Chesapeake Utilities Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 9, 2024

There are 7 speakers on the call.

Operator

Welcome to the Chesapeake Utilities Corporation's 2nd Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. I would now like to turn the call over to Lucia Dempsey, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. This is Lucia Dempsey, Chesapeake's Head of Investor Relations, and I appreciate you joining us this morning. Today's presentation can be accessed on our website under the Investors page and Events and Presentations subsection. After our prepared remarks, we will open up the call for questions. On Slide 2, we show our typical disclaimers, while I remind you that matters discussed on this conference call may include forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

Speaker 1

Forward looking statements and projections could differ materially from our actual results. The Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements section of our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10 ks provides further information on the facts that could cause such statements to differ from our actual results. Additionally, the company evaluates its performance based on certain non GAAP measures, including adjusted gross margin, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share, and the information presented today includes the appropriate disclosures in accordance with the SEC's Regulation G. A reconciliation of these non GAAP measures to the related GAAP measures have been provided in the appendix of this presentation, our earnings release and our Q2 Form 10 Q. Here at Chesapeake Utilities, safety is our first priority.

Speaker 1

We start all meetings with a safety moment and will do so here with a safety moment on emergency preparedness as we are already in the midst of hurricane season. Our subsidiary, Florida Public Utilities, recently completed its annual hurricane preparation drill, during which our team practiced our emergency response procedures. Lessons learned in this drill have already been put to the test during Hurricane Debbie earlier this week. Our customers have experienced minimal disruptions in service and we are grateful to team members across the organization who responded efficiently to keep us operating safely. SBU overall continues to show improved reliability metrics, which can be attributed to the system strengthening work the team has done as part of the storm protection plan.

Speaker 1

This work has improved the frequency and duration of electric outages by 11.3% and 9.7%, respectively, when compared with June 2023. On an individual level, whether you live in an area impacted by hurricanes or not, being prepared for emergencies is critical. In fact, putting together a disaster supplies kit is one of the safety challenges for Chesapeake team members this quarter. FEMA recommends a personal emergency kit with food, water and supplies to last for at least 72 hours. Ready.gov has helpful guides and checklists that you can use to prepare for yourself and your loved ones.

Speaker 1

I'll now introduce our presenters today. Jeff Householder, Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide an update on our high growth service areas, capital investment plan and business transformation efforts, including the Florida City Gas integration. Beth Cooper, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Assistant Corporate Secretary, will discuss our financial results, strong balance sheet and dividend as well as earnings growth trajectory and Jim Moriarty, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Policy and Risk Officer, will review our regulatory strategy, including key project approvals and recent company awards. With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Jeff.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Lucia. Good morning and thanks to all of you joining our call today. I'll begin with Slide 5. Adjusted earnings per share this quarter was $0.86 bringing our year to date 2024 EPS to $2.96 Our results are well aligned with our expectations with strong contributions from our Florida City Gas and legacy operations offset by FCG operating expenses and financing costs. We generated adjusted gross margin of approximately $127,000,000 this quarter, a 27% increase over the Q2 of last year and adjusted net income of approximately $19,000,000 up 19% from the same period last year.

Speaker 2

Our year to date earnings performance combined with our growth expectations for the remainder of 2024 enable us to reaffirm our full year 2024 adjusted earnings per share guidance of $5.33 to $5.45 Our progress with integrating FCG coupled with our increased level of capital projects and regulatory initiatives also enable us to reaffirm our 20252028 EPS guidance. As I'll discuss in more detail shortly, our 2024 capital growth plan remains on track with $160,000,000 invested in the first half of this year and $300,000,000 to $360,000,000 expected for full year 2024. Turning to Slide 6. We operate in some of the fastest growing areas of the country, which enable us to deploy sustainable capital investments to meet the needs of growing customer demand. Customer growth remains strong in both Delmarva and Florida with each area seeing a 3.7% increase in residential customers in the Q2 of this year relative to the same period last year.

