Essential Utilities Inc (WTRG) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Elina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Essential Utilities full year 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

感謝您的支持。我叫埃琳娜 (Elina)，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Essential Utilities 2024 年全年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

I'd now like to turn the call over to Dan Schuller. You may now begin.

現在我想把電話轉給丹舒勒 (Dan Schuller)。現在你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Essential Utilities fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings call. This is Dan Schuller, Chief Financial Officer at Essential. I'm stepping in for Brian Dingerdissen who welcomed twins this past weekend.

大家早安，感謝您參加基本公用事業公司 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。我是 Essential 的財務長 Dan Schuller。我代替 Brian Dingerdissen 工作，他上週末迎來了雙胞胎。

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 we will be referencing and the webcast of this event can also be found on our website.

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。我們將要參考的幻燈片和活動的網路直播也可以在我們的網站上找到。

I did want to take a moment to introduce our new IR director, as you may have seen his photo on the deck that is posted. Ed Vallejo, with whom most of you are familiar from his time in the industry, joined our team just last week. Ed hit the ground running and will fully engage in our IR activities right away. Welcome, Ed.

我確實想花點時間介紹我們的新 IR 總監，您可能已經在發布的甲板上看到了他的照片。埃德·瓦列霍 (Ed Vallejo) 上週剛加入了我們的團隊，他在這個行業工作多年，並相信大多數人都很熟悉他。Ed 已開始全力投入工作並將立即投入我們的 IR 活動。歡迎光臨，埃德。

Let's move to the forward-looking statement. As a reminder, some of the matters discussed during this call may include forward-looking statements that involve risk, 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.

讓我們轉到前瞻性聲明。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，可能導致實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述表達或暗示的任何未來結果有重大差異。請參閱我們最新的 10-Q、10-K 和其他 SEC 文件，以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 any non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures is posted in the investor relations section of the company's website.

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。任何非 GAAP 與 GAAP 財務指標的對帳表均發佈在公司網站的投資者關係部分。

Begin the call today with Chris Franklin, our Chairman and CEO, who will provide an update on the company, and then I'll provide an overview of our financial results before Chris closes the call with our guidance. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Chris Franklin. Chris?

今天，我們的董事長兼執行長克里斯富蘭克林將首先介紹公司的最新情況，然後我將概述我們的財務業績，克里斯將在電話會議結束時提供我們的指導。說完這些，我將把電話轉給克里斯·富蘭克林。克里斯？

Hey, thanks, Dan. Ed, welcome aboard. Nice to have you with us and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Hey, listen, as I reflect on 2024, I have to tell you I'm really proud of the performance of the company, the team that leads it, and all of those that did the work to make the year so successful.

嘿，謝謝，丹。艾德，歡迎加入。很高興您加入我們，大家早安。感謝您的加入。嘿，聽著，當我回顧 2024 年時，我必須告訴你，我為公司的表現、領導公司的團隊以及所有為這一年的成功而努力工作的人們感到非常自豪。

Financially, 2024 is another year in a string of years we have reported earnings per share in line with our 5% to 7% guidance. In fact, on a GAAP basis, we delivered $2.17 per share. The GAAP earnings, of course, include the gain on sale from the Pittsburgh energy projects. When you think about repeatable earnings, I'm talking non-GAAP now.

從財務角度來看，2024 年是我們連續幾年報告每股盈餘符合 5% 至 7% 預期的一年。事實上，以 GAAP 計算，我們的每股盈餘為 2.17 美元。當然，GAAP 收益包括匹茲堡能源項目的銷售收益。當您考慮可重複收益時，我現在談論的是非公認會計準則。

We would think about finishing the year at about $1.97 earnings per share. Dan's going to provide more detail on this in just a few moments.

我們預計今年的每股收益約為 1.97 美元。丹稍後將提供有關此問題的更多詳細資訊。

Now these outcomes would not be possible without the discipline of our operating teams. They held operating expenses this year to only 2% growth year over year and completed our $1.3 billion capital plan right on target.

如果沒有我們營運團隊的紀律，這些成果是不可能達成的。他們將今年的營運費用控制在同比僅增長 2% 的水平，並按時完成了我們 13 億美元的資本計劃。

Our operating expense control is key to keeping rates affordable, and our timely capital investments improve water quality, gas safety, and service reliability, all while building rate-based and of course earnings for shareholders.

我們的營運費用控制是維持費率可負擔的關鍵，我們及時的資本投資改善了水質、天然氣安全性和服務可靠性，同時為股東建立了基於費率的收益，當然還有收益。

Over the course of the year, we responded to investors who wanted to get to know our operating team leaders a little bit better in both water and natural gas. And so Colleen Arnold, the Head of our Water Business, and Mike Huwar, the Head of our Gas Business, spent time on the road with us in investor meetings throughout 2024, and that will continue into the future, as I know you enjoyed the interaction with both Mike and Colleen.

在這一年中，我們回應了那些想要更了解我們水務和天然氣營運團隊領導的投資者。因此，我們的水務業務主管科琳·阿諾德 (Colleen Arnold) 和天然氣業務主管 Mike Huwar 在 2024 年全年陪同我們參加投資者會議，這種情況將持續到未來，因為我知道您很享受與麥克和科琳的互動。

Now when we think about our accomplishments and our consistency, consider that the Board raised the dividend by 6% in 2024, and that's consistent with our 30+ year track record of growing the dividend at a healthy rate. In fact, it's sort of amazing to consider that we've grown the dividend approximately 40% in just five short years, and we've paid a dividend now for 80 straight years.

現在，當我們思考我們的成就和一致性時，請考慮董事會在 2024 年將股息提高了 6%，這與我們 30 多年來以健康速度增長股息的記錄一致。事實上，想想就令人驚奇，在短短五年內，我們的股息就成長了約 40%，而且我們已經連續 80 年支付股息。

Probably the accomplishments that we're most proud of in 2024 are the successful water and natural gas rate cases in Pennsylvania, the state that contains, 75% of our operations.

2024 年我們最引以為傲的成就可能是在賓州成功的水費和天然氣費率案例，該州占我們業務的 75%。

Both cases were black box settlements. But most of you could easily estimate the approximate equity layer and ROE that were granted in those cases. We believe these strong regulatory outcomes combined with the recent changes at the Office of the Consumer Advocate are reminders that Pennsylvania continues to be a constructive regulatory state.

兩起案件均為暗箱和解。但大多數人都可以輕鬆估算在這些情況下授予的大致股權層和 ROE。我們相信，這些強而有力的監管成果以及消費者權益保護辦公室最近的變化提醒我們，賓州仍然是一個建設性的監管州。

We also believe that our strong regulatory reputation of doing the right thing should continue to facilitate positive regulatory outcomes that are both good for customers and shareholders.

我們也相信，我們在監管方面做正確事情的良好聲譽應該繼續促進對客戶和股東都有利的積極監管成果。

In fact, since the recent change in leadership at the OCA, the agency has withdrawn its protest of the people's rate case, a really good sign that a more moderate approach to regulatory relations may be coming to that agency.

事實上，自從 OCA 領導層最近發生變動以來，該機構已經撤回了對人民利率案的抗議，這是一個非常好的跡象，表明該機構可能將採取更溫和的監管關係。

One of the key accomplishments in the people's rate case was the establishment of weather normalization. This regulatory solution has already proven to be beneficial to both shareholders and customers. In January of 2025, just last month, because of abnormally cold weather, the company will give back about $8.2 million to customers. But shareholders will also reap some benefit from this cold stretch.

