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| Statement |
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| The lessons we learned from Uri and the resulting investments we've made in our system, including added storage capacity, system reinforcements and diversifying our gas supply portfolio have enhanced our system reliability |
| Switching to an update on commercial activity, we added over 23,000 new connections in 2023, continuing the healthy customer growth we have seen over the past 10 years |
| We've also invested in our workforce, allowing us to achieve excellence in both capital execution and safety, leading to six consecutive years of recognition by the American Gas Association for having the lowest rate of significant injuries amongst our peers, with service territories that continue to benefit from population in migration, focused economic development and access to affordable energy |
| We also continued to secure new business and again, ended the year with a solid backlog of future meter sets |
| We've experienced remarkable growth in the 10 years since our spin-off from ONEOK, including the addition of 230,000 new customer meters, installing over 6,000 miles of new pipe across our system and doubling our earnings per share |
| Our balance sheet remains strong |
| We've deployed best practices and lessons learned over our 118 year history to enhance our system, support customer growth and reliably deliver natural gas that our customers depend on |
| As Chris noted, we've utilized forward sales to derisk our equity needs and have maintained a strong balance sheet, giving us flexibility to fund the business |
| Our success is made possible by the commitment of each one of our 3,900 coworkers, and I'm grateful for their dedication to serving our customers |
| We look forward to building upon our strong track record in the years and decades to come |
| We again delivered earnings and capital execution as projected in our guidance, despite the challenges posed by macroeconomic conditions |
| Fourth quarter revenues reflect an increase of $15.6 million from new rates and $1.9 million from continued growth in our customer base |
| Moving on to operations, we finished strong in 2023 with capital execution |
| This performance is a testament to the focus of our coworkers and to the investments we've made following Winter Storm Uri three years ago |
| In fact, we exceeded our previous peak day volumes in the Austin metro area that were established during Winter Storm Uri |
| We're fortunate to operate in a region where people value natural gas, desire our services and we are prepared to meet the demand created by our growing service territory |
| As Sid noted, we met our net income and EPS targets for the year despite volatile macroeconomic conditions |
| Fourth quarter O&M expenses were 6.6% higher than the fourth quarter last year, continuing the moderating trend we experienced throughout 2023, as the benefits of our in-sourcing efforts have begun to bear fruit |
| I want to sincerely thank our coworkers in the field, at our customer service centers, and those who support the work they do, for their dedication to safety and to ensure that our customers were taken care of throughout the winter storm event |
| We completed over $725 million worth of capital investment projects over the year with approximately $175 million dedicated to serving our growing customer base, and $525 million invested in increasing the safety and reliability of our system |
| Have a great day |
| We expect this trend to continue, and as a reminder, project operating expenses to grow by approximately 5% per year through 2028 |
| In January, the ONE Gas Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.66 per share, an increase of $0.01 from the prior quarter |
| It's a privilege to work alongside them every day |
| Our teams also fulfilled our service commitment as we faced Winter Storm Gerri last month |
| We took advantage of the decline in interest rates in December to issue $300 million of 5.1% senior notes due April 2029 |
| And so we look to take advantage of that if it proves true |
| Curtis Dinan Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone |
| As we have discussed on the past several calls, the growth is occurring in step with economic development in all three states, and we expect it to continue |
| Sid McAnnally Thank you both |
| Statement |
|---|
| There's the prospect obviously, that rates may come down later in the year based on the pivot by the Federal Reserve in December |
| We experienced limited outages affecting only 200 customers with service restored to most within hours, and did not have any vehicular accidents or severe injuries |
| Although weather across our service territories in the fourth quarter was approximately 17% warmer than the prior year and 13% warmer than normal, the impact of earnings was not material due to our weather normalization mechanisms |
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