Speaker 2

We expect strong population growth to continue in our service areas. In spite of increased interest rates, we are regularly executing contracts with builders and developers for gas service to new residential developments. Customers are looking for gas service in their new homes and we expect to continue to add customers at significantly higher rates than have been typical for our industry. Cecil County is one particular example of substantial growth in our Delmarva service area. In 2018, Chesapeake began constructing natural gas distribution infrastructure in a key commercial quarter in Cecil County, Maryland, which is strategically located between Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Speaker 2

The initial distribution capacity extending from our Eastern Shore pipeline attracted a number of key businesses and distribution centers to the area, including IKEA, FedEx and Amazon, driving substantial demand for additional natural gas service and infrastructure. Since then, we've purchased the adjoining Elkton gas operation from SJI. They gave us a more local field operation and have installed at least 28 miles of gas distribution along I-ninety five to serve incremental demand growth and we used the state energy grant to extend natural gas infrastructure to support the Cecil County library as well. Cecil County is a great example of the growth we're seeing throughout our service areas as well as the critical role at Chesapeake's natural gas infrastructure investments play in our communities to drive critical economic development and job creation. The opportunity to serve significant customer growth and demand is the basis for our overall growth strategy, which in turn drives sustainable earnings growth.

Speaker 2

Over the past several years, we have been consistently focused on 3 fundamental drivers to support earnings growth as shown on Slide 7. 1st, we work hard to identify and prudently deploy capital investment in projects that align with customer demand and enable us to continue providing safe and reliable energy delivery services to support customer growth. Our capital investment plan is primarily comprised of system expansion investments to serve new customers as well as capital to support our multiple infrastructure programs that contribute to the reliability of our systems and investments in technology that support enhanced operational efficiency and customer service. 2nd, we proactively manage our regulatory agenda to support cost recovery of our capital projects. As the majority of our capital plan is aimed at serving new and existing customers in our regulated businesses, we're working closely with governmental agencies secure permitting for our capital construction projects and with federal and state regulators to ensure appropriate cost recovery for these investments, which bring safe, reliable and affordable services to customers for years to come.

Speaker 2

And Jim will go into more detail on this shortly. The 3rd and perhaps most important given our recent overall enterprise growth is continued business transformation, which focuses on our people, processes, systems and organizational structure. Our continuous improvement initiatives enable us to ensure long term success in an ever changing environment. Not only do we need to be transforming the organization given our growth, but at the same time considering and planning for where we're headed. Capital deployment is our primary growth driver and on Slide 8, you can see that we've already made significant progress toward identifying and initiating $1,300,000,000 of our 5 year capital investment plan of $1,500,000,000 to 1 $800,000,000 This includes capital for a number of ongoing initiatives and approved projects across our regulated businesses as well as approximately $80,000,000 in identified technology investments thus far.

Speaker 2

While we are fundamentally a regulated utility company, we look for opportunities to leverage our related businesses in ways that might not be possible for others. Our growth plan over the next several years includes multiple examples of our business units working together to meet the needs of customers. Our transmission businesses will continue to expand, so our distribution companies can meet increased customer supply needs. Our propane unit will grow and hold customers until our natural gas systems reach new areas. Marlin Gas Services will will increase the transport of CNG, RNG or LNG to provide market area supply to our systems, helping to meet both baseload and peaking customer needs.

Speaker 2

I would also note that all of the $1,300,000,000 of specifically identified projects on Slide 8 are related to our regulated businesses. As we make additional progress achieving our 5 year capital guidance, we will identify additional regulated and regulated investments. Slide 9 shows our progress toward our 2024 capital expenditure guidance of $300,000,000 to $360,000,000 with approximately 48% or $160,000,000 invested in the first half of this year. Our team is focused on efficiently deploying the remaining capital in 2024 on growth opportunities and business transformation initiatives across the company, including advancing multiple growth projects that provide the basis for our FCG acquisition. Slide 10 provides additional detail on the major projects that are driving nearly $300,000,000 of capital investment and over $36,000,000 of additional adjusted gross margin in 2024 2025 combined.

Speaker 2

This table now includes projects within both our Delmarva and Florida footprints. Since last quarter, we've added 7 new projects, representing nearly $11,000,000 of incremental adjusted gross margin in 2025. The first three new projects are St. Cloud, Lake Mattie and Plant City, which received PSC approval in May of this year. These Florida natural gas expansion projects represent $42,000,000 in capital expenditures and will support the significant population growth in these Central Florida communities, including the second St.

