TC Energy Corp (TRP) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the TC Energy First Quarter 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) The conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the conference over to Gavin Wylie, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

歡迎參加 TC Energy 2023 年第一季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係副總裁 Gavin Wylie。請繼續。

Yes. Thanks very much, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to TC Energy's 2023 First Quarter Conference Call. Joining me are Francois Poirier, President and Chief Executive Officer; Joel Hunter, Chief Financial Officer, along with other members of our senior leadership team. Francois and Joel will begin today with some comments on our financial and operational results. A copy of the slide presentation that will accompany their results is available on our website under the Investors section.

是的。非常感謝，大家早上好。歡迎您參加 TC Energy 的 2023 年第一季度電話會議。和我一起的是總裁兼首席執行官 Francois Poirier；首席財務官 Joel Hunter 以及我們高級領導團隊的其他成員。 Francois 和 Joel 今天將首先對我們的財務和運營結果發表一些評論。可在我們網站的“投資者”部分下獲取與他們的結果一起顯示的幻燈片演示文稿的副本。

Following the remarks, we'll take questions from the investment community. We ask that you limit yourself to 2 questions. And if you're a member of the media, please contact our media team. Before Francois begins, I'll remind you that remarks today will include forward-looking statements that are subject to important risks and uncertainties. For more information, please see the reports filed by TC Energy with the Canadian securities regulators and with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.

發言結束後，我們將回答投資界的提問。我們要求您將自己限制在 2 個問題內。如果您是媒體的一員，請聯繫我們的媒體團隊。在 Francois 開始之前，我會提醒您，今天的評論將包括受重大風險和不確定因素影響的前瞻性陳述。有關更多信息，請參閱 TC Energy 向加拿大證券監管機構和美國證券交易委員會提交的報告。

Finally, during the presentation, we'll refer to certain non-GAAP measures that may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other entities. These measures are used to provide additional information on TC Energy's operating performance, liquidity and its ability to generate funds to finance its operations. A reconciliation of various GAAP and non-GAAP measures is contained in the appendix of the presentation.

最後，在演示過程中，我們將提及某些非 GAAP 措施，這些措施可能無法與其他實體提出的類似措施相比較。這些衡量標準用於提供有關 TC Energy 的經營業績、流動性及其籌集資金為其運營提供資金的能力的額外信息。介紹的附錄中包含各種 GAAP 和非 GAAP 措施的調節。

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

有了這個，我會把電話轉給弗朗索瓦。

Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report that our strong financial performance in 2022 has continued into the first quarter of 2023. High utilization and availability across our system have enabled us to generate exceptional results in the first quarter. This is a testament to our people. The continued strong demand for our critical energy assets and the resiliency of our low-risk business.

大家，早安。我很高興地報告，我們在 2022 年的強勁財務業績一直持續到 2023 年第一季度。我們系統的高利用率和可用性使我們能夠在第一季度取得出色的業績。這是對我們人民的證明。對我們關鍵能源資產的持續強勁需求以及我們低風險業務的彈性。

For the remainder of 2023, our priorities are clear. First, executing on our major projects, and industry-leading high-quality secured capital program; second, accelerating our deleveraging targets by advancing our $5-plus billion asset divestiture program, which we expect to complete throughout the year; and third, safely and reliably operating our assets that provide essential energy services across North America.

在 2023 年剩下的時間裡，我們的優先事項很明確。一是實施重大項目，實施行業領先的優質擔保資金方案；第二，通過推進我們預計在全年完成的超過 50 億美元的資產剝離計劃來加速我們的去槓桿化目標；第三，安全可靠地運營我們在北美提供基本能源服務的資產。

We firmly believe that achieving these priorities will unlock value and maximize shareholder returns. And based on our strong start to 2023, we reaffirm our 2023 comparable EBITDA outlook of 5% to 7% higher than in 2022. Underpinned by our focus on strong operational performance, first quarter results had comparable EBITDA up 16% from the same period last year, while comparable earnings per share rose by 8% year-over-year.

我們堅信，實現這些優先事項將釋放價值並最大化股東回報。基於我們到 2023 年的強勁開局，我們重申 2023 年可比 EBITDA 前景比 2022 年高 5% 至 7%。在我們對強勁運營業績的關注的支持下，第一季度的可比 EBITDA 比去年同期增長 16%年，而可比每股收益同比增長 8%。

During the quarter, we placed a total of $1.4 billion of projects in service, and we remain on track to place $6 billion of assets in service during 2023. In Canada Gas, we brought $1.1 billion of projects into service, further adding incremental market access for our customers in the basin. In March, we also placed the Port Neches Link pipeline into service under budget, extending our Keystone system to include last mile connectivity to the largest refinery in North America.

在本季度，我們總共投入了 14 億美元的項目，我們仍有望在 2023 年投入 60 億美元的資產。在加拿大天然氣公司，我們投入了 11 億美元的項目，進一步增加了市場准入為我們在盆地的客戶。 3 月，我們還在預算範圍內將 Port Neches Link 管道投入使用，將我們的 Keystone 系統擴展到包括與北美最大煉油廠的最後一英里連接。

In our U.S. natural gas business, 2022 was a record year in terms of compressor reliability across our fleet. And so far in 2023, we are on track to meet or even exceed that performance. This year, we've set a multiple of all-time records for deliveries to LNG export facilities, reinforcing the criticality of our assets. And in Power and Energy Solutions, Bruce Power delivered exceptional availability of 95%, and we expect 2023 to average in the low 90s. Unit 6 MCR is proceeding on schedule and on budget and is now in the final stages of the installation phase.

在我們的美國天然氣業務中，2022 年是我們車隊壓縮機可靠性創紀錄的一年。到 2023 年為止，我們有望達到甚至超過這一表現。今年，我們創造了向液化天然氣出口設施交付的多個歷史記錄，加強了我們資產的重要性。在電力和能源解決方案方面，Bruce Power 提供了 95% 的卓越可用性，我們預計 2023 年的平均可用性將低於 90 年代。 6 號機組 MCR 按計劃和預算進行，現在處於安裝階段的最後階段。

Execution of our major project is our central priority for 2023. I'm pleased to share that Coastal GasLink is continuing along our revised cost and schedule and progressed through the winter on plan. We accomplished several major milestones with the overall project now 87% complete, and approximately 570 of the 670 kilometers of pipeline has been backfilled and restoration activities are underway in many areas.

執行我們的主要項目是我們 2023 年的重中之重。我很高興與大家分享，Coastal GasLink 正在繼續按照我們修改後的成本和時間表進行，並按計劃在整個冬季取得進展。我們完成了幾個重要的里程碑，整個項目現已完成 87%，670 公里管道中的大約 570 公里已經回填，許多地區正在進行恢復活動。

Commissioning work on the Wilde Lake compressor Station has begun and natural gas has been introduced as part of the transition of the facility to operations. More than 85% of all classified water crossings are now complete, and we have safely completed the excavation of Cable Crane Hill ahead of schedule and are now installing the final pipe through this critical path section. We continue to target mechanical completion by the end of the year.

Wilde Lake 壓縮機站的調試工作已經開始，天然氣已作為該設施向運營過渡的一部分引入。 85%以上的分級過水現已完成，我們已經提前安全完成了電纜起重機山的開挖工作，目前正在通過這一關鍵路徑段安裝最後的管道。我們繼續以年底前的機械完工為目標。

Our second offshore project in Mexico, the Southeast Gateway pipeline is also proceeding according to cost and schedule. We've achieved our first milestones with the acquisition of land for compressor stations and offshore landfalls. We've obtained key federal environmental authorizations and local permits for the project. Critical long-lead items, including the offshore vessel have been secured, and we've begun receiving materials.

我們在墨西哥的第二個海上項目 Southeast Gateway 管道也在按照成本和時間表進行。我們通過徵用土地建設壓縮機站和海上登陸點實現了我們的第一個里程碑。我們已經為該項目獲得了關鍵的聯邦環境授權和地方許可。關鍵的長周期項目，包括近海船隻已經得到保護，我們已經開始接收材料。

We anticipate commencing onshore construction for our compressor stations this summer. In fact, civil work has already begun. And our offshore pipe installation will commence towards the end of 2023. As a reminder, approximately 70% of the total project costs are under fixed price contracts, providing greater certainty around cost and schedule, and we continue to target completion by mid-2025.

我們預計今年夏天開始在陸上建設我們的壓縮站。事實上，土建工作已經開始。我們的海上管道安裝將於 2023 年底開始。提醒一下，大約 70% 的項目總成本屬於固定價格合同，這為成本和進度提供了更大的確定性，我們繼續以 2025 年年中完成為目標。

Following the Milepost 14 incident on the Keystone system in December, we've been diligently working to restore the area to its original state. We're pleased to report that we've recovered over 98% of the release volume. A big thank you for the continued support from the Washington County community, and we are dedicated to ensuring the effective area is fully restored. We've received the independent third-party root cause analysis.

