Essential Utilities Inc (WTRG) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, I will go to the Essential Utilities Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. My name is George, I'll be your coordinator for today's event. Please note, this conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I'd now like to turn the call over to your host today, Mr. Brian Dingerdissen to begin today's conference. Please go ahead, sir.

您好，我將參加 Essential Utilities 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。我叫喬治，我將擔任今天活動的協調員。請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。 （操作員指示）我現在想將電話轉給今天的主持人 Brian Dingerdissen 先生，開始今天的會議。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, George. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I am Brian Dingerdissen, Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer at Essential.

謝謝你，喬治。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。我是 Essential 投資者關係副總裁兼財務主管 Brian Dingerdissen。

If you did not receive a copy of the press release, you can find it by visiting the Investor Relations section of our website at essential.co. The slides that we will be referencing in the webcast of this event can also be found on our site.

如果您沒有收到新聞稿的副本，您可以訪問我們網站 Essential.co 的投資者關係部分找到它。我們將在本次活動的網絡廣播中引用的幻燈片也可以在我們的網站上找到。

Here is our forward-looking statement. As a reminder, some of the matters discussed during this call may include forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Please refer to our most recent 10-Q, 10-K and other SEC filings for a description of such risks and uncertainties.

這是我們的前瞻性聲明。提醒一下，本次電話會議中討論的一些事項可能包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及風險、不確定性和其他因素，這些因素可能導致實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的任何未來結果存在重大差異。請參閱我們最新的 10-Q、10-K 和其他 SEC 文件，了解此類風險和不確定性的描述。

During the course of this call, reference may be made to certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures is included at the end of the presentation and also posted in the Investor Relations section of the website. We'll begin the call today with Chris Franklin, our Chairman and CEO, who will provide an update on the company.

在本次電話會議期間，可能會參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非 GAAP 與 GAAP 財務指標的調節表包含在演示文稿的末尾，並發佈在網站的投資者關係部分。我們今天將首先與我們的董事長兼首席執行官克里斯·富蘭克林進行電話會議，他將提供公司的最新情況。

So with that, I will turn the call over to Chris Franklin.

因此，我會將電話轉給克里斯·富蘭克林。

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. As a reminder for those of you who may not be as familiar with our story, Essential Utilities is an industry-leading water, wastewater service and natural gas utility. The core of the company's 135-year-old nature is that it's the second largest regulated water utility in the United States with operations in 8 states and a proven track record of nearly 3 decades of growth through acquisition, which, coupled with a substantial capital investment over the same period of time has led to significant and consistent earnings growth.

謝謝布萊恩，大家早上好。感謝您今天加入我們。對於那些可能不太熟悉我們的故事的人來說，請注意，Essential Utilities 是一家行業領先的水、廢水處理服務和天然氣公用事業公司。該公司擁有 135 年曆史的核心在於，它是美國第二大受監管的水務公司，業務遍及 8 個州，擁有近 3 年來通過收購實現增長的良好記錄，再加上雄厚的資本同期的投資帶來了顯著且持續的盈利增長。

In addition, Essential Utilities includes the largest gas LDC in Pennsylvania, also with a 135-year history of industry leadership and growth. Together, these utilities form a platform poised to deliver consistent 5% to 7% earnings per share growth.

此外，Essential Utilities 還包括賓夕法尼亞州最大的天然氣最不發達國家，該公司也擁有 135 年的行業領導地位和增長歷史。這些公用事業公司共同構成了一個平台，有望實現每股收益持續 5% 至 7% 的增長。

The key component of our long-term rate base growth is the significant need in both water and gas for investment in core infrastructure, and I'm talking about things like pipe and plants. This is the engine, which helps us deliver long-term shareholder value.

我們長期費率基礎增長的關鍵組成部分是對核心基礎設施投資的水和天然氣的巨大需求，我指的是管道和工廠等。這是幫助我們實現長期股東價值的引擎。

I want to spend a few minutes with you on this topic today. But first, let's talk about the good news of the second quarter. Although we were off to a rough start with warm weather in the first quarter, the second quarter has put us back in a strong position. For the quarter, we reported earnings per share of $0.34. Dan will provide much more detail in a few moments. But I'll note that with this quarter's strong performance, we are even more confident in our ability to achieve this year's guidance despite the lower results in the first quarter associated with the abnormally mild winter weather.

今天我想花幾分鐘時間和大家討論這個話題。但首先，我們來談談第二季度的好消息。儘管我們在第一季度因天氣溫暖而開局不利，但第二季度使我們重新處於有利地位。本季度，我們報告每股收益為 0.34 美元。丹稍後將提供更多詳細信息。但我要指出的是，憑藉本季度的強勁表現，我們對實現今年指引的能力更有信心，儘管第一季度的業績較低與異常溫和的冬季天氣有關。

We remain on track to invest $1.1 billion in capital projects this year. In fact, this work includes more than 8,000 projects that improve service and reliability for our customers and will add substantial rate base to generate future growth for shareholders. We'll get into that in just a few minutes.

今年我們仍有望在資本項目上投資 11 億美元。事實上，這項工作包括 8,000 多個項目，這些項目旨在改善我們客戶的服務和可靠性，並將增加可觀的利率基礎，為股東帶來未來的增長。我們將在幾分鐘內討論這個問題。

So far in 2023, we closed 6 acquisitions, which included 7 systems. You may recall the village of Frankfurt was both water and wastewater. But those were done across 4 states in which we have existing water operations. Combined, these acquisitions added over $44.6 million in rate base and more than 11,000 customer equivalents.

2023 年到目前為止，我們完成了 6 項收購，其中包括 7 個系統。您可能還記得法蘭克福村既是水又是廢水。但這些都是在我們現有供水業務的 4 個州完成的。這些收購合計增加了超過 4,460 萬美元的費率基礎和超過 11,000 個客戶等價物。

Additionally, we have 4 asset purchase agreements signed that are expected to add over 208,000 customers or customer equivalents and nearly $336 million in purchase price.

此外，我們還簽署了 4 項資產購買協議，預計將增加超過 208,000 名客戶或同等客戶，購買價格將接近 3.36 億美元。

Now importantly, I will remind you that at our August Board meeting just a week or so ago, the Board increased the dividend by 7%, demonstrating confidence in our ability to deliver long-term value to both customers and shareholders.

現在重要的是，我要提醒您，在大約一周前的 8 月董事會會議上，董事會將股息增加了 7%，這表明我們對我們為客戶和股東提供長期價值的能力充滿信心。

So the next slide before I get into the meat of this slide, I want to remind investors of the importance of our capital investment program. We get far more questions about our acquisition program than our capital program. So I want to remind you that the capital program, which is critical for customer reliability, safety and quality is also what generates more than 90% of our growth in earnings per share in any given year. And I'll remind you that the municipal acquisition program is important because it gives us the opportunity to improve water and wastewater systems for the future and deepens the pool of capital needs for the future as well.

因此，在進入本幻燈片的核心內容之前，我想在下一張幻燈片中提醒投資者我們資本投資計劃的重要性。我們對收購計劃的疑問遠多於對資本計劃的疑問。因此，我想提醒大家，資本計劃對於客戶的可靠性、安全性和質量至關重要，也是我們每年 90% 以上每股收益增長的動力。我要提醒您，市政收購計劃很重要，因為它使我們有機會改善未來的供水和廢水處理系統，並加深未來的資本需求。

In fact, you could say that most of today's capital projects are taking place in systems that were acquired at some point in our company's history. However, I want to underscore that the most important contribution to earnings per share growth is the execution of the company's capital improvement plan.

事實上，您可以說當今大多數資本項目都是在我們公司歷史上某個時刻購買的系統中進行的。不過，我想強調的是，對每股收益增長最重要的貢獻是公司資本改善計劃的執行。

Over the years, we've demonstrated a core competency in infrastructure rehabilitation and specifically in deploying large amounts of capital over many individual projects each year, as I said, 8,000 this year alone. The first half of 2023 was no exception. We invested $547.6 million in infrastructure improvements as compared to $424.6 million for the same period in 2022. Those of you who have been following us know that we've been increasing our capital investment over the years. And in fact, just since I became CEO in 2015, we've invested nearly $5.8 billion, some of that pre Peoples and some of it post Peoples acquisition. And both our capital annual -- I'm sorry, both our annual capital plans and our rate base have grown by approximately 200% during this period.

