PPL Q3 2023 Earnings Report $33.74 -0.42 (-1.23%) As of 01:14 PM Eastern This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast PPL EPS ResultsActual EPS$0.43Consensus EPS $0.45Beat/MissMissed by -$0.02One Year Ago EPSN/APPL Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$2.04 billionExpected Revenue$2.20 billionBeat/MissMissed by -$152.96 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/APPL Announcement DetailsQuarterQ3 2023Date11/2/2023TimeN/AConference Call DateThursday, November 2, 2023Conference Call Time11:00AM ETUpcoming EarningsPPL's Q1 2025 earnings is scheduled for Tuesday, April 29, 2025, with a conference call scheduled on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryPPL ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by PPL Q3 2023 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrNovember 2, 2023 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 9 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Good morning, and welcome to the PPL Corporation Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Andy Ludwig, Vice President of Investor Relations. Operator00:00:40Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:42Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the PPL Corporation conference call on Q3 2023 financial results. We have provided slides for this presentation on the Investors section of our website. We begin today's call with updates from Vince Sorgi, PPL President and CEO and Joe Bergstein, Chief Financial Officer and conclude with the Q and A session following our prepared remarks. Before we get started, I'll draw your attention to Slide 2 and a brief cautionary statement. Our presentation today contains forward looking statements about future operating results or other future events. Speaker 100:01:20Actual results may differ materially from these forward looking statements. Please refer to the appendix of this presentation and PPL's SEC filings for a discussion of some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements. We'll also refer to non GAAP measures, including earnings from ongoing operations or ongoing earnings on this call. For reconciliations to the comparable GAAP measures, please refer to the appendix. I'll now turn the call over to Vince. Speaker 200:01:51Thank you, Andy, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our Q3 investor update. Let's start with an overview of our financial results on Slide 4. Today, we announced Q3 reported earnings of $0.31 per share. Adjusting for special items, 3rd quarter earnings from ongoing operations were $0.43 per share compared with $0.41 per share a year ago. Speaker 200:02:16These results position us well to deliver our 2023 earnings guidance despite the significant impact of mild weather and storms in the first half of the year. As Joe will cover in his financial review, we've been successful in overcoming these headwinds through effective regulatory mechanisms, Our continued focus on operating efficiently and outperformance in several other areas. The team has done an outstanding job in As a result of our progress through Q3, we have narrowed our 2023 ongoing earnings forecast range to $1.55 to $1.60 per share, with the midpoint of $1.58 per share unchanged. Speaker 300:03:04As we look to close Speaker 200:03:05out the year in strong fashion, We also remain on track to invest nearly $2,500,000,000 to modernize the grid, strengthen grid resiliency and advance a cleaner energy mix. In addition, we're on pace to achieve our targeted $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 in O and M efficiencies this year. Looking forward, We've reaffirmed our projected earnings per share and dividend growth rates of 6% to 8% through at least 2026 as we remain confident in our low risk business plan. This growth is supported by our $12,000,000,000 capital investment plan and targeted O and M savings of at least $175,000,000 by 2026 to advance a reliable, resilient, affordable and cleaner energy future. We expect to fund this growth without the need for equity through at least 2026 while maintaining superior credit metrics and one of the strongest balance sheets in our sector. Speaker 200:04:02Turning to Slide 5 and some operational highlights. We continue to deliver top quartile reliability And advanced industry leading grid innovation that drives efficiency and improve service to our customers as we execute our Utility of the Future strategy. In support of this work, the Department of Energy has selected PPL Electric Utilities and Rhode Island Energy to receive a combined $100,000,000 in federal funding for planned smart grid projects in our service territories. The projects that were selected by the DOE were generally included in our current capital plan. However, these grants will certainly help to support affordability for our customers, which we remain keenly focused on. Speaker 200:04:45Our Pennsylvania project will extend PPL Electric's self healing smart grid, already one of the most sophisticated energy networks in the nation to further enhance grid reliability and resiliency. Meanwhile, our Rhode Island project will accelerate Rhode Island Energy's The process to receive this funding through the IIJA was highly competitive. PPL was one of only a few companies As we focus on creating the utilities of the future that are agile, Innovative and technology enabled, we continue to be recognized for our leadership in the smart grid space. During the Q3, PPL Electric Utilities received 2 additional awards for innovative, industry leading work that has helped improve the safety, The liability and affordability of electricity delivered to our more than 1,500,000 customers in Pennsylvania. Moving to Rhode Island. Speaker 200:05:48We remain focused on supporting Rhode Island's clean energy goals and bringing more affordable offshore wind opportunities to the state. On October 13, we issued an RFP to procure 1200 Megawatts of Offshore Wind to help power the state's energy needs. The RFP was the state's largest ever renewable energy solicitation and was issued just a week after Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island signed a memorandum of understanding, paving the way for a potential multi state selection of offshore wind opportunities. Each state is conducting procurements in a similar timeframe, and we're hopeful that our larger procurement, a streamlined application process, Flexibility on contract durations and the potential for multistate coordination will provide better economies of scale for developers and reasonable pricing options for our customers. Bids are due by January 31st, with any resulting selection expected next summer. Speaker 200:06:46Any PPAs agreed to by Rhode Island Energy would be subject to review and approval by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission. Lastly on this slide, LG and E began contract negotiations a few weeks ago for a labor contract that expires on November 10. The contract covers more than 600 of our employees in Kentucky. For decades, we have successfully worked together with our unions in Kentucky to reach agreement, And we're optimistic we can continue that success. We look forward to continued progress over the coming days weeks to achieve an outcome that balances the needs of our employees and our customers. Speaker 200:07:24And importantly, the company has completed its preparedness plan Moving to Slide 6 for a couple of key regulatory updates. We remain focused on advancing our generation investment plan As we seek to replace up to 1500 megawatts of aging coal generation with an affordable, reliable and cleaner energy mix by 2028. We continue to believe that our plan represents the best path forward for our Kentucky customer. As proposed, It would replace several 1970s era coal units with over 1200 Megawatts of new combined cycle natural gas generation, Nearly 1,000 Megawatts of Solar Generation and 125 Megawatts of Battery Storage. In addition, it would establish more than a dozen new energy efficiency programs. Speaker 200:08:18The Kentucky Public Service Commission conducted