在 12 月 Keystone 系統發生 Milepost 14 事件後，我們一直在努力將該區域恢復到原來的狀態。我們很高興地報告，我們已經恢復了超過 98% 的發行量。非常感謝華盛頓縣社區一直以來的支持，我們致力於確保有效區域得到全面恢復。我們已經收到獨立的第三方根本原因分析。

And with these findings, we are committed to implementing a comprehensive plan to enhance our pipeline integrity program and overall safety performance. Now looking to the future. Our North American footprint means we have access to a diverse set of high-quality growth opportunities. And this is a high-grade problem to have. But we must consider both financial and human capacity when evaluating incremental projects.

有了這些發現，我們致力於實施一項綜合計劃，以加強我們的管道完整性計劃和整體安全績效。現在展望未來。我們在北美的足跡意味著我們可以獲得各種高質量的增長機會。這是一個高級問題。但在評估增量項目時，我們必須同時考慮財務和人力能力。

We recognize we are in a period of increased development spend. However, post 2024, we are committing to limiting annual sanctioned capital expenditures to $7 billion or less. In fact, we will strive to manage annual capital spending to approximately $6 billion, providing the flexibility to further reduce leverage or buy back common shares. When sanctioning new projects, a key consideration will be the timing of the capital spend, and it must fit within our annual capital expenditure parameters and deleveraging targets.

我們認識到我們正處於開發支出增加的時期。但是，到 2024 年後，我們承諾將年度批准的資本支出限制在 70 億美元或更少。事實上，我們將努力將年度資本支出控制在約 60 億美元，從而提供進一步降低杠桿率或回購普通股的靈活性。在批准新項目時，一個關鍵的考慮因素是資本支出的時機，它必須符合我們的年度資本支出參數和去槓桿目標。

We've also enhanced our governance practices and placed higher standards around sanctioning large or complex projects that includes the requirement for a Class III estimate as well as an independent third-party assessment as was the case with the Southeast Gateway. As always, we'll continue adhering to our long-established risk/return preferences.

我們還加強了我們的治理實踐，並圍繞批准大型或複雜項目制定了更高的標準，包括對 III 級估算的要求以及獨立第三方評估的要求，就像東南門戶的情況一樣。一如既往，我們將繼續堅持我們長期確立的風險/回報偏好。

I'll highlight that 98% of our secured capital program is underpinned by long-term take-or-pay contracts or rate regulation, where we take no commodity price or volumetric risk. The resiliency of our business and capital allocation strategy is supported by a long-term view on energy fundamentals. Natural gas will continue to play a pivotal role in North America's energy future, and that aligns well with our current portfolio as well as our sanctioned projects.

我要強調的是，我們 98% 的擔保資本計劃以長期照付不議合同或利率監管為基礎，我們不承擔商品價格或體積風險。我們的業務和資本配置戰略的彈性得到了對能源基本面的長期看法的支持。天然氣將繼續在北美的能源未來發揮關鍵作用，這與我們目前的投資組合以及我們批准的項目非常吻合。

Lower carbon energy solutions will gradually increase in market share, and we will intentionally migrate our portfolio composition, but gradually over time. And with an emphasis on building firm capacity in areas such as nuclear, pump storage, hydrogen and carbon transportation and sequestration. Renewable energy will play a complementary role in our decarbonizing of our own assets, and we can also extend that service and product to our customers.

低碳能源解決方案的市場份額將逐漸增加，我們將有意遷移我們的投資組合構成，但隨著時間的推移逐漸遷移。並強調在核能、抽水蓄能、氫和碳運輸和封存等領域建設企業能力。可再生能源將在我們自身資產的脫碳過程中發揮補充作用，我們還可以將這種服務和產品擴展到我們的客戶。

However, the pace at which we allocate capital to these areas will ultimately be driven by their affordability, their reliability and their sustainability. Thanks, and I'll now turn the time over to Joel.

然而，我們向這些領域分配資金的速度最終將取決於它們的可負擔性、可靠性和可持續性。謝謝，現在我將把時間交給 Joel。

Thanks, Francois. Building on the record results we achieved in 2022, we set a new quarterly record during first quarter 2023 that reflects high utilization, availability and continued operational performance across our asset base. First quarter 2023 comparable EBITDA was up 16% year-over-year with comparable earnings growth of 12% and 8% year-over-year increase in comparable earnings per share.

謝謝，弗朗索瓦。基於我們在 2022 年取得的創紀錄成果，我們在 2023 年第一季度創造了新的季度記錄，反映了我們資產基礎的高利用率、可用性和持續運營績效。 2023 年第一季度可比 EBITDA 同比增長 16%，可比收益增長 12%，可比每股收益同比增長 8%。

We continue to demonstrate the certainty and stability of our cash flow growth that reflects our assets being over 95% rate regulated or underpinned by long-term contracts. Our strong performance during the quarter was driven by a combination of the strength in our North American natural gas pipelines, along with higher contributions from our Power and Energy Solutions business.

我們繼續證明我們現金流增長的確定性和穩定性，這反映了我們的資產超過 95% 的利率受到長期合同的監管或支持。我們在本季度的強勁表現得益於我們北美天然氣管道的實力，以及我們電力和能源解決方案業務的更高貢獻。

Our rate-regulated Canadian natural gas pipelines saw a year-over-year increase in net income of 11% primarily driven by growth in the NGTL system average investment base. Average NGTL system deliveries rose year-over-year, reaching 14.5 billion cubic feet per day. 14% growth in our U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines comparable EBITDA was largely due to higher earnings from ANR following the FERC approved rate case settlement as well as contributions from growth projects placed in service.

我們受利率管制的加拿大天然氣管道淨收入同比增長 11%，這主要是受 NGTL 系統平均投資基數增長的推動。 NGTL 系統的平均交付量同比增長，達到每天 145 億立方英尺。我們的美國天然氣管道可比 EBITDA 增長了 14%，這主要是由於 FERC 批准的費率案件和解後 ANR 的收益增加以及投入使用的增長項目的貢獻。

Throughput for the quarter averaged 28.5 billion cubic feet per day, with several of our assets performing at near record levels when demand was at the highest. In Mexico, comparable EBITDA increased 16% year-over-year, reflecting the north section of the Villa de Reyes pipeline in the east section of the Tula pipeline that were placed in the commercial service last year.

本季度的吞吐量平均為每天 285 億立方英尺，我們的一些資產在需求最高時的表現接近創紀錄水平。在墨西哥，可比 EBITDA 同比增長 16%，反映了去年投入商業服務的 Tula 管道東段的 Villa de Reyes 管道北段。

Year-to-date, the operational reliability of the Keystone system has been more than 95%, supporting the safe and reliable delivery of all contracted volumes for our customers. Power and Energy Solutions generated outstanding results with a 79% increase in comparable EBITDA year-over-year. In February, our Alberta cogeneration power fleet reached 100% peak price availability for the first time in company history while pricing remained strong, averaging $142 per megawatt hour.

年初至今，Keystone 系統的運行可靠性已超過 95%，支持為我們的客戶安全可靠地交付所有合同量。電力和能源解決方案取得了出色的業績，可比 EBITDA 同比增長 79%。 2 月，我們的艾伯塔省熱電聯產電力機隊在公司歷史上首次達到 100% 的峰值可用價格，同時價格保持強勁，平均每兆瓦時 142 美元。

Bruce Power achieved 95% availability during the quarter with fewer planned other days and higher contract pricing relative to the first quarter 2022. We are reaffirming our expected 2023 comparable EBITDA growth of 5% to 7% compared to 2022. We also expect comparable earnings per common share to be modestly higher. We are confident in this outlook despite the environment of rising interest rates and inflation. And as a reminder, any fluctuations in these variables and other factors could impact our 2023 outlook and we will look to revise throughout the year if necessary.

Bruce Power 在本季度實現了 95% 的可用性，與 2022 年第一季度相比，其他計劃天數更少，合同定價更高。我們重申，與 2022 年相比，我們預計 2023 年可比 EBITDA 增長 5% 至 7%。我們還預計可比收益普通股略高。儘管利率和通脹不斷上升，但我們對這一前景充滿信心。提醒一下，這些變量和其他因素的任何波動都可能影響我們 2023 年的展望，如有必要，我們將在全年進行調整。

Global markets have been experiencing high volatility, and I want to take a moment to discuss the confidence I have in our outlook and ability to meet our financing requirements. The chart on the left highlights the rapid increase in rates during 2022, which were similar across the curve, driving the year-over-year increase in interest expense. However, we are beginning to see 10-year government bond yields moderate from their recent highs. We continue to demonstrate cost competitive access to capital markets as evidenced during Q1, when we executed over $6.5 billion of new issuance across a variety of maturities and geographies.

全球市場一直在經歷高度波動，我想花點時間談談我對我們的前景和滿足融資需求的能力的信心。左圖突出顯示了 2022 年利率的快速上升，這在整個曲線上是相似的，推動了利息支出的同比增長。然而，我們開始看到 10 年期政府債券收益率從近期高位回落。正如第一季度所證明的那樣，我們繼續展示具有成本競爭力的資本市場准入，當時我們在各種期限和地區執行了超過 65 億美元的新發行。

The fixed rate debt tranches of these issuances have a weighted average cost of 5.6%. We have a manageable debt maturity profile with a weighted average maturity of approximately 18 years at an average pretax coupon of approximately 5%. Roughly 15% of our debt portfolio is exposed to floating interest rates we have programs in place to actively manage our exposures.

