Brian Savoy
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Duke Energy
Thanks, Harry, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide eight. We had a strong second quarter, with reported and adjusted earnings per share of $1.13 and $1.18, respectively. This is up from adjusted earnings per share of $0.91 in the second quarter last year. Within the segments, Electric Utilities and Infrastructure was up $0.34. Growth was driven by rate increases in riders, higher sales volumes and warmer-than-normal weather across our service territories, which is a complete reversal of the extremely mild weather in the second quarter of 2023, partially offsetting these items were higher interest expense and depreciation. Moving to Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, results were down $0.02 compared to last year as favorable rider revenue was offset by higher interest expense and depreciation. And finally, the other segment was down $0.05, primarily due to higher interest expense.
Turning to slide nine. I'd like to take a moment to discuss our earnings profile for the remainder of the year. As a reminder, last year had an atypical earnings shape with record mild weather in the first half of the year, which was mitigated with agility measures in the second half. With that in mind, the strong performance we've demonstrated so far this year is aligned with our planning assumptions. I'm incredibly proud for the team. We're delivering an impressive first half and we are on track to achieve full-year results within our guidance range.
Turning to slide 10. We were pleased to see weather normal volumes increase 1.9% versus last year, in line with our full-year projection. Customer growth remains robust, led by the Carolinas and Florida, which grew 2.4% through the first half of the year. We're also encouraged to see improving residential usage across our jurisdictions. Commercial and industrial volumes were up over 1% versus last year, driven by strength in the commercial sector. Commercial sales volumes have exceeded our projections through the first half, offsetting a slower rebound in industrial sales. As economic development projects continue to come online throughout the second half of the year, we expect C&I load growth to accelerate. We operate in some of the most attractive jurisdictions for both economic development and customer migration, which provide conviction in our 2% load growth forecast in 2024 and 1.5% to 2% load growth CAGR over the five-year planning horizon.
Turning to slide 11. We are forecasting unprecedented growth in power demand from advanced manufacturing projects across multiple sectors as well as data centers. As we evaluate which economic development opportunities to include in our forecast, it's important to remember that we take a risk adjusted approach. We utilize discrete project level analysis to evaluate and probability weight potential opportunities, resulting in a subset of projects being included in our current projections. We have a robust pipeline of projects that continue to progress and will be reflected in our plans when the projects mature. This pipeline provides a runway for growth well into the future.
We are committed to serving this new load in a way that prioritizes reliability and affordability for all our customers. To that end, we recently executed MOUs with Google, Microsoft, Nucor and Amazon to explore tailored solutions to meet large scale energy needs and develop rate structures to lower the long-term cost of investing in clean energy technologies. These voluntary programs, which are subject to commission approval, would be open to any large customer and would include protections for non-participating customers. We look forward to continued collaboration with all stakeholders as we work to meet the accelerating demand in our service territories.
Turning to slide 12. We recognize the importance of a strong balance sheet as we advance our strategic priorities and fund investments that will be foundational to our growth. We are on track to achieve 14% FFO to debt by the end of this year, which represents 100 basis points of cushion to our Moody's downgrade threshold. Our constructive regulatory outcomes combined with the collection of remaining deferred fuel balances, monetization of tax credits and programmatic equity issuances provide clear line of sight to achieving our target. As disclosed in February, we expect to issue $500 million of common equity annually over the five-year plan via our DRIP and ATM programs. We've completed over half of our $500 million target, having priced $285 million year-to-date. We've also completed approximately 80% of our planned long-term debt issuances for 2024. As we've demonstrated over many years, our commitment to our current credit ratings and a strong balance sheet is unwavering and will continue to be a top priority as we execute our growth objectives.
Moving to slide 13. We remain confident in delivering our 2024 earnings guidance range of $5.85 to $6.10 and growth of 5% to 7% through 2028. We operate in constructive growing jurisdictions and the fundamentals of our business are stronger than ever. We are well positioned to achieve our growth targets, which combined with our attractive dividend yield provide a compelling risk adjusted return for shareholders.
With that, we'll open the line for your questions.