多年來，我們在基礎設施修復方面展現了核心能力，特別是每年在許多單獨項目上部署大量資金，正如我所說，僅今年就達 8,000 個。 2023 年上半年也不例外。我們在基礎設施改善方面投資了 5.476 億美元，而 2022 年同期為 4.246 億美元。一直關注我們的人都知道，多年來我們一直在增加資本投資。事實上，自從我 2015 年成為首席執行官以來，我們已經投資了近 58 億美元，其中一些是在 Peoples 收購之前投資的，有些是在 Peoples 收購之後投資的。很抱歉，我們的年度資本計劃和利率基礎在此期間都增長了約 200%。

Now despite today's discussion on the relative importance of capital plans to earnings generation, I will tell you that our municipal acquisition program is very important and remains strong, because although acquisitions don't typically add significantly to earnings at closing, over time, they are an important part of our growth story and deepen the capital improvement opportunities for the future. I'll update you on our acquisition progress in just a moment.

現在，儘管今天討論了資本計劃對創收的相對重要性，但我會告訴您，我們的市政收購計劃非常重要並且仍然強勁，因為儘管收購通常不會顯著增加交易結束時的收益，但隨著時間的推移，它們會我們成長故事的重要組成部分，並深化未來的資本改善機會。我稍後會向您通報我們的收購進展情況。

Hopefully, you'll get a sense of the magnitude of our capital improvement program on this slide. We have certainly done our part to improve American infrastructure over the years. This chart shows that we have already replaced over 1,100 miles of pipe in just the last 3 years, and we expect to replace another 1,300 additional miles between this year and 2025.

希望您能在這張幻燈片上了解我們資本改善計劃的規模。多年來，我們確實為改善美國的基礎設施做出了自己的貢獻。該圖表顯示，僅在過去 3 年裡，我們就已經更換了超過 1,100 英里的管道，預計從今年到 2025 年，我們將再更換 1,300 英里的管道。

If you look at the miles of pipe, in just these 6 years, it would be like installing a pipeline from Philadelphia to Sacramento, California. This is the work that all utilities in the United States should be doing, especially because much of the pipe across the country is now over 100 years old.

如果你看一下管道的英里數，在短短六年內，這就像安裝一條從費城到加利福尼亞州薩克拉門託的管道一樣。這是美國所有公用事業公司都應該做的工作，特別是因為全國范圍內的大部分管道已有 100 多年的歷史。

Our pool of capital needs remains strong as we continue to improve plants, address PFAS, remove lead services and replace aging pipes. We expect our annual capital budgets to continue to exceed $1 billion for the foreseeable future. And that's why we've developed a focused program to seek low interest loans for as much of our capital program as possible.

隨著我們繼續改進工廠、解決 PFAS 問題、取消鉛服務和更換老化管道，我們的資金需求仍然強勁。我們預計在可預見的未來，我們的年度資本預算將繼續超過 10 億美元。這就是為什麼我們制定了一項有針對性的計劃，為盡可能多的資本計劃尋求低息貸款。

Now shareholders won't necessarily benefit directly from lower interest rates but customers benefit through lower utility bills, which, in turn, allows us to continue to make these large necessary infrastructure improvements.

現在，股東不一定會直接從較低的利率中受益，但客戶可以通過較低的公用事業費用受益，這反過來又使我們能夠繼續進行這些大規模的必要基礎設施改進。

I want to point out that although we have a massive sustained capital improvement program, our efficiency and safety measures continue to be at optimal levels. In 2015, we committed to a strategy, which has remained consistent, maintain operational excellence in the utilities we own and operate, invest capital in needed infrastructure improvements and target acquisitions in the water and wastewater space. And I've said before, we don't plan to do any more gas acquisitions.

我想指出的是，儘管我們有大規模的持續資本改善計劃，但我們的效率和安全措施仍然處於最佳水平。 2015 年，我們致力於實施一項始終如一的戰略，保持我們擁有和運營的公用事業的卓越運營，投資資金進行必要的基礎設施改進，並在水和廢水處理領域進行目標收購。我之前說過，我們不打算進行更多的天然氣收購。

Now infrastructure investment is the low-risk backbone of our guidance of 6% to 7% rate base growth in water and 8% to 10% rate base growth in our natural gas business, which results in the 5% to 7% earnings growth guidance which we have achieved every year since we established that target.

現在，基礎設施投資是我們水務業務 6% 至 7% 的基準增長率和天然氣業務 8% 至 10% 的基準增長率指導的低風險支柱，這導致了 5% 至 7% 的盈利增長指導自從我們制定這一目標以來，我們每年都實現了這一目標。

All right. Let's talk for a moment about our strong acquisition program. On this slide, you can see that we are having another good year in our growth through acquisition work. So far this year, we've acquired 7 systems, adding over 11,000 customer equivalents to our current water and wastewater footprint. But notice that this is a recent uptick in closed acquisitions. As a reminder, Essential has been a pioneer driving consolidation of water and wastewater utilities for over 30 years. In fact, we've done more than 400 utility acquisitions over that same period of time.

好的。讓我們談談我們強大的收購計劃。在這張幻燈片上，您可以看到我們通過收購工作又迎來了增長的好一年。今年到目前為止，我們已經收購了 7 個系統，在我們當前的水和廢水足蹟的基礎上增加了 11,000 多個客戶等效系統。但請注意，這是近期已完成收購的增加。謹此提醒您，30 多年來，Essential 一直是推動供水和污水處理設施整合的先驅。事實上，我們在同一時期內完成了 400 多次公用事業收購。

Just since 2015, we've added nearly 129,000 customer equivalents and over $526 million in rate base to our water and wastewater footprint to a very successful acquisition program.

自 2015 年以來，我們通過一項非常成功的收購計劃，在水和廢水足跡中增加了近 129,000 個客戶當量和超過 5.26 億美元的費率基礎。

On June 30, we closed the acquisition of Union Rome Sewer system in Ohio, which serves approximately 5,300 customers. This is the largest municipal acquisition to date in Ohio. We're very proud of that one. And on July 24, we closed the Borough of Shenandoah's municipal authority in Pennsylvania, which serves about 3,000 customers. And in addition, to these 2 systems, we acquired 4 other systems on July 31, Southern Oaks in Texas, the Village of Frankfurt Water and Wastewater assets in Illinois and the Village of La Rue in Ohio. Collectively, these 4 systems added nearly 2,500 customers and $7 million in rate base to the company's footprint.

6 月 30 日，我們完成了對俄亥俄州 Union Rome Sewer 系統的收購，該系統為約 5,300 名客戶提供服務。這是俄亥俄州迄今為止最大的市政收購。我們對此感到非常自豪。 7 月 24 日，我們關閉了賓夕法尼亞州 Shenandoah 市政府，該機構為大約 3,000 名客戶提供服務。除了這兩個系統之外，我們還於7 月31 日收購了另外4 個系統，即德克薩斯州的Southern Oaks、伊利諾伊州的Village of Franke 供水和廢水資產以及俄亥俄州的Village of La Rue 。這 4 個系統總共為公司增加了近 2,500 個客戶和 700 萬美元的費率基礎。

We include the previously announced acquisition of North Heidelberg in Pennsylvania. Some of you may recall that this was the system where we were appointed receiver. It's a small wastewater system in Pennsylvania, we were appointed receiver by the PA PUC. But we add that to the mix, then year-to-date, we've acquired 7 systems and added more than $44.6 million in rate base and 11,000 customer equivalents, pretty nice year.

我們包括之前宣布的對賓夕法尼亞州北海德堡的收購。你們中有些人可能還記得，這是我們被指定為接管人的系統。這是賓夕法尼亞州的一個小型廢水系統，我們被賓夕法尼亞州公用事業委員會指定為接收者。但我們將其添加到組合中，那麼今年迄今為止，我們已經收購了 7 個系統，並增加了超過 4460 萬美元的費率基礎和 11,000 個客戶等價物，這是相當不錯的一年。

All of these acquisitions demonstrate our ability to provide operational expertise and a solution to systems needing substantial capital improvements to ensure customers have high-quality, safe and reliable services.

所有這些收購都證明了我們有能力為需要大量資本改進的系統提供運營專業知識和解決方案，以確保客戶獲得高質量、安全和可靠的服務。

Let's talk about a recent court decision that's been in the news. In August of 2022, after approval by the PA PUC, we acquired the East Whiteland wastewater assets in Pennsylvania, which was subsequently appealed by the consumer advocate in Commonwealth Court. And just last week, the court issued a decision to overturn the PUC order approving our acquisition. We are obviously disappointed with the decision and we'll work with the PA PUC to defend its order including evaluating options for appeal in concert with the PUC and East Whiteland Township.

讓我們來談談最近新聞中出現的一項法院判決。 2022 年 8 月，經賓夕法尼亞州 PUC 批准，我們收購了賓夕法尼亞州東懷特蘭廢水資產，隨後消費者權益倡導者向聯邦法院提起上訴。就在上週，法院發布了一項決定，推翻了 PUC 批准我們收購的命令。我們顯然對這一決定感到失望，我們將與 PA PUC 合作捍衛其命令，包括與 PUC 和東懷特蘭鎮一起評估上訴選項。

We believe that no matter what the ultimate outcome of this decision, there is a path forward to a continued regionalization of water and wastewater systems in Pennsylvania. It will require the continued engagement of all stakeholders so that using fair market value as a regulatory tool benefits all of those impacted by the process.

