Greetings and welcome to the Ameren Corporation's Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Andrew Kirk, Director of Investor Relations for Ameren Corporation. Thank you. Mr. Kirk, you may begin.

Thank you, and good morning. On the call with me today are Warner Baxter, our Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer; and Michael Moehn, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; as well as other members of the Ameren management team joining remotely. Warner and Michael will discuss our earnings results and guidance as well as provide a business update. Then, we will open the call for questions. Before we begin, let me cover a few administrative details. This call contains time-sensitive data that's accurate only as of the date of today's live broadcast and redistribution of this broadcast is prohibited. To assist with our call this morning, we have posted a presentation on the AmerenInvestors.com homepage that will be referenced by our speakers. As noted on page 2 of the presentation, comments made during this conference call may contain statements that are commonly referred to as forward-looking statements. Such statements include those about future expectations, beliefs, plans, strategies, objectives, events, conditions, and financial performance. We caution you that various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. For additional information concerning these factors, please read the forward-looking statements section in the news release we issued yesterday, and the forward-looking statements and risk factors sections in our filings with the SEC. Lastly, all per share earnings amounts discussed during today's presentation, including earnings guidance are presented on a diluted basis unless otherwise noted. Now, here's Warner.

Thanks, Andrew. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Before I jump into our discussion of third quarter results, another key business manners, I'll start with a few comments on COVID-19. So, again, I hope you, your families, and colleagues are safe and healthy during this challenging time. While COVID-19 has driven a great deal of change, I can assure you that one thing that remains constant in Ameren is our strong commitment to the safety of our co-workers, customers, and communities. So, too, is our strong focus on delivering safe, reliable, cleaner, and affordable electric and natural gas service during this unprecedented time. We recognize that millions of customers in Missouri and Illinois are depending on us. I can't express enough appreciation to my co-workers who have shown great agility, innovation, determination and a keen focus on safety while delivering on our mission to power the quality of life. We continue to carefully monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our electric sales, liquidity, and supply chain. To date, these impacts have been manageable and are largely in line with our expectations. In addition, our team continues to successfully execute our strategy across the entire business. Looking ahead, we'll remain focus on executing our strategy including employing our strong safety practices as well as continued exercise financial discipline to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. At the same time, we will look to capitalize on key opportunities that we have identified during the last several months including benefits we are realizing from our digital investments and other efficiencies in our operations. Turning now to page 4 for an update on third quarter results and 2020 earnings guidance. Yesterday, we announced third quarter 2020 earnings of $1.47 per share compared to $1.47 per share earned in 2019. A summary of…

Thanks, Warner, and good morning, everyone. Turning now to page 13 of our presentation. Yesterday we reported third quarter 2020 earnings of $1.47 per share compared to earnings of $1.47 per share for the year-ago quarter. The key factors by segment that drove the year-over-year results are highlighted on this page. Ameren Transmission and Ameren Illinois Natural Gas earnings were up $0.03 and $0.02 per share, respectively, reflecting increased infrastructure investments. In Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution earnings increased $0.01 per share, reflecting increased infrastructure and energy efficiency investments, partially offset by a lower expected allowed of return on equity under (00:22:28) performance-based ratemaking. Ameren Missouri, our largest segment, reported earnings that declined $0.02 per share compared to the prior year. The comparison was primarily driven by a lower electric sales of $0.08 per share due to both milder than normal temperatures in the third quarter compared to warmer than normal temperatures in the previous year, as well as lower weather-normalized sales, primarily due to impacts of COVID-19. Ameren Missouri's earnings also reflected lower MEEIA performance incentives of $0.03 per share compared to the year-ago period. These unfavorable factors were partially offset by new electric service rates effective April 1, which increased earnings by $0.08 per share compared to the year-ago period, as well as lower operations and maintenance expenses reflecting a disciplined cost management, which increased earnings by $0.04 per share. And finally, Ameren Parent and Other results decreased $0.04 per share, primarily due to the timing of income tax expense, which is not expected to impact full year earnings and increased interest expense resulting from higher long-term debt outstanding. Moving now to page 14 of our presentation, I'd like to briefly touch on key drivers impacting our 2020 earnings guidance. As Warner stated, we narrowed our 2020 earnings guidance…

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. We ask that you please limit your time to one question and one follow-up as necessary. Our first question comes from line of Jeremy Tonet with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question.

Hi. Good morning.

Good morning, Jeremy. Good morning. How are you doing?

Great. Thank you.

Terrific.