人民利率案的關鍵成就是建立了天氣正常化。這項監管解決方案已被證明對股東和客戶都有利。2025年1月，也就是上個月，由於天氣異常寒冷，該公司將向客戶退還約820萬美元。但股東也將從這段寒流中獲得一些好處。

Bottom line is that in that short time since October, when the weather normalization was first put in place, the smoothing of weather volatility and the associated revenue is working exactly as designed.

底線是，自去年 10 月首次實施天氣正常化以來的短時間內，天氣波動的平滑和相關收入正在按照預期發揮作用。

Now, while we're talking about regulatory accomplishments, I want to mention that in 2024, there was some reform of the fair market value statute that was passed by the PA Public Utility Commission. As I think you already know, we were actively engaged in that solution with the PUC.

現在，當我們談論監管成就時，我想提一下，2024 年，賓州公共事業委員會通過了公平市場價值法規的一些改革。我想您已經知道，我們積極與公共事業委員會 (PUC) 合作，尋求解決方案。

We believe that this reform will bring greater certainty to the process and should also help keep rates at affordable levels. Already we're seeing increased activity for municipals that are interested in selling their utilities.

我們相信，這項改革將為這一進程帶來更大的確定性，也有助於將利率維持在可承受的水平。我們已經看到有意出售其公用設施的市政當局的活動增加。

All right, when we think about 2024, I have to mention the progress that we've made in PFAS mitigation. We spent about $27 million in capital and completed the mitigation work in 13 plants. This is toward our four-year goal to mitigate approximately 300 plants at an overall estimated capital spend of $450 million.

好吧，當我們想到 2024 年時，我必須提到我們在 PFAS 緩解方面取得的進展。我們花了約2700萬美元的資金，完成了13家工廠的緩解工作。這是為了實現我們的四年目標，即緩解約 300 家工廠的壓力，預計總資本支出為 4.5 億美元。

The solution we're applying to most of our plants is a patent pending approach that we're also marketing to other utilities as a solution to their PFAS issues. Now it's too early to predict whether our solution will be additive to earnings or not, but I'm proud of the team for engineering the solution and for the pace of our installations.

我們對大多數工廠採用的解決方案是一種正在申請專利的方法，我們也將其作為解決 PFAS 問題的解決方案推銷給其他公用事業公司。現在預測我們的解決方案是否會增加收益還為時過早，但我為設計該解決方案的團隊和安裝速度感到自豪。

One of our top priorities in the natural gas business will always be risk reduction. In fact, in 2024, we focused on several key risks. First, we installed 30,000 Intelis meters. These are the meters made by Itron. We believe that these meters are literally a game changer for safety. The meters are a lighter weight, slightly smaller and more accurate, but most importantly, they prevent over-pressurization.

降低風險始終是我們在天然氣業務中的首要任務之一。事實上，2024年我們重點關注了幾個關鍵風險。首先，我們安裝了 30,000 台 Intelis 電錶。這些是 Itron 製造的儀表。我們相信這些儀表確實可以改變安全現況。這些儀表重量更輕、體積更小、更精確，但最重要的是，它們可以防止過度加壓。

When you consider the catastrophic incidents that have occurred within the gas industry, over the past decade, if these meters had been installed, they hadn't been invented when those incidents happened, but had they been installed, many of these fires could have been prevented. Now, we'll install at least 60,000 more of these meters in 2025 as we ramp up this new potentially life-saving technology.

考慮到過去十年天然氣行業發生的災難性事件，如果安裝了這些儀表，那麼在發生這些事件時它們就不會被發明，但如果安裝了這些儀表，許多火災就可以被避免。現在，隨著我們逐步推廣這項可能挽救生命的新技術，我們將在 2025 年再安裝至少 60,000 個這樣的儀表。

We think about risk in the gas business particularly, we also think about underground storage wells. That's why we reconditioned some of our older wells and abandoned some others. Overall, the work we did on underground storage wells in 2024 reduced our risk scores by 50%, a significant accomplishment.

我們特別考慮天然氣業務的風險，我們也考慮地下儲井。這就是我們修復一些老井並廢棄一些井的原因。總體而言，我們在 2024 年對地下儲井所做的工作將我們的風險評分降低了 50%，這是一項重大成就。

As part of our capital plan in 2024, we replaced more than 370 miles of water and natural gas mains, which is key to the continued reduction in our carbon footprint. Our expectation remains that we will spend nearly $7.8 billion in capital over the next five years. So in preparation for that work, we continue to deepen our bench of talent by creating development opportunities for members of the team so we can continue the long-term consistency of results that has been our reputation.

作為我們 2024 年資本計畫的一部分，我們更換了超過 370 英里的水管和天然氣管道，這對於持續減少我們的碳足跡至關重要。我們預計未來五年我們將投入近 78 億美元的資本。因此，為了做好這項工作的準備，我們將繼續為團隊成員創造發展機會，以深化我們的人才隊伍建設，以便我們能夠保持長期穩定的業績，這也是我們的聲譽。

Now, we had our challenges in 2024 as well. In Pennsylvania alone, we were named receiver for 10 water and wastewater systems. These are systems that the former owners neglected and they were undercapitalized. We responded quickly when the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission asked us to operate these systems. We invested capital and made improvements.

現在，我們在 2024 年也面臨挑戰。僅在賓州，我們就被指定為 10 個供水和廢水系統的接收者。這些系統被前任所有者忽視，並且資金不足。當賓州公共事業委員會要求我們運作這些系統時，我們迅速做出了回應。我們投入了資金並做出了改進。

But I got to tell you that receiverships are not the best solution. We will be, in all of our states with the environmental agencies to push the improved enforcement. This deferral of investment and ultimate dilapidation did not occur overnight, and we'll use this example to encourage environmental agencies to enforce earlier which could provide us an opportunity to rescue these systems before they reach a critical stage.

但我必須告訴你，破產管理不是最好的解決方案。我們將與所有州的環境機構合作，推動執法工作的改進。這種投資的延遲和最終的破敗並不是一夜之間發生的，我們將以此為例鼓勵環境機構儘早執法，這可以為我們提供機會在這些系統達到危急階段之前拯救它們。

The other macro challenge that we face in the water industry is stock performance. Now, we're no exception, and I'll say that we were pleased to be the strongest performing water stock in 2024, but still disappointed in not seeing our successes reflected in our overall current valuation.

我們在水產業面臨的另一個宏觀挑戰是股票表現。現在，我們也不例外，我想說，我們很高興成為 2024 年表現最強勁的水務股，但仍然對我們的成功沒有反映在我們目前的整體估值中感到失望。

Now moving to 2025, I already mentioned the successful Pennsylvania rate case. It did receive final approval on February 6 by unanimous vote of the Public Utility Commissioners in Pennsylvania.

現在進入 2025 年，我已經提到了賓州成功的利率案例。2 月 6 日，該提案獲得了賓州公共事業委員會的一致批准。

We look forward, our theme this year is Leading Today, Shaping Tomorrow, which captures our dual focus. Solving today's issues with urgency or building a foundation for tomorrow through a focus on sustainable business practices.

我們展望未來，今年我們的主題是“引領今天，塑造明天”，這體現了我們的雙重關注。緊急解決當今的問題或透過專注於永續的商業實踐為明天奠定基礎。

Now to facilitate this work, a key theme in 2025 will be to focus on lean practices across our footprint and throughout our corporate functions. Operational excellence has always been a cornerstone of our company, and we're going to lean into that even further beginning this year. Some of the best performing utilities across the country have adopted lean practices, and we believe that Essential will benefit from this approach in the coming years.

