Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.
Please consider a small donation if you think this website provides you with relevant information
| Statement |
|---|
| And as one Exelon, we are building from a strong foundation |
| It gives us the confidence to execute on forward-looking planning to manage the pace of investment for the energy transformation and ensure the reliability that all customers deserve and rightly expect |
| And the plan reflects the upside from continuing to execute on the grid plan, but also the ability to pull back |
| First, we are pleased to share that final results for 2023 exceeded the midpoint of our narrowed guidance, delivering $2.38 per share of operating earnings, or almost 6% growth off of last year's guidance midpoint |
| Throughout the year, we benefited from a higher earned ROE at ComEd, primarily due to rising treasury rates, impacting ComEd's distribution ROE as well as favorable depreciation of PECO relative to expectations |
| As I said, Julien, I'm so proud of the team and the commitments made and commitments kept, right? And we will continue to do that |
| And beyond our industry-leading size and scale, we are also one of the best operators in this sector, providing a world-class customer experience for reliability at very competitive rates |
| The best ever performance at ComEd and Pepco Holdings speaks to the high quality of our workforce and our efforts to attract, engage and retain talent |
| And we continue to deliver on what we have here, and I'm so proud of the BGE and PECO, Pepco team -- and Delmarva teams |
| Customer satisfaction almost universally improved in the fourth quarter with ComEd rising into the first quartile |
| The increased revenue requirement will support its smart meter rollout, its EV smart program for easy and cost-efficient charger installation, and other investments to maintain safety and reliability, as well as improved service for our customers in New Jersey |
| Support for the investment plan was very strong, up through the administrative law judge's proposed order |
| With our dividend yield at 4.5% and a 5% to 7% annualized earnings growth rate that we have a strong conviction in achieving, we are offering investors total shareholder returns in the 9.5% to 11.5% range and extremely attracted risk-adjusted proposition |
| We have been setting the bar for operational performance for years and our ability to invest to support that performance is backed by strong forward-looking and predictable regulatory mechanisms |
| Exelon's transmission rate base growth recovered through FERC formula rate provides a stable and predictable financial profile |
| One way to ensure sustainability of our capital growth profile is to continue delivering superior value as efficiently as possible to our customers and communities |
| So proud of the performance that we delivered in 2023, and I know we're just getting started |
| These benefits, coupled with our ability to manage our plans across the platform, allowed us to mitigate nearly $140 million of weather and storm challenges relative to prior year, along with the labor strike in New Jersey that occurred late in the year, driving contracting costs up year-over-year |
| And as a result of the significant increase in investment, we have included in our four-year projections incremental equity of $1.3 billion, which represents approximately 40% of the net incremental capital and ensures we maintain a strong balance sheet as we lead the energy transformation |
| Our history of steady cost discipline, while delivering a premier experience for our customers has positioned us very well, as you can see in the chart on the right |
| Both moves are a testament to the unparalleled bench strength that Exelon enjoys |
| Lastly, we executed on a busy regulatory calendar, setting a rate case -- settling a rate case at ACE concluding another successful multiyear plan for BGE's electric and gas customers that aligns on an appropriate investment strategy for the next three years, and making substantial progress in our Delmarva Power electric rate case and Pepco multiyear plans |
| We also made significant progress in our efforts to maximize value for our customers, institutionalizing a permanent team to discover and execute on opportunities to deliver industry-leading operational excellence for our customers at lower cost, which you'll hear more about from Jeanne |
| Exelon's investment in grid modernization has enabled an approximate 40% increase in reliability performance across the platform, whether based on outage frequency or outage duration, while maintaining average electric rates 17% below the top 20 metropolitan cities in the United States |
| We were very active and extremely successful in securing grants enabled by the infrastructure, investment and Jobs Act, securing close to $200 million in awards to support grid resiliency and modernization, at BGE, PECO and ComEd that will make our jurisdictions progress on their energy goals more affordable and equitable |
| As our consolidated spend profile has shifted more towards transmission, the cash generated from these longer-dated investments is expected to follow the earnings largely beyond the guidance period and further strengthen our credit metrics over time |
| Third, we are standardizing storm response protocol to increase rolled transparency and accountability and emergency events, mitigating cost risk and improving restoration performance in the future |
| As Calvin noted, we delivered strong financial results for the second year in a row despite the historically mild weather impacting our non-decoupled jurisdictions |
| We continue to expect there will be transmission opportunity across our service territories, associated with the same drivers underpinning these projects, high-density, localized load growth, traditional fossil fuel plant retirements increased renewables, not to mention from our extremely well-positioned footprint on the Mid-Atlantic Coast for offshore wind interconnection |
| We executed as promised on our strategy to maintain a healthy and strong balance sheet |
| Statement |
|---|
| As we talked about, while we completed our ComEd rate case, it was a disappointing outcome for all parties |
| Last, we received an order in ComEd's first multiyear rate plan, and it was a disappointing outcome |
| The lower growth outlook from what we previously laid out is not a decision we took lightly, but as a result of the challenging rate case outcomes and decelerated piece of investment in Illinois |
| First, the order failed to recognize the financial cost of ComEd's investment, despite nation-leading reliability and low customer rates |
| Outright rejection of the grid plan, the challenging financial support for our net distribution investment in the December order, and uncertainty around the amount of spend ComEd will be able to recover has caused us to dramatically reduce the originally planned level of distribution investment in Illinois this year |
| It is in no one's interest, particularly those in the Illinois communities we serve and live in for the state to lose further ground in its opportunity to lead the energy transformation and forgo significant economic opportunity |
| The uncertainty in Illinois will further cause volatile quarterly earnings shaping in 2024, both due to the significant rework of ComEd's operational plan in 2024, as well as due to the fact of the prospects for the rehearing and revised grid plan processes to impact ComEd expected revenue requirements |
| And as both Jeanne and I expressed, disappointment with the outcome |
| But I think overall, a settlement in principle on the rate case, I think, is unlikely |
| It adopted a significantly below average ROE, refused to reflect in rates the prudent share of equity and removed any return on our pension asset despite that asset delivering over $1 billion in customer and counting |
| But while we are disappointed, we are not deterred |
| However, we expect to maintain an annualized growth rate of approximately 2% through 2027, a below inflation level that is expected to result in – to our customers over $400 million lower than they otherwise would have been |
| Our OSHA performance was lacking in 2023 and we remain highly focused on understanding and correcting drivers of underperformance at each of our utility operating companies |
| Compared to our last update, the reduction in expected year-over-year earnings growth is driven solely by the December 14th rate order issued by the Illinois Commerce Commission and ComEd multiyear rate plan |
| As I will discuss later, around our long-term outlook, our guidance has accounted for the possibility that substantially more capital is removed from the plan as a result of the process, despite significant broad-reaching support for our investment strategy |
| Even with the process in Illinois remaining uncertain, our earnings growth guidance is resilient and account for the possibility that limited progress is made in Illinois, and we need to significantly reduce investment in common distribution further |
| So I want to acknowledge before I ask my question, that there is upside to the unit process, but I wanted to spend a minute on, Jeanne, I think what you talked about is the downside to the forecast and the risks in Illinois versus the plan |
| I mean, both the electric and gas guys have throttled investments and they've laid off workers |
| Across ComEd, PECO and PHI, over 500,000 customers were impacted, and it takes investment |
| In addition, despite below average returns we are receiving at ComEd, we continue to expect to realize a consolidated ROE in the 9% to 10% range |
Please consider a small donation if you think this website provides you with relevant information