我們相信，無論這一決定的最終結果如何，賓夕法尼亞州的供水和廢水處理系統都有一條持續區域化的道路。這需要所有利益相關者的持續參與，以便使用公平市場價值作為監管工具使所有受該流程影響的人受益。

Okay. Shifting now to the dividend. As I mentioned upfront, last week, the Board declared a 7% increase to the quarterly dividend. We have a great and consistent history of delivering what our investors expect. This marks the 33rd increase in 32 years and the 78th consecutive year of quarterly dividend payments. This supports our consistent record of delivering shareholder value. Following the increase, the annualized dividend rate will be nearly $1.23 per share.

好的。現在轉向股息。正如我之前提到的，上週，董事會宣布將季度股息增加 7%。我們在滿足投資者的期望方面有著悠久而一貫的歷史。這是32年來第33次增加季度股息，也是連續78年增加季度股息。這支持了我們在提供股東價值方面的一貫記錄。上調後，年化股息率將接近每股1.23美元。

All right. With that, Dan, let me turn it to you to talk about our financial results.

好的。丹，接下來讓我來談談我們的財務業績。

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. I'll start off with the second quarter highlights. We have revenues for the quarter of $436.7 million compared to $448.8 million last year. Our Regulated Water segment contributed $293.7 million and our Regulated Natural Gas segment contributed $139 million. The largest contributor to the decrease in revenues for the quarter was the recovery of lower natural gas commodity costs with purchased gas costs decreasing by $33.2 million from the same period last year.

謝謝克里斯，大家早上好。我將從第二季度的亮點開始。我們本季度的收入為 4.367 億美元，而去年為 4.488 億美元。我們的監管水部門貢獻了 2.937 億美元，我們的監管天然氣部門貢獻了 1.39 億美元。本季度收入下降的最大原因是天然氣商品成本下降的恢復，購買天然氣成本比去年同期減少了 3320 萬美元。

Incremental revenues from regulatory recoveries, water and wastewater customer growth and increased volume in the water segment contributed positively and offset lower purchased gas costs and volumes for the quarter.

監管恢復、水和廢水處理客戶增長以及水業務量的增加帶來的收入增量做出了積極貢獻，並抵消了本季度購買天然氣成本和數量的下降。

O&M expenses decreased 1.1% to $133.5 million for the quarter, down from $135 million in the second quarter of last year. Other items and lower recoverable costs related to our natural gas segment customer rider were the primary drivers of the decrease and were offset by higher water production costs and employee-related costs as well as operating expenses related to acquired systems.

本季度運營與維護費用下降 1.1%，至 1.335 億美元，低於去年第二季度的 1.35 億美元。與我們的天然氣部門客戶相關的其他項目和較低的可回收成本是下降的主要驅動因素，但被較高的水生產成本和員工相關成本以及與收購的系統相關的運營費用所抵消。

Net income was up year-over-year from $82.3 million to $91.3 million, and GAAP EPS was $0.34 for the quarter, a nearly 10% increase from $0.31 during the same quarter last year.

淨利潤同比從 8230 萬美元增長至 9130 萬美元，該季度 GAAP 每股收益為 0.34 美元，比去年同期的 0.31 美元增長近 10%。

Next, we'll walk through the waterfall slides, starting with revenue. In the second quarter of 2023, revenues decreased $12.1 million or 2.7% on a GAAP basis. Starting on the left-hand side of the waterfall, regulatory recoveries added $19.6 million in revenues year-over-year. This includes the impact of water rate cases in Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina, among other regulatory proceedings.

接下來，我們將從收入開始逐步瀏覽瀑布幻燈片。 2023 年第二季度，按 GAAP 計算，收入減少 1,210 萬美元，即 2.7%。從瀑布左側開始，監管復甦同比增加了 1,960 萬美元的收入。這包括賓夕法尼亞州、俄亥俄州和北卡羅來納州水費案件的影響以及其他監管程序。

Next, organic and acquisition growth as well as increased volumes from our Regulated Water segment combined, added $4.9 million and other items provided an additional $1.4 million towards the second quarter revenues.

接下來，有機增長和收購增長以及我們的調節水部門的銷量增加合計增加了 490 萬美元，其他項目為第二季度的收入增加了 140 萬美元。

As you may recall, natural gas commodity prices were significantly elevated during March of 2022. They have since declined. Therefore, when compared to the second quarter of 2022, we noticed the primary driver of the decrease in revenues for the quarter was a recovery of $33.2 million less in purchased gas costs. And lastly, decreased gas volumes of $4.7 million from our Regulated Natural Gas segment also contributed to the 2.7% reduction in revenues.

您可能還記得，天然氣商品價格在 2022 年 3 月期間大幅上漲。此後價格有所下降。因此，與 2022 年第二季度相比，我們注意到該季度收入下降的主要驅動因素是購買天然氣成本減少了 3320 萬美元。最後，我們的受監管天然氣部門的天然氣量減少了 470 萬美元，也導致收入減少了 2.7%。

Next, let's through the operations and maintenance expenses on the next slide. Operations and maintenance expenses were $133.5 million for the second quarter, a decrease of 1.1% compared to $135 million for the same period in 2022. Increased production costs related specifically to chemicals, purchased water and purchased power contributed $4.4 million for the quarter. Employee-related costs added another $4.1 million and operating expenses from newly acquired systems in our regulated water segment added $1 million. These were offset primarily by other items of $8.2 million mainly related to lower maintenance and insurance expenses. And finally, the gas customer rider, which is recoverable through a revenue surcharge, decreased $2.8 million due to lower commodity prices and decreased volumes in our Regulated Natural Gas segment.

接下來，我們來看看下一張幻燈片中的運營和維護費用。第二季度運營和維護費用為 1.335 億美元，比 2022 年同期的 1.35 億美元下降 1.1%。與化學品、外購水和外購電力相關的生產成本增加為本季度貢獻了 440 萬美元。與員工相關的成本又增加了 410 萬美元，我們的監管水部門新收購的系統的運營費用增加了 100 萬美元。這些主要被其他 820 萬美元項目所抵消，主要與維護和保險費用減少有關。最後，由於大宗商品價格下降和我們的受監管天然氣業務量減少，天然氣客戶附加費（可通過收入附加費收回）減少了 280 萬美元。

Next, we'll spend a minute on the earnings per share waterfall. Beginning on the left side of the slide, GAAP EPS for the second quarter of 2022 was $0.31. Regulatory recoveries contributed $0.054 and growth and increased volume from our regulated water segment together, added $0.01. These were offset by other items of $0.018, which include increases in interest -- both interest expense and depreciation, offset by lower taxes, $0.013 related to decreased volume from our Regulated Natural Gas segment, and $0.002 as a result of increased expenses. Resulted is GAAP earnings per share of $0.34 for the second quarter of 2023, a 9.7% increase over last year.

接下來，我們將花一點時間討論每股收益瀑布。從幻燈片左側開始，2022 年第二季度的 GAAP 每股收益為 0.31 美元。監管復甦貢獻了 0.054 美元，監管水業務的增長和增加量合計增加了 0.01 美元。這些被其他項目抵消了 0.018 美元，其中包括利息增加（利息支出和折舊），被較低的稅收所抵消，0.013 美元與我們的受監管天然氣部門銷量減少相關，以及 0.002 美元由於費用增加而抵消。結果是 2023 年第二季度 GAAP 每股收益為 0.34 美元，比去年增長 9.7%。

We continue to expect to meet our annual earnings per share guidance for the year and remain confident in our ability to deliver on the 5% to 7% earnings growth per share.

我們繼續預計將達到今年的每股收益指引，並對我們實現 5% 至 7% 每股收益增長的能力保持信心。

Moving on to regulatory activity and other matters. So far in 2023, we completed rate cases or surcharge filings in 6 of our regulated water states, with a total annualized revenue increase of $26.4 million and in our Regulated Natural Gas segment, we have completed a surcharge filing in Pennsylvania with a total annualized revenue increase of $20.9 million.

繼續討論監管活動和其他事項。 2023 年到目前為止，我們在6 個受監管水州完成了費率案件或附加費申報，年化總收入增加了2640 萬美元；在我們的受監管天然氣部門，我們已在賓夕法尼亞州完成了附加費申報，年化總收入增加增加 2,090 萬美元。

Also, we currently have base rate cases or surcharge filings underway in Ohio, Texas and Virginia for our Regulated Water segment and a surcharge filing in Kentucky for our Regulated Natural Gas segment. As a reminder, we plan to file a base rate case for our Pennsylvania natural gas utility by the end of the year. This will be the first Pennsylvania natural gas case filed under our ownership and we expect to ask for weather normalization, a mechanism that our peer companies in Pennsylvania have today.