現在，為了促進這項工作，2025 年的一個關鍵主題將是專注於我們業務範圍和整個公司職能部門的精實實踐。卓越營運一直是我們公司的基石，從今年開始我們將更加重視這一點。全國範圍內一些表現最好的公用事業公司已經採用了精益實踐，我們相信，Essential 將在未來幾年從這種方法中受益。

The last issue I'll mention is probably the hottest topic in the utility industry right now. Low growth generated by data centers. This creates a challenge and an opportunity. See, some investors see greater growth in the electric utility industry compared to the stability and more measured growth of water and natural gas.

我要提到的最後一個問題可能是目前公用事業行業最熱門的話題。資料中心產生的成長較低。這既是挑戰，也是機會。看看吧，一些投資者認為，與水和天然氣的穩定和更有節制的成長相比，電力公用事業行業的成長更大。

However, our company and investors are uniquely positioned to benefit from both growth and stability. Our investors have the stability and growth of the second largest investor-owned water utility in the United States. We're also benefiting from the potential low growth from data center construction within our natural gas service territory.

然而，我們的公司和投資者擁有獨特的優勢，能夠從成長和穩定中獲益。我們的投資者擁有美國第二大投資者所有的水務公司的穩定性和成長性。我們也受益於天然氣服務區域內資料中心建設的潛在低成長。

This is important. As of today, we're in discussions with data center developers that represent up to 5 gigawatts of needed power generation in the Pittsburgh region if the data centers are built. Well, all of that may not be built, and the exact financial implications for us aren't known, it is exciting to see the state of Pennsylvania is engaged in these opportunities, and we would welcome both the increased throughput and any capital improvements that would be associated with that growth because of the potential benefit to customers and the shareholders.

這很重要。截至今天，我們正在與資料中心開發商進行討論，他們表示，如果建造資料中心，匹茲堡地區將需要高達 5 千兆瓦的發電量。好吧，所有這些可能不會建成，而且對我們來說確切的財務影響也不清楚，但看到賓夕法尼亞州正在參與這些機會是令人興奮的，我們歡迎吞吐量的增加以及與這種增長相關的任何資本改進，因為這對客戶和股東都有潛在的好處。

So listen, we were really pleased to reinitiate long-term growth guidance in November with expected annual EPS growth of between 5% and 7% through 2027 off of the $1.97 non-GAAP base we earned in 2024. This does not include any potential earnings associated with the pending acquisition of DELCORA. Additionally, we'll spend between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion in capital in 2025. And will invest nearly $8 billion in infrastructure improvements over the next five years. That will lead to 8-plus percent annual rate-based growth before accounting for any acquisitions.

所以聽著，我們非常高興在 11 月重新啟動長期成長指導，預計到 2027 年，年每股收益成長率將在 5% 至 7% 之間，以 2024 年獲得的 1.97 美元非 GAAP 基數為基礎。這不包括與即將收購 DELCORA 相關的任何潛在收益。此外，我們將在 2025 年投入 14 億美元至 15 億美元的資本。並將在未來五年內投資近80億美元用於基礎建設改善。在不考慮任何收購的情況下，這將帶來 8% 以上的年增長率。

All right. With that, let me pass it to Dan to get into the financials from 2024.

好的。有了這些，讓我把它交給丹，讓他從 2024 年開始研究財務狀況。

Thanks, Chris, and good morning again, everyone. This first slide, let's talk high level on full year 2024, and then we'll get into the details on the waterfalls. During the year, we had exceptional execution on two large rate cases, Pennsylvania Gas and Pennsylvania Water, which actually just concluded earlier this month, and we reached a great outcome with the sale of our non-core Pittsburgh area energy projects which allowed us to reduce our financing needs in 2024.

謝謝，克里斯，大家早安。第一張投影片，我們先來談談 2024 年全年的概況，然後我們再詳細介紹瀑布。在這一年中，我們在兩個大型利率案件——賓州天然氣公司和賓州水務公司——上表現出色，這兩個案件實際上剛剛在本月初結束，而且我們在出售非核心匹茲堡地區能源項目方面也取得了很好的結果，這使我們能夠減少 2024 年的融資需求。

We continue to see the merits of our long-term strategy of providing outstanding service to our customers, investing in needed capital improvements, managing our day-to-day O&M expenses, and maintaining our disciplined regulatory practices to deliver long term shareholder value.

我們繼續看到我們的長期策略的優點，即為客戶提供卓越的服務、投資於必要的資本改進、管理我們的日常運營和維護費用以及保持我們嚴謹的監管實踐，以實現長期股東價值。

Operating revenues were up due to rates and surcharges and increased water volume. This was offset by the decline in natural gas commodity prices year over year, which positively impacted our customers' bills and due to weather, which was warmer than normal for the gas business as compared to the prior year.

由於費率和附加費以及水量增加，營業收入增加。但這一增長被天然氣商品價格年減所抵消，這對我們客戶的帳單產生了積極影響，而且天氣也比前一年溫暖，這對天然氣業務來說更為有利。

Importantly, as a reminder, we now have the weather normalization mechanism that provides customers better certainty and alleviates the volatility associated with extreme weather. While we continue our focus on managing O&M expenses, the full year O&M shows only a slight increase, reflecting our long-term focus on operating efficiently and the sale of our West Virginia and energy project assets.

重要的是，提醒一下，我們現在有了天氣正常化機制，可以為客戶提供更好的確定性，並減輕極端天氣帶來的波動。雖然我們繼續專注於管理營運和維護費用，但全年營運和維護費用僅略有增長，這反映了我們長期專注於高效營運以及西維吉尼亞州和能源項目資產的出售。

As Chris mentioned, on a GAAP basis, we achieved EPS of $2.17 for the year, which is up from $1.86 in 2023. These results include the gain on sale, plus the impact of warmer than normal weather in the first half of 2024 for the gas business, and drier than normal weather in the mid-Atlantic and Ohio for the second half. If you adjust for these factors, you'd be squarely in the 2024 guidance range of $1.96 to $2.

正如克里斯所提到的，以 GAAP 計算，我們今年的每股收益為 2.17 美元，高於 2023 年的 1.86 美元。這些結果包括銷售收益，加上 2024 年上半年天然氣業務受比正常溫暖天氣的影響，以及下半年中大西洋地區和俄亥俄州受比正常乾燥天氣的影響。如果根據這些因素進行調整，那麼您將正好處於 2024 年指導範圍 1.96 美元至 2 美元之間。

Next, let's walk through the full year waterfalls. At slide 11, we have the revenue waterfall for the year. Moving left to right, we have rate increases and surcharges of nearly $83 million, with about $51 million of that coming from water and $32 million from gas.

接下來我們一起來逛逛全年瀑佈吧。在第 11 張投影片中，我們展示了今年的收入瀑布圖。從左到右，費率上漲和附加費接近 8,300 萬美元，其中約 5,100 萬美元來自水費，3,200 萬美元來自天然氣費。

Increases in water volume of 11.6 million and then other, which is mainly the weather normalization adjustment and the gas customer assistance program rider offset by the loss of revenue from both the West Virginia utility assets and the energy projects of $8.4 million plus acquisitions and organic growth in the water business of $8.2 million. Offset by lower gas consumption, as well as the impact of the lower purchase gas costs of approximately $75 million.

水量增加 1,160 萬美元，然後是其他，主要是天氣正常化調整和天然氣客戶援助計劃附加條款，但被西弗吉尼亞公用事業資產和能源項目的收入損失 840 萬美元加上收購和水務業務的有機增長 820 萬美元所抵消。被較低的天然氣消耗量以及約 7500 萬美元的購買天然氣成本較低所抵消。

As a reminder, we experienced dry -- warm weather over the summer and into the fall in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio, which led to increased water usage.

提醒一下，賓州、新澤西州和俄亥俄州在夏季和秋季經歷了乾燥溫暖的天氣，這導致用水量增加。

Let's talk about the natural gas business for a moment. Through June, each of the months of 2024 was warmer than normal, and this had a significant impact on our financial results. This is exactly why we asked for the weather normalization adjustment in our people's rate case. Now we've already seen the benefit of weather norm, both for the company in the fourth quarter and for customers in early 2025.