public hearings in August, followed by post hearing briefs in September. The hearings as well as the intervener briefs have largely been as expected. And looking forward, we continue to expect a decision from the commission by November 6. Shifting to Rhode Island. In late September, we received regulatory approval to deploy advanced metering functionality statewide As we lay the foundation for a smarter, more resilient, reliable and dynamic grid that supports the state's leading climate goals. Speaker 200:08:52As part of its unanimous decision, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission authorized capital investments of up to $153,000,000 for this initiative. We're pleased with the outcome of the commission's decision for this important project. Advanced metering functionality, which we've deployed in Pennsylvania Currently deploying in Kentucky is a key step in modernizing our energy networks. And as we've seen in our other service territories, It delivers significant benefits for our customers. We expect to begin installing the digital meters in late 2024 and to complete the deployment over the next 3 years, Capitalizing on our experience in both Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Speaker 200:09:33These investments will also be largely recoverable through the annual ISR process in Rhode Island. That concludes my operational update. I'll now turn the call over to Joe for the financial update. Speaker 400:09:44Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. Let's turn to Slide 8. CPL's 3rd quarter GAAP earnings were $0.31 per share compared to $0.24 per share in Q3 2022. We recorded special items of $0.12 per share during the Q3, primarily due to the integration and related expenses associated with the acquisition of Rhode Island Energy. Adjusting for these special items, 3rd quarter earnings from ongoing operations were $0.43 per share, an improvement of $0.02 per share compared to Q3 2022. Speaker 400:10:21The primary drivers of the $0.02 per share increase were favorable transmission and disc rider revenues in Pennsylvania and lower O and M in Kentucky, partially offset by higher interest expense due to increased borrowings. While weather was a significant factor in our earnings for the first half of the year, for the Q3, Weather did not materially impact our financial results versus our expectations. Turning to the ongoing segment drivers for the quarter on Slide 9. Our Pennsylvania regulated segment results increased by $0.02 per share year over year. Results were primarily driven by higher transmission revenue and higher distribution rider recovery, partially offset by higher interest expense and higher O and M expense related to IT amortization costs. Speaker 400:11:11Our Kentucky segment results increased by $0.02 per share year over year. Results were primarily driven by lower O and M expense, partially offset by higher interest expense. Our Rhode Island segment results decreased by $0.01 per share compared to 3Q 2022, Primarily driven by higher O and M expense as we had fewer open positions this year than we did in the Q3 of 2022 We were in the early stages of staffing up our teams. Finally, results in corporate and other decreased $0.01 per share compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher interest expense. Moving to Slide 10. Speaker 400:11:51Our Q3 performance puts PPL's ongoing earnings at $1.20 per share for the 1st 9 months of 2023 or a 6% increase compared to the same period last year. As Vince noted, our teams have done a fantastic job of executing our plan and have positioned us well to offset the significantly unfavorable weather and storm impacts We experienced in the first half of the year to deliver the midpoint of our earnings forecast. And as outlined on our Q2 call, We expected to achieve this objective through several areas, which are being reflected in our year to date results. In Pennsylvania, the DISC mechanism has already more than offset the sales volume and storm cost implications in this segment. Our Rhode Island integration continues to go well and we've already achieved our targeted ongoing earnings forecast for the year, setting us up to achieve the $0.01 to $0.02 per share of outperformance that we discussed on the Q2 call. Speaker 400:12:50And finally, the team continues to focus on operating the business efficiently, and we expect to achieve at least our targeted O and M savings of $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 this year. We remain very confident achieving our 2023 earnings forecast due to this excellent year to date performance and expect to build on our track record of achieving our financial targets. As a result, we have tightened our forecast range with just a few months remaining in the year and a clear path to deliver on our objectives. Moving to Slide 11. Recognizing the current macroeconomic environment of higher interest rates, I want to emphasize our strong credit position, One that places PPL among the best in our sector. Speaker 400:13:34This is a clear strategic advantage that provides the company with significant financial flexibility. And we continue to project strong credit metrics throughout our planning period despite the rising cost of new debt. This includes maintaining a 16% to 18% FFO to debt ratio and HoldCo to total debt ratio below 25%. During 2023, we've taken proactive steps to mitigate the impact of rising interest rates. This includes the financing activity that we completed during the Q1, which significantly reduced our floating rate exposure to less than 5% of our total debt portfolio. Speaker 400:14:14Looking forward, We have limited near term refinancing risk through 2025 with 0 holding company maturities and just over $600,000,000 of total utility maturities through that timeframe. In fact, we have less than $2,000,000,000 or just 13% of our total debt portfolio maturing through 2027. Finally, we also continue to be uniquely positioned to continue to fund our growth without requiring equity for the foreseeable future, while maintaining excellent credit metrics. I'm extremely pleased with our position and outlook to execute our plan in this macro environment. That concludes my prepared remarks. Speaker 400:14:53I'll turn the call back over to Vince. Speaker 200:14:56Thank you, Joe. In closing, As highlighted, we've narrowed our ongoing earnings forecast, achieved significant success in offsetting this year's headwinds from mild weather and storms and remain confident in our ability to achieve the midpoint of our earnings forecast of $1.58 per share. At the same time, we've continued to advance key regulatory proceedings, most recently achieving a positive outcome in our AMF filing in Rhode Island. I'm also proud of the rigorous generation replacement plan that our team developed and presented during the CUPCN proceeding, a plan that is right for Kentucky. And while we believe our plan is the best plan forward for our customers, We remain confident we will be able to achieve our stated growth targets under a variety of outcomes in that case. Speaker 200:15:51Our integration of Rhode Island Energy continues to proceed as planned, putting us on pace to exit all remaining transition service agreements with National Grid in 2024. We're on track to complete more than $2,500,000,000 in infrastructure investments this year. And through the Q3, we're ahead of plan in delivering $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 in targeted O and M savings to drive better value for customers and share owners alike. Across PPL, we continue to make progress in advancing our long term vision to be the best utility company in the U. S. Speaker 200:16:23And I remain excited for our bright future that will continue to deliver for our customers and our shareholders. With that, operator, let's open it up for questions. Operator00:16:34We will now begin the question and answer session. And our first question will come from Nick Campanella of Barclays. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:17:15Hey, everyone. Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. So, hey, I just want to start right off the bat, sorry if I missed it, but I know that there has been some sales volume declines this year. Speaker 500:17:30Obviously, higher interest rates is hurting To your point, no major maturities in 2024, which is great across the business. But Can you just confirm as you kind of wrap this all together that you can continue to kind of grow the business from an EPS perspective linearly $24,000,000 to $25,000,000 And How we should kind of think about that? Speaker 400:17:53Yes. Hey Nick, it's Joe. Thanks for the question. Yes, we Linear growth through our planned period as we've talked about before. Obviously, there's market forces at play as you mentioned, but We think that they're manageable and can deliver that linear growth. Speaker 500:18:11That's helpful. And then I know that On the current plan today, there's no rate cases and you'll be staying out. But can you just help us understand what would force you to file if you had to in the next few years? Is it more dependent on current regulatory proposals in front of you in Rhode Island and Kentucky and how those go? Or is it more dictated by the size of the capital plan and ROEs? Speaker 500:18:34Thanks. Speaker 400:18:36Yes, sure. Well, you're right. In our current plan, we just have one Rate case in Rhode Island in the back half of twenty twenty six, there's obviously a lot of factors that go into determining rate case timing, including And you named a few of them, capital plans, interest rates, regulatory lag on capital that doesn't run through some sort of mechanism and many, many more. We're going through our business planning process now, Nick, and we assess all of those factors as we do so. We'll provide views on what we think about rate case and potential timing when we give an update on our year end call. Speaker 500:19:13All right. Thanks a lot. We'll see you in Arizona. Thank you. Speaker 400:19:17Yes, great. Thanks. Thanks, Nick. Operator00:19:20The next question comes from David Arcaro of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:19:28Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Speaker 300:19:31Good morning, Dave. Speaker 600:19:34Let's see, with the EPCN, I was wondering, we've seen inflation across supply chains fairly broadly in a lot of components. Wondering if Costs have risen for the solar that you're requesting and for the CCGTs that you've got in the plan in Speaker 200:19:51front of Kentucky since your initial filing. Yes, David, we have seen cost increases For the replacement generation plan, we updated all of that in our testimony for the commission. So they have The latest CapEx estimates for our plan, those are confidential. So I can't Disclosed here at this time how much those went up, but even with those higher costs, Where our analysis is showing that our proposed generation replacement plan is still significantly NPV positive and is again the best option that we're showing for customers. So the commission has all of that in the record as they're looking at it. Speaker 600:20:45Yes, makes sense. So still economic and I presume so a higher CapEx essentially, for kind of the full plan That's in front of the commission now. Speaker 200:20:56That's correct. If the whole plan is approved, it would be incremental to what we had, yes. Speaker 600:21:01Yes. Okay. Yes. Thanks for that. And then as you look forward toward rolling the capital plan forward a year, should we expect equity to Incorporated into the financing strategy or is there still balance sheet headroom as you look out to add more CapEx And rate based growth? Speaker 200:21:24Yes. Joe, you want to talk about that? Speaker 400:21:26Yes, sure. So as I talked about in my prepared remarks, Dave, the balance sheet is strong and we expect to operate in that 16% to 18% FFO or CFO to debt range that we've been talking about, clearly, we can finance the current capital plan without any need for equity even Today's market, we'll see as we roll the plant forward what that looks like. Clearly, we have needs for capital investment What's in our plan and how that comes into view, but feel really good about where our balance sheet is, the strength of the We are now able to maintain our current credit ratings without the need for equity. Speaker 600:22:07Okay, perfect. Thanks for the color. Appreciate it. Speaker 200:22:11Thanks, Dave. Operator00:22:14The next question comes from Shar Pourreza of Guggenheim Partners. Please go ahead. Speaker 700:22:21Hey guys, good morning. Speaker 400:22:23Good morning, Shar. Speaker 700:22:24Good morning, Vince. So Vince, I know you mentioned The O and M savings year to date is tracking ahead of the original forecast. It obviously was a key point of the talking points. I guess maybe taking that a step further, can you speak to how you're tracking for the total $175,000,000 by 26, Is there room to exceed now that you've gone further into it? Speaker 200:22:50Well, overall, Shar, we're tracking very well against the $175,000,000 So obviously we have that layered in $24,000 $25,000 $26,000 Joe, I'll let you cover a little more detail on kind of the outperformance For 2023, of course, when we're looking at the additional storm costs and weather, Those are anomalistic. And so some of the areas that we targeted To help offset that are things like open positions, looking at our maintenance schedules, etcetera. So some of those things Will not be permanent, Shar, but we're tracking very well on the 50 to 60, which We are permanent on our way to the $175,000,000 Speaker 400:23:46Yes, got it. I would just add that We talked about we're on track to achieve at least the $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 of efficiencies this year, which gives This confidence in our ability to achieve the $175,000,000 we have a robust pipeline of initiatives that we're working on. So the team has Clearly, Ben, extremely focused on delivering on the initiatives that we've established, which is why we're tracking ahead. So Feel really good about where we are today and our ability to hit that $175,000,000 Speaker 700:24:18Got it. Perfect. And then Vince, I know just to maybe reiterate Our conversation from the prior call, I mean at this point, are you prepared to be flexible And how the Kentucky PSC ultimately rules on the CPCN next week. Is that something, I guess, you will be prepared to talk about right after that At EEI or we have to wait for the 4Q update? Thanks guys. Speaker 200:24:45Sure. So From a communications perspective, Shar, in very timely fashion, we'll respond to the KPSC's decision coming out what we expect would be next Monday. So you'll hear from us shortly after that. Of course, we'll see many of you all, investors and analysts at the EEI conference the week after that. So Likely, I'd be able to get into more detail there. Speaker 200:25:17And then we'll do the full business plan update incorporating all of this plus all the other Business plan refreshes on our normal that our normal cadence of the year end call. As we think about the various outcomes of the CPCN, we've talked about this before. Based on all of the testimony that's been filed, I don't see the outcome being an all or nothing situation regarding the coal plant retirements. But as we just think about the generation portfolio, I've talked about in the past that the CapEx that would be needed to run those plants safely and reliably if we do not retire them Would be in that $500,000,000 to $1,500,000,000 range, really depending on where we end up on the ELG regulations. The source of that is we have to put the maintenance capital for the Fort Cole units back in. Speaker 200:26:18That would be a couple of $100,000,000 We have a few SCRs that would have to go on some of the plants. So that's in the $300,000,000 $400,000,000 range. There's some ancillary environmental upgrades that would also need to be done to keep these plants in compliance. That's That would also need to be done to keep these plants in compliance. That's about another $100,000,000 And then the ELG regs, as I said, can be Quite a significant