此外，我們目前正在俄亥俄州、德克薩斯州和弗吉尼亞州為我們的監管水部門提交基本費率案件或附加費申請，並在肯塔基州為我們的監管天然氣部門提交附加費申請。提醒一下，我們計劃在今年年底前為賓夕法尼亞州天然氣公用事業公司提交基本費率案例。這將是我們擁有的第一個賓夕法尼亞州天然氣案件，我們預計會要求天氣正常化，這是我們賓夕法尼亞州的同行公司今天擁有的機制。

Since our ownership in 2020, we replaced over 450 miles of pipe in Pennsylvania through our long-term infrastructure improvement plan. Rate base at Peoples has grown significantly. We've increased safety for both our employees and our customers, all while avoiding a rate case for nearly 5 years. I'll also add that just through the year-end of 2022, the pipe replacement program at Peoples has resulted in the reduction of nearly 80,000 metric tons of annual CO2 equivalent GHG emissions. Said more plainly, this is the equivalent of permanently removing nearly 18,000 cars from the road. Bear in mind that every mile of mainly replace -- with every mile of mainly replaced, we reduce fugitive methane which is a potent greenhouse gas.

自 2020 年收購以來，我們通過長期基礎設施改善計劃更換了賓夕法尼亞州超過 450 英里的管道。 Peoples 的費率基數顯著增長。我們提高了員工和客戶的安全性，同時在近 5 年內避免了費率案件。我還要補充一點，截至 2022 年底，Peoples 的管道更換計劃已減少了近 80,000 噸二氧化碳當量的年度溫室氣體排放。更簡單地說，這相當於永久清除道路上的近 18,000 輛汽車。請記住，每進行一英里的主要替換——每進行一英里的主要替換，我們就會減少逃逸的甲烷，這是一種強效的溫室氣體。

As you know, the pipe replacement plan for our Natural Gas segment is the main driver of the 60% Essential company-wide reduction in GHG emissions through 2035.

如您所知，我們天然氣部門的管道更換計劃是到 2035 年，Essential 公司範圍內溫室氣體排放量減少 60% 的主要推動力。

Moving on. In July, we released new 2023 equity issuance guidance, where we announced that we expect to issue, subject to market conditions, approximately $300 million of common stock in 2023 in addition to the equity raised earlier in the year through our ATM program. This revised equity guidance superceded the $500 million in equity or equity-linked securities that we previously communicated. We are not providing an update to this revised guidance today.

繼續。 7 月，我們發布了新的 2023 年股票發行指南，其中宣布，除了今年早些時候通過 ATM 計劃籌集的股本外，我們預計將根據市場情況在 2023 年發行約 3 億美元的普通股。修訂後的股權指引取代了我們之前通報的 5 億美元股權或股權掛鉤證券。今天我們不會提供修訂後指南的更新。

In the future, you should assume that all debt and equity needs to support our capital program and our acquisitions are included in our earnings per share guidance. Going forward, we will not provide detailed advanced guidance on the timing or amount of debt and equity capital to be raised, but we will most certainly provide details upon execution of each capital raise.

將來，您應該假設支持我們的資本計劃和收購所需的所有債務和股權都包含在我們的每股收益指導中。展望未來，我們不會就籌集債務和股權資本的時間或金額提供詳細的高級指導，但我們肯定會在每次融資執行時提供詳細信息。

And with that, I'll hand it back over to Chris. Chris?

有了這個，我會把它交還給克里斯。克里斯？

Great. Thanks, Dan. Before I talk about our acquisition work, I want to make all of you aware of one of the key factors that we believe could spur further and more rapid consolidation of water systems in the coming years.

偉大的。謝謝，丹。在談論我們的收購工作之前，我想讓大家了解我們認為可能在未來幾年進一步、更快地整合供水系統的關鍵因素之一。

PFAS is now widely written about and most Americans have heard about this forever chemical. As a reminder, in 2020, we set an industry-leading commitment to ensure that all finished water across the entire footprint at Aqua would be -- would not exceed 13 parts per trillion for multiple PFAS chemicals, which is much more stringent, as I'm sure you recall, than the EPA health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion for the PFAS chemicals at the same time. We were and still are the only multistate company that I'm aware of that made such a commitment.

PFAS 現在已被廣泛報導，大多數美國人都聽說過這種永久化學物質。謹此提醒，我們在 2020 年做出了行業領先的承諾，確保 Aqua 整個足跡中的所有成品水中的多種 PFAS 化學品含量不超過萬億分之 13，這一要求要嚴格得多，因為我您肯定還記得，同時EPA 健康建議中PFAS 化學品的含量為萬億分之70。據我所知，我們過去是、現在仍然是唯一一家做出這樣承諾的跨國公司。

Our own estimates to remediate PFAS at Aqua systems across our 8 states, which suggests that the capital and operating expenses currently estimated by the U.S. EPA are far below what will be needed for remediation across the United States. Based on preliminary estimates, we believe that Aqua's capital investment will be at least $350 million. At this point, we're not predicting that PFAS-related capital will have any impact on the existing rate base growth guidance.

我們自己對 8 個州 Aqua 系統的 PFAS 修復進行了估計，這表明美國 EPA 目前估計的資本和運營費用遠遠低於全美修復所需的費用。根據初步估計，我們認為Aqua的資本投資將至少為3.5億美元。目前，我們預計 PFAS 相關資本不會對現有利率基礎增長指導產生任何影響。

Protecting the health of our customers and the communities we serve is our priority. And given the investments needed, we will continue to legally advocate that the polluters bear the burden of the cleanup costs. Neither our company nor our customers should bear the cost of this cleanup. We have initiated litigation against the polluters and have applied for federal and state grants and loans were available. Longer term, though, we do see PFAS regulation being a catalyst to drive further consolidation.

保護客戶和我們服務的社區的健康是我們的首要任務。考慮到所需的投資，我們將繼續依法主張污染者承擔清理費用。我們公司和我們的客戶都不應承擔此次清理費用。我們已對污染者提起訴訟，併申請了聯邦和州的撥款和貸款。但從長遠來看，我們確實認為 PFAS 監管將成為推動進一步整合的催化劑。

Finally, we believe that the strength and expertise of our company will be an important part of our value proposition to municipal leaders who are struggling with PFAS issues. We've been a pioneer in this issue and have developed deep expertise, and we are committed to remaining a leader in this important work.

最後，我們相信，我們公司的實力和專業知識將成為我們向正在努力解決 PFAS 問題的市政領導人提供價值主張的重要組成部分。我們一直是這個問題的先驅，並積累了深厚的專業知識，我們致力於在這項重要工作中保持領先地位。

All right. Let's take a minute to address the pending transactions in our acquisition pipeline. As of this call, we have 4 signed asset purchase agreements in 2 states where we have existing water operations. Collectively, these acquisitions are expected to head over 208,000 customers or customer equivalents and totaled nearly $336 million in purchase price.

好的。讓我們花一點時間來解決收購管道中待處理的交易。截至本次電話會議，我們已在 2 個擁有水務業務的州簽署了 4 項資產購買協議。總的來說，這些收購預計將吸引超過 208,000 名客戶或同等客戶，總收購價接近 3.36 億美元。

All right. During our Q1 earnings call, we discussed our intent to sell 3 unregulated energy projects owned by Peoples in Pittsburgh. This includes the innovative Pittsburgh Airport microgrid, a combined heat and power project at a large hospital and a district energy project providing steam and hot water to multiple buildings in downtown Pittsburgh. We conducted a thorough sale process and I can report that the process is nearing a successful conclusion, and we expect to announce the result in the coming weeks.

好的。在第一季度財報電話會議上，我們討論了出售匹茲堡 Peoples 擁有的 3 個不受監管的能源項目的意圖。其中包括創新的匹茲堡機場微電網、一家大型醫院的熱電聯產項目以及為匹茲堡市中心的多棟建築提供蒸汽和熱水的區域能源項目。我們進行了徹底的銷售流程，我可以報告該流程已接近成功，我們預計將在未來幾週內公佈結果。

Further, on a separate topic piece of news here, a quick update on the sale of our small gas utility in West Virginia. We have reached a joint stipulation and agreement for settlement with the parties in West Virginia and are awaiting a decision by the West Virginia Public Service Commission in what could be the coming days or weeks.