讓我們來談談天然氣業務。截至 6 月，2024 年的每個月都比正常溫度高，這對我們的財務表現產生了重大影響。這正是我們要求在人員費率案例中進行天氣正常化調整的原因。現在我們已經看到了天氣常態帶來的好處，無論是對第四季的公司，還是對 2025 年初的客戶。

Next, let's look at the O&M on slide 12. ONM increased just 2% or under $12 million year over year in 2024. Increase included additional costs from the gas segment Universal Services rider, which is recoverable through a revenue surcharge, as well as employee-related expenses, increased water production costs, so mainly purchased wastewater, power, and purchased water offset by lower chemicals, and expenses related to serving acquired water and wastewater systems.

接下來我們來看看第 12 張投影片上的 O&M。2024 年 ONM 年比僅成長 2% 或不到 1,200 萬美元。增加的部分包括來自天然氣部門通用服務附加條款的額外成本（可透過收入附加費收回），以及與員工相關的費用、增加的水生產成本（因此主要是購買廢水、電力和購買的水，但化學品成本較低）以及與服務收購的水和廢水系統相關的費用。

Those increases were offset by lower bad debt costs and lower expenses due mainly to the sale of the West Virginia utility assets and the energy projects. So overall, a good story on O&M consistent with our long term efforts.

這些成長被壞帳成本的降低和費用的降低所抵消，這主要歸因於西維吉尼亞州公用事業資產和能源項目的出售。總體而言，O&M 方面取得了不錯的成績，這與我們的長期努力一致。

Next, let's look at the EPS waterfall on slide 13. So the left side of the waterfall with GAAP earnings per share of $1.06 from last year, the next thing we see is the nearly $0.22 increase from regulatory recoveries. $0.05 from other, which includes the approximately $0.25 gain on sale of assets and related transaction activities, plus weather normalization adjustment revenue offset by increased depreciation, interest and taxes other than income, as well as lower income tax benefits.

接下來，我們來看看投影片 13 上的 EPS 瀑布圖。因此，瀑布左側的 GAAP 每股收益為去年的 1.06 美元，接下來我們看到的是監管恢復帶來的近 0.22 美元的成長。其他部分為 0.05 美元，其中包括出售資產和相關交易活動獲得的約 0.25 美元收益，加上天氣正常化調整收入，但折舊、利息和除收入以外的稅金增加以及所得稅優惠減少抵消了這一影響。

Then we see the $0.03 gain from water volume and nearly $1.50 gained from water gross, which were then offset slightly by higher expenses and lower gas volumes. That gets us to the $2.17 of GAAP EPS for 2024.

然後，我們看到水量增加了 0.03 美元，水總額增加了近 1.50 美元，但這些收益被更高的費用和更低的天然氣量稍微抵消了。這樣，2024 年的 GAAP EPS 就達到了 2.17 美元。

We thought it was important to clarify that the $2.17 includes $0.25 of gain on sale of assets, which includes the energy project and a true up for post-acquisition activities on the previously closed West Virginia gas utility assets. And then if we normalize the weather impact of $0.05 of EPS for the year, we get to $1.97 of adjusted earnings per share, which is a non-GAAP measure.

我們認為有必要澄清的是，2.17 美元包括 0.25 美元的資產出售收益，其中包括能源項目和先前關閉的西維吉尼亞州天然氣公用事業資產的收購後活動的實際收益。然後，如果我們將全年每股收益 0.05 美元的天氣影響標準化，我們將獲得每股 1.97 美元的調整後收益，這是非 GAAP 指標。

And that $1.97 dollars is our weather normalized results without the asset sale impact. That $1.97 dollars is nicely in the original $1.96 to $2 guidance range for the year, and above the current full year 2024 consensus of $1.95.

這 1.97 美元是我們根據天氣狀況標準化的結果，不包括資產出售的影響。1.97 美元恰好處於最初 1.96 美元至 2 美元的年度指導範圍內，並且高於目前 2024 年全年預期的 1.95 美元。

Notably, the $0.05 weather impact incorporates both the positive impact of the dry summer and fall on our water segment sales and the larger unfavorable weather impact you may recall from the first half on our gas segment.

值得注意的是，0.05 美元的天氣影響既包括乾燥的夏季和秋季對我們水務部門銷售的積極影響，也包括您可能還記得上半年對我們的天然氣部門造成的更大的不利天氣影響。

As you may be aware, we're currently experiencing drought conditions in the mid-Atlantic that we've not seen in about 20 years. Given our water supplies and the resiliency of our systems, this is not having much of an effect on us now, but we'll keep you posted as the year progresses.

您可能知道，目前大西洋中部地區正遭遇約 20 年來未曾見過的乾旱。考慮到我們的供水和系統的彈性，這對我們目前沒有太大影響，但我們會在今年內隨時向您通報最新情況。

Next, let's move to the slide on rate activity. This slide highlights our regulatory activity during the past year and into 2025. We continue to manage our regulatory activity to maintain safe and reliable service, earn a fair return on capital that we invest, and minimize regulatory lag while always considering affordability for our customers.

接下來，讓我們來看看有關利率活動的幻燈片。這張投影片重點介紹了我們過去一年和 2025 年的監管活動。我們將繼續管理我們的監管活動，以維護安全可靠的服務，獲得公平的投資回報，並盡量減少監管滯後，同時始終考慮客戶的承受能力。

As you can see on the slide, 2024 was a significant year for regulatory activity. We completed rate cases or surcharges in many of the water states to raise annualized revenue by nearly $54 million. This included the late 2024 settlement in Illinois. And as we previously discussed, in September, we completed the first rate case since the merger at People's Gas, which included a $93 million revenue increase and the weather norm adjustment we mentioned earlier.

正如您在幻燈片上看到的，2024 年是監管活動的重要一年。我們在許多水州完成了費率案件或附加費，將年收入提高了近 5,400 萬美元。其中包括 2024 年底在伊利諾州達成的和解。正如我們之前討論過的，9 月份，我們完成了人民燃氣公司合併以來的第一個優質案例，其中包括 9300 萬美元的收入增長和我們之前提到的天氣規範調整。

In total, we had annualized rate or surcharge increases of about $148 million in 2024, which I believe is the most significant year on record.

總體而言，2024 年我們的年費率或附加費增加了約 1.48 億美元，我認為這是有史以​​來增長幅度最大的一年。

Earlier this month, the PA PUC voted 5-0 to approve the settlement previously announced for the Aqua, Pennsylvania rate case, increasing revenues by $73 million on an annualized basis. In total so far in 2025, we've received rate cases or surcharges to increase annualized revenues by $86.5 million in the water business.

本月早些時候，賓州公共事業委員會以 5-0 的投票結果批准了先前宣布的針對賓州 Aqua 市電價案的和解方案，按年率計算，公共事業委員會的收入將增加 7,300 萬美元。到 2025 年為止，我們總共收到了費率案例或附加費，這將使水務業務的年收入增加 8,650 萬美元。

Additionally, we have pending rate cases or surcharges totaling approximately $16 million across the company. Today, with the majority of that being an ongoing rate case in our Kentucky gas business. And later in 2025, we expect to file rate cases in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. And as a reminder, we expect to file a people's rate case early next year. And with that, I'll turn it back to Chris.