Speaker 2

Cloud expansion in less than a year. The next three new projects provide renewable natural gas or RNG transportation infrastructure in Florida's Indian River, Brevard and Miami Dade Counties, Representing a combined $46,000,000 of capital, these projects were approved by the Florida PSC last month and will benefit our customers by bringing RNG produced from local landfills into our system, while also reinforcing system reliability and sustainability. The latest addition is the Warwick extension, a transmission expansion project with an estimated capital cost of $9,000,000 This project will reinforce supply in the growing Middletown, Delaware area and enhance capacity in the southern portion of Cecil County, Maryland to meet customer demand and support future growth. The margin of these major projects reinforces our existing 2024 2025 EPS guidance ranges and I'm pleased with our team's continued execution on project development, including completing the necessary regulatory filings, obtaining regulatory approvals and constructing projects on time and on budget. Turning to Slide 11.

Speaker 2

Our 3rd fundamental growth driver is focused on continued business transformation. The FCG integration is critical here, and we remain on track with bringing the remaining transitional services in house, optimizing operations, identifying and realizing synergies and most importantly, accelerating capital investment opportunities to serve customers. We continue to implement ways to operate seamlessly as one company and our efforts to leverage our greater footprint, optimize efficiencies and invest in growth are benefiting the whole enterprise. We also are continuing our journey to transform our customer care and field services functions to achieve world class performance. Our goal is to streamline processes and drive efficiencies within many functional areas, including customer service, billing and invoicing and operational field services in an effort to provide a better overall experience for our customers.

Speaker 2

Later this month, we will go live with our SAP system implementation. The technology system is a major step to support the operational transformation we've been working toward for the last few years. We've had a number of internal cross functional teams highly engaged with SAP, IBM and others to ensure a successful launch. We'll also continue to implement technology upgrades across the enterprise, including transitioning FCG onto the SAP system next spring. And with that, I'll turn to Beth to discuss our financial results in more detail.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. It is great to be with you today. Our financial results, as shown on Slide 12 demonstrate another successful quarter with adjusted gross margin of approximately $127,000,000 up 27% from the Q2 of last year, driven by the addition of Florida City Gas as well as solid performance across all of our businesses. Operating income for the quarter increased 44% approximately $41,000,000 reflecting effective cost management initiatives that added to the strong adjusted gross margin growth. Excluding transaction and transition related expenses, operating income was up approximately $14,000,000 or 49% when compared with the Q2 of last year.

Speaker 3

As a result of our continued business optimization and collaboration efforts, we drove much of this operating income to the bottom line with adjusted net income up 19% to approximately $19,000,000 for the quarter and up 26% to approximately $66,000,000 for the first half of twenty twenty four compared with the same period in 2023. I'll now turn to Slide 13 and highlight some of the key drivers of our 2nd quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.86 Our Florida City Gas operations contributed $0.77 in adjusted EPS reflecting strong customer growth and seasonally consistent natural gas demand. Our legacy natural gas infrastructure and transmission operations generated $0.13 of incremental EPS this quarter as we continue to see consistently strong customer demand for natural gas and incremental earnings from including $0.32 of operating expenses related to Florida City Gas, dollars 0.11 of increased expenses related to payroll and related costs, insurance, depreciation and amortization and property taxes, and approximately $0.50 related to financing the Florida City Gas acquisition. Moving to Slide 14, adjusted gross margin for our regulated energy segment was approximately $103,000,000 this quarter, up 34% from the Q2 of last year. Operating income also significantly improved, up 38% to $41,000,000 excluding non recurring transaction and transition costs.

Speaker 3

This improvement was primarily driven by strong earnings contribution from Florida City Gas, organic growth in our natural gas distribution operations and incremental margins from our transmission

Speaker 4

our

Speaker 3

up 3% to $23,000,000 and operating income improving to $238,000 for the Q2 of 20 24. As we've discussed in the past, volumes for these businesses are typically lower in the second quarter due to warmer temperatures. Strong balance sheet, adequate liquidity and access to competitively priced capital is critical to support our fundamental growth driver of prudent capital deployment. To this end, we continue to execute on a financing plan consistent with an investment grade credit profile. We ended the Q2 of 2024 with an equity to total capitalization ratio of 48%, up from 47% at the end of the year 2023.

Speaker 3

We continue to target an equity to total capitalization ratio of 50% and will issue small amounts of equity over time through our existing direct stock purchase and dividend reinvestment, retirement savings and other standard equity programs, and we'll look to reestablish an ATM program at the appropriate time to move closer toward that target. We also took several steps in July August of this year to support our growth investment plan and manage our overall debt costs. First, we amended our revolving credit facility, upsizing it by $75,000,000 to a total of $450,000,000 and extending the maturity by several years. 2nd, we have entered into an interest rate swap on $50,000,000 for 5 years at a rate of 3.97%. Our liquidity also remains strong with 70% or nearly $500,000,000 of liquidity available under our revolving credit facility and private placement shelf facility.