此外，這裡有一個單獨的主題新聞，是關於我們在西弗吉尼亞州的小型天然氣公用事業公司出售的快速更新。我們已與西弗吉尼亞州各方達成聯合規定和和解協議，並正在等待西弗吉尼亞州公共服務委員會在未來幾天或幾週內做出決定。

As many of you know, progress on the DELCORA regulatory process continues to be under a stay by the Federal Bankruptcy Court, which is handling the bankruptcy of the city of Chester. We continue to remain confident that we will ultimately close the DELCORA transaction because our asset purchase agreement outlast all litigation. We continue to also believe that customer rates over time will be lower under our ownership when compared to DELCORA remaining independent.

正如你們許多人所知，聯邦破產法院正在中止 DELCORA 監管程序的進展，該法院正在處理切斯特市的破產案。我們仍然對最終完成 DELCORA 交易充滿信心，因為我們的資產購買協議比所有訴訟都更持久。我們仍然相信，隨著時間的推移，與保持獨立的 DELCORA 相比，我們擁有的客戶利率將會更低。

But given the delay and the lack of a clear time line in the process, we have -- and this is new news, we have completely removed DELCORA from our 2023 and 2024 financial plans and have removed any impact from DELCORA prior to the second half of 2025.

但鑑於這一過程的延遲和缺乏明確的時間表，我們已經——這是新消息，我們已將DELCORA 從我們的2023 年和2024 年財務計劃中完全刪除，並在下半年之前消除了DELCORA 的任何影響2025 年。

Importantly, and I want to reiterate that we remain confident in our current year and long-term earnings guidance. While DELCORA could still close earlier than we have in our financial plans, we think this is a key point for those of you who have been concerned about the financial impact of delays related to DELCORA.

重要的是，我想重申，我們對今年和長期盈利指引仍然充滿信心。雖然 DELCORA 仍可能比我們的財務計劃更早關閉，但我們認為，對於那些擔心 DELCORA 相關延誤造成的財務影響的人來說，這是一個關鍵點。

Turning to the next slide. We continue to see a strong and healthy pipeline of opportunities for growth in addition to the signed municipal transactions on the previous slide. We're currently engaged in active discussions with municipalities and pursuing over 400,000 potential water and wastewater customers. As a reminder, our in-state teams in all 8 states where we have water operations, focus on potential acquisitions that have at least 2,500 to 25,000 customers.

轉到下一張幻燈片。除了上一張幻燈片中籤署的市政交易之外，我們繼續看到強勁而健康的增長機會。我們目前正在與市政當局積極討論，並尋找超過 400,000 名潛在的水和廢水處理客戶。謹此提醒，我們在所有 8 個擁有水務業務的州的州內團隊重點關注擁有至少 2,500 至 25,000 名客戶的潛在收購。

As you know, we often evaluate even larger opportunities, and we'll continue to do that. We are excited about the momentum we are seeing in each of our 8 states, and we believe our value proposition remains compelling.

如您所知，我們經常評估更大的機會，並且我們將繼續這樣做。我們對在 8 個州中所看到的勢頭感到興奮，並且相信我們的價值主張仍然引人注目。

With that, I'll wrap up with a reminder of the 2023 guidance we've previously published. We continue to meet guidance for the year. We expect to continue to meet guidance for the year. We continue to expect earnings to be between $1.85 and $1.90 per share and expect that our 3-year earnings per share growth will be 5% to 7% through 2025. And to be clear, we believe that we will achieve these targets even if there happens to be further delays in closing DELCORA.

最後，我將提醒大家注意我們之前發布的 2023 年指南。我們繼續滿足今年的指導。我們預計今年將繼續達到指導目標。我們仍然預計每股收益將在1.85 美元至1.90 美元之間，並預計到2025 年，我們的3 年每股收益增長率將為5% 至7%。需要明確的是，我們相信，即使存在這些目標，我們也將實現這些目標恰好 DELCORA 的關閉進一步延遲。

Our capital plans remain on track as we expect to invest about $1.1 billion annually through 2025. Rate base growth is expected to be between 6% and 7% for water and 8% and 10% for natural gas with customer growth between 2% and 3% on average for water and stable for natural gas.

我們的資本計劃仍按計劃進行，預計到2025 年每年投資約11 億美元。水費率基數增長預計在6% 至7% 之間，天然氣費率基數增長在8% 至10% 之間，客戶增長在2% 至3% 之間水平均為 %，天然氣穩定。

Finally, we remain committed to our ESG targets, commitments and initiatives and you should see a new ESG report published early this fall, which will document what we believe are again industry-leading ESG efforts. And by the way, we were just named to Newsweek's Most Responsible Companies list for the second year in a row.

最後，我們仍然致力於我們的 ESG 目標、承諾和舉措，您應該會在今年初秋看到一份新的 ESG 報告，其中將記錄我們認為再次行業領先的 ESG 努力。順便說一句，我們剛剛連續第二年入選《新聞周刊》最具責任感公司名單。

And on that note, I'll conclude my formal remarks and look forward to your questions. George?

就此而言，我將結束我的正式發言並期待您的提問。喬治？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is coming from Durgesh Chopra calling from Evercore.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Durgesh Chopra 電話。

I have a couple of housekeeping questions, and I just want to go back to the municipal M&A water strategy in light of the East Whiteland decision. Just a couple of housekeeping first. Dan, can you remind us what weather was in terms of unfavorable impact in the first quarter? And then how did that turn in the second quarter?

我有幾個內務問題，我只想根據東懷特蘭的決定回到市政併購水務戰略。首先要做一些家政工作。 Dan，您能否提醒我們第一季度天氣的不利影響是什麼？那麼第二季度情況又如何呢？

Yes. We were -- in the first quarter, given the warmer weather, if we look at net revenue, our net revenue impact was about $30 million. We're about $30 million short of net revenue from the gas business in the first quarter. And then with warmer, I should say, continued cold weather early into the second quarter, we sold additional gas. And so we think it is -- I should say, too, we should think of this relative to budget. So relative to budget, that was the $30 million shortfall I mentioned a minute ago, that gap was closed a bit in the second quarter. So we think of that gap as ending the second quarter with about a $26 million shortfall. But again, that's budget to budget for us.

是的。在第一季度，考慮到天氣變暖，如果我們看看淨收入，我們的淨收入影響約為 3000 萬美元。第一季度我們的天然氣業務淨收入還差約 3000 萬美元。然後，我應該說，隨著第二季度初期天氣持續變暖，我們出售了額外的天然氣。所以我們認為——我也應該說，我們應該考慮與預算相關的問題。因此，相對於預算，這就是我一分鐘前提到的 3000 萬美元的缺口，這一缺口在第二季度有所縮小。因此，我們認為第二季度末缺口約為 2600 萬美元。但同樣，這對我們來說是預算。

So it was $30 million, and then you made up $4 million in the second quarter?

所以是 3000 萬美元，然後你在第二季度賺了 400 萬美元？

That's correct, Durgesh.

是的，杜爾吉什。

Okay. And then I know you said no color on equity guidance in the future. But can you just tell us how much have you issued year-to-date?

好的。然後我知道你說過對未來的股權指導不加任何色彩。但您能告訴我們今年迄今為止您發行了多少金額嗎？

Year-to-date, on the ATM, it was just about $20 million.

今年迄今為止，ATM 上的金額僅為 2000 萬美元左右。

Okay. And then the guidance for the balance of the year is about $300 million, right?

好的。那麼今年剩餘時間的指導約為 3 億美元，對吧？

Correct. $300 million in addition to what we've already done.

正確的。除了我們已經完成的工作之外，還需要 3 億美元。

Okay. Those were my housekeeping questions. And then maybe just big picture, Chris. The decision that you mentioned on East Whiteland, as I was reading through it a couple of days ago, they mentioned public benefits. So just curious, what are your thoughts there? I guess that was the kind of the rationale for denying that PUC decision. But just what are you thinking through as read-throughs, if any, through your other pending M&A transactions that in future M&A outlook in the state?

好的。這些是我的家政問題。然後也許只是大局，克里斯。你提到的關於東懷特蘭的決定，正如我幾天前讀到的那樣，他們提到了公共福利。所以只是好奇，你有什麼想法？我想這就是拒絕 PUC 決定的理由。但是，您在通讀該州未來併購前景中的其他未決併購交易（如果有）時，正在思考什麼？

Yes. It was a little bit curious, and that's why I'm fairly certain that you'll see the Public Utility Commission defend their order with a -- by taking it back to Commonwealth Court again. But I think one of the reasons it's curious is because the fair market value legislation itself does not require an affirmative benefit. And so there was a little bit of a disconnect at the Commonwealth Court. Let's face it, I guess the -- I think the active point here is that there is a concern -- a general concern about customer rates.