這些發行的固定利率債務部分的加權平均成本為 5.6%。我們擁有可控的債務到期狀況，加權平均到期期限約為 18 年，平均稅前息票約為 5%。我們的債務組合中大約有 15% 面臨浮動利率風險，我們制定了積極管理風險敞口的計劃。

Now turning to our funding program. A key priority for us is capital discipline. Without sacrificing operational safety or reliability, beyond 2024, we will manage our annual sanctioned capital spending to $7 billion or less, inclusive of maintenance capital. As Francois mentioned, we will strive to manage annual capital spending to approximately $6 billion. This enhances our financial strength while providing optionality to further deleverage or buy back shares.

現在轉向我們的資助計劃。我們的一個關鍵優先事項是資本紀律。在不犧牲運營安全性或可靠性的情況下，到 2024 年以後，我們將把我們的年度批准資本支出控制在 70 億美元或更少，包括維護資本。正如 Francois 提到的，我們將努力將年度資本支出控制在大約 60 億美元。這增強了我們的財務實力，同時提供了進一步去槓桿化或回購股票的選擇權。

I'll note that the sources and uses outlined on this chart do not include the impact of potential asset divestitures that are expected to be realized through 2023. You can expect our incremental funding requirements to be reduced as our asset divestiture program progresses, allowing us to further accelerate our deleveraging target. With respect to the dividends declared on February 13, 2023, the participation rate in our dividend reinvestment plan was 38%, resulting in approximately $360 million reinvested in common equity under the program.

我會注意到，此圖表中概述的來源和用途不包括預計到 2023 年實現的潛在資產剝離的影響。您可以預期，隨著我們的資產剝離計劃的進展，我們的增量資金需求將減少，使我們能夠進一步加快我們的去槓桿目標。關於 2023 年 2 月 13 日宣布的股息，我們的股息再投資計劃的參與率為 38%，導致該計劃下約 3.6 億美元再投資於普通股。

The discounted dividend reinvestment plan is expected to be in place through dividends declared for the quarter ending June 30, 2023. Finally, I want to bring to your attention two charts that truly capture the resiliency of our value proposition: First, TC's Energy Board of Directors has declared a second quarter 2023 dividend of $0.93 per common share, which is equivalent to $3.72 per share on an annual basis.

貼現股息再投資計劃預計將通過截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的季度派發股息來實施。最後，我想提請您注意兩張真正體現我們價值主張彈性的圖表：首先，TC 的能源委員會董事們宣布了 2023 年第二季度每股普通股 0.93 美元的股息，相當於每年每股 3.72 美元。

Second, we have delivered strong results. This is a testament to the strength of our utility-like business model, unwavering focus on safety and operational excellence and North America is increasing demand for our essential services. We have created significant shareholder value despite market volatility and macroeconomic challenges, and I'm confident that we'll continue to do so.

第二，我們取得了豐碩的成果。這證明了我們類似公用事業的商業模式的實力、對安全和卓越運營的堅定關注以及北美對我們基本服務的需求不斷增加。儘管存在市場波動和宏觀經濟挑戰，但我們已經創造了可觀的股東價值，我相信我們會繼續這樣做。

Thank you. And I'll now pass the call back to Francois.

謝謝。我現在將電話轉回給 Francois。

Thanks, Joel. In summary, our priorities for the year are clear: continue to execute on our major projects, such as CGL and Southeast Gateway; accelerate our deleveraging targets by managing our capital spending and advancing our asset divestiture program; and third, achieving safe, reliable and sustainable operations and our focus on operational excellence to drive higher returns. To reflect our commitment to these priorities and to better align with our shareholders, we have introduced new performance measures that explicitly tie executive compensation to cash flow per share, deleveraging and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

謝謝，喬爾。綜上所述，我們今年的工作重點很明確：繼續抓好CGL、Southeast Gateway等重點項目；通過管理我們的資本支出和推進我們的資產剝離計劃來加速我們的去槓桿化目標；第三，實現安全、可靠和可持續的運營，我們專注於卓越運營以推動更高的回報。為了反映我們對這些優先事項的承諾並更好地與我們的股東保持一致，我們引入了新的績效衡量標準，將高管薪酬與每股現金流、去槓桿化和溫室氣體減排目標明確掛鉤。

I'm confident that the future opportunity set, combined with our capabilities and reflecting capital discipline will unlock additional value and deliver superior shareholder returns well into the future. Thanks. And I'll now turn the call back over to the operator for questions.

我相信，未來的機會集，結合我們的能力和反映資本紀律，將釋放額外的價值，並在未來很長一段時間內為股東帶來卓越的回報。謝謝。我現在將把電話轉回接線員詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from Rob Hope with Scotiabank.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Rob Hope。

First question is just on capital allocation. In the prepared remarks, it was noted that sanctioning new capital must fit with the financial capacity of the organization. How does -- how does the Wind acquisition fit with this? Why not pursue a more capital-light strategy for your renewables here just given you are selling some assets?

第一個問題只是關於資本配置。在準備好的評論中，有人指出，批准新資本必須符合該組織的財務能力。 Wind 的收購如何與此相適應？鑑於您正在出售一些資產，為什麼不在這里為您的可再生能源尋求更輕資本的戰略？

Rob, this is Corey Hessen. These opportunities are the product of a 2022 process that's closing in 2023 and was already in our capital plan. These are high-quality operating assets with best-in-class equipment generating immediate EBITDA for the enterprise. We have a long-term service agreement in excess of 15 years with the original equipment manufacturers for both locations that include availability guarantees for both facilities. We are in advanced discussions with creditworthy counterparties for the power generation and the environmental attributes from these facilities. In summary, the Texas wind farms are within our capital plan and a modest capital investment to help TC Energy execute on our decarbonization goals.

Rob，這是 Corey Hessen。這些機會是 2022 年進程的產物，該進程將於 2023 年結束，並且已經在我們的資本計劃中。這些是高質量的運營資產，配備一流的設備，可以為企業立即產生 EBITDA。我們與兩個地點的原始設備製造商簽訂了超過 15 年的長期服務協議，其中包括兩個設施的可用性保證。我們正在與信譽良好的交易對手就這些設施的發電和環境屬性進行深入討論。總之，德克薩斯風電場在我們的資本計劃和適度的資本投資範圍內，以幫助 TC Energy 執行我們的脫碳目標。

All right. Appreciate that. And then just moving over to Coastal GasLink. With the winter behind us, it looks like you had some successes on keeping the project on time and on budget here. However, as we look to the summer construction season as well as the end of 2023 [in service date], what do you see as the key risk factors on keeping the cost and schedule? And how are you progressing against those?

好的。感謝。然後就搬到 Coastal GasLink。冬天過去了，看來你們在按時按預算完成項目方面取得了一些成功。然而，當我們展望夏季施工季節以及 2023 年底 [in service date] 時，您認為保持成本和進度的關鍵風險因素是什麼？你在這些方面取得了怎樣的進展？

Rob, it's Bevin. I'll take that question. So you're right, we made very good progress this past season. We're laser focused on safely getting this project to the finish line. And as we noted in the remarks, that reaffirm our targets on both cost and schedule here for the year. Really what we need to be looking for during the balance is no different than what we've been working on today is that there are tremendous number of work fronts as you can appreciate on a project of this scale. We're migrating primarily from kind of mainline construction to really a focus on small discrete work scopes, whether that be Creek installations or Rock Bluffs. And so we've been developing mitigation plans for any eventuality that happens on those smaller discrete work scopes. And so while we're progressing extremely well on the entirety of the project, we've had to move to really a front foot on being proactive on having backup plans to backup plans.

羅伯，是貝文。我會回答這個問題。所以你是對的，上個賽季我們取得了很好的進步。我們專注於安全地讓這個項目到達終點線。正如我們在評論中指出的那樣，這重申了我們今年的成本和時間表目標。實際上，我們在平衡期間需要尋找的與我們今天一直在努力的沒有什麼不同，因為您可以在這種規模的項目中欣賞到大量的工作前沿。我們主要從一種主線建設轉移到真正關注小型離散工作範圍，無論是 Creek 設施還是 Rock Bluffs。因此，我們一直在為那些較小的離散工作範圍內發生的任何不測事件製定緩解計劃。因此，雖然我們在整個項目上進展非常順利，但我們不得不真正站在前腳，積極主動地制定備份計劃。

And so when we provide updates, we'll be focusing mostly on how we've moved forward through these critical last areas of the project and we're necessarily implementing some of our backup. So just to give you some proof points on that, we pre-located some equipment to allow us to work through some of the spring breakup periods of time so that we can provide a bit more float to the schedule.

因此，當我們提供更新時，我們將主要關注我們如何在項目的這些關鍵的最後領域取得進展，並且我們有必要實施一些備份。所以為了給你一些證據，我們預先放置了一些設備，讓我們能夠度過一些春假期間的工作，這樣我們就可以為時間表提供更多的浮動時間。

So as Francois alluded to in his remarks, we've completed the trenching on Cable Crane Hill. That's 3 months ahead of schedule. So we're trying to wherever we can provide a significant buffer for us because we know that any of these critical work scopes could have us really going to Plan B and Plan C. And so that's really where the focus is. But we had the successful introduction of gas into Wilde Lake. That's on -- that was executed to plan. We had over 1 million man hours safely completed there. So we're very encouraged, but we're extremely focused on managing these final critical scopes that are in the balance of the year.