amount of investment, but on the low end of the range, we think the estimate there is likely around 150,000,000 Also just talked about the CCGTs and if we were to get 1 and not both, Right. Speaker 200:26:56There is some incremental CapEx there as the prices have gone up from what we had originally had in our plant. Beyond the generation portfolio though, we continue to see the need for significant grid enhancing investments in T and D, Particularly transmission and especially in Kentucky, as we've talked about in the past, the large generation So we really need to start making those T and D investments primarily transmission as soon as we can. So Once we have the decision from the commission, we can factor all of these things into ultimately What the capital plan will look like as we update it. But we feel very confident that the investment needs are there, Shar. We can finance them with the balance sheet that we have that Joe talked about, not only finance them, but finance them without equity. Speaker 200:28:01And so, it's why we're confident that we should be able to deliver our growth targets really under various scenarios that we might see next week. Speaker 700:28:11Got it. Appreciate it, Vince. That's a really good color. Thanks guys. Speaker 400:28:16Sure. Thanks, Bert. Operator00:28:19The next question comes from Angie Storozynski of Seaport. Please go ahead. Speaker 800:28:25Thank you. I only have one question about the fraudulent conveyance lawsuit from Talen. It's you guys have tried to have it dismissed. It goes back to 2014, we're talking about potentially very large amounts and just wondering if you have any comment. Speaker 200:28:55Yes, Angie, no real update since our last call. As you know, the trial date has been set for February of Next year, we're looking forward to that trial. As we've said all along, we fully believe the distribution of those proceeds were In compliance with all applicable laws and we stand ready to vigorously defend that position. So nothing Really new, it being in bankruptcy court, not surprising that some of our motions were not accepted. So not surprising there, but Still feel very confident in our case. Operator00:29:33That's good. Thank you. Speaker 200:29:36Thanks, Angie. Operator00:29:40The next question comes from Paul Zimbardo of Bank of America. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:29:46Good morning, Paul. Speaker 200:29:48Hi. Good morning, Vincent. Just to follow-up a Speaker 300:29:52little bit on the transmission opportunity side. I know you addressed Okay. Speaker 200:29:56Pretty well, but what about the eastern side of the PGM footprint? Like I Speaker 300:30:00think there was like $145,000,000 Award and just holistically if you could talk about some Speaker 200:30:06of the opportunities from Pennsylvania PGM Broadley Transmission? Thanks. Yes. We'll continue to see opportunity for transmission investments In and throughout PJM, to your point, that's an area that we think there's additional opportunity in PPL Electric Utilities, Not only supporting within our territory, but also some of the solicitations that are happening to support Constraints that are outside of our territory. And as you know, we're active in pursuing those. Speaker 200:30:45And so We'll continue to do that. To your point, I think there's additional opportunity beyond what's in the plan. We'll provide More color around that as we provide our more fulsome capital updates and update the plan. But to your point, I definitely see transmission not just in Kentucky as a real need, but also in Pennsylvania and even Rhode Island. Speaker 300:31:14Okay. Excellent. Thought so. And then another one, probably fairly obvious, but just want to check the box there. On The long term emphasis on long term refinancing for cap funding, like you're assuming kind of Speaker 200:31:27a market interest rate on those maturities for the CAGR purposes. Speaker 400:31:35We are, yes. Speaker 200:31:38Okay, awesome. Thank you, team. Sure. Thanks, Paul. Operator00:31:45The next question comes from Anthony Croudell of Mizuho. Please go ahead. Speaker 700:31:51Hey, Good morning, Vince. Good morning, Joe. Just one quick one. Talked about the RFP for offshore wind in Rhode Island. Just curious how committed the state is to offshore wind as you've noticed some other states, particularly New York seems to be balking at higher power prices. Speaker 200:32:11Yes. Look, I think New England in general, Anthony is committed, Right. Their strategy is heavily relying on offshore wind for their clean energy future. We're committed to helping certainly Rhode Island Help to achieve those goals. I think what you saw in New York was as much procedural as it is Pricing where I think the states have concerns just modifying Existing PPAs without reopening those up for a bit because You may get better pricing if you reopen them. Speaker 200:32:55So I think it's more process driven than it is just the price. Having said that, we rejected our original RFP due to price and other factors. This latest RFP that we issued, we included An upsized RFP to 1200 megawatts, which is a more efficient generation size for the Developers versus the 800 plus that we had originally went out for, we're allowing for a longer PPA term beyond 20 years. And then there's the possibility of a multi state solution with Massachusetts and Connecticut as I talked about in my remarks. So hopefully those things will be enough for the developers to bring the prices down for our customers and at a level That both we and the state will be able to accept. Speaker 200:33:50So we'll see. Speaker 700:33:52Great. That's all I had. Thanks for your time. See you in Phoenix. Speaker 200:33:56Thanks, Andy. Operator00:33:59The next question comes from Ryan Levine of Citi. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:34:05Hi, everybody. Just a quick question. In terms of the 2.3% industrial load decline in Kentucky for the quarter on a weather normalized basis, What was the driver of that? And what's your longer term outlook for industrial growth in Kentucky ahead of the CPCN decision Speaker 400:34:26Yes. Hey, Brian, it's Joe. Yes, the what you're talking about in Kentucky is That variance is really driven by 1 large steel manufacturer that's experiencing usage normalization after they saw a Large spike during COVID. So they're just normalizing back to where they had been prior to that. And you're seeing that in The year to date or the quarterly variances, as we think about longer term for Kentucky, there's been and we've talked about it a number of times, Significant economic development over the last 2 years or more really the 2021 2022 at $10,000,000,000 of economic development each year. Speaker 400:35:07The state is expecting another $8,000,000,000 this year. It's not all in our service territory, but we're seeing a good portion of it coming to our service territory. So Longer term outlook remains positive for low growth in Kentucky. Speaker 200:35:20Yes. And Ryan, generally the industrial class, especially in Kentucky, The margins are not as affected by kilowatt hours as they're predominantly driven on demand and fixed charges. So As Joe said, that was pretty much one customer driving that, but very little impact on margin. Speaker 600:35:43Appreciate the clarification. See you in Phoenix. Speaker 400:35:48Great. Thanks, Ryan. Thanks. Operator00:35:52This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Vince Sorji for any closing remarks. Speaker 200:36:02Thanks, operator, and thanks everybody for joining us today. As I said, you'll hear from us next week Following the decision from the KPSC on the CPCN and then look forward to seeing you all at EEI the following week. Thanks again for joining us. Operator00:36:21Conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation and you may now disconnect.Read moreRemove AdsPowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallPPL Q3 202300:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xRemove Ads Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) PPL Earnings HeadlinesPPL Corp. stock rises Wednesday, still underperforms marketApril 9 at 6:12 PM | marketwatch.comPPL Corp to Announce Q1 2025 Earnings ResultsApril 9 at 4:07 PM | gurufocus.comTrump’s Bitcoin Reserve is No Accident…Bryce Paul believes this is the #1 coin to buy right now The catalyst behind this surge is a massive new blockchain development…April 10, 2025 | Crypto 101 Media (Ad)PPL Corporation to conduct webcast on First-Quarter 2025 Earnings Results | PPL Stock NewsApril 9 at 1:18 PM | gurufocus.comPPL Corporation to conduct webcast on First-Quarter 2025 Earnings ResultsApril 9 at 1:00 PM | prnewswire.comPPL Electric Utilities wins industry award for innovative distribution technology that predicts equipment issues before they become a problemApril 8 at 3:15 PM | prnewswire.comSee More PPL Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like PPL? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on PPL and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About PPLPPL (NYSE:PPL), an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky. 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There are 9 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Good morning, and welcome to the PPL Corporation Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Andy Ludwig, Vice President of Investor Relations. Operator00:00:40Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:42Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the PPL Corporation conference call on Q3 2023 financial results. We have provided slides for this presentation on the Investors section of our website. We begin today's call with updates from Vince Sorgi, PPL President and CEO and Joe Bergstein, Chief Financial Officer and conclude with the Q and A session following our prepared remarks. Before we get started, I'll draw your attention to Slide 2 and a brief cautionary statement. Our presentation today contains forward looking statements about future operating results or other future events. Speaker 100:01:20Actual results may differ materially from these forward looking statements. Please refer to the appendix of this presentation and PPL's SEC filings for a discussion of some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements. We'll also refer to non GAAP measures, including earnings from ongoing operations or ongoing earnings on this call. For reconciliations to the comparable GAAP measures, please refer to the appendix. I'll now turn the call over to Vince. Speaker 200:01:51Thank you, Andy, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our Q3 investor update. Let's start with an overview of our financial results on Slide 4. Today, we announced Q3 reported earnings of $0.31 per share. Adjusting for special items, 3rd quarter earnings from ongoing operations were $0.43 per share compared with $0.41 per share a year ago. Speaker 200:02:16These results position us well to deliver our 2023 earnings guidance despite the significant impact of mild weather and storms in the first half of the year. As Joe will cover in his financial review, we've been successful in overcoming these headwinds through effective regulatory mechanisms, Our continued focus on operating efficiently and outperformance in several other areas. The team has done an outstanding job in As a result of our progress through Q3, we have narrowed our 2023 ongoing earnings forecast range to $1.55 to $1.60 per share, with the midpoint of $1.58 per share unchanged. Speaker 300:03:04As we look to close Speaker 200:03:05out the year in strong fashion, We also remain on track to invest nearly $2,500,000,000 to modernize the grid, strengthen grid resiliency and advance a cleaner energy mix. In addition, we're on pace to achieve our targeted $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 in O and M efficiencies this year. Looking forward, We've reaffirmed our projected earnings per share and dividend growth rates of 6% to 8% through at least 2026 as we remain confident in our low risk business plan. This growth is supported by our $12,000,000,000 capital investment plan and targeted O and M savings of at least $175,000,000 by 2026 to advance a reliable, resilient, affordable and cleaner energy future. We expect to fund this growth without the need for equity through at least 2026 while maintaining superior credit metrics and one of the strongest balance sheets in our sector. Speaker 200:04:02Turning to Slide 5 and some operational highlights. We continue to deliver top quartile reliability And advanced industry leading grid innovation that drives efficiency and improve service to our customers as we execute our Utility of the Future strategy. In support of this work, the Department of Energy has selected PPL Electric Utilities and Rhode Island Energy to receive a combined $100,000,000 in federal funding for planned smart grid projects in our service territories. The projects that were selected by the DOE were generally included in our current capital plan. However, these grants will certainly help to support affordability for our customers, which we remain keenly focused on. Speaker 200:04:45Our Pennsylvania project will extend PPL Electric's self healing smart grid, already one of the most sophisticated energy networks in the nation to further enhance grid reliability and resiliency. Meanwhile, our Rhode Island project will accelerate Rhode Island Energy's The process to receive this funding through the IIJA was highly competitive. PPL was one of only a few companies As we focus on creating the utilities of the future that are agile, Innovative and technology enabled, we continue to be recognized for our leadership in the smart grid space. During the Q3, PPL Electric Utilities received 2 additional awards for innovative, industry leading work that has helped improve the safety, The liability and affordability of electricity delivered to our more than 1,500,000 customers in Pennsylvania. Moving to Rhode Island. Speaker 200:05:48We remain focused on supporting Rhode Island's clean energy goals and bringing more affordable offshore wind opportunities to the state. On October 13, we issued an RFP to procure 1200 Megawatts of Offshore Wind to help power the state's energy needs. The RFP was the state's largest ever renewable energy solicitation and was issued just a week after Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island signed a memorandum of understanding, paving the way for a potential multi state selection of offshore wind opportunities. Each state is conducting procurements in a similar timeframe, and we're hopeful that our larger procurement, a streamlined application process, Flexibility on contract durations and the potential for multistate coordination will provide better economies of scale for developers and reasonable pricing options for our customers. Bids are due by January 31st, with any resulting selection expected next summer. Speaker 200:06:46Any PPAs agreed to by Rhode Island Energy would be subject to review and approval by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission. Lastly on this slide, LG and E began contract negotiations a few weeks ago for a labor contract that expires on November 10. The contract covers more than 600 of our employees in Kentucky. For decades, we have successfully worked together with our unions in Kentucky to reach agreement, And we're optimistic we can continue that success. We look forward to continued progress over the coming days weeks to achieve an outcome that balances the needs of our employees and our customers. Speaker 200:07:24And importantly, the company has completed its preparedness plan Moving to Slide 6 for a couple of key regulatory updates. We remain focused on advancing our generation investment plan As we seek to replace up to 1500 megawatts of aging coal generation with an affordable, reliable and cleaner energy mix by 2028. We continue to believe that our plan represents the best path forward for our Kentucky customer. As proposed, It would replace several 1970s era coal units with over 1200 Megawatts of new combined cycle natural gas generation, Nearly 1,000 Megawatts