是的。這有點奇怪，這就是為什麼我相當肯定你會看到公用事業委員會通過再次將其帶回聯邦法院來捍衛他們的命令。但我認為它令人好奇的原因之一是因為公平市場價值立法本身並不需要平權福利。因此，聯邦法院存在一些分歧。讓我們面對現實吧，我想——我認為這裡的活躍點是存在一個擔憂——對客戶價格的普遍擔憂。

And we share that concern, frankly. But we also believe that even if this court decision were to stand, and we think we're a long way before conceding that, but even we do see a path forward to working with the parties, all stakeholders for that matter, to continue a strong acquisition program in Pennsylvania. So we do think there is some ability to find common ground here and have completed the program. So I don't -- I mean, while it's a significant marker, it's still not done, and I think there are multiple paths to continue to consolidate.

坦率地說，我們也有同樣的擔憂。但我們也相信，即使法院的判決成立，而且我們認為距離承認這一點還有很長的路要走，但即使我們確實看到了與各方、所有利益相關者合作的前進道路，以繼續賓夕法尼亞州的強大收購計劃。因此，我們確實認為有能力在這裡找到共同點並完成該計劃。所以我不——我的意思是，雖然這是一個重要的標誌，但它仍然沒有完成，而且我認為有多種途徑可以繼續鞏固。

(Operator Instructions) Next question is from Travis Miller calling from Morningstar.

（操作員說明）下一個問題是特拉維斯·米勒從晨星公司打來的電話。

Chris, going back to -- at a high level, your opening comments on the CapEx. Is this more of a near-term type of strategy where you're just seeing a lot of opportunities, especially on the gas side and the pipe side? Or is this kind of a shift in thinking that you're trying to convey to investors over the longer term that we should look for more relative growth organically versus historically the water acquisition?

克里斯，回到高層次上，您對資本支出的開場評論。這是否更像是一種近期策略，您只是看到了很多機會，特別是在天然氣方面和管道方面？或者，這種思維轉變是否是您試圖向投資者傳達的長期信息：與歷史上的水收購相比，我們應該尋求更多的相對有機增長？

No. I would put it in the category of a reminder. As I said in the opening remarks, it's -- we get so many questions on the M&A component of the work we do. But really, the earnings were generated from the CapEx, what -- and I tried to say it a couple of different ways, but the beauty of the M&A work we do is it fixes problems for customers, but it deepens the pool of capital for the future. And so there is a blending of this, right?

不，我會把它歸入提醒類別。正如我在開場白中所說，我們對我們所做工作的併購部分提出了很多問題。但實際上，收益是從資本支出中產生的，我試圖用幾種不同的方式來表達，但我們所做的併購工作的美妙之處在於它為客戶解決了問題，但它加深了客戶的資本池未來。所以這是一種混合，對嗎？

An acquisition today may not add that much to earnings per share given how they -- what the rates are when they join us. Once we fix it, over time it goes into that CapEx pool and generates those earnings for the long term. And so it's more of a reminder that this is how we've generated earnings for a very long time and that we have a deep pool as we look forward to continue to do that. And then the enhancement of that program is really buying new utilities that need to be fixed up so that we can fix them and put them in the capital pool. Does that make sense?

考慮到他們加入我們時的費率，今天的收購可能不會給每股收益增加那麼多。一旦我們解決了這個問題，隨著時間的推移，它就會進入資本支出池並產生長期收益。因此，這更多地提醒我們，這就是我們長期以來產生收入的方式，並且我們擁有深厚的資金池，我們期待繼續這樣做。然後，該計劃的增強實際上是購買需要修復的新公用事業，以便我們可以修復它們並將它們放入資本池中。那有意義嗎？

Sure. Yes. No, that definitely makes sense. And then the 400,000 active municipal opportunities, You've been talking about that for several quarters now at least. And just wondering what's the timing cadence. Has that changed from several quarters ago? Is this still something that's imminent? Just wondering thoughts around that number since it's been roughly the same for quite a while.

當然。是的。不，這絕對有道理。然後是 400,000 個活躍的市政機會，您至少已經談論了幾個季度了。只是想知道時間節奏是多少。與幾個季度前相比，情況有變化嗎？這還是迫在眉睫的事情嗎？只是想知道關於這個數字的想法，因為很長一段時間以來它都大致相同。

Yes. I would think of that more like a pool that fills and drains. So we're constantly tilling the soil and then talking to new municipalities and the drain of that pool is some we close, like we did just this quarter and some fall away because they either lose interest or for whatever reason, lack the ability to close. And so what we try to give you a sense of is what's the total pool of customer bases that we're talking to, but there's movement in that pool all the time.

是的。我認為這更像是一個充滿和排水的游泳池。因此，我們不斷耕耘土壤，然後與新的市政當局交談，我們關閉了一些游泳池的排水口，就像我們本季度所做的那樣，還有一些因為他們失去興趣或出於某種原因缺乏關閉能力而消失了。因此，我們試圖讓您了解我們正在交談的客戶群總數是多少，但該客戶群一直在變化。

Our next question is coming from Paul Zimbardo calling from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題是來自美國銀行的保羅·津巴多 (Paul Zimbardo) 打來的電話。

And just to clean up, I noticed that the rate base disclosures changed a little bit for '23, '24. Is that just relating to the DELCORA comment you mentioned on removing it from the outlook?

為了清理，我注意到 23 年和 24 年的利率基礎披露發生了一些變化。這是否與您提到的將其從前景中刪除的 DELCORA 評論有關？

Yes, Paul, that's correct. So otherwise, we're not changing our rate base guidance at this point in time, other -- it's really just a removal of DELCORA. And DELCORA, I think, was always footnoted before.

是的，保羅，這是正確的。因此，除此之外，我們目前不會改變我們的費率基礎指導，其他——這實際上只是刪除 DELCORA。我認為 DELCORA 以前總是被腳註過。

Okay. Great. No, that's right out there. And then one other clean up, just what was the kind of the effective tax rate that you had in full year 2023 guidance? Because it looks like a decent sized benefit in the first half of the year.

好的。偉大的。不，就在那裡。然後還有一個問題是，2023 年全年指導中的有效稅率是多少？因為上半年的效益看起來還不錯。

We've had a strong benefit and we continue to have a benefit through the rest of the year. So think about effective tax rate for the full year, I would think benefit as opposed to an expense and think still single digits.

我們已經受益匪淺，並且在今年剩餘時間裡我們將繼續受益。因此，考慮全年的有效稅率，我認為收益而不是支出，並且仍然是個位數。

Pennsylvania.

賓夕法尼亞州。

Company-wide. Does that help you, Paul?

全公司。這對你有幫助嗎，保羅？

Yes. Yes, it is. And then just quickly, curious on the decision to change prospectively. So I heard it right. Don't plan to give equity or debt guidance beyond '24? Just kind of what's caused that change in thought process there?

是的。是的。然後很快地，對前瞻性改變的決定感到好奇。所以我沒聽錯。不打算在 24 年後提供股權或債務指導？是什麼導致了思維過程的改變？

Well, it's a good question, Paul. I think simply put, speaking too much about equity needs, seems to have caused some of our investors to wait for a block trade rather than just investing even when our price was attractive. And so that's not necessarily been helpful for our stock performance lately. Plus, whenever we provide earnings per share guidance or earnings per share growth guidance, we've already incorporated the dilutive impact of any equity needs, any equity issuances into that. And we do think this is consistent with what we're seeing in other utilities as well.

嗯，這是個好問題，保羅。我認為簡單地說，過多談論股票需求似乎導致我們的一些投資者等待大宗交易，而不是僅僅在我們的價格有吸引力的情況下進行投資。因此，這不一定對我們最近的股票表現有幫助。另外，每當我們提供每股收益指導或每股收益增長指導時，我們已經將任何股權需求、任何股權發行的稀釋影響納入其中。我們確實認為這與我們在其他公用事業中看到的情況是一致的。

Our next question is coming from Ryan Connors of Northcoast Research.

我們的下一個問題來自北海岸研究中心的瑞安·康納斯。

So first one for you, Dan, on your financial comments there. It seems like the water business has some really exceptional kind of leverage in the quarter. You've got almost double-digit top line growth and O&M was basically flat. It seemed like you kind of called out lower maintenance and insurance as kind of the big drivers of that on the cost side. Can you elaborate on that a little bit? I mean, was that something you were comping from a year ago in maintenance that was -- where that was lower. What was going on there?