Speaker 3

We will continue to evaluate and advance our equity to total capital ratio towards our target capital structure to ensure we remain well positioned to execute on our growth strategy over the next several years. Slide 17 shows our strong history of consistent dividend growth. Our 10 year dividend CAGR through 2024 is approximately 9%. Last quarter, we announced a significant dividend increase of $0.05 per share, representing 8.5% year over year growth. Yesterday, our Board approved the 2nd quarter dividend of $0.64 per share payable on October 7, 2024 to shareholders of record as of September 16, 2024.

Speaker 3

Our dividend is a key component of our balanced capital allocation strategy and our target payout ratio of 45% to 50% is designed to return value to shareholders while also allowing for earnings reinvestment to fund future growth capital investments. We believe this strategy enables our investors to benefit from long term top quartile earnings growth, which in turn facilitates top quartile with our 20.28 EPS guidance range reflecting a 10 year EPS CAGR of approximately 8.5%. This growth is driven by our tireless pursuit of top quartile earnings performance led by our fundamental growth pillars of prudent capital investment, proactive regulatory initiatives and continuous operational improvement. Our year to date 2024 performance is in line with our expectations and I am proud of our team's hard work thus far in the year. We have a long standing record of meeting our targets and we'll continue that trajectory.

Speaker 3

So we are reaffirming our 2024 adjusted EPS guidance of $5.33 to 5.45 dollars per share, our 2025 guidance of $6.15 to $6.35 per share and our 20 28 guidance of 7 $75 to $8 per share. Before I turn the call to Jim, I'd like to review our path to our 2024 EPS guidance as shown on Slide 19. Our confidence in achieving this guidance is driven by several key First, we expect incremental contributions from our legacy businesses to drive approximately 0.40 0 related to the acquisition financing should add roughly $0.35 to 0 point 4 opportunities of approximately $0.20 to $0.30 per share from our business transformation, regulatory and cost management initiatives across the enterprise. These factors are partially offset by dilution of about $1 per share due to the equity issuance completed to finance the Florida City Gas acquisition. The ranges provided here on this slide are consistent with the ranges we communicated last quarter and I'd like to reiterate our focus on driving shareholder value by delivering on the attractive opportunities throughout our enterprise.

Speaker 3

With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Jim. Jim?

Speaker 4

Thank you, Beth, and good morning, everyone. As Jeff discussed earlier, a proactive regulatory agenda is our 2nd fundamental growth driver, and I would like to share several updates in this area. Starting with Slide 20, we now have 11 projects representing over $150,000,000 of capital that have been approved since the Q4 of last year, demonstrating strong regulatory support for meeting customer needs through natural gas infrastructure expansions. Last month, the Florida PSC approved 3 new renewable gas transmission projects in Florida's Indian River, Brevard and Miami Dade Counties. In addition to supporting energy sustainability, these RNG projects increase gas supply and strengthen system reliability and flexibility for these growing communities.

Speaker 4

Construction also continues on schedule for our other recently approved transmission expansion projects, including build outs for new and growing Florida communities in Wildlight, Boynton Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Lake Mattie, Plant City and St. Cloud. Slide 21 provides an update on a project designed to support growth and resiliency in the Delmarva region. Our Eastern Shore Worcester resiliency upgrade or WRU, which is a liquefied natural gas storage project in Maryland. This $80,000,000 project consists of 5 low profile storage tanks that can hold up to 500,000 gallons of LNG.