of Solar Generation and 125 Megawatts of Battery Storage. In addition, it would establish more than a dozen new energy efficiency programs. Speaker 200:08:18The Kentucky Public Service Commission conducted public hearings in August, followed by post hearing briefs in September. The hearings as well as the intervener briefs have largely been as expected. And looking forward, we continue to expect a decision from the commission by November 6. Shifting to Rhode Island. In late September, we received regulatory approval to deploy advanced metering functionality statewide As we lay the foundation for a smarter, more resilient, reliable and dynamic grid that supports the state's leading climate goals. Speaker 200:08:52As part of its unanimous decision, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission authorized capital investments of up to $153,000,000 for this initiative. We're pleased with the outcome of the commission's decision for this important project. Advanced metering functionality, which we've deployed in Pennsylvania Currently deploying in Kentucky is a key step in modernizing our energy networks. And as we've seen in our other service territories, It delivers significant benefits for our customers. We expect to begin installing the digital meters in late 2024 and to complete the deployment over the next 3 years, Capitalizing on our experience in both Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Speaker 200:09:33These investments will also be largely recoverable through the annual ISR process in Rhode Island. That concludes my operational update. I'll now turn the call over to Joe for the financial update. Speaker 400:09:44Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. Let's turn to Slide 8. CPL's 3rd quarter GAAP earnings were $0.31 per share compared to $0.24 per share in Q3 2022. We recorded special items of $0.12 per share during the Q3, primarily due to the integration and related expenses associated with the acquisition of Rhode Island Energy. Adjusting for these special items, 3rd quarter earnings from ongoing operations were $0.43 per share, an improvement of $0.02 per share compared to Q3 2022. Speaker 400:10:21The primary drivers of the $0.02 per share increase were favorable transmission and disc rider revenues in Pennsylvania and lower O and M in Kentucky, partially offset by higher interest expense due to increased borrowings. While weather was a significant factor in our earnings for the first half of the year, for the Q3, Weather did not materially impact our financial results versus our expectations. Turning to the ongoing segment drivers for the quarter on Slide 9. Our Pennsylvania regulated segment results increased by $0.02 per share year over year. Results were primarily driven by higher transmission revenue and higher distribution rider recovery, partially offset by higher interest expense and higher O and M expense related to IT amortization costs. Speaker 400:11:11Our Kentucky segment results increased by $0.02 per share year over year. Results were primarily driven by lower O and M expense, partially offset by higher interest expense. Our Rhode Island segment results decreased by $0.01 per share compared to 3Q 2022, Primarily driven by higher O and M expense as we had fewer open positions this year than we did in the Q3 of 2022 We were in the early stages of staffing up our teams. Finally, results in corporate and other decreased $0.01 per share compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher interest expense. Moving to Slide 10. Speaker 400:11:51Our Q3 performance puts PPL's ongoing earnings at $1.20 per share for the 1st 9 months of 2023 or a 6% increase compared to the same period last year. As Vince noted, our teams have done a fantastic job of executing our plan and have positioned us well to offset the significantly unfavorable weather and storm impacts We experienced in the first half of the year to deliver the midpoint of our earnings forecast. And as outlined on our Q2 call, We expected to achieve this objective through several areas, which are being reflected in our year to date results. In Pennsylvania, the DISC mechanism has already more than offset the sales volume and storm cost implications in this segment. Our Rhode Island integration continues to go well and we've already achieved our targeted ongoing earnings forecast for the year, setting us up to achieve the $0.01 to $0.02 per share of outperformance that we discussed on the Q2 call. Speaker 400:12:50And finally, the team continues to focus on operating the business efficiently, and we expect to achieve at least our targeted O and M savings of $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 this year. We remain very confident achieving our 2023 earnings forecast due to this excellent year to date performance and expect to build on our track record of achieving our financial targets. As a result, we have tightened our forecast range with just a few months remaining in the year and a clear path to deliver on our objectives. Moving to Slide 11. Recognizing the current macroeconomic environment of higher interest rates, I want to emphasize our strong credit position, One that places PPL among the best in our sector. Speaker 400:13:34This is a clear strategic advantage that provides the company with significant financial flexibility. And we continue to project strong credit metrics throughout our planning period despite the rising cost of new debt. This includes maintaining a 16% to 18% FFO to debt ratio and HoldCo to total debt ratio below 25%. During 2023, we've taken proactive steps to mitigate the impact of rising interest rates. This includes the financing activity that we completed during the Q1, which significantly reduced our floating rate exposure to less than 5% of our total debt portfolio. Speaker 400:14:14Looking forward, We have limited near term refinancing risk through 2025 with 0 holding company maturities and just over $600,000,000 of total utility maturities through that timeframe. In fact, we have less than $2,000,000,000 or just 13% of our total debt portfolio maturing through 2027. Finally, we also continue to be uniquely positioned to continue to fund our growth without requiring equity for the foreseeable future, while maintaining excellent credit metrics. I'm extremely pleased with our position and outlook to execute our plan in this macro environment. That concludes my prepared remarks. Speaker 400:14:53I'll turn the call back over to Vince. Speaker 200:14:56Thank you, Joe. In closing, As highlighted, we've narrowed our ongoing earnings forecast, achieved significant success in offsetting this year's headwinds from mild weather and storms and remain confident in our ability to achieve the midpoint of our earnings forecast of $1.58 per share. At the same time, we've continued to advance key regulatory proceedings, most recently achieving a positive outcome in our AMF filing in Rhode Island. I'm also proud of the rigorous generation replacement plan that our team developed and presented during the CUPCN proceeding, a plan that is right for Kentucky. And while we believe our plan is the best plan forward for our customers, We remain confident we will be able to achieve our stated growth targets under a variety of outcomes in that case. Speaker 200:15:51Our integration of Rhode Island Energy continues to proceed as planned, putting us on pace to exit all remaining transition service agreements with National Grid in 2024. We're on track to complete more than $2,500,000,000 in infrastructure investments this year. And through the Q3, we're ahead of plan in delivering $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 in targeted O and M savings to drive better value for customers and share owners alike. Across PPL, we continue to make progress in advancing our long term vision to be the best utility company in the U. S. Speaker 200:16:23And I remain excited for our bright future that will continue to deliver for our customers and our shareholders. With that, operator, let's open it up for questions. Operator00:16:34We will now begin the question and answer session. And our first question will come from Nick Campanella of Barclays. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:17:15Hey, everyone. Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. So, hey, I just want to start right off the bat, sorry if I missed it, but I know that there has been some sales volume declines this year. Speaker 500:17:30Obviously, higher interest rates is hurting To your point, no major maturities in 2024, which is great across the business. But Can you just confirm as you kind of wrap this all together that you can continue to kind of grow the business from an EPS perspective linearly $24,000,000 to $25,000,000 And How we should kind of think about that? Speaker 400:17:53Yes. Hey Nick, it's Joe. Thanks for the question. Yes, we Linear growth through our planned period as we've talked about before. Obviously, there's market forces at play as you mentioned, but We think that they're manageable and can deliver that linear growth. Speaker 500:18:11That's helpful. And then I know that On the current plan today, there's no rate cases and you'll be staying out. But can you just help us understand what would force you to file if you had to in the next few years? Is it more dependent on current regulatory proposals in front of you in Rhode Island and Kentucky and how those go? Or is it more dictated by the size of the capital plan and ROEs? Speaker 500:18:34Thanks. Speaker 400:18:36Yes, sure. Well, you're right. In our current plan, we just have one Rate case in Rhode Island in the back half of twenty twenty six, there's obviously a lot of factors that go into determining rate case timing, including And you named a few of them, capital plans, interest rates, regulatory lag on capital that doesn't run through some sort of mechanism and many, many more. We're going through our business planning process now, Nick, and we assess all of those factors as we do so. We'll provide views on what we think about rate case and potential timing when we give an update on our year end call. Speaker 500:19:13All right. Thanks a lot. We'll see you in Arizona. Thank you. Speaker 400:19:17Yes, great. Thanks. Thanks, Nick. Operator00:19:20The next question comes from David Arcaro of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:19:28Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Speaker 300:19:31Good morning, Dave. Speaker 600:19:34Let's see, with the EPCN, I was wondering, we've seen inflation across supply chains fairly broadly in a lot of components. Wondering if Costs have risen for the solar that you're requesting and for the CCGTs that you've got in the plan in Speaker 200:19:51front of Kentucky since your initial filing. Yes, David, we have seen cost increases For the replacement generation plan, we updated all of that in our testimony for the commission. So they have The latest CapEx estimates for our plan, those are confidential. So I can't Disclosed here at this time how much those went up, but even with those higher costs, Where our analysis is showing that our proposed generation replacement plan is still significantly NPV positive and is again the best option that we're showing for customers. So the commission has all of that in the record as they're looking at it. Speaker 600:20:45Yes, makes sense. So still economic and I presume so a higher CapEx essentially, for kind of the full plan That's in front of the commission now. Speaker 200:20:56That's correct. If the whole plan is approved, it would be incremental to what we had, yes. Speaker 600:21:01Yes. Okay. Yes. Thanks for that. And then as you look forward toward rolling the capital plan forward a year, should we expect equity to Incorporated into the financing strategy or is there still balance sheet headroom as you look out to add more CapEx And rate based growth? Speaker 200:21:24Yes. Joe, you want to talk about that? Speaker 400:21:26Yes, sure. So as I talked about in my prepared remarks, Dave, the balance sheet is strong and we expect to operate in that 16% to 18% FFO or CFO to debt range that we've been talking about, clearly, we can finance the current capital plan without any need for equity even Today's market, we'll see as we roll the plant forward what that looks like. Clearly, we have needs for capital investment What's in our plan and how that comes into view, but feel really good about where our balance sheet is, the strength of the We are now able to maintain our current credit ratings without the need for equity. Speaker 600:22:07Okay, perfect. Thanks for the color. Appreciate it. Speaker 200:22:11Thanks, Dave. Operator00:22:14The next question comes from Shar Pourreza of Guggenheim Partners. Please go ahead. Speaker 700:22:21Hey guys, good morning. Speaker 400:22:23Good morning, Shar. Speaker 700:22:24Good morning, Vince. So Vince, I know you mentioned The O and M savings year to date is tracking ahead of the original forecast. It obviously was a key point of the talking points. I guess maybe taking that a step further, can you speak to how you're tracking for the total $175,000,000 by 26, Is there room to exceed now that you've gone further into it? Speaker 200:22:50Well, overall, Shar, we're tracking very well against the $175,000,000 So obviously we have that layered in $24,000 $25,000 $26,000 Joe, I'll let you cover a little more detail on kind of the outperformance For 2023, of course, when we're looking at the additional storm costs and weather, Those are anomalistic. And so some of the areas that we targeted To help offset that are things like open positions, looking at our maintenance schedules, etcetera. So some of those things Will not be permanent, Shar, but we're tracking very well on the 50 to 60, which We are permanent on our way to the $175,000,000 Speaker 400:23:46Yes, got it. I would just add that We talked about we're on track to achieve at least the $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 of efficiencies this year, which gives This confidence in our ability to achieve the $175,000,000 we have a robust pipeline of initiatives that we're working on. So the team has Clearly, Ben, extremely focused on delivering on the initiatives that we've established, which is why we're tracking ahead. So Feel really good about where we are today and our ability to hit that $175,000,000 Speaker 700:24:18Got it. Perfect. And then Vince, I know just to maybe reiterate Our conversation from the prior call, I mean at this point, are you prepared to be flexible And how the Kentucky PSC ultimately rules on the CPCN next week. Is that something, I guess, you will be prepared to talk about right after that At EEI or we have to wait for the 4Q update? Thanks guys. Speaker 200:24:45Sure. So From a communications perspective, Shar, in very timely fashion, we'll respond to the KPSC's decision coming out what we expect would be next Monday. So you'll hear from us shortly after that. Of course, we'll see many of you all, investors and analysts at the EEI conference the week after that. So Likely, I'd be able to get into more detail there. Speaker 200:25:17And then we'll do the full business plan update incorporating all of this plus all the other Business plan refreshes on our normal that our normal cadence of the year end call. As we think about the various outcomes of the CPCN, we've talked about this before. Based on all of the testimony that's been filed, I don't see the outcome being an all or nothing situation regarding the coal plant retirements. But as we just think about the generation portfolio, I've talked about in the past that the CapEx that would be needed to run those plants safely and reliably if we do not retire them Would be in that $500,000,000 to $1,500,000,000 range, really depending on where we end up on the ELG regulations. The source of that is we have to put the maintenance capital for the Fort Cole units back in. Speaker 200:26:18That would be a couple of $100,000,000 We have a few SCRs that would have to go on some of the plants. So that's in the $300,000,000 $400,000,000 range. There's some ancillary environmental upgrades that would also need to be