此外，我們公司還有未決的費率案件或附加費，總額約為 1,600 萬美元。今天，其中大部分是我們肯塔基州天然氣業務中正在進行的利率案例。2025 年下半年，我們預計將在德州、北卡羅來納州、俄亥俄州和維吉尼亞州提起費率訴訟。提醒一下，我們預計明年初提起人民費率訴訟。說完這些，我就把話題轉回給克里斯。

All right, thanks, Dan. Let's touch briefly on our acquisition program. I want to point out the recently closed Greenville wastewater acquisition in Pennsylvania. This is the first municipal acquisition we've closed since the PA PUC C-motion was published. It's a pretty important milestone for us. As of this call, we have six signed asset purchase agreements in three states in which we already have existing operations.

好的，謝謝，丹。讓我們簡單談談我們的收購計劃。我想指出賓州最近關閉的格林維爾廢水收購案。這是自 PA PUC C-motion 發布以來我們完成的第一次市政收購。這對我們來說是一個非常重要的里程碑。截至本次電話會議，我們已在三個已開展業務的州簽署了六項資產購買協議。

These acquisitions will add over 210,000 customer equivalents and total approximately $344 million in purchase price. I should note that nearly 70 million of that rate base are deals other than DELCORA.

此次收購將增加超過 21 萬個客戶，總收購價約 3.44 億美元。我應該指出，該利率基數中近 7,000 萬是 DELCORA 以外的交易。

Now, we continue to see a strong and healthy pipeline of opportunities for additional growth, and we currently have activities, and engaged discussions with municipalities that have over 400,000 potential water and wastewater customers.

現在，我們繼續看到強勁而健康的額外成長機會，我們目前正在進行活動，並與擁有超過 40 萬名潛在供水和廢水處理客戶的市政當局進行討論。

At our Board meeting just this past week, we spoke about several potential transactions where we have submitted bids and well, we don't know that we'll get all those deals, we are seeing increased levels of activity.

就在上週的董事會會議上，我們談到了幾項潛在的交易，我們已經提交了投標，我們不知道我們是否會達成所有這些交易，但我們看到活動水平有所提高。

Lastly, and in closing, we were pleased to share our new multi-year financial guidance and growth guidance back in November. This guidance provides a clear line of sight to the opportunities in front of the company. In 2025, we expect earnings per share to be between $2.07 and $2.11. Importantly, now that we have a weather normalization mechanism in place, the volatility of earnings associated with unusual weather should be dramatically reduced.

最後，我們很高興在 11 月分享了我們新的多年財務指導和成長指導。該指導為公司面臨的機會提供了清晰的視角。2025 年，我們預計每股收益將在 2.07 美元至 2.11 美元之間。重要的是，既然我們已經建立了天氣正常化機制，與異常天氣相關的收益波動應該會大幅降低。

For the three year period through 2027, we're guiding to a compounded annual growth of EPS at a rate of 5% to 7%, and this does not include DELCORA and is based off of the $1.97 non-GAAP 2024 EPS that Dan referenced.

截至 2027 年的三年期間，我們預計 EPS 的複合年增長率為 5% 至 7%，這不包括 DELCORA，而是基於 Dan 提到的 1.97 美元非 GAAP 2024 年 EPS。

As we look to the next five years through 2029, we plan to make regulated infrastructure investments of about $7.8 billion. And notably does not include unsigned acquisitions or associated follow-on capital from those acquisitions.

展望未來五年（到 2029 年），我們計劃進行約 78 億美元的受監管基礎設施投資。值得注意的是，這不包括未簽署的收購或這些收購相關的後續資本。

We expect our 2025 capital expenditures on infrastructure to be approximately $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. And through 2029, we anticipate that the regulated water segment rate base will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 6%. This projection only includes the acquisitions listed on the previous slide, which are scheduled to close in 2025 and in 2026, and again, excludes DELCORA. This projection does include the crucial work that we are doing to remediate PFAS across the systems we currently own and operate.

我們預計 2025 年基礎設施資本支出約為 14 億至 15 億美元。到 2029 年，我們預計受監管水務部門費率基數將以約 6% 的複合年增長率成長。該預測僅包括上一張投影片中列出的收購，這些收購計劃於 2025 年和 2026 年完成，並且同樣不包括 DELCORA。該預測確實包括了我們在目前擁有和運營的系統中為修復 PFAS 所做的關鍵工作。

Now, for our regulated natural gas segment, we expect the rate-based growth at compound annual growth rate of approximately 11% through 2029. We plan to continue replacing aging natural gas pipes well past the next decade.

現在，對於我們受監管的天然氣部門，我們預計到 2029 年基於利率的複合年增長率約為 11%。我們計劃在未來十年繼續更換老化的天然氣管道。

On a combined basis, water and gas, we project rate-based growth at a compounded annual growth rate of over 8% through 2029. This growth will be driven by our ongoing investments in infrastructure and our commitment to operational excellence.

綜合來看，我們預計到 2029 年，水和天然氣的年複合成長率將超過 8%。這一成長將由我們對基礎設施的持續投資和對卓越營運的承諾所推動。

I'd expect that when we look back on these five years, we will have done even more given the acquisition pipeline that is not factored into our rate-based growth projections. We believe that the rate base and earnings growth we've described could be accomplished while we keep customer rates at affordable levels.

我希望，當我們回顧這五年時，考慮到未計入我們基於利率的成長預測的收購管道，我們將做得更多。我們相信，在將客戶費率保持在可承受水準的同時，我們所描述的費率基礎和收益成長是可以實現的。

We anticipate that our water customer base will grow at an average annual growth rate of between 2% and 3% over the long term, largely because of the continued consolidation opportunity in water and wastewater and the strong organic customer growth, especially in Texas and North Carolina.

我們預計，從長遠來看，我們的水務客戶群將以每年 2% 至 3% 的平均成長率成長，這主要是因為水和廢水處理領域的持續整合機會以及強勁的有機客戶成長，尤其是在德州和北卡羅來納州。

To support our growth and meet our credit metrics, we plan to raise equity via our multi-year ATM program through 2027. Specifically, in 2025, we expect to issue approximately $315 million in equity through the ATM. And that's after raising about $36 million previously that we guided to in 2024.

為了支持我們的成長並滿足我們的信用指標，我們計劃透過我們的多年 ATM 計劃在 2027 年之前籌集股權。具體來說，到 2025 年，我們預計將透過 ATM 發行約 3.15 億美元的股權。此前，我們曾籌集約 3,600 萬美元，預計 2024 年能實現這一目標。

We believe that $315 million will satisfy our capital needs, fund our growth initiatives, and maintain a strong balance sheet for our credit profile. Now, that concludes our formal remarks for the day, and we look forward to answering any of your questions. Operator, if you'll please open the line for any questions.

我們相信 3.15 億美元將滿足我們的資本需求，資助我們的成長計劃，並為我們的信用狀況維持強勁的資產負債表。今天的正式發言到此結束，我們期待回答大家的任何問題。接線員，如果您有任何問題請隨時撥打電話。

Julien Dumoulin-Smith, Jefferies.

朱利安·杜穆林·史密斯（Julien Dumoulin-Smith），傑富瑞集團（Jefferies）。

This is [Spark Owen] for Julian. First off, congrats on closing your first fair market value acquisition in Pennsylvania. With M&A activity picking up, how do you think about the cadence of your $1 billion long term equity plan? Is it still closely tied to wrapping up DELCORA, or there are some new factors now driving it?

我是 [Spark Owen]，為 Julian 服務。首先，恭喜您在賓州完成了第一筆公平市場價值收購。隨著併購活動的升溫，您如何看待 10 億美元長期股權計畫的節奏？它是否仍然與完成 DELCORA 密切相關，或者現在有一些新的因素推動它？

Yeah, it's a good question, Paul. I mean, as we indicated on this call is very consistent with what we said in the last call, which the last call we said $350 million between 2024 and 2025. We raised about $36 million in 2024, so that that leaves us with that $315 million that Chris mentioned. So, that obviously is for 2024, so 2025 I should say so.