因此，正如 Francois 在他的發言中提到的那樣，我們已經完成了 Cable Crane Hill 的挖溝工作。這比計劃提前了 3 個月。因此，我們正在努力為我們提供重要的緩衝，因為我們知道這些關鍵工作範圍中的任何一個都可能讓我們真正進入 B 計劃和 C 計劃。所以這才是真正的重點所在。但我們成功地將天然氣引入懷爾德湖。那是——那是按計劃執行的。我們在那里安全地完成了超過 100 萬工時。因此，我們感到非常鼓舞，但我們非常專注於管理今年餘下的這些最終關鍵範圍。

The next question comes from Theresa Chen with Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Theresa Chen。

First, I'd love to get some more details on where you are on the asset sale process at this point. Now that it's been several months in making, do you have additional clarity on the types of assets you're looking to divest? And how should we think about the valuation?

首先，我想了解更多有關您目前在資產出售流程中所處位置的更多詳細信息。現在已經幾個月了，您是否對要剝離的資產類型有了更多的了解？我們應該如何考慮估值？

And I appreciate that there's lots of interest in our asset sale processes and our deleveraging plan. As I mentioned, it's 1 of our 3 key priorities for the year. I'll just remind everyone that we are at a very commercially sensitive point in our discussions. We have multiple processes underway at the moment. And so we'll refrain from making any specific comments on any particular asset or on where valuations are trending. I'll reiterate, however, that our intention is to maintain the quality of our portfolio. So we will be monetizing assets in -- or interest in assets in various parts of the portfolio to maintain our cash flow composition that we view as very high quality.

我很感激大家對我們的資產出售流程和去槓桿化計劃感興趣。正如我所提到的，這是我們今年 3 個關鍵優先事項之一。我只是提醒大家，我們的討論正處於一個非常商業敏感的時刻。目前我們正在進行多個流程。因此，我們將避免對任何特定資產或估值趨勢發表任何具體評論。不過，我要重申，我們的目的是保持我們投資組合的質量。因此，我們將貨幣化資產 - 或投資組合各個部分的資產權益，以維持我們認為非常高質量的現金流構成。

And if I can ask Stan on the progress on Southeast Gateway at this point. What percentage has been done? How much capital of the $4.5 billion has been spent? And what should the next milestones that we should be looking for, be?

如果我現在可以向 Stan 詢問 Southeast Gateway 的進展情況。完成了多少百分比？ 45 億美元中有多少資本已被使用？我們應該尋找的下一個里程碑是什麼？

Hey, Theresa, this is Stan. As Francois (inaudible) upfront, our Southeast Gateway pipeline continues to track to a mid-summer 2025 in service date, $4.5 billion of CapEx, both of which is unchanged from when we FID the project this summer. I would note that we're really pleased with our partnership with CFE. They have and will continue to play a very key role for us in helping to secure both land and permits. In terms of activities that have been ongoing, steel plate is being delivered, pipe is being rolled and preparations for its concrete coding are underway so that the subsea pipeline lake and commenced at the end of this year.

嘿，特蕾莎，這是斯坦。作為 Francois（聽不清），我們的 Southeast Gateway 管道將繼續追踪到 2025 年仲夏的服務日期，資本支出為 45 億美元，與我們今年夏天對該項目進行 FID 時相比，這兩項都沒有變化。我要指出的是，我們對與 CFE 的合作夥伴關係感到非常滿意。他們已經並將繼續為我們在幫助獲得土地和許可證方面發揮非常關鍵的作用。就正在進行的活動而言，鋼板正在交付，管道正在軋製，混凝土編碼的準備工作正在進行中，以便海底管道入湖並在今年年底開始。

Specifically to your questions, there are 3 key milestones that we are focused on this summer, diligently focused on, I should add. First is commencing construction on our two compressor stations. Second is securing the right of way for our onshore pipeline, which you recall, it's relatively small at about 21 kilometers. And lastly is commencing preparations for the onshore construction work associated with the micro tunnel so that the microtunneling itself can take place in early 2024.

具體針對您的問題，我應該補充一下，今年夏天我們重點關注 3 個關鍵里程碑，努力關注。首先是開始建設我們的兩個壓縮機站。其次是確保我們陸上管道的通行權，你記得，它相對較小，大約 21 公里。最後是開始準備與微型隧道相關的陸上施工工作，以便微型隧道本身可以在 2024 年初進行。

So overall, we continue to incorporate the lessons learned from prior projects, such as (inaudible), but we're really pleased with our projects progression as of now, and we'll continue to update you as the project develops over the coming months.

總的來說，我們繼續吸取從之前項目中吸取的教訓，例如（聽不清），但我們對目前的項目進展感到非常滿意，我們將在未來幾個月隨著項目的發展繼續向您更新.

And the next question comes from Linda Ezergailis with TD Securities.

下一個問題來自道明證券的 Linda Ezergailis。

Wondering if you could maybe give us some sense of what your expectation for 2024 capital expenditure specifically might look like? And what sort of magnitude of additional wind or solar power acquisitions might be embedded in your budget for this year or next year or potentially even added to what you've baked in?

想知道您是否可以讓我們了解您對 2024 年資本支出的具體預期？什麼樣的額外風能或太陽能收購量可能會包含在您今年或明年的預算中，甚至可能會增加到您已經購買的產品中？

It's Francois. I'll take that one. As we've talked about before, once the project is in construction and we break ground, we've probably been at it for a couple of years from a perspective of permitting and project planning and having ordered long lead items. And one of the reasons why we're going to strive for building some optionality below our $7 billion capital run rate going forward is that we do want to make sure we maintain some capacity for further debt reduction or share buybacks going forward. It's going to take us the balance of this year and 2024 to work our way down to that $7 billion -- or really $6 billion run rate. And so you can expect us to be well below the $11.5 billion to $12 billion of capital that we have in the plan for 2023, trending towards that $7 billion run rate, but not quite there yet for the -- because of the dynamic that we've identified.

是弗朗索瓦。我會拿那個。正如我們之前談到的，一旦項目開始建設並且我們破土動工，從許可和項目規劃的角度來看，我們可能已經投入了幾年時間，並且已經訂購了長周期項目。我們要努力在未來 70 億美元的資本運行率以下建立一些可選性的原因之一是，我們確實希望確保我們保持一定的能力，以進一步減少債務或股票回購。這將使我們在今年和 2024 年取得平衡，才能達到 70 億美元——或者說真正的 60 億美元的運行率。因此，您可以預期我們將遠低於 2023 年計劃中的 115 億美元至 120 億美元的資本，趨向於 70 億美元的運行率，但還沒有完全達到——因為我們的動態'確定。

With respect to plans for additional renewables or other assets in our program going forward. Remember, these are very small capital dollars, tens of millions to low hundreds of millions over time. We will be utilizing project financing and tax equity wherever possible to get our equity checks down to very modest levels. And as we have worked through our capital program and tested our ability to maintain a stable balance sheet, grow our cash flow per share, grow our dividend, have strong payout ratios to get to a level of comfort where we can say that $6 billion to $7 billion is our run rate. We have factored in to our capital program, some additional renewables as well as some additional investment in our other businesses.

關於我們未來計劃中的額外可再生能源或其他資產的計劃。請記住，這些都是非常小的資金，隨著時間的推移，數千萬到數億美元不等。我們將盡可能利用項目融資和稅收公平，將我們的股權支票降至非常低的水平。由於我們已經完成了我們的資本計劃並測試了我們維持穩定資產負債表、增加每股現金流、增加股息、擁有強勁的派息率以達到我們可以說 60 億美元至70 億美元是我們的運行率。我們已經考慮到我們的資本計劃、一些額外的可再生能源以及對我們其他業務的一些額外投資。

Just as my follow-up, just trying to round out my understanding of Coastal GasLink, can you advise if you've used any of the contingency in your budget this year to add to your schedule buffer or for any other reason? And do you see a high likelihood at this point of dipping into your contingency to pay for some of the buffers and the Plan B contingencies that you're lining up to ensure you stay on schedule?

就像我的後續行動一樣，只是想完善我對 Coastal GasLink 的理解，你能告訴我你今年預算中是否使用了任何意外事件來增加你的時間表緩衝或出於任何其他原因嗎？在這一點上，您是否認為很有可能會動用您的應急費用來支付您正在排隊以確保按時完成的一些緩沖和 B 計劃應急費用？

Bevin here. So right now, we're tracking really closely to our cost and schedule targets. Certainly, as we preposition certain work scopes, we spend some of those dollars a little ahead of plan or otherwise, but we actually incorporated that in our thinking at the time of the CSRA. And so we're -- we look at this probabilistically. And so under certain scenarios, we're certainly going to draw down on some of the contingency. But right now, we're tracking where we've been or where our plan was to be at this time. So a lot of -- when we're making the trade-off decisions to pre-spend on different activities, those are well within the plan.