Speaker 4

WRU will provide critical energy service to customers during the peak winter heating season and will protect against weather related disruptions, keeping energy prices affordable so that no one is left behind. We are anticipating FERC approval by the end of 2024 and remain on track for construction to begin in the Q1 of 2025 for an in service date in the Q3 of 2025. Our infrastructure programs detailed on Slide 22 are an important part of our service offerings and growth strategy, particularly as they are supported by regulatory mechanisms that ensure timely cost recovery. These programs include the capital cost surcharge program for the Eastern Shore system, the Safe and Guard programs for natural gas infrastructure in Florida and the storm protection plan for our Florida electric operations. In total, these programs represent over $350,000,000 of capital expenditures in the next 5 years and approximately $12,000,000 $19,000,000 of adjusted gross margin in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

Speaker 4

Turning to Slide 23, year with increased rates in Florida's natural gas operations, where we operate with allowed ROEs of 10.25 percent for Florida Public Utilities and between 8.5% 10.5% for Florida City Gas. At the start of this year, we filed for a rate increase and updated depreciation study for our combined natural gas entities in Maryland. We are pleased with the progress thus far in the case, which includes an approved depreciation study settlement for $1,200,000 in annual depreciation expense savings retroactive to January of 2023. We recently have been participating in productive settlement discussions on the remainder of the case and appreciate the constructive conversations we've had with regulators thus far. We are also moving forward with 2 additional rate cases.

Speaker 4

In May, we submitted an intent to file with the Delaware PSC for our Delaware LDCs and in June, we completed a similar filing with the Florida PSC for adjusted rates for FPU Electric. We expect to file both of those rate cases later this month. We also continue to move forward with innovative and sustainable investments, including our Full Circle Dairy RNG facility as shown on Slide 24. The facility is now in the commissioning phase and has been producing RNG for the last 2 months. We successfully completed initial injections of RNG into our system beginning in Eulie, Florida in June using the virtual pipeline capabilities of our Marlin Gas Services subsidiary.

Speaker 4

Our RNG strategy continues to evolve as the market matures. Looking ahead, we are poised to execute on opportunities that enable us to use our existing transportation services and construction expertise to provide pathways to market for RNG producers. Turning now to Slide 25, I would like to cover our sustainability initiatives and recent recognitions. We look forward to publishing our 2nd micro sustainability report during the Q3, which will focus on our environmental stewardship efforts. We are proud to share that 2 of our subsidiaries received accolades this quarter.

Speaker 4

Florida City Gas was named easiest to do business with by Escalant, a data analytics and advisory firm. We're proud to have our FCG colleagues as part of our family and we celebrate this achievement. Our propane distribution subsidiary Sharp Energy received the 2024 award for Best Gas Company by Metropolitan Magazine. This recognition reflects the reader's choice for the finest business in the Delmarva region and underscores our long standing commitment to providing our customers with high quality products and excellent service. In addition, we were honored to be named Best for Corporate Governance in the U.

Speaker 4

S. By World Finance this quarter. This marks our 2nd time being recognized with this prestigious award and is a credit to our team as well as the strong corporate governance principles and standards embedded throughout our organization. All of these recognitions confirm our significant efforts to deliver excellence and create value for our stakeholders. Making life better for our employees, customers, the communities we serve remains paramount in everything we do.

Speaker 4

With that, I will turn the call to Jeff for concluding remarks.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Jim. This year is a critical transition for us as we execute on integrating FCG, achieving our 2024 EPS and capital guidance, advancing the organization forward on multiple fronts to achieve the significant growth embedded in our 2025 EPS guidance and making significant customer focused capital investments to support our long term growth plan. I'm very pleased with our progress in these areas, including delivering financial results that remain in line with our full year expectations and represent top quartile earnings performance. Recently, we've been described as small but mighty by the financial community, And I think that description is accurate. Whether we are executing on and integrating acquisitions, achieving top quartile financial results or advancing customer focused investments.

Speaker 2

We're proud of our track record of delivering results and are focused on maintaining that record in the future. Chesapeake continues to be a special place to work and remains a unique investment opportunity marked by a significant track record of superior performance, strong opportunities for growth and top quartile long term shareholder returns. With that, we'll take your questions. Operator?

Operator

Thank you. The floor is now open for Thank you. Our first question will come from Paul Fremont with Ladenburg. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Great. Thanks and congratulations on a good quarter. I guess my first question relates to sort of the RNG investment, including maybe starting with the Full Circle Dairy. Is that a is the RNG project itself owned by Chesapeake or who is that owned by?

Speaker 2

Good morning. This is Jeff. Yes, we are owning and operating through contract the Full Circle Dairy facility.

Speaker 5

Okay. And is that a regulated investment or does that fall under sort of the non regulated category?