Just want to dig in on 2021 a little bit more if I could and would you be able to provide any additional color on the sales outlook across different sectors; residential, commercial, industrial in your 2021 earnings considerations? And what local trends are you seeing and how do you expect these trends to change over 2021 with COVID recovery? And then lastly, are there any additional considerations for your gas versus electric operations under continued COVID impact?

Yeah. So, Jeremy, so, lot to unpack there. Clearly, Michael laid out some of the trends that we have seen in 2020, and now obviously, we've talked a little bit about 2021 in the past. So, Michael, why don't you maybe touch on some of those trends? And then we can sort of look at the gas business and sort of the second part of that question.

Yeah. Good morning. Appreciate the question. Yeah, look, we did lay out quite a bit of detail, obviously, onto2020, and we continue to, I think, track pretty well with where we expected things to come out as we talked about the beginning of the year. I think for the most part, it's coming in about where we expected. The mix is a little bit different. As you think about 2021, I mean, we're doing a lot of different scenarios, Jeremy, and we're thinking about how this recovery is going to continue. And we are obviously modeling a recovery to continue into 2021, and we're looking hard within each of those sectors. And obviously, you've seen the strong piece on the residential side, industrial, it's come back for the most part. Commercial is the area we're spending a lot of time on just really trying to understand what that impact will be for retail, et cetera. So, we haven't, obviously, provided what we're going to exactly see for 2021 because we want to really see where 2020 continues to finish out here. Being really thoughtful about it, I mean, I – to be honest, I'm not seeing a lot of scenarios where we would gain all of that back; I mean, I'll be honest about that. But we clearly do continue to see the recovery continue in place. Now, all of that is premised on the fact that we wouldn't go back to any sort of shelter-in-place orders. And for the most part, where we're impacted by earnings here in Missouri, we're pretty well opened up. I mean, you do have certain sectors operating at some limited capacity, restaurants or retail, those kind of things. And so, we're assuming that some of that continues to come back. But again, all that's premised on the fact that we wouldn't have any significant sort of shelter in place at the moment.

Yeah. Michael, I think that's a great summary. So, I think Michael summed it up well. We continue to see really pretty much what we expected at the outset. We expected a modest recovery over time, and that's what we're seeing. And we'll get more guidance, of course, when we come out in our February conference call with regard to 2021 and beyond, so we'll be able to give you some more perspectives. You asked about the gas business. And so, keep in mind, the – our big gas business. We have a small gas business in Missouri, but the big gas business is in Illinois, and that's decoupled. And so, when you think in terms of COVID-19, the implications there are really nonexistent in terms of the overall impacts on sales and margins and the like.

Yeah. That's exactly right, Warner. I mean, we are decoupled for the residential and small noncommercial customer in Illinois, which is probably about 90% of the margin over there, Jeremy. So that's probably the – really the way to think about that for 2021.

Got it. That's very helpful. Thank you. And maybe just pivoting a bit over to the Missouri rate cases and what are the primary drivers of the timing of the Missouri rate cases here? And do you expect to incorporate any IRP elements in the electric filing around the plant retirements, and are there any notable test year differences under a first half 2021 filing versus filing now?

Yeah, Jeremy. So, this is Warner. Look, I think that we'll be able to provide a lot more detail when we ultimately file the rate case. But as we've said before when we think about filing this next rate review, we're going to be mindful of the fact that we have some big wind generation projects, right, renewable wind generation projects that we expect to be substantially in-service by the end of the year. And so, that's clearly a driver, always an opportunity to true up for costs and sales. Those will, obviously, be drivers as well. But to say there'll be any significant variations at this point in time, it'd be premature. Marty and his team are diligently putting together that rate review. And as we said, we'll put together in the first half of next year. And so, I really think the best thing to say is that, obviously, the wind generation is a big portion of it, as well as the Smart Energy Plan, right? I keep and (00:37:16) not lose focus on the fact that we're making significant investments in Missouri. So, those will be some key drivers to be looking towards, and we'll be able to give you a better update when we file that plan sometime in the first half of next year.

Got it. That's helpful. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thanks, Jeremy. Have a good day.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Durgesh Chopra with Evercore ISI. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Hey. Good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my question. I'm sorry I didn't realize I was in mute. Maybe – you guys talked about sort of you're going to be cautious and disciplined including some of those incremental CapEx on the Q4 call. Perhaps what are – between now and Q4 sort of what goes into that consideration of including that CapEx (00:38:11)? Is there something incremental on the IRP that you're going to hear (00:38:14)? Just any thoughts or color around that would be appreciated.

