奇我們應該如何考慮是否還有更多的擴張空間，是否有任何閒置產能，以及我們應該如何考慮產能擴張後的預期費用以及“25 是那些額定值？”Red 目前的利率是否已被鎖定？

Chris, this is Steve.

克里斯，這是史蒂夫。

Let me take a shot at that. You had a number of things there. If I miss something just up, just ping me.

讓我試試。你那裡有很多東西。如果我錯過了什麼，請告訴我。

Yes, you know, if you think about the midstream business overall broadly split start abroad, we're going to step into the new scale that we currently operate and we are striving to get to as we finish the expansion, Spire Storage West and the back half of this year in '25 and '26.

是的，你知道，如果你考慮到中游業務總體上在國外廣泛分裂，我們將進入我們目前運營的新規模，並且我們正在努力在完成擴張後達到這一目標，Spire Storage West 和今年下半年的'25和'26。

And the reason for that and the reason why you should expect to see that kind of step-up over the next 2.5 years. Is that the physical dynamics of storage or that you bring the storage online? And then as the wells and the cavern sees that over time, the team and not only get comfortable with how the operations are, but then we get a better feel for how we can optimize the use of that of that cavern capacity over time.

這就是為什麼你應該期望在未來 2.5 年內看到這種進步的原因。這是儲存的物理動態還是您將儲存帶到網路上？隨著時間的推移，隨著水井和洞穴的觀察，團隊不僅對操作方式感到滿意，而且隨著時間的推移，我們對如何優化洞穴容量的使用有了更好的認識。

It is pretty standard in the space, takes a couple of years at least to kind of work our way through that.

這在這個領域是相當標準的，至少需要幾年的時間才能完成。

So if you think about the midstream segment broadly, you should expect just see that kind of step up over the next 2.5 years and we've given the guidance for this year for the midstream business. And we and we are we gave you a preview of how to think about the midstream business for '25. Will we continue to look for opportunities to optimize?

因此，如果您廣泛地考慮中游細分市場，您應該期望在未來 2.5 年內看到這種進步，並且我們已經為今年的中游業務提供了指導。我們和我們為您提供如何思考 25 年中游業務的預覽。我們會繼續尋找優化的機會嗎？

Absolutely. That's part of our job.

絕對地。這是我們工作的一部分。

But remember, the midstream business is our business where the rates that we charge really are driven by the volatility in the commodity need. But the actual monetization that volatility in many ways is what is left for our customers, but it does support higher rates. And as we mentioned on the call in the prepared remarks, we have now completed the open season and the recontracting or the capacity that is online that actually just started injection in April, but will come online as we get into the next winter and an injection season next spring.

但請記住，中游業務是我們的業務，我們收取的費率實際上是由商品需求的波動性決定的。但實際貨幣化在許多方面的波動是留給我們的客戶的，但它確實支援更高的利率。正如我們在準備好的演講中在電話會議上提到的那樣，我們現在已經完成了開放季節和重新簽約或在線產能，這些產能實際上剛剛在四月份開始注入，但將在我們進入下一個冬季和注入時上線明年春天的季節。

And we are extremely pleased that the rates that we got were well above what we had estimated there in the mid 20s range, which is kind of where the number that segment of the market is right now. We if you look at the market overall, the terms for contracts are between three and five years and our contracting falls right in that category. In fact, I think the average is right the middle at four years. So from that standpoint, while we will have some of our legacy contracts roll as we go through the next couple of years, we're in a very good position in terms of capturing the fixed storage value, getting it under contract and being able to operate it for a while.

我們非常高興的是，我們獲得的利率遠高於我們在 20 多歲左右範圍內的估計，這正是該市場細分市場目前的數字。如果你從整體市場角度來看，我們的合約期限在三年到五年之間，而我們的合約正好屬於這個類別。事實上，我認為四年的平均值就在中間。因此，從這個角度來看，雖然在接下來的幾年中我們將保留一些遺留合同，但在獲取固定存儲價值、將其納入合同並能夠操作一段時間。

I think your last question was additional expansion opportunities. It's something that, frankly the team and that has started a little bit about if you think about pie-in-the-sky. But right now, we are laser focused in making sure that once we complete the integration for for MoGas that we lock down and get everything operationalize their pumps, both waste and actually performing very well.