是的，這是個好問題，保羅。我的意思是，正如我們在這次電話會議上所指出的，這與我們在上次電話會議上所說的非常一致，上次電話會議上我們說在 2024 年至 2025 年期間投資 3.5 億美元。我們在 2024 年籌集了大約 3,600 萬美元，所以我們還剩下 Chris 提到的 3.15 億美元。所以，這顯然是針對 2024 年的，所以我應該說是 2025 年。

At this point we DELCORA is not expected to close this year and as we've told you, we've taken it out of our five-year plan, we certainly are committed to it and we believe it will close, but when we think about the program that we have and said that the $1 billion program would likely last us something like three years, but if we have an accelerated acquisition program and DELCORA comes into that, then we could exhaust that $1 billion program inside of that three years that we mentioned.

目前，我們預計 DELCORA 不會在今年關閉，正如我們告訴您的那樣，我們已將其從五年計劃中剔除，我們當然致力於此，我們相信它會關閉，但是當我們考慮我們現有的計劃並說 10 億美元的計劃可能會持續三年左右，但如果我們有一個加速收購計劃並且 DELCORA 參與其中，那麼我們可能會在我們提到的三年內。

It wasn't set in stone when we said it initially, so you have some flexibility there depending on how the acquisition program develops. And as you know if the acquisition program accelerates, that'll be a good problem to have.

當我們最初這麼說的時候，它並不是一成不變的，所以你可以根據收購計畫的發展有一定的彈性。而且如你所知，如果收購計劃加速，那將是一個好問題。

Got it. Appreciate the call there. I will jump back to the queue.

知道了。感謝您的來電。我將重新回到隊列。

Thanks, Paul. Take care.

謝謝，保羅。小心。

Ryan Connors, North Coast Research.

康納斯（Ryan Connors），北海岸研究公司。

Hey, good morning. Yeah, thanks and welcome back to the to the water space there, Ed. Good to see that. I wanted to ask update, Chris, you kind of gave a little bit of color on the OCA, Consumer Advocate situation in Pennsylvania. I wonder if you can expand on that just in terms of what kind of timeline are we looking at to a permanent nomination?

嘿，早安。是的，謝謝，歡迎回到那裡的水域，艾德。很高興看到這一點。克里斯，我想問最新情況，你對賓州 OCA 消費者權益保護組織的情況做了一些介紹。我想知道您是否可以詳細說明一下我們對永久提名的時間表是怎樣的？

I know we've got a sort of an acting or an interim person there. Do they have the same powers legally that the permanent person does, or are there other things that they can and cannot do in terms of, on East Whiteland, for example, I know that's a kind of a pending matter out there. So just kind of looking for some color on when we get a permanent nomination in your view and what happens in the meantime, that we're kind of limbo here.

我知道我們有一個代理人員或臨時人員在那裡。他們在法律上是否擁有與永久居民相同的權力，或者他們在東懷特蘭等地可以做或不可以做的其他事情，我知道這是一個懸而未決的問題。所以，您認為，我們只是想了解我們何時獲得永久提名，以及在此期間會發生什麼，我們現在處於不確定的狀態。

Yeah, good question, Ryan, and really important question for the utility space in Pennsylvania. Tanya McCloskey, who was a terrific consumer advocate was never confirmed by the Senate. She sat in that seat for many years, not being confirmed. So yeah, the power of the consumer advocate even on an acting basis is still very strong and I think largely the same power as a fully approved.

是的，瑞安，這個問題問得很好，而且對於賓州的公用事業領域來說，這是一個非常重要的問題。塔妮亞·麥克洛斯基 (Tanya McCloskey) 是一位出色的消費者權益倡導者，但她的任命從未得到參議院的批准。她在這個席位上坐了很多年，但都沒有得到認可。所以，是的，消費者權益保護者的力量，即使是代理的，仍然非常強大，我認為，其力量與完全批准的力量大致相同。

So listen, the acting consumer advocate Darryl, terrific guy, been there 25 years. We've worked with him for many years, so we enjoy a relationship much like we did with Tanya and Tanya's predecessor before that Sonny Popowsky.

所以聽著，代理消費者權益倡導者達裡爾，他是個很棒的人，已經在那裡工作了 25 年。我們與他合作多年，因此我們的關係很像我們與 Tanya 以及​​ Tanya 的前任 Sonny Popowsky 的關係。

The timeline is sort of undetermined. I think the Attorney General has a lot of things to set up in the space of Attorney General and then to look at this sort of niche regulatory aspect of his role, I think he's going to take his time and that's what he's indicated and make up his mind. I know he's doing interviews over the next couple of weeks and we'll see what he comes up with in terms of his ultimate pick for a consumer advocate, but obviously we're watching it very closely.

時間表有點不確定。我認為司法部長在司法部長的職位上有很多事情需要安排，然後再考慮他職責中這種利基監管方面的問題，我認為他會花時間考慮，這就是他所表明的，他會做出決定。我知道他將在接下來的幾週內接受採訪，我們將看看他最終會選擇哪位消費者權益倡導者，但顯然我們正在密切關注。

Yeah, and then as a follow on to that, I mean you talked about this sort of potential re-acceleration of firm market value transactions in Pennsylvania now that the C-motion is complete and the consumer advocate change at least to the interim has been made. I mean, is that something where if you're a buyer or even a seller, are people still going to kind of wait around and see who that permanent person is or do you think that could kind of open up right away?

是的，然後作為後續，我的意思是，您談到了賓州公司市場價值交易可能重新加速的情況，因為現在 C-motion 已經完成，並且至少在過渡期內消費者權益保護已經發生了變化。我的意思是，如果你是買家甚至是賣家，人們是否還會等著看誰是永久買家，還是你認為這種情況會立即出現？

Well, listen, I hate to read signals, so I think probably if you're a seller, you may say, okay, let's see what the first one through is. Now Greenville's through already and so that was very positive and, I felt like that was handled well.

好吧，聽著，我不喜歡閱讀訊號，所以我想如果你是一個賣家，你可能會說，好吧，讓我們看看第一個是什麼。現在格林維爾已經通過了，這是非常積極的，我覺得處理得很好。

So listen, I think these transactions have greater certainty since the C-motion was passed, and I think they have even notched up in certainty with the change of the OCA. Listen to -- there's plenty of opportunity to between utilities and the various advocates to argue over issues.

所以聽著，我認為自從 C-motion 通過以來，這些交易具有更大的確定性，而且我認為隨著 OCA 的變化，它們的確定性甚至有所提高。聽著—公用事業公司和各種倡導者之間有很多機會爭論問題。

But I think what we need to guard against is an overly litigious atmosphere. I think that's what we had. I think we're moving away from that fortunately into something where compromise is more part of the solution. I think that's where the consumers are best served.

但我認為我們需要警惕的是過度訴訟的氛圍。我想這就是我們所擁有的。我認為，幸運的是，我們正在擺脫這種局面，轉而採取一種妥協作為解決方案的更多方法。我認為這是為消費者提供最佳服務的地方。

Yeah, and then one more if I could just sneak in, the data center comments you made, very exciting there and but I wonder if you could just explain kind of the fundamental nature of those deals. We've done a little bit of reading on that, and my understanding was it was more I guess with these so called behind the meter deals which are with more upstream from an LDC. So you just kind of give us some general characterization of of what those look like for a company like People's.