done to keep these plants in compliance. That's That would also need to be done to keep these plants in compliance. That's about another $100,000,000 And then the ELG regs, as I said, can be Quite a significant amount of investment, but on the low end of the range, we think the estimate there is likely around 150,000,000 Also just talked about the CCGTs and if we were to get 1 and not both, Right. Speaker 200:26:56There is some incremental CapEx there as the prices have gone up from what we had originally had in our plant. Beyond the generation portfolio though, we continue to see the need for significant grid enhancing investments in T and D, Particularly transmission and especially in Kentucky, as we've talked about in the past, the large generation So we really need to start making those T and D investments primarily transmission as soon as we can. So Once we have the decision from the commission, we can factor all of these things into ultimately What the capital plan will look like as we update it. But we feel very confident that the investment needs are there, Shar. We can finance them with the balance sheet that we have that Joe talked about, not only finance them, but finance them without equity. Speaker 200:28:01And so, it's why we're confident that we should be able to deliver our growth targets really under various scenarios that we might see next week. Speaker 700:28:11Got it. Appreciate it, Vince. That's a really good color. Thanks guys. Speaker 400:28:16Sure. Thanks, Bert. Operator00:28:19The next question comes from Angie Storozynski of Seaport. Please go ahead. Speaker 800:28:25Thank you. I only have one question about the fraudulent conveyance lawsuit from Talen. It's you guys have tried to have it dismissed. It goes back to 2014, we're talking about potentially very large amounts and just wondering if you have any comment. Speaker 200:28:55Yes, Angie, no real update since our last call. As you know, the trial date has been set for February of Next year, we're looking forward to that trial. As we've said all along, we fully believe the distribution of those proceeds were In compliance with all applicable laws and we stand ready to vigorously defend that position. So nothing Really new, it being in bankruptcy court, not surprising that some of our motions were not accepted. So not surprising there, but Still feel very confident in our case. Operator00:29:33That's good. Thank you. Speaker 200:29:36Thanks, Angie. Operator00:29:40The next question comes from Paul Zimbardo of Bank of America. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:29:46Good morning, Paul. Speaker 200:29:48Hi. Good morning, Vincent. Just to follow-up a Speaker 300:29:52little bit on the transmission opportunity side. I know you addressed Okay. Speaker 200:29:56Pretty well, but what about the eastern side of the PGM footprint? Like I Speaker 300:30:00think there was like $145,000,000 Award and just holistically if you could talk about some Speaker 200:30:06of the opportunities from Pennsylvania PGM Broadley Transmission? Thanks. Yes. We'll continue to see opportunity for transmission investments In and throughout PJM, to your point, that's an area that we think there's additional opportunity in PPL Electric Utilities, Not only supporting within our territory, but also some of the solicitations that are happening to support Constraints that are outside of our territory. And as you know, we're active in pursuing those. Speaker 200:30:45And so We'll continue to do that. To your point, I think there's additional opportunity beyond what's in the plan. We'll provide More color around that as we provide our more fulsome capital updates and update the plan. But to your point, I definitely see transmission not just in Kentucky as a real need, but also in Pennsylvania and even Rhode Island. Speaker 300:31:14Okay. Excellent. Thought so. And then another one, probably fairly obvious, but just want to check the box there. On The long term emphasis on long term refinancing for cap funding, like you're assuming kind of Speaker 200:31:27a market interest rate on those maturities for the CAGR purposes. Speaker 400:31:35We are, yes. Speaker 200:31:38Okay, awesome. Thank you, team. Sure. Thanks, Paul. Operator00:31:45The next question comes from Anthony Croudell of Mizuho. Please go ahead. Speaker 700:31:51Hey, Good morning, Vince. Good morning, Joe. Just one quick one. Talked about the RFP for offshore wind in Rhode Island. Just curious how committed the state is to offshore wind as you've noticed some other states, particularly New York seems to be balking at higher power prices. Speaker 200:32:11Yes. Look, I think New England in general, Anthony is committed, Right. Their strategy is heavily relying on offshore wind for their clean energy future. We're committed to helping certainly Rhode Island Help to achieve those goals. I think what you saw in New York was as much procedural as it is Pricing where I think the states have concerns just modifying Existing PPAs without reopening those up for a bit because You may get better pricing if you reopen them. Speaker 200:32:55So I think it's more process driven than it is just the price. Having said that, we rejected our original RFP due to price and other factors. This latest RFP that we issued, we included An upsized RFP to 1200 megawatts, which is a more efficient generation size for the Developers versus the 800 plus that we had originally went out for, we're allowing for a longer PPA term beyond 20 years. And then there's the possibility of a multi state solution with Massachusetts and Connecticut as I talked about in my remarks. So hopefully those things will be enough for the developers to bring the prices down for our customers and at a level That both we and the state will be able to accept. Speaker 200:33:50So we'll see. Speaker 700:33:52Great. That's all I had. Thanks for your time. See you in Phoenix. Speaker 200:33:56Thanks, Andy. Operator00:33:59The next question comes from Ryan Levine of Citi. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:34:05Hi, everybody. Just a quick question. In terms of the 2.3% industrial load decline in Kentucky for the quarter on a weather normalized basis, What was the driver of that? And what's your longer term outlook for industrial growth in Kentucky ahead of the CPCN decision Speaker 400:34:26Yes. Hey, Brian, it's Joe. Yes, the what you're talking about in Kentucky is That variance is really driven by 1 large steel manufacturer that's experiencing usage normalization after they saw a Large spike during COVID. So they're just normalizing back to where they had been prior to that. And you're seeing that in The year to date or the quarterly variances, as we think about longer term for Kentucky, there's been and we've talked about it a number of times, Significant economic development over the last 2 years or more really the 2021 2022 at $10,000,000,000 of economic development each year. Speaker 400:35:07The state is expecting another $8,000,000,000 this year. It's not all in our service territory, but we're seeing a good portion of it coming to our service territory. So Longer term outlook remains positive for low growth in Kentucky. Speaker 200:35:20Yes. And Ryan, generally the industrial class, especially in Kentucky, The margins are not as affected by kilowatt hours as they're predominantly driven on demand and fixed charges. So As Joe said, that was pretty much one customer driving that, but very little impact on margin. Speaker 600:35:43Appreciate the clarification. See you in Phoenix. Speaker 400:35:48Great. Thanks, Ryan. Thanks. Operator00:35:52This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Vince Sorji for any closing remarks. Speaker 200:36:02Thanks, operator, and thanks everybody for joining us today. As I said, you'll hear from us next week Following the decision from the KPSC on the CPCN and then look forward to seeing you all at EEI the following week. Thanks again for joining us. Operator00:36:21Conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation and you may now disconnect.Read moreRemove AdsPowered by