貝文在這裡。所以現在，我們正在密切跟踪我們的成本和進度目標。當然，當我們預先設定某些工作範圍時，我們會提前或以其他方式花費一些美元，但實際上我們在 CSRA 時將其納入了我們的想法。所以我們 - 我們從概率上看這個。因此，在某些情況下，我們肯定會減少一些應急費用。但現在，我們正在追踪我們去過的地方或我們計劃去的地方。所以很多 - 當我們做出權衡決定以預先花在不同的活動上時，這些都在計劃之內。

We've maintained access to the head wall and other critical path scope, removing a ton of snow. We put that in the plan. So we're very thoughtful when we came forward with our revised budget last quarter to make sure that we had a variety of scenarios, not just a single scenario in mind in terms of the finishing or the executing of the project.

我們保持了對頭牆和其他關鍵路徑範圍的訪問，清除了大量積雪。我們把它放在了計劃中。因此，當我們在上個季度提出修訂後的預算時，我們非常周到，以確保我們有多種方案，而不僅僅是在項目完成或執行方面考慮的單一方案。

The next question comes from Jeremy Tonet with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Jeremy Tonet。

Just want to come back, the CGL construction from a little bit of a different angle. I think there might have been kind of competition for labor between CGL and TMX. And I was just wondering if you could comment there on, I guess, how you see TMX progressing at this point if it's close to kind of winding down, does that lead to kind of less stress, less pull on the labor pool? And how would that impact CTO?

只是想回來，從一點點不同的角度來構建 CGL。我認為 CGL 和 TMX 之間可能存在某種勞動力競爭。我只是想知道你是否可以在那裡發表評論，我想，如果它接近結束，你如何看待 TMX 在這一點上的進展，這是否會導致壓力減輕，對勞動力資源的拉動減少？這將如何影響首席技術官？

Jeremy, I'm not going to speak to TMX. I don't know exactly what their plans are. What we're seeing on our project is we've had great retention of the contractor labor. We've seen increase of quality and actual productivity this year. And like I mentioned earlier, we're migrating to a very different type of scope of work and what I can say is that scope of work looks a lot different than what TMX is focused on in this year's construction. And so we're very, very mindful that there are -- there is competition for labor. We'll be focused on seeing how our labor force returns post the breakup. But post the Christmas break up, where there was the same type of competition from TMX, we actually came back stronger. So we had nearly 6,500 folks on the right of way through the first quarter of this year at a time when TMX ramped up their labor force more than -- significantly more than what they were last year.

傑里米，我不會和 TMX 說話。我不知道他們的具體計劃是什麼。我們在項目中看到的是，我們保留了大量的承包商勞動力。今年我們看到了質量和實際生產力的提高。就像我之前提到的，我們正在遷移到一個非常不同類型的工作範圍，我可以說的是，工作範圍看起來與 TMX 在今年的建設中所關注的有很大不同。因此，我們非常非常注意存在 - 存在勞動力競爭。我們將專注於了解我們的勞動力在分手後如何回歸。但是在聖誕節分手後，在 TMX 進行了相同類型的比賽后，我們實際上變得更強大了。因此，在今年第一季度，當 TMX 增加了他們的勞動力時，我們有近 6,500 人在通行權上 - 比去年多得多。

So we're maintaining a pretty strong position with our labor force right now, which we're thankful for, and we're working really closely with our contractors to be just laser-focused on retaining the right people to get this thing done by the end of the year.

因此，我們現在在勞動力方面保持著非常強大的地位，我們對此表示感謝，並且我們正在與我們的承包商密切合作，專注於留住合適的人來完成這件事年末。

Got it. That's helpful there. And just wanted to pivot a little bit to Columbia. There's news out there with regards to, I think, a lightning strike that might have impacted the (inaudible) compressor station and led to a force majeure and realize this is all very kind of real time here, but I didn't know if you could help us with any color on how to think about that.

知道了。那在那裡很有幫助。只是想稍微轉向哥倫比亞。有消息稱，我認為雷擊可能影響了（聽不清）壓縮機站並導致不可抗力，我意識到這一切都是實時的，但我不知道你是否可以幫助我們了解如何思考這一點。

This is Tina Faraca with the U.S. Gas Pipeline business. We did have a lightning strike this morning, very early this morning that caused a fire within our fence line at the (inaudible) compressor station. The fire has since been extinguished, very minimal impact to facilities. We've managed through that and plan to get the station back online later this afternoon.

我是美國天然氣管道業務的蒂娜·法拉卡 (Tina Faraca)。今天早上我們確實遇到了雷擊，今天早上很早，導致我們在（聽不清）壓縮機站的圍欄線內發生火災。大火已經被撲滅，對設施的影響非常小。我們已經解決了這個問題，併計劃在今天下午晚些時候讓該站恢復在線。

Okay. So this is just like a 1-day impact type of thing?

好的。所以這就像是 1 天的影響類型的事情？

Yes.

是的。

And the next question comes from Robert Kwan with RBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Robert Kwan。

If I can come back to the (inaudible) $7 billion, just some questions here. So first, does that include acquisitions? Second, the current period of elevated CapEX is really part of it that has been driven by cost overrun. So just wondering how you'll think about managing your cost risk differently going forward? And then third, just specifically, does this -- what does this mean for Meaford? Or are you excluding project level financing from that $7 billion number?

如果我能回到（聽不清）70 億美元，這裡只是一些問題。那麼首先，這是否包括收購？其次，當前資本支出增加的時期實際上是成本超支驅動的一部分。所以只是想知道您將如何考慮以不同的方式管理您的成本風險？然後第三點，具體來說，這對 Meaford 意味著什麼？或者您是否從 70 億美元的數字中排除了項目層面的融資？

Robert, it's Francois. I'll take that one. So with respect to managing cost overruns, we have in prudent project management, we have a reasonable contingency for each of the individual projects that we have in our capital program. And so striving to work towards a $6 billion run rate program going forward, and that gives us flexibility and optionality around further debt repayment and share buybacks. It also gives us additional flexibility to the extent we have any unforeseen circumstances around any one individual project. $6 billion or $7 billion is our sanctioned capital. To the extent we have partners, that would be in addition or outside of that number.

羅伯特，是弗朗索瓦。我會拿那個。因此，在管理成本超支方面，我們在審慎的項目管理中，對資本計劃中的每個項目都有合理的應急措施。因此，我們將努力實現一個 60 億美元的運行率計劃，這使我們在進一步償還債務和股票回購方面具有靈活性和選擇性。它還為我們提供了額外的靈活性，以防我們在任何一個單獨的項目中遇到任何不可預見的情況。 60 億美元或 70 億美元是我們的批准資本。就我們有合作夥伴而言，這將是該數量的補充或之外。

With respect to the specific peculiarities of any individual project in terms of project financing that may or may not be considered depending on the project. A project like Ontario Pump storage is a significant undertaking. And so this is not only a financial equation, it's also a human capacity equation. When we think about having a very large capital program, our ability to manage a smaller program reduces execution risk and allows us to continue to grow our dividend at the stated rate grower cash flows at or above that rate and keep a stable balance sheet and maintain stable and very conservative payout ratios.

關於任何單個項目在項目融資方面的具體特點，可能會或可能不會根據項目考慮。像安大略抽水蓄能這樣的項目是一項艱鉅的任務。所以這不僅是一個財務方程式，也是一個人力方程式。當我們考慮擁有一個非常大的資本計劃時，我們管理較小計劃的能力會降低執行風險，並使我們能夠繼續以規定的增長率增加股息增長者的現金流等於或高於該比率，並保持穩定的資產負債表並維持穩定且非常保守的派息比率。

So you won't see the capital program far outstrip our sanctioned capital but for reasons of human capacity. And as we move forward with different projects. We'll be contracting for them differently, mitigating risk using full wrap EPCs where appropriate and looking for commercial mitigations to manage those outcomes as well. So on all of the above basis, you should think about that $7 billion, striving for $6 billion as our sanctioned capital going forward.

所以你不會看到資本計劃遠遠超過我們批准的資本，但出於人力資源的原因。隨著我們推進不同的項目。我們將以不同的方式為他們簽訂合同，在適當的情況下使用完整的 EPC 來降低風險，並尋找商業緩解措施來管理這些結果。因此，在上述所有基礎上，你應該考慮這 70 億美元，爭取 60 億美元作為我們未來的批准資本。

Got it. And just on acquisitions included or excluded?

知道了。僅在包含或排除的收購上？

Thank you for reminding me of that. We don't distinguish. There's no M&A in our plan. We don't think that M&A is required for us given our opportunity set to grow our distributable cash flow per share at a rate at above our dividend growth and maintain stable payout ratios and a stable balance sheet. It's just really not on our radar right now. And if it were, Robert, it would be included in that cap.

謝謝你提醒我這一點。我們不區分。我們的計劃中沒有併購。我們認為我們不需要併購，因為我們有機會以高於股息增長的速度增加每股可分配現金流量，並保持穩定的派息率和穩定的資產負債表。它現在真的不在我們的雷達範圍內。如果是，羅伯特，它會包含在那個上限中。

That's great. If I can finish just on capital allocation and just ask framing against the wind acquisitions. You noted that while they're in the 2023 capital program, you previously talked about just generally the ability to defer capital and it seems like something that could have been eliminated. So while they're operating, I assume you acquired it for higher than 5x EBITDA and less than a 15% FFO yield, i.e. acquiring should be delivered to the credit metric. So was there something binding you to take these deals? Or can you just talk about the strategic nature of the two assets and the synergies they provide to the existing asset base?