是的，如果我可以偷偷地問一句，您對資料中心的評論非常令人興奮，但我想知道您是否可以解釋一下這些交易的基本性質。我們對此進行了一些閱讀，我的理解是，我猜這更多的是所謂的“電錶後交易”，這些交易更多地來自 LDC 的上游。所以您只是給我們一些關於像 People's 這樣的公司的整體特徵。

Yeah, and Ryan, I think you probably would think about this like we would and this could take many shapes and forms and so it's hard to know. But listen, I think if we just got the throughput, increased use of natural gas, that's a help to our customers, right? It keeps rates down. So that's great.

是的，瑞安，我想你可能會像我們一樣考慮這個問題，這個問題可能會有多種形狀和形式，所以很難知道。但是聽著，我認為如果我們只是提高了吞吐量，增加了天然氣的使用量，這對我們的客戶有幫助，對嗎？它使利率保持在低位。這太棒了。

If there was an opportunity for us to do something where we would build some extension of lines, a capital project that could facilitate obviously that builds rate base, and then finally, if we were to look at opportunities like we did at the airport and some hospitals out there to build some kind of on-site generation. And that would be, largely in the non-regulator or unregulated space.

如果我們有機會做某件事，我們會建造一些線路延伸，這是一個顯然可以促進建立費率基礎的資本項目，最後，如果我們能尋找機會，就像我們在機場和一些醫院所做的​​那樣，建立某種現場發電設施。這主要發生在非監管或不受監管的領域。

So, it could be a lot of different forms and I think what we look at here and, I think about, generally in the electric industry is these developers, if you will, are talking to multiple cities at the same time, so it's hard to know if there's a lot of double counting going out there, but we think, just given the the volume of the interest in Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania where we are, that it's a really interesting opportunity potentially for us and just sort of undefined at this point.

所以，它可能有很多不同的形式，我認為我們在這裡看到的，以及我認為，在電力行業中，這些開發商通常會同時與多個城市進行談判，所以很難知道是否存在大量重複計算，但我們認為，考慮到我們所在的賓夕法尼亞州、賓夕法尼亞州西部地區的興趣量，這對我們來說是一個非常有趣的機會，只是目前還不確定。

Great. Well, hey, thanks for your time.

偉大的。嗯，嘿，謝謝你抽出時間。

You bet.

當然。

Durgesh Chopra, Evercore ISI.

Durgesh Chopra，Evercore ISI。

Hey, Durgesh. Good morning, Durgesh

嘿，杜爾格甚。早安，杜爾格甚

Hey, good morning, Chris and Dan. Congrats to Brian, and then also congrats on getting Ed on board the team. Double congratulations. Okay. Absolutely.

嘿，早上好，克里斯和丹。恭喜 Brian，同時也恭喜 Ed 加入團隊。雙倍祝賀。好的。絕對地。

Just one question from me. On this PFAS stuff actually two part question. First, are you seeing any, with all the noise coming from DC, any change in your strategy, any change in your capital plans on this investment? I believe you said $450 million is in the plan. Just wondering if any of that is at risk. So that's part one of the question.

我只想問一個問題。關於 PFAS 的問題其實分為兩部分。首先，鑑於來自華盛頓特區的各種噪音，您是否認為您的策略有任何變化，這項投資的資本計劃有任何變化？我相信您說過計劃中有 4.5 億美元。我只是想知道其中是否有風險。這是問題的第一部分。

Part two, Chris, I think you mentioned some the patented technology that might be earnings accretive, maybe just a little bit more color on that. What are you thinking there? Thank you.

第二部分，克里斯，我想你提到了一些可能增加收益的專利技術，也許可以對此進行更詳細的說明。你在想什麼？謝謝。

Yeah. Well, let me take PFAS first because I just came back from Washington, spoke on a panel as did Colleen Arnold, our segment President for water on this issue of PFAS, and I think what regulators, is this was largely PUC Commissioners from all over the country. And what they really wanted to know is how we were seeing what we were hearing from the federal government on PFAS.

是的。好吧，讓我先談談 PFAS，因為我剛從華盛頓回來，在一個小組討論中發言，我們的水務部門總裁科琳·阿諾德也談到了 PFAS 問題，我認為監管機構主要是來自全國各地的 PUC 委員。他們真正想知道的是，我們如何看待聯邦政府關於 PFAS 的言論。

And so. Listen, the way we think about it today is it's a health MCL, right? And so at four parts per trillion, we don't see a rollout. We're not hearing about a rollback in that MCL. Might there be some easing of the time to comply? Maybe we haven't actually even seen that yet.

所以。聽著，我們今天認為它是一種健康的 MCL，對嗎？因此，在萬億分之四的情況下，我們看不到推出。我們沒有聽說有關 MCL 撤銷的消息。是否能放寬一些遵守規定所需的時間？也許我們實際上還沒有看到這一點。

So I think I've mentioned on the calls before, but just let me remind you that we met with the Chief Environmental Regulator and the Chief Economic Regulator, the PUC in each state where we're putting these units in and what they've told us is full speed ahead. And so, number one, we don't anticipate any slowdown in our installation. Number two, we don't expect any challenges in the recovery of or on those investments.

我想我之前在電話中提到過，但請允許我提醒您，我們會見了首席環境監管員和首席經濟監管員，以及我們在每個州設立這些單位的公共事業委員會 (PUC)，他們告訴我們事情會全速推進。因此，首先，我們預計安裝速度不會有任何放緩。第二，我們預期這些投資的恢復不會遇到任何挑戰。

But I'll remind you, we continue to focus on the lawsuits. We still think we're going to get about a little over $100 million for the -- to offset some of our capital costs, and we're very aggressive. In fact, we received a number of compliments from Public Utility commissioners in Washington this week for our aggressive nature on getting state and federal funds to offset the cost of the PFAS mitigation.

但我要提醒你，我們將繼續關注訴訟。我們仍然認為我們將獲得約 1 億美元以上的資金來抵消我們的部分資本成本，而且我們非常積極。事實上，本週我們收到了華盛頓公共事業委員會的許多讚揚，他們稱讚我們積極爭取州和聯邦資金來抵消 PFAS 緩解成本。

And really proud of the patent pending solution we're putting out there. What Colleen's team continues to do is drive down the per unit cost of these. So while we're still guiding to about $450 million spend. The hope is between the proceeds from the lawsuits, the proceeds from, any loan funds or grants and the driving down of the overall cost that we can come in less than that. But, at this point what we're comfortable with those estimations.

我們對正在申請專利的解決方案感到非常自豪。科琳的團隊正在繼續努力降低這些產品的單位成本。因此，我們仍預計支出約為 4.5 億美元。我們希望透過訴訟所得、任何貸款資金或贈款的收益以及降低整體成本來實現這一目標。但是，目前我們對這些估計感到滿意。

Yeah, I guess I just add that this patent pending approach we have, it's really a modular approach that we can implement in small systems. These are cost effective both to install and then to maintain as you think about changing the media in the future.

是的，我想我只是補充一下，我們正在申請專利的這種方法實際上是一種可以在小型系統中實施的模組化方法。當您考慮將來更換媒體時，這些安裝和維護都是具有成本效益的。

So, initially what we're doing here is we're rolling these out across all of our small systems, so basically accounts for all of those systems that we have in North Carolina they're kind of in the right size and our systems in Virginia and Pennsylvania as well.

因此，我們最初要做的就是將這些技術推廣到我們所有的小型系統中，基本上涵蓋了我們在北卡羅來納州的所有系統（它們的規模合適），以及我們在維吉尼亞州和賓夕法尼亞州的系統。

And then as Chris noted on the call, we're talking to other utilities about these if it's something they're interested in, and we certainly like to have those discussions. We do think that these systems could be helpful in a lot of applications and so that could become a revenue generator for us, but happy to have conversations about the technology that we've developed and Kelly and her team have really spent a lot of time perfecting.