Speaker 2

It's a non regulated investment at this point. We actually own that facility through a subsidiary of 1 of our regulated utilities in Florida. And we are pursuing, as you may know, a variety of tariff adjustments and potentially at some point some legislative action that would allow us to move that facility into the regulated utility. And so we'll see. Obviously, we don't own the dairy farm or the cows, but we just have the digester and the lagoon and the operating facility that's processing the biogas and RNG.

Speaker 5

So I would assume that project is going to be eligible for 45 Z tax credit. Is that something that you would expect to realize over the course of the next 3 years?

Speaker 2

We would. Beth, do you want to jump in on that one? Yes.

Speaker 3

That's correct. We would that's something by us getting it constructed in the timeframe that we did, would have that tax. Yes.

Speaker 5

And is there sort of any estimate on sort of the contribution that you would expect from those tax credits?

Speaker 3

We can put that out. We've not disclosed that to date. This isn't a huge project overall, but we can come back to you, Paul, with that information.

Speaker 5

And then the other 3 that you talked about, which I think are landfill projects in Florida, those are within the regulated utility?

Speaker 2

Those are and again, we don't own the landfill obviously and we don't own the gas processing equipment even in these particular examples. What we are doing is providing the pipeline connection between the RNG processor and our distribution facilities. And in this particular case, these particular cases, all that's being done through our Peninsula Pipeline transmission business, the intrastate pipe business that we own in Florida. But we are moving that gas from the processor through Peninsula Pipeline into our distribution facilities.

Speaker 3

And so Paul, what Jeff said, You can think about this not dissimilarly to what we did with the project in Ohio with the fire where we picked up gas at a landfill and we actually moved it through a fire system. That's the same thing Peninsula Pipeline is going to

Speaker 1

do with these 3 projects.

Speaker 5

Great. And then my last question, I think has to do with you're at a 48% equity ratio now. What how should we think about the timing to get to your targeted 50%?

Speaker 3

We are looking to do that over the next year to year and a half to move back there. Certainly, we will look at the market. We've been monitoring that relative to interest rates and where our equity is in regards to kind of the market transaction, we transaction, we didn't expect to be moving as quickly as we have already being at 48% 6 months after the transaction. So you'll consider you'll still see us move pretty quickly as long as the market cooperates.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3

Thank you.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Operator

We will take our next question from Tate Sullivan with Maxim Group. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hi, thanks. Jeff, following up on the renewable natural gas supply projects. I mean, in the adjusted gross margin table for 25, estimating 5 $500,000 incremental contribution. So are all three of those projects in Florida City Gas territory? And are these the first RNG projects in those service in FSG's FCG's service territory?

Speaker 2

They all are in Florida City Gas' service territory. And I believe they are the first renewable natural gas connections that FCG is doing. And there's no existing processing equipment at the landfills and is the project timeline for all 3 roughly a year or so based on the table? There are no processing facilities that would convert the biogas into renewable natural gas with a standard that would meet our requirements for pipeline injection. At this point.

Speaker 2

They're in the process. These are 3 independent processing companies that are engaged in this and they are in the process of building those facilities. And they probably do come on, I can get you the exact dates, but they are give or take about a year out. We'll probably have some of the pipeline facilities in place a little before then.

Speaker 6

Is it and then also all 3 involved supply pipeline extensions to the landfills themselves. Is that correct?

Speaker 2

That's correct. We're building those, as I mentioned, through our Peninsula Pipeline intrastate transmission business in Florida and they'll interconnect from the processor at the landfill back into the FCG distribution system.

Speaker 6

Is this quite a scalable opportunity in Florida? I mean, was the regulated body receptive to these projects? And I mean it seems like it could be duplicated across landfills? Yes.

Speaker 2

I mean we will certainly look at that. The regulator did approve the 3 pipeline expansions on PPC serving into our affiliate, FCG and anytime we can find that kind of the situation and the economics make sense on the pipeline expansion then we're certainly up for that. And we have other opportunities, I think, to engage our Marlin CNG business in transporting that gas if it doesn't make economic sense to build a pipeline.

Speaker 6

Great. Very impressive. Okay. Thank you very much. Sure.

Speaker 3

Thanks.

Operator

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll turn the call back over to Jeff Hasholder for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you. We appreciate you joining us this morning and we certainly appreciate your continued interest in Chesapeake Utilities and we'll speak with you soon. Goodbye.

Operator

Thank you. And this concludes Chesapeake Utilities Corporation's Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Please disconnect your line at this time and have a wonderful day.

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