那太棒了。如果我能完成資本配置並且只要求框架反對風收購。你注意到，雖然他們在 2023 年的資本計劃中，但你之前只是一般性地談到了推遲資本的能力，這似乎是可以取消的。因此，當他們在運營時，我假設您以高於 5 倍的 EBITDA 和低於 15% 的 FFO 收益率收購了它，即收購應該交付給信用指標。那麼是不是有什麼東西約束你接受這些交易？或者您能談談這兩項資產的戰略性質以及它們為現有資產基礎提供的協同作用嗎？

Robert, it's Corey. I would say that, yes, this was in our plan. And what I would emphasize is that we have decarbonization goals for our enterprise. These are critical in nature for us to meet our decarbonization goals, which are long-term commitments to our shareholders and constituents across our jurisdictions.

羅伯特，我是科里。我會說，是的，這在我們的計劃中。我要強調的是，我們的企業有脫碳目標。這些對於我們實現脫碳目標至關重要，這些目標是我們對我們轄區內的股東和選民的長期承諾。

The next question comes from Robert Catellier with CIBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 CIBC Capital Markets 的 Robert Catellier。

I know you're trying to avoid discussing any particular asset, but I wonder if you can discuss as an asset class, the merchant power. Alberta power prices have been quite strong over the last year or so. So how does this influence your view on this asset class as a candidate for portfolio management. In other words, does the market support a stronger valuation? Or we would rather retain them for their currently strong cash flow?

我知道你試圖避免討論任何特定資產，但我想知道你是否可以將商業力量作為一種資產類別來討論。在過去一年左右的時間裡，艾伯塔省的電價一直相當強勁。那麼，這如何影響您作為投資組合管理候選者對該資產類別的看法。換句話說，市場是否支持更強的估值？或者我們寧願保留他們目前強勁的現金流？

Robert, it's Francois. What I would tell you is divestitures -- the purpose of our divestiture program is to deleverage. And so we call that raising internal equity, and internal equity is driven by the valuation in excess of 5x debt to EBITDA. And so as we choose which assets to monetize, we consider what the EBITDA multiple is above that 5x amount because we have to have to maximize that spread over 5x EBITDA to maximize our deleveraging. So to the extent, our Alberta assets could achieve multiples well in excess of 5x debt to EBITDA, we would be open to proceeding, and I'll leave it at that.

羅伯特，是弗朗索瓦。我要告訴你的是資產剝離——我們資產剝離計劃的目的是去槓桿化。因此，我們稱之為提高內部股權，內部股權是由超過 5 倍債務與 EBITDA 的估值驅動的。因此，當我們選擇要貨幣化的資產時，我們會考慮 EBITDA 倍數高於 5 倍的數額，因為我們必須將 5 倍 EBITDA 的利差最大化，以最大限度地去槓桿化。因此，在某種程度上，我們的艾伯塔省資產可以實現超過 EBITDA 債務 5 倍的倍數，我們將對繼續進行開放，我會把它留在那兒。

Okay. And maybe a question here for Stan. It looks like the volumes were pretty good on the deliveries to LNG facilities again. I'm wondering if you can provide us some progress update on any additional positioning you have for the U.S. gas portfolio and development projects to address additional LNG opportunities.

好的。也許這裡有一個問題要問 Stan。看起來再次向液化天然氣設施交付的數量相當不錯。我想知道你是否可以向我們提供一些關於你對美國天然氣組合和開發項目的任何額外定位的進展更新，以解決額外的液化天然氣機會。

Robert, this is Stan. And as you heard me say before, our best-in-class pipeline footprint hasn't gone to continue to provide us with more than ample growth opportunities at attractive build multiples. Our challenge today, as you heard, is best with originating new projects and it's making sure that we have a way to fund them. So given that our origination efforts are highly selective and focused on strategic opportunities where we can leverage our existing footprint, specifically in regions where projects can be permitted and constructed at attractive build multiples. So these opportunities today exist with respect to additional LNG exports, particularly in Louisiana, as you noted, and increasing the connectivity that we have to our LDC customers, which are backed by long-term 20-year contracts.

羅伯特，這是斯坦。正如你之前聽到我所說的那樣，我們一流的管道足跡並沒有繼續以有吸引力的構建倍數為我們提供充足的增長機會。正如您所聽到的，我們今天的挑戰最好是發起新項目，並確保我們有辦法為它們提供資金。因此，鑑於我們的發起工作具有高度選擇性，並專注於我們可以利用現有足蹟的戰略機會，特別是在可以允許並以有吸引力的建設倍數建造項目的地區。因此，正如您所指出的，今天的這些機會存在於額外的液化天然氣出口，特別是在路易斯安那州，以及增加我們與最不發達國家客戶的聯繫，這些客戶得到了 20 年長期合同的支持。

So in some instances, where appropriate, we also may consider taking on a strategic joint venture partner. But equally important, I just want to point out that we are laser-like focused on ensuring operational excellence and reducing our costs. and doing so without sacrificing the safety or the integrity of our assets and ensuring that we place our projects in service on time and on budget.

因此，在某些情況下，在適當的情況下，我們也可能會考慮與戰略合資夥伴合作。但同樣重要的是，我只想指出，我們像激光一樣專注於確保卓越運營和降低成本。這樣做不會犧牲我們資產的安全或完整性，並確保我們按時按預算將項目投入使用。

And Robert, it's Francois. I'll just add to Stan's comment. As we look to sanction capital going forward, the timing of the spend will be a critical factor in our assessment. We're laser-like focused on staying below that $7 billion and actually $6 billion run rate of capital spend. And so as you look to sanctioning projects in the future, and given the size of our capital program to date, really, as we sanction projects going forward, they will have -- the significant capital spend will be in later years. That's fine. It typically takes a couple of years to permit a project and get the long lead items in place. And so projects we're looking at developing right now and competing for have spend in that '25, '26, '27 time frame where we do have additional capacity to sanction projects and stay within that $6 billion annual limit.

羅伯特，是弗朗索瓦。我將添加到 Stan 的評論中。在我們展望未來的製裁資本時，支出的時機將是我們評估的一個關鍵因素。我們像激光一樣專注於保持在 70 億美元以下，實際上是 60 億美元的資本支出。因此，當你展望未來的製裁項目時，考慮到我們迄今為止的資本計劃規模，實際上，隨著我們未來製裁項目的推進，它們將有——大量的資本支出將在以後幾年出現。沒關係。通常需要幾年的時間才能批准一個項目並將長期的項目安排到位。因此，我們現在正在考慮開發和競爭的項目在 25 年、26 年、27 年的時間框架內進行了支出，我們確實有額外的能力來批准項目並保持在 60 億美元的年度限額內。

And the next question comes from Ben Pham with BMO.

下一個問題來自 BMO 的 Ben Pham。

Just wanted to go back to the renewables side of things and your strategy there. And I think for some time, what was holding you back a bit on expansion as more of the lofty multiples on renewable power assets, and you've had the aggregation model as well that you've introduced last year. Can you just talk about now the trends you're seeing? Is it better to buy versus build? How does it compare to aggregating power? Maybe an update on strategy there?

只是想回到事物的可再生能源方面以及您在那裡的戰略。我認為有一段時間，是什麼阻礙了你的擴張，因為可再生能源資產的倍數越來越高，而且你也有去年推出的聚合模型。你能談談你現在看到的趨勢嗎？購買與建造哪個更好？它與聚集力量相比如何？也許那裡的戰略更新？

Ben, it's Francois. I'll take this one. As we talked about before, we're focused on sanctioning capital over the long run on the basis of affordability, reliability and sustainability. Renewables will be a complementary asset class in our portfolio to help achieve our own decarbonization goals while at the same time, helping our customers decarbonize their own energy consumption. Where possible, we will adopt a capital-light approach. We talked about the aggregation activities last year, which are continuing to proceed.

本，是弗朗索瓦。我要這個。正如我們之前談到的，我們專注於在可負擔性、可靠性和可持續性的基礎上長期制裁資本。可再生能源將成為我們投資組合中的補充資產類別，以幫助實現我們自己的脫碳目標，同時幫助我們的客戶實現自身能源消耗的脫碳。在可能的情況下，我們將採用輕資本方法。我們談到了去年的聚合活動，這些活動仍在繼續進行。

In some instances, where we see value and it fits within our capital plan, underscore that it fits within the capital plan and the $6 billion per year limit will consider ownership in projects. But as Stan mentioned, in the context of our U.S. gas business, across our whole portfolio, one of the things we're going to be looking at is joint ventures and partnerships with financial firms and other strategics to make sure we can advance our decarbonization goals, our market share aspirations in the U.S. LNG market, but still stay within our annual sanctioned capital limitations going forward.

在某些情況下，當我們看到價值並且它符合我們的資本計劃時，強調它符合資本計劃並且每年 60 億美元的限額將考慮項目所有權。但正如 Stan 所提到的，在我們的美國天然氣業務的背景下，在我們的整個投資組合中，我們要考慮的事情之一是與金融公司和其他戰略的合資企業和合作夥伴關係，以確保我們能夠推進脫碳目標，我們在美國液化天然氣市場的市場份額願望，但仍保持在我們未來年度批准的資本限制範圍內。

Okay. Maybe next on flexibility per share buybacks. Maybe you can expand on that a little bit. How do you (inaudible)? Where do you need to be with leverage to think about that?