丹，第一個是關於您的財務評論。水務業務似乎在本季度擁有一些非常特殊的槓桿作用。您的收入增長幾乎達到兩位數，而運營與維護業務基本持平。您似乎認為較低的維護和保險是成本方面的主要驅動因素。您能詳細說明一下嗎？我的意思是，你在維護方面與一年前相比，那是 - 那裡的水平較低。那裡發生了什麼事？

Yes, probably a few things to talk about. There are some -- when you think about comparisons to last year, we were favorable because there were some higher costs that I would say occurred in the second quarter last year. So on a comparative basis, we're better off. I would say, two, we also made it a focused initiative this year to really work with our subsidiaries on their operating expenses. So one thing that falls into that category is outside services type cost, and we've been very cognizant of those expenses and work closely with the state presidents and state controllers and their organizations to focus there. So I agree, though, nice quarter in terms of top line growth and cost control for the water business.

是的，可能有一些事情要談。有一些 - 當你考慮與去年相比時，我們是有利的，因為我想說去年第二季度發生了一些更高的成本。因此，從比較的角度來看，我們的情況更好。我想說，第二，我們今年還把與我們的子公司在運營費用方面真正合作作為一項重點舉措。因此，屬於這一類別的一件事是外部服務類型成本，我們非常了解這些費用，並與州總統、州控制者及其組織密切合作，重點關注這些費用。因此，我同意，就水務業務的營收增長和成本控製而言，這是一個不錯的季度。

Yes. So it sounds like that lower maintenance, I mean, if that's a structural initiative you're on, that should be something that continues to be good going forward.

是的。因此，聽起來維護成本較低，我的意思是，如果這是您正在進行的結構性舉措，那麼這應該會繼續保持良好的發展勢頭。

We will certainly -- I guess what I'd say, Ryan, is we'll certainly continue to focus on that.

我們肯定會——我想我想說的是，瑞安，我們肯定會繼續關注這一點。

Okay. And just a couple of questions on the East Whiteland. I mean the first one is more to housekeeping, I guess. I mean presumably, these assets have been transferred. It's in the financials and now we're obviously potentially -- it sounds like you're going to work through the appeal process. But what happens in that time frame? I mean, it wasn't a tiny deal. It wasn't a huge deal, but $55 million, certainly not immaterial. So is there any kind of assessment of the goodwill there or anything, Dan, that has to take place? Or I mean, what exactly the mechanics now that you've got that kind of a decision hanging over that asset that's in the barn, so to speak?

好的。還有幾個關於東懷特蘭的問題。我想，我的意思是，第一個更多的是家政服務。我的意思是，這些資產大概已經轉移了。這是在財務方面，現在我們顯然有可能——聽起來你將完成上訴程序。但在這段時間內會發生什麼？我的意思是，這不是一件小事。這雖然不是什麼大筆交易，但 5500 萬美元也絕對不是無關緊要的。那麼，丹，是否需要對商譽進行任何類型的評估或其他任何評估？或者我的意思是，現在你已經對穀倉裡的資產做出了這樣的決定，那麼具體的機制是什麼？

So at this point, since there still are a number of avenues for appeal, and we think there's an opportunity here to really work with all the stakeholders to ensure a positive outcome and a continued strong process for these acquisitions in Pennsylvania, there's really no accounting to do at this point in time.

因此，在這一點上，由於仍然有許多上訴途徑，而且我們認為這裡有機會真正與所有利益相關者合作，以確保賓夕法尼亞州的這些收購取得積極的成果和持續強有力的流程，因此實際上沒有會計核算此時此刻要做的事。

Ryan, just to think about it, too. West Whiteland doesn't want their wastewater utility, right? They sold it. And so we think there's a path forward there that can be worked through.

瑞安，我也想一下。西懷特蘭不想要他們的廢水處理設施，對吧？他們把它賣了。因此，我們認為有一條可以解決的前進道路。

Yes, right. It would be pretty crazy to force them to buy it back. Now -- but in terms of bigger picture, Chris, going back to the prior question on the pipeline, I mean until you get this thing kind of resolved and hopefully, the appeal -- your appeal would be successful. I mean what effect does that have on the pipeline in terms of obviously, the detractors to privatization are going to run around with this, says, here's why you shouldn't sell because it's going to be -- the PUCs being overruled and they're going to make a lot of noise about that. I mean how does that affect the pipeline, the willingness of people to step to the table and sign APAs with that going on.

是的，沒錯。如果強迫他們把它買回來，那就太瘋狂了。現在 - 但就更大的前景而言，克里斯，回到之前關於管道的問題，我的意思是，直到你解決了這件事並希望上訴 - 你的上訴將會成功。我的意思是，這對管道有什麼影響，顯然，私有化的反對者會到處亂跑，說，這就是為什麼你不應該出售，因為它會——公用事業委員會被否決，他們'我們會為此大吵大鬧。我的意思是，這將如何影響管道，以及人們願意坐到談判桌前簽署預約定價安排的意願。

Yes. I'll tell you what I think it does. I think it's going to underscore rates. And my hope is that we see some sellers thinking even more regionally about sale prices, right? I think we all agree that some of the sale prices we're seeing are pretty high. And to the degree that those can get back to areas where the outcome is not only high proceeds for the seller, but also outcome is very good rates for the customers of the system that's being acquired, I think that's actually a positive outcome.

是的。我會告訴你我認為它的作用。我認為這會強調利率。我希望我們看到一些賣家更多地考慮區域性的銷售價格，對嗎？我想我們都同意我們看到的一些銷售價格相當高。在某種程度上，這些可以回到不僅為賣方帶來高收益，而且為被收購系統的客戶帶來非常好的利率的領域，我認為這實際上是一個積極的結果。

So I would see probably maybe a bit of more reasonableness on purchase prices. Time will tell the story. But many may also be looking at this and say, okay, well, what's the outcome of the appeal? I think most would probably pause to say this is probably not the end of the road here for the court decision itself. So I think the story is yet to be written. But if anything, the impact probably will be a focus on customer rates.

所以我認為購買價格可能會更合理一些。時間會講述故事。但許多人可能也會看到這一點並說，好吧，上訴的結果是什麼？我想大多數人可能會停下來說，這可能不是法院判決本身的終點。所以我認為這個故事還沒有寫完。但如果有的話，影響可能會集中在客戶率上。

We'll now move to Gregg Orrill calling from UBS.

現在我們將接聽瑞銀 (UBS) 的格雷格·奧里爾 (Gregg Orrill) 的電話。

Chris, just to clarify with regard to East Whiteland. Is the reaction for the company to appeal it? Or is that not your place? Or what's the path here?

克里斯，我想澄清一下東懷特蘭的情況。公司的反應是上訴嗎？或者那不是你的地方？或者說這裡的路是什麼？

It's a good question. So it's really the PUC's order. So they have a decision as to whether or not they'll defend their own order. Typically, and I would say with some level of certainty, that's where they've been in the past. So I have no reason to believe that they will do anything different here. There is a clock, they do need to respond, I believe it's this week and make that determination. And then we would certainly support their appeal or the request for reconsideration.

這是一個好問題。所以這確實是 PUC 的命令。因此他們可以決定是否捍衛自己的秩序。通常情況下，我可以肯定地說，這就是他們過去的處境。所以我沒有理由相信他們會在這裡做任何不同的事情。有一個時鐘，他們確實需要做出回應，我相信是在本週並做出決定。那麼我們當然會支持他們的上訴或重新考慮的請求。

So there's a couple of ways to go here. One would be an appeal to the Supreme Court. The other one would be a reconsideration at the State Court, which this was heard by a 3-judge panel. If it was reconsidered it would go to 7 judges. So I think the PUC has some decisions to make in terms of how they'll frame their reconsideration or appeal. But we will most certainly be in support of that. I would expect the industry to be in support of that as well as others.

所以有幾種方法可以到達這裡。其中之一是向最高法院提出上訴。另一項是州法院的複議，由三名法官組成的小組進行審理。如果重新考慮，將由 7 名法官審理。因此，我認為 PUC 在如何重新考慮或上訴方面需要做出一些決定。但我們肯定會支持這一點。我希望業界能夠支持這一點以及其他方面。

And with regard to the PFAS estimate of $350 million. Do you have any detail around that, that you could provide in terms of how you're looking to comply in terms of method?

PFAS 估計為 3.5 億美元。您是否有任何相關細節，可以提供您希望如何遵守方法的細節？

Sure. Most of it is GAC activated carbon is a solution for much of it, although there are multiple solutions we could deploy. As we think about it, it's largely filtration. We know how to treat PFAS. And so the -- I guess, as you drill down in a little bit of more detail, it's really centered in several of our states. If you look at some of what's on the Internet with PFAS, it's concentrated in states like New Jersey, some in Pennsylvania, heavily in North Carolina. And that's where we're seeing the major work that needs to be done in some of those states.