正如克里斯在電話中指出的那樣，如果其他公用事業公司對此感興趣，我們會與他們討論這些問題，我們當然很樂意進行這些討論。我們確實認為這些系統可以在許多應用中發揮作用，從而成為我們的收入來源，但很高興就我們開發的技術進行討論，凱利和她的團隊確實花了很多時間來完善它。

Awesome. Okay, that's all I have. Thank you.

驚人的。好的，這就是我所知道的全部。謝謝。

Travis Miller, Morningstar.

崔維斯·米勒，晨星。

Hello, everyone and thank you there.

大家好，謝謝大家。

Yeah, good morning, Travis.

是的，早安，崔維斯。

You nearly answered my PFAA question, so I'll ask this and see just clarification wise. That $450 million does that include, so would you deduct then in terms of your cash outlay, the $100 million lawsuits and any grants, or is it $450-plus million the $100 million lawsuits and other grants in terms of total cost? Does that make sense?

您幾乎回答了我關於 PFAA 的問題，所以我會問這個問題並尋求澄清。這 4.5 億美元包含什麼？那麼，就您的現金支出而言，您會扣除 1 億美元的訴訟費和任何補助金嗎？還是說，就總成本而言，這 4.5 億美元以上包括 1 億美元的訴訟費和其他補助金？這樣有道理嗎？

Yeah, no, that does make sense. So we started the $450 million as being net of the proceeds that we received from the lawsuits and low-income loans and grants that we're getting and really I should say grants because if it's a loan, we obviously still get the rate basis instead of proportion that is supported by lower cost debt.

是的，不，這確實有道理。因此，我們開始計算 4.5 億美元，這些資金是我們從訴訟和低收入貸款以及補助金中獲得的收益的淨額，實際上我應該說是補助金，因為如果這是一筆貸款，我們顯然仍然可以獲得利率基礎，而不是由低成本債務支持的比例。

So think of that as the net investment that we'll make and of course, we're doing everything we can to help moderate the impact for our customers. So if we can get more in terms of lower cost financing or grants, we'll do that in order to help our customer affordability.

因此，請將其視為我們將進行的淨投資，當然，我們正在盡一切努力幫助減輕對客戶的影響。因此，如果我們能夠獲得更多低成本融資或補助，我們就會這樣做，以幫助我們的客戶提高負擔能力。

Travis, I would think about this too as we continue to test our systems, we find new wells that need to be treated and so it's a little bit of a moving target over a period of years. We're trying to drive costs down and get loans and grants the same time, the number of systems tends to trend up, and so that's why we're pretty confident in guiding to that $450 million.

崔維斯，我也會考慮這個問題，因為我們會繼續測試我們的系統，我們會發現需要處理的新井，所以在幾年的時間內這是一個不斷變化的目標。我們正在努力降低成本，同時獲得貸款和補助，系統數量趨於上升，這就是為什麼我們對達到 4.5 億美元目標非常有信心。

Okay, so that's a true kind of rate-based, incremental rate-based type of number.

好的，這是一個真正的基於速率、基於增量速率的數字。

That's how we think about it. We'll continue to guide each year as we adjust.

我們就是這樣想的。我們將在每年進行調整的同時繼續提供指導。

Yeah, that's pretty (multiple speakers) good at this time, Travis.

是的，崔維斯，這次的表現相當不錯（多位發言者）。

Okay, yeah, that makes sense. And then I think in the past you've talked about maybe some more creative ways rather than just traditional base rate cases to get that number in the rates, get the return on, return off. Any updates there in terms of writers or something else that might be more creative than just simply general case for that treatment PFAS specific.

好的，是的，這很有道理。然後我認為，過去您可能談論過一些更有創意的方法，而不僅僅是傳統的基準利率案例，以獲得利率中的數字，獲得回報和回報。就作者或其他方面而言，是否有任何更新可能比針對 PFAS 治療的一般案例更有創意。

We have looked -- we are having conversations with our regulators around deferred accounting related to these types of systems. I can give you an example, like in North Carolina where we have a three-year forward-looking rate case in this first one, we've had discussions around deferred accounting and we filed this next rate case this spring. For the next three years, we'll have our PFAS investments in each of those three years, so they trying to cover as much of this in rates on a ongoing basis as we can.

我們已經研究過——我們正在與監管機構就與這些類型的系統相關的遞延會計進行對話。我可以給你舉個例子，例如在北卡羅來納州，我們在第一個案例中有一個三年的前瞻性利率案例，我們已經就遞延會計進行了討論，並於今年春天提交了下一個利率案例。在接下來的三年裡，我們每年都會進行 PFAS 投資，因此他們會盡可能持續地以利率形式涵蓋盡可能多的投資。

Okay, great. Makes sense. And then one other -- you since you brought up the data center, we appreciate the other details you gave there. Just another clarification or follow on from that. So would you potentially anticipate doing an on-site type, I hate to say co-located, but the great word of the year, but something along those lines like a water and gas type facility that would ultimately serve power, is that -- the way I'm interpreting your earlier comments.

好的，太好了。有道理。另外，既然您提到了資料中心，我們很感謝您提供的其他詳細資訊。只是另一個澄清或後續內容。那麼，您是否有可能預期進行現場類型的建設，我不想說是共置，但這是今年最偉大的詞，但類似於最終可以提供電力的水和氣類型的設施，這就是 - 我對您之前的評論的解讀方式。

I would point you to -- we've got a little history of building CHPs, and so -- and we obviously partner with entities that do that work. So I would say that the possibilities are open and we just at this point, we need to see what those developers are specifically looking for.

我想指出的是——我們在建設熱電聯產方面有一些歷史，因此——我們顯然與從事這項工作的實體合作。所以我想說，可能性是存在的，只是在這一點上，我們需要看看那些開發人員具體在尋找什麼。

And then as you know from covering it across the country, they're looking for lowest rates. So, I think the solution would be, how can we get them the lowest cost power.

然後，正如您從全國報告中了解到的那樣，他們正在尋求最低的利率。所以，我認為解決方案是，我們如何讓他們獲得成本最低的電力。

It's certainly a region like that we serve in Western Pennsylvania, we've got access to gas from the Marcellus and the Utica. That natural gas does tend to be priced lower than what you see on Nimax. I call it a $1 dekatherm on an ongoing basis.

這確實是我們在賓夕法尼亞州西部服務的地區，我們可以從馬塞勒斯和尤蒂卡獲得天然氣。天然氣的價格確實往往比 Nimax 上看到的要低。我將其稱為持續 1 美元十億熱量單位。

Yeah, it just be like going to the electric utility. They want to come to one place for the solution. That's how we would think about it as we did with CHPs, we would come up with a solution that works for them.

是的，就像去電力公司一樣。他們希望聚集在一個地方尋求解決方案。我們會像對待熱電聯產公司一樣考慮這個問題，並想出一個適合他們的解決方案。

Okay, sure, that makes sense. That's all I had. Appreciate it.

好的，當然，這是有道理的。這就是我所擁有的一切。非常感謝。

You got it.

你明白了。

Thanks, Travis. Take care.

謝謝，崔維斯。小心。

We have reached the end of our Q&A session. I'd now like to hand back over to Chris Franklin for final remarks.

我們的問答環節已經結束。現在我想把發言權交還給克里斯·富蘭克林，請他做最後的發言。

Thanks for joining us today, folks. We, as always, are available for questions afterwards. Please feel free to reach out to Brian, Ed, and the rest of the team. Thanks so much.

謝謝大家今天加入我們。和往常一樣，我們隨後可以回答您的問題。請隨時聯繫 Brian、Ed 和團隊的其他成員。非常感謝。

Thank you for attending today's call. You may now disconnect. Goodbye.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連線。再見。