好的。也許下一步是每股回購的靈活性。也許您可以對此進行一些擴展。你好嗎（聽不清）？您需要在哪裡發揮影響力才能考慮到這一點？

Yes. Look, over the next couple of years, that's not an option. Our priority for 2023 and 2024 is to deleverage. Our goal is to get at or below 5x debt-to-EBITDA as quickly as we can without compromising shareholder value and then remain there. What I wanted to convey in my comments is it's very difficult to stop a project once it's been committed to. Just because your stock price is at a level that you think is attractive in terms of share buyback, by the time you break ground on a project, you can't just tell your customer that they're not going to receive the transportation service they've been planning on and waiting on for many years. So by building flexibility and the flexibility would come from the gap between [7 and 6] into our program on an annual basis. We will have the option in each and every year with that incremental capital to live within our means to either pay back debt or to buy back shares.

是的。看，在接下來的幾年裡，這不是一個選擇。我們 2023 年和 2024 年的首要任務是去槓桿化。我們的目標是在不損害股東價值的情況下盡快達到或低於 5 倍的債務與 EBITDA，然後保持在該水平。我想在我的評論中表達的是，一旦項目已經投入，就很難停止。僅僅因為你的股價處於你認為對股票回購有吸引力的水平，當你在項目破土動工時，你不能只是告訴你的客戶他們不會得到他們想要的運輸服務多年來一直在計劃和等待。因此，通過建立靈活性，靈活性將來自 [7 和 6] 之間的差距，每年都會進入我們的計劃。我們每年都可以選擇用增加的資本來量入為出地償還債務或回購股票。

But to be clear, we don't see that as an option until we get at or below our 5x debt-to-EBITDA, and we're confident that we're going to remain below.

但需要明確的是，在我們達到或低於 5 倍的債務對 EBITDA 之前，我們不會將其視為一種選擇，並且我們有信心我們將保持在該水平以下。

The next question comes from Andrew Kuske with Credit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Andrew Kuske。

The question is really for Francois and the emphasis on the limiting the CapEx post 2024 to the $7 billion and then getting it down to the $6 billion. Does that effectively allow you to high-grade your capital allocation process to higher returning projects?

這個問題實際上是針對弗朗索瓦的，重點是將 2024 年後的資本支出限制在 70 億美元，然後再降至 60 億美元。這是否有效地讓您將資本配置流程升級到回報率更高的項目？

I would say most definitely, Andrew. It's not just about unlevered after-tax IRRs. We do want to migrate the portfolio. We think about having a high-quality and diverse portfolio with low volatility. That's part of our value proposition. But there's no question that as I've said in the past, we see way more opportunity to deploy capital than we have financial and human capital to execute. And what that's going to allow us to do actually is to high-grade projects. And in fact, when you look at what we sanctioned in 2022, the unlevered after-tax IRR is in the 10% range, and that's above the weighted average IRR of what we sanctioned in 2021, which was, I think, in that 8.5% to 9% range.

我會非常肯定地說，安德魯。這不僅僅是無槓桿的稅後內部收益率。我們確實想遷移投資組合。我們考慮擁有一個高質量、多樣化且波動性低的投資組合。這是我們價值主張的一部分。但毫無疑問，正如我過去所說的那樣，我們看到部署資本的機會遠遠超過我們有財務和人力資本來執行。這將使我們能夠做的實際上是高級項目。事實上，當你看看我們在 2022 年批准的項目時，無槓桿稅後內部收益率在 10% 的範圍內，這高於我們在 2021 年批准的加權平均內部收益率，我認為是 8.5 % 到 9% 的範圍。

So we're seeing an upward trend in the returns on the projects that we sanctioned over the last couple of years. And clearly, by limiting our capital spend to living within our means, it's going to give us the opportunity to high grade to our higher returns, but we also are going to consider having a proper diversity and migrating the portfolio to an appropriate supply mix.

因此，我們看到過去幾年我們批准的項目的回報呈上升趨勢。顯然，通過將我們的資本支出限制在量入為出，這將使我們有機會獲得更高的回報，但我們也將考慮擁有適當的多樣性並將投資組合遷移到適當的供應組合。

I appreciate that. And then maybe not to be greedy, but the trend of high-grading returns, your earlier comments on bringing on partners, whether they be financial, strategic or otherwise. Does that allow you to engage in some kind of asset management model, get a promote on a project? How do you just sort of conceptualize that and think about it?

我很感激。然後可能不是貪婪，而是高評級回報的趨勢，你之前對引入合作夥伴的評論，無論是財務、戰略還是其他方面。這是否允許您參與某種資產管理模式，在項目上獲得晉升？您如何將其概念化並進行思考？

First and foremost, Andrew, and that's a great question, is we're going to focus on our human capacity. We have an ability to manage a capital program of a certain size, and we are going to make sure that we always have the capacity and the capability to adequately manage the capital program we have underway. An asset management model would suggest developing and building projects for others. And we're going to be very mindful of maintaining a size of capital program that's within the capacity of our team.

首先，安德魯，這是一個很好的問題，我們將專注於我們的人力。我們有能力管理一定規模的資本計劃，我們將確保我們始終有能力充分管理我們正在進行的資本計劃。資產管理模型建議為他人開發和建設項目。我們將非常注意維持我們團隊能力範圍內的資本計劃規模。

And the next question comes from Patrick Kenny with National Bank Financial.

下一個問題來自 National Bank Financial 的 Patrick Kenny。

Just on Keystone here as you look to implement your enhanced integrity program going forward. Can you provide a little bit more detail with respect to the cadence, these additional in-line inspections and excavation work that needs to be completed across the system? I guess, what the total cost of this program might do to your prior maintenance CapEx guidance as well as the process for recovering these costs through your total structure or other means?

就在 Keystone 上，您希望在未來實施增強的誠信計劃。您能否提供更多關於節奏的細節，這些額外的在線檢查和需要在整個系統中完成的挖掘工作？我想，這個計劃的總成本可能會對您之前的維護資本支出指南以及通過您的總體結構或其他方式回收這些成本的過程產生什麼影響？

Yes, sure. This is Richard Prior. I'll take that. And so as we mentioned in our release, just -- there's additional remediation work that we need to do. So we need to work through our remedial work lines with respect to Milepost 14 as well as the [FINSA] corrective action order that is going to include additional excavations, as you mentioned, and in-line inspection runs.

是的，當然。這是理查德普賴爾。我會接受的。因此，正如我們在新聞稿中提到的那樣，我們還需要做一些額外的補救工作。因此，我們需要完成與 Milepost 14 以及 [FINSA] 糾正措施命令相關的補救工作線，正如您提到的，這將包括額外的挖掘和在線檢查運行。

So we've already started that work. And to date, we've actually run 300 miles of tool runs on the pipeline adjacent to the incident site, and we've not found evidence of similar features. In addition to this, we're also going to be completing engineering assessment. So this time, we did just receive the recast failure analysis last week as did FINSA . And so there is going to be some more work to do to continue to study that and develop the details of this program. And I don't have a time line I can provide to work these remedial work plans and resolve the corrective action order. But I can say that we are fully committed to expediting this work. I also don't have a cost estimate for this integrity scope. I can share at this time. However, this work it would form part of our operating maintenance and integrity scope for the system, and that would be recoverable through our variable tools.

所以我們已經開始了這項工作。迄今為止，我們實際上已經在事故現場附近的管道上運行了 300 英里的工具運行，但我們沒有發現類似特徵的證據。除此之外，我們還將完成工程評估。所以這一次，我們上周和 FINSA 一樣剛剛收到重鑄失敗分析。因此，將有更多的工作要做，以繼續研究它並製定該計劃的細節。我沒有可以提供的時間表來實施這些補救工作計劃並解決糾正措施命令。但我可以說，我們完全致力於加快這項工作。我也沒有這個完整性範圍的成本估算。我可以在這個時候分享。但是，這項工作將構成我們系統的操作維護和完整性範圍的一部分，並且可以通過我們的可變工具恢復。

Okay. Great. And then just in terms of, I guess, an update on the egress picture out of Western Canada. And I guess in light of where natural gas prices are at currently, can you comment on where you're seeing customer demand for incremental market access, California, Gulf Coast, East Coast? And I guess what this could mean for near- to medium-term debottlenecking activity across GTN, mainline, A&R and so on?

好的。偉大的。然後，我想，就加拿大西部出口情況的更新而言。而且我想根據目前的天然氣價格，您能否評論一下您看到客戶對增量市場准入的需求，加利福尼亞，墨西哥灣沿岸，東海岸？我想這對 GTN、主線、A&R 等的近期和中期去瓶頸活動意味著什麼？

Sure, Patrick. It's Greg Grant from the Canadian Gas Business, and I'll start and then hand it up back to the U.S. Gas business. First, it's been great to see both from an operational perspective and from our capital programs. We continue to get assets in the ground and we're actually -- we're a few weeks ahead of time on coming out of our '21 program and some of our NCE build this spring. So last year, you would have normally put about 1.3 Bcf of intra-basin and egress. This quarter, added over 700 Mcf and soon to be another 500 here. So that's been great to the team and the performance there. That hasn't sopped up the demand, I would say. We still have significant demand coming in on all parts of -- all points of egress, I would say, and intra-basin. You would have seen we're about a Bcf again on the supply side.