當然。儘管我們可以部署多種解決方案，但其中大部分是 GAC 活性炭，它是其中大部分的解決方案。正如我們所想，這很大程度上是過濾。我們知道如何治療 PFAS。因此，我想，當您深入研究更多細節時，它實際上集中在我們的幾個州。如果你看一下互聯網上有關 PFAS 的一些內容，你會發現它主要集中在新澤西州等州，一些在賓夕法尼亞州，大部分在北卡羅來納州。這就是我們看到其中一些州需要完成的主要工作的地方。

And so it's not like we can spread this cost over our entire customer base, we'll be centered on the areas that are impacted. And so the treatment itself is fairly straightforward. What we get to in areas like North Carolina is -- some of these systems are fed by small well systems. They don't have big footprints. And so there, we have to get a little bit more creative in the treatment process. But it's not -- these are things we know how to do, but it will be expensive, and we think it should be -- that cost should be borne by the polluters.

因此，我們不可能將這筆成本分攤到整個客戶群上，我們將集中精力於受影響的領域。因此治療本身相當簡單。我們在北卡羅來納州等地區所遇到的情況是——其中一些系統是由小型井系統供水的。他們的腳印並不大。因此，我們必須在治療過程中更具創意。但這並不是——這些是我們知道如何做的事情，但它會很昂貴，而且我們認為應該是——成本應該由污染者承擔。

We'll now move to Davis Sunderland of Baird. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我們請貝爾德的戴維斯·桑德蘭發言。請繼續，先生。

Gregg actually took my question about the $300 million -- or $350 million CapEx outlays for PFAS. And I was just going to add to that maybe any assumptions as far as time line of these deployments or anything like that? Or if we should think of those over a 2, 4, 5, however many year time line? And then my second to that would just be any estimates or predictions as far as the upcoming case for PFAS as far as potential recoveries and time line until decision there?

Gregg 實際上回答了我關於 PFAS 的 3 億美元或 3.5 億美元資本支出的問題。我只是想補充一下，對於這些部署的時間線或類似的事情，也許有任何假設？或者我們是否應該考慮那些超過 2 年、4 年、5 年甚至多年的時間線？然後我的第二個想法就是對即將到來的 PFAS 案例的任何估計或預測，以及潛在的回收率和做出決定之前的時間線？

Yes. I'll take the first one on time line. As it currently stands, and I think you're all aware that the federal government is still coming -- going through their regulatory process. And so we should have final determinations on some of these things in the first quarter of next year. But as it stands, most of this work needs to be done between now and 2027 and then there is some opportunity for, I think, 2-year extensions. And so -- which we may need to get some of the systems into compliance because we have many of them.

是的。我會在時間線上拿第一個。就目前情況而言，我想你們都知道聯邦政府仍在進行監管程序。因此，我們應該在明年第一季度對其中一些事情做出最終決定。但就目前情況而言，大部分工作需要從現在到 2027 年完成，然後我認為有機會延期 2 年。因此，我們可能需要使某些系統合規，因為我們有很多系統。

But we will comply whatever the up final determination is, the work is heavily underway, and we -- it's our intention to comply with whatever those requirements are. So I would say it's relatively short term if we think about between now and 2027 or maybe some spread beyond that for 2 more years, but that's probably the compliance period.

但無論最終決定是什麼，我們都會遵守，這項工作正在緊鑼密鼓地進行中，而且我們打算遵守這些要求。所以我想說，如果我們考慮從現在到 2027 年，或者可能會超出這個期限 2 年，那麼這個期限相對較短，但這可能是合規期。

We'll now go to Jonathan Reeder calling from Wells Fargo.

現在我們將接聽來自富國銀行的喬納森·里德 (Jonathan Reeder) 的電話。

So a lot of my questions have already been addressed. Dan, just hoping you can maybe give a little more detail on what gives you the increased confidence in delivering on '23? I know you mentioned that Q2 weather helped a tad but is it more just delivering these lower other operating expenses as well as the expected proceeds from the sale of 3 Peoples projects? Or has July weather been beneficial on the water side, too?

所以我的很多問題已經得到解決。 Dan，只是希望您能提供更多細節，說明是什麼讓您更有信心交付“23”？我知道您提到第二季度的天氣有所幫助，但這是否只是帶來了其他運營費用的降低以及出售 3 Peoples 項目的預期收益？或者說七月的天氣對水也有利？

Yes. Jonathan, a few things to touch on there. So I would say we've managed our expenses well. And fortunately, a few other things have broken in our favor. So as we mentioned, we did have that colder than budgeted weather for the early part of the second quarter, which provided for higher natural gas consumption. And then we had warmer than budgeted weather later in the second quarter, leading to higher water consumption, so that weather outcome that you just mentioned.

是的。喬納森，有一些事情要談一下。所以我想說我們的開支管理得很好。幸運的是，其他一些事情也對我們有利。正如我們所提到的，第二季度初期的天氣確實比預算寒冷，這導致了天然氣消耗量的增加。然後，第二季度晚些時候，我們的天氣比預算溫暖，導致用水量增加，因此出現了您剛才提到的天氣結果。

And then the IRS put out their safe harbor for gas, those long-awaited gas rigs came out in April, that actually provided a pickup in the repair benefit due to increased eligibility of our pipeline replacement program. So a little bit of a pickup there. And then we had a little bit of a benefit from a purchased water pass-through in Texas that we're now receiving. So a number of things that are moving there to try to really bring us back to the range.

然後美國國稅局推出了天然氣安全港，那些期待已久的天然氣鑽機在四月份推出，由於我們的管道更換計劃的資格增加，實際上提供了維修福利的回升。所以那裡有一點拾取。然後我們從德克薩斯州購買的水傳遞中獲得了一些好處，我們現在正在收到。因此，有很多東西正在移動，試圖真正讓我們回到這個範圍。

Okay. Great. I appreciate that. And then Chris, just to confirm, I guess, nothing particular transpired, I guess, in the last few months regarding the DELCORA deal that caused you to move the assumed financial close back to the second half of 2025. You just made the move to give investors confidence in the near term, I guess, EPS growth plan that is dependent on DELCORA?

好的。偉大的。我很感激。然後克里斯，我想確認一下，在過去的幾個月裡，關於 DELCORA 交易，沒有發生什麼特別的事情，導致你將假定的財務結算時間推遲到 2025 年下半年。你剛剛採取了行動短期內給投資者信心，我猜，EPS增長計劃是依賴於DELCORA嗎？

I think that's well said. I mean there's always minor developments here and there, but nothing of substance I would say, has occurred that would trigger this. We just felt like it was a constant concern for many investors, and we wanted to address it and let people know that our plan in the next couple of years really doesn't require DELCORA, and we want to just make that crystal clear to people.

我認為這句話說得好。我的意思是，到處都會有一些微小的進展，但我想說的是，沒有發生任何實質性的事情會引發這種情況。我們只是覺得這是許多投資者一直關心的問題，我們希望解決這個問題，讓人們知道我們未來幾年的計劃確實不需要 DELCORA，我們想讓人們清楚地了解這一點。

Okay. Any -- I mean, with the stay out there, is there any near-term or kind of date where there could be some more movement on DELCORA? Or it's really just a wait and see?

好的。任何 - 我的意思是，隨著停留在那裡，是否有任何近期或某種日期可以讓 DELCORA 發生更多的變化？還是真的只是等待觀望？

Yes. Unfortunately, a federal bankruptcy judge is on no time line. And so as you know, that was a twist that we never saw coming. And it's only tangentially involved with DELCORA. It's really the bankruptcy of the city of Chester and the Chester Water Authority. So we didn't expect to be swept up in that. So that stay can't stay forever, as we all know. Whether it's lifted next week, next month or in several months, we just don't know. So we continue to be involved. And obviously, there are certain court filings that we continue to work on, but no real activity at this point to report.

是的。不幸的是，聯邦破產法官沒有明確的時間表。如您所知，這是我們從未預見到的轉折。而且它與 DELCORA 的關係不大。這確實是切斯特市和切斯特水務局的破產。所以我們沒想到會被捲入其中。所以眾所周知，這種停留不可能永遠停留。是下週、下個月還是幾個月後取消，我們只是不知道。所以我們繼續參與。顯然，我們正在繼續處理某些法庭文件，但目前沒有實際活動需要報告。

Thank you very much, sir. At this time, we don't have any further questions. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mr. Chris Franklin for any additional or closing remarks. Thank you.

先生非常感謝您。目前，我們沒有任何進一步的問題。我想將電話轉回給克里斯·富蘭克林先生，請他發表補充或結束語。謝謝。

Thanks, everyone, for joining. And obviously, the team is ready to -- for follow-ups if you have them. Thanks again for joining us today.

謝謝大家的加入。顯然，如果有的話，團隊已經準備好進行後續行動。再次感謝您今天加入我們。

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

非常感謝。女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。