我認為你的最後一個問題是額外的擴展機會。坦白說，如果你考慮一下天上掉下來的餡餅，那麼坦白說，團隊和團隊已經開始考慮這一點了。但現在，我們的重點是確保一旦我們完成了 MoGas 的集成，我們就會鎖定並讓一切都可以運行他們的泵，既浪費又實際上表現得很好。

And lastly, that we complete the expansion, the SPAR stores west and those are really our current focus, and that will be our focus in what we can take a breath and get through the winter, not probably next winter because that's when the rubber meets the road for the SPAR stores, West facility then we'll start looking at where we are might other opportunities be. But at this juncture, I wouldn't want to I wouldn't want to tell you to model anything in, but we do have a good path to see some step growth over the next 2.5 years.

最後，我們完成了擴張，西邊的 SPAR 商店和那些確實是我們當前的重點，這將是我們可以喘口氣並度過冬天的重點，而不是明年冬天，因為那是橡膠相遇的時候然後我們將開始尋找可能存在其他機會的地方。但在這個節骨眼上，我不想告訴你對任何東西進行建模，但我們確實有一個很好的途徑來看到未來 2.5 年的一些逐步增長。

Great. Thank you, Steve. That's super helpful. And then maybe just last one for me. Just kind of in terms of the reiterated guidance for '24, if I kind of just denote compare that expectation for the second half of the year compared to last year's second half kind of implies a decent amount of improvement. I'm just wondering, in that context of year over year, kind of what are you expecting to kind of be the driver of that trend improvement?

偉大的。謝謝你，史蒂夫。這非常有幫助。對我來說也許只是最後一個。就 24 年重申的指導而言，如果我只是表示將今年下半年的預期與去年下半年進行比較，就意味著有相當大的改進。我只是想知道，在年復一年的背景下，您期望什麼成為這種趨勢改善的驅動力？

Yes, that's a that's a pretty broad question. I have let me let me focus on the utility in the corporate and other segment because I think we've been pretty clear and what the drivers and movers are in both the midstream and the marketing segment.

是的，這是一個非常廣泛的問題。我讓我專注於企業和其他領域的效用，因為我認為我們已經非常清楚中游和行銷領域的驅動因素和推動者是什麼。

Yes. If you remember, last year we had some outsized one-off costs and in the corporate side in the last fiscal quarter of last year, we obviously don't expect any of that to recur this year.

是的。如果你還記得，去年我們有一些巨大的一次性成本，在去年最後一個財政季度的企業方面，我們顯然預計今年不會再出現任何此類成本。

So from a cost perspective, you should expect to see our overall O&M cost be a lot lower.

所以從成本角度來看，我們的整體維運成本應該會低很多。

And as Scott mentioned in his prepared remarks, we are focused on a one on how we can get our costs in line and keep those in line over time. Now we have a long history of doing this and doing this successfully. It shouldn't be lost on you or anybody else that are our actual costs in the utility are lower than they were last year. And we're going to continue to make sure that we have the right cost structure that meet our customers' needs.

正如斯科特在他準備好的演講中提到的那樣，我們的重點是如何使我們的成本保持一致並隨著時間的推移保持一致。現在，我們在這方面有著悠久的歷史，並且取得了成功。您或其他任何人都不應該忽視我們的實際公用事業成本低於去年。我們將繼續確保我們擁有滿足客戶需求的正確成本結構。

But also support the growth, and that's going to be an ongoing process. So that will be one of the tailwinds that will that you will see when you compare this year versus last year. And then secondly, as Adam mentioned, now that we have largely recovered all of our gas costs, and I think we can expect with April bills and as they flow through, we'll get the rest of that deferred gas cost recovered. The the headwinds on the balances in short-term debt should should mitigate quite a bit and maybe turn into a tailwind at all, though we have the same view that the market does this by a higher for longer, getting those balances down is another way in which we should be able to create a little bit of uplift when you compare this year versus last.

但也要支持成長，這將是一個持續的過程。因此，當您將今年與去年進行比較時，這將是您將看到的有利因素之一。其次，正如亞當所提到的，現在我們已經基本上收回了所有的天然氣成本，我認為我們可以預期四月份的帳單，當它們流過時，我們將收回其餘的遞延天然氣成本。短期債務餘額的逆風應該會減輕很多，甚至可能會變成順風，儘管我們同樣認為市場會在更長時間內走高，但降低這些餘額是另一種方法當你將今年與去年進行比較時，我們應該能夠創造一些提升。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回梅根·麥克斯韋爾發表閉幕詞。

Thank you for joining us on the call today, and we look forward to talking to you later today and in the coming weeks and AGM. Have a good day.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議，我們期待在今天晚些時候以及未來幾週和年度股東大會上與您交談。祝你有美好的一天。

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。您現在可以斷開連線。