當然，帕特里克。我是來自加拿大天然氣業務的 Greg Grant，我將開始，然後將其交還給美國天然氣業務。首先，從運營的角度和我們的資本計劃來看都很棒。我們繼續在地面上獲得資產，我們實際上 - 我們提前幾週完成了我們的 '21 計劃和今年春天我們的一些 NCE 構建。所以去年，您通常會放置大約 1.3 Bcf 的流域內和出口。本季度，這裡增加了 700 多個 Mcf，很快又增加了 500 個。所以這對團隊和那裡的表現來說都很棒。我會說，這並沒有削弱需求。我們仍然對所有部分都有大量需求 - 我會說所有出口點和流域內。你會看到我們在供應方面再次接近 Bcf。

So that's year-over-year, 2 years, we've been over Bcf added to the system. So while we've added that capacity, we are still at high utilization levels. So you will see probably in the next couple of weeks, months, we did announce some open seasons will be coming. So the team are looking at ways that we can continually optimize the system and create additional capacity where we can. That includes both existing and some new opportunities, which we'll talk about in the following quarter.

所以這是一年比一年，2 年，我們已經超過 Bcf 添加到系統中。因此，雖然我們增加了容量，但我們仍處於高利用率水平。所以你可能會在接下來的幾週、幾個月內看到，我們確實宣布了一些開放季節即將到來。因此，該團隊正在尋找我們可以不斷優化系統並儘可能創造額外容量的方法。這包括現有的和一些新的機會，我們將在下一季度討論這些機會。

On the U.S. side, just think of us as the big catchers (inaudible) and we try to catch it. We have an expansion project, as you're aware, on the GTN system right now, our GTN Xpress, which is currently pending before FERC. And we're anxiously awaiting our certificates that we can get that capacity constructed and in service either later this year or early 2024. We also have the ability to attract volumes in on our Great Lakes system and again, working closely with Greg's team as they submit open seasons on their side of the border to get additional capacity down to the U.S.

在美國這邊，把我們想像成大捕手（聽不清），我們試圖抓住它。如您所知，我們現在在 GTN 系統上有一個擴展項目，我們的 GTN Xpress，目前正在 FERC 之前等待。我們正在焦急地等待我們的證書，證明我們可以在今年晚些時候或 2024 年初建造並投入使用。我們也有能力在我們的 Great Lakes 系統中吸引流量，並再次與 Greg 的團隊密切合作，因為他們在邊境一側提交開放季節，以獲得額外的運力到美國

And the other thing I would point out of late is there seems to be some interest from the LNG market in Louisiana to have additional exposure to the Canadian volumes as well. So we're pursuing opportunities to expand our ANR systems as appropriate to get more Canadian gas down to the LNG terminals.

我最近要指出的另一件事是，路易斯安那州的液化天然氣市場似乎也有興趣進一步接觸加拿大的產量。因此，我們正在尋求機會適當擴展我們的 ANR 系統，以便將更多的加拿大天然氣輸送到液化天然氣接收站。

And the next question comes from Brian Reynolds with UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Brian Reynolds。

Maybe as a follow-up on some of the prior labor questions. You mentioned that you're at 6,500 on the job now. So curious just what's the assumption for peak labor in project for the projects for Coastal GasLink this summer to reach completion goals for mechanical completion as labor starts to roll off on TMX this summer?

也許作為一些先前勞工問題的後續行動。你提到你現在的工作工資是 6,500。很好奇，今年夏天 Coastal GasLink 項目的峰值勞動力假設是什麼，以達到機械完工的完成目標，因為今年夏天勞動力開始在 TMX 上滾動？

Yes. Thanks, Brian. We're effectively at peak, and we'll be winding down now. So coming back from spring fresh at will not be bringing back the same level of crews, but a significant number of folks will be coming back. As I mentioned, we're at some discrete scopes now. We're effectively finishing off any of the traditional kind of main lining activities where we have a significant number of crews. So I would say, come to the fall, we'll be in a much more significant ramp down of folks out there in the field. But our ability to continue to successfully manage and mitigate all our risks during the summer and the fall construction will be the key determinant in our ability to meet our cost and schedule goals. So we're more focused on managing the risks. And inclusive of that is the labor front, but we feel that we're in a good position there.

是的。謝謝，布萊恩。我們實際上處於高峰期，現在我們將結束。因此，剛從春天回來不會帶回相同水平的工作人員，但會有相當多的人回來。正如我所提到的，我們現在處於一些離散的範圍內。我們正在有效地完成我們擁有大量工作人員的任何傳統類型的主要襯砌活動。所以我想說，到了秋天，我們將在該領域的人員數量大幅減少。但我們在夏季和秋季施工期間繼續成功管理和減輕所有風險的能力將是我們能否實現成本和進度目標的關鍵決定因素。所以我們更專注於管理風險。其中包括勞工戰線，但我們認為我們在這方面處於有利地位。

So I think we've got time for just one last question, if you don't want mind.

所以我認為我們只有最後一個問題的時間，如果你不想介意的話。

Yes. And then great. And just on -- just touching on the credit rating, TransCanada has been put on negative outlook by S&P. So my first part of my question is, is TransCanada committed to defending that credit rating at any cost, perhaps in the context of M&A sales? And then second, how does TransCanada handle asset sales versus perhaps impacting its earnings mix?

是的。然後很棒。剛剛 - 就信用評級而言，TransCanada 已被標準普爾列入負面展望。所以我的問題的第一部分是，TransCanada 是否承諾不惜一切代價捍衛該信用評級，也許是在併購銷售的背景下？其次，TransCanada 如何處理資產出售而不是可能影響其收益組合？

Thanks, Brian, and Joel here. It's the last question today. I finally get to respond. With regard to the credit ratings, we do value the credit ratings. As you've highlighted, we are a negative outlook right now with 3 of the agencies being S&P, Moody's and DBRS. We were downgraded following the announcement on the CGL cost overruns by Fitch. We put a lot of value on the rating. We believe with our plan here to sell $5-plus billion of assets that we will be able to get our leverage down to our target, as Francois mentioned, to that 5x in the near term and then, ultimately, down to 4.75x. That's our objective.

謝謝，Brian，還有 Joel。這是今天的最後一個問題。我終於可以回應了。關於信用評級，我們確實重視信用評級。正如您所強調的那樣，我們目前的展望是負面的，其中 3 家機構是標準普爾、穆迪和 DBRS。在惠譽宣布 CGL 成本超支後，我們被降級。我們非常重視評級。我們相信，根據我們在這裡出售 5 億美元以上資產的計劃，我們將能夠將槓桿率降至我們的目標，正如 Francois 提到的那樣，在短期內降至 5 倍，然後最終降至 4.75 倍。這是我們的目標。

And so with the plan that we have right now with $5-plus billion of asset sales with our growing EBITDA, you just saw us today mentioned we had a 60% year-over-year increase in our EBITDA, the combination of those two that we believe that we can get down to the 5x and ultimately get the negative outlook removed from the agencies and reaffirmed our ratings going forward.

因此，根據我們現在的計劃，隨著我們不斷增長的 EBITDA，資產出售超過 50 億美元，你今天剛剛看到我們提到我們的 EBITDA 同比增長 60%，這兩者的結合我們相信我們可以降到 5 倍，並最終從機構中消除負面展望，並重申我們未來的評級。

With regard to, yes, I think your question around asset sales and I think you said with (inaudible) if I'm not mistaken, we balance both. Here, we've got the $5-plus billion of asset sales, as we mentioned. And in our plan, we always factor around 15% of our capital structure being comprised of hybrid securities and preferred shares, and that won't change going forward.

關於，是的，我認為你的問題是關於資產出售的，我想你說的是（聽不清）如果我沒記錯的話，我們會平衡兩者。在這裡，正如我們提到的，我們有超過 50 億美元的資產出售。在我們的計劃中，我們總是將大約 15% 的資本結構考慮在內，由混合證券和優先股組成，這一點在未來不會改變。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the question-and-answer session. If there are any further questions, please contact Investor Relations at TC Energy. I will now turn the call over to Gavin Wylie. Please go ahead, Mr. Wylie.

女士們，先生們，問答環節到此結束。如有任何其他問題，請聯繫 TC Energy 的投資者關係部。我現在將把電話轉給 Gavin Wylie。請繼續，懷利先生。

Yes. Thanks, everybody, for your participation this morning for the questions that we didn't get to, please reach out to Investor Relations, and the team is happy to have discussions later this morning. We thank you very much for your interest in TC Energy, and we look forward to our next update. Have a great day.

是的。謝謝大家，今天早上您參與了我們沒有解決的問題，請聯繫投資者關係，團隊很高興在今天上午晚些時候進行討論。非常感謝您對 TC Energy 的關注，我們期待著我們的下一次更新。祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與，祝您度過愉快的一天。