Robert Durian
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at Alliant Energy
Thanks Lisa. Good morning, everyone. Yesterday we announced second quarter 2024 GAAP earnings of $0.34 per share and ongoing earnings of $0.57 per share. The difference between these two amounts relates to non-recurring charges from legacy assets that were recorded in the second quarter of 2024, which are excluded from our ongoing earnings. First, based on the terms of IPL's rate review settlement agreement executed in the second quarter, we currently expect to recover a return of the remaining net book value of the Lansing Generating Station, but not earn a return on that asset in the future. Because we no longer expect to receive a full return on the asset, we were required to write down the asset in the second quarter, resulting in an after-tax charge of $0.17 per share that we disclosed in an 8-K filed in June. Second, due to the EPA's recent enactment of the revised coal combustion residual rule, we remeasured our asset retirement obligations related to ash ponds and landfills in the second quarter. A majority of the increase in asset retirement obligations was offset to regulatory assets and property in our balance sheet. The remaining amount, related to a portion of two generating stations utilized to serve our steam customers, resulted in an after-tax charge of $0.06 per share. IPL has two high-pressure steam customers under contract through 2025, after which time IPL expects to end its steam operation.
The coal combustion residual rule is expected to be challenged. We believe we are very well positioned for compliance whether the rule withstands the challenge or not. The quarter over quarter variances in our ongoing earnings per share were mainly driven by the successful execution of WPL's customer focused capital investment program, which supported new electric and gas rates that took effect on January 1, and resulted in higher financing and depreciation expenses. In addition, the second quarter 2024 results were impacted by the temporary effects of the timing of income tax expense.
To assist you in modeling our quarterly earnings this year, I wanted to provide some additional context to the timing of income tax expense. Income tax expense is recorded each quarter based on an estimated annual effective tax rate, and the proportion of full year earnings generated each quarter, as shown and quantified on slide 7 of our supplemental slides. This causes fluctuations in the amount of tax expenses quarter over quarter, but it will not have an impact on our full year earnings. To reiterate, the level of our annual tax benefits expected to be generated in 2024 are in line with our expectations. However, the percentage recognized each quarter is a function of the amount of earnings generated each quarter.
Through the first half of this year, approximately 40% of our annual tax benefits have been accrued, setting us up for a larger benefit in the second half of the year, which drives the timing difference for the quarter.
Temperature normalized electric sales to residential customers were higher in the first half of 2024 when compared to last year, as we continue to experience solid growth in the number of new residential customers in both states. However, these positive residential sales were offset by decreased electric sales in 2024 to a limited number of low-margin industrial customers with their own generation capabilities in Iowa.
We continue to make progress with lowering operating expenses at our two utilities to achieve our financial objectives and support customer affordability. In fact, our adjusted operations and maintenance expenses for the first half of 2024 were approximately $20 million less than the first half of 2023. These positive results are due to the ongoing efforts by our employees to identify and execute initiatives that have resulted in meaningful reductions in operating expenses. For the full year, we are reaffirming our ongoing earnings guidance of $2.99 to $3.13 per share, which excludes the two non-reoccurring charges I discussed earlier. Details on our second quarter earnings drivers and 2024 full earnings guidance can be found on slides 5 and 6.
Turning to cash flows, during the first half of 2024, cash flows from operations increased by approximately $250 million when compared to last year. These strong cash flows demonstrate the strength of our ongoing business. The increased cash flows were primarily due to WPLs electric gas rate increases, which were effective January 1 of this year, the successful execution of our tax credit monetization program, and improvements in working capital.
Looking forward, we expect continued improvements in our cash flow metrics as a result of the aforementioned drivers. Through the first seven months of this year, we have monetized over $130 million in tax credits. The strength of our renewable fleet in both Iowa and Wisconsin positions us well for generating significant tax credits and ensuring our customers and investors realize the value of these investments.
We have executed a substantial portion of our 2024 financing plan to fund our investments in renewable and battery projects and to support refinancing $800 million in debt maturities this year. In addition to successful debt issuances in the first quarter, we issued $375 million of long-term debt at Alliant Energy finance in June. Our overall financing plan for 2024 remains unchanged, including one remaining planned financing for up to $700 million of long-term debt at IPL, in part to refinance $500 million in debt that matures in December.
In the second quarter of 2024, we also closed on the sales of 125 megawatts of our West Riverside natural gas facility, providing proceeds which will help reduce our external financing requirements. The sales of these partial interests in West Riverside were anticipated in our plans and providing combined proceeds of $123 million.
Shifting to our regulatory initiatives, we continue to make good progress on our notable regulatory initiatives for 2024 shown on slide 8. Lisa provided the highlights of IPL's rate review settlement agreement executed in the second quarter. The hearing for the rate review was completed in July, and the final order is currently expected from the Iowa Utilities Commission in August or September.
We are also making progress with several key regulatory proceedings in Wisconsin. Last month, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved a reconciliation of actual fuel costs to the authorized fuel recoveries in WPL's 2023 fuel cost plan. Per the order, WPL will refund $34 million to its Wisconsin electric customers in the fourth quarter of this year, helping lower customer bills.
Continuing with our Wisconsin jurisdiction, we have two filings requesting authority for additional investments in existing generation stations that are pending decisions from the PSCW. Enhancements to the Riverside generation station and the proposed repowering of the Bent Tree Wind facility. We expect decisions from the PSCW on these two filings in 2025.
We appreciate your continued support of our company, and look forward to meeting with many of you in the coming months. As always, our investor relations materials are available on our website. At this time, I'll turn the call back over to John for his closing remarks.