Sure. Sure. So, this is Warner, again. Look, as we've said in the past, we'll be thoughtful in terms of when we include new renewable generation projects, things from the Integrated Resource Plan into our long-term CapEx and look at (00:38:34) a variety of factors. And certainly, one important matter that we'll be mindful of is that Marty and his team, they've issued an RFP for the wind and solar projects. And so, that's already out there. So, well, not only we filed (00:38:46) the IRP, but we're taking steps to execute elements of that plan. And of course, an RFP and our ability to assess those projects from that RFP will be one important consideration that we'll look at. And, of course, there are regulatory factors. It's always – we want to be thoughtful in terms of when we do these things, looking at the nature of the projects, the regulatory approvals that would be required, all those things go into our determination of when we actually put it in there. But as I said at the outset, one thing is clear, is that the opportunities from our Integrated Resource Plan are significant, and there are $3 billion through 2030. And so, Michael, any other thing that you would add to that?

(00:39:25), that's a great summary, I think, of the IRP itself. I mean, I think of just the normal kind of budgeting and stuff, the updates that we'll do in the February timeframe, we go through that process obviously throughout the year. We continue to look at capital allocation issues. And so, it'll be the normal updates just in the course of the business that we run through. And so, you certainly should expect to see that. And that's typically when we do that in that February call as well.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

That's great. And maybe just a quick follow-up. Could you comment on sort of how much room do you have (00:39:58)? I mean, that's sort of something that you've routinely talked with investors about, and how does the IRP plan fit in to that?

Yeah. Perfect, appreciate that question. Really what we've said in the past, I think you were referring to the 2.85% cap that was built in the Senate Bill 564. Really, there's only two things that have occurred. And again, that's a CAGR over that 2017 through 2023 time period. Two things have happened since that legislation was passed. We had the – obviously, the federal tax reduction that occurred in 2019 (00:40:30). We're able to keep half of that for purposes of that calculation. And then we just obviously concluded this last rate review, which was another 1% decrease. So we haven't specifically said exactly how much headroom, but to give you a sense that both of those things have been rate decreases. You've got the 2.85% CAGR, so it gives you hopefully an idea of what kind of headroom we have today.

Great. Thanks, guys. Appreciate the time.

Sure.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Julien, how are you doing?

Hey, good morning. It's actually Darius Lazney (00:41:11) on for Julien. How are you?

I'm doing terrific. How are you doing?

Doing well. Thanks. I just wanted to quickly touch on your 2020 guidance. As I've looked at your drivers relative to the Q2 update, it looks like you're expecting an incrementally higher ROE in Illinois and it looks like your Q4 COVID impact, once you back out the Q3 impact, looks like that's gotten a little bit better by about a penny. So, can you maybe just help us understand a little bit better what drove the reduction by a nickel at the high end?

Yeah. I mean, really, I think if you think about the reduction of the nickel, I mean, so, if you go to – through 9.30% (00:41:56), we're down about $0.04, obviously, on weather. We've had a number of COVID impacts there. You can see about $0.17 or so along with that. And as we thought about it, we've offset a lot of those COVID impacts, obviously, with some disciplined cost management on the O&M side. And really, it's about adjusting that down by a couple of cents on the weather piece of that, really, is what drove that decision.

Okay, great. Thank you. And if I could just touch on the dividend briefly. You mentioned in your remarks earlier, you guys – it sounds like you have a little bit of latitude relative to your 55% to 70% range. So, I know future decisions are obviously subject to board approval, but how should we think about future increases in the payout relative to the payout range and also to your 6% to 8% EPS CAGR?

Yeah. And I appreciate – this is Warner again. Clearly, the dividend is an important area of focus for our board of directors. And we've been clear all along that we target our dividend payout ratio of 55% to 70%. And so, as you know, over the last several years that we've allocated a great deal of our capital to rate-based growth, which has obviously driven strong earnings per share growth, which that couple with our solid dividend has really delivered really strong total shareholder returns. So at the same time, I think, as you pointed out, we've seen that dividend payout ratio now come lower down our overall range. And so, that factor coupled with our strong earnings per share growth expectations of 6% to 8% really positions us well for future dividend growth. Now, I can't ultimately predict that, but the point is that we try to execute our strategy and position ourselves for a solid dividend growth and perhaps even a greater dividend growth in the future. And so you saw our board of directors just increased it to 4% just recently. I think that's evidence of their belief on our overall strategic plan and their confidence in it. And so, we'll continue to visit that going forward, but that does just give us an opportunity certainly when you look at those metrics to continue to grow that dividend.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Sure.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Paul Patterson with Glenrock Associates. Please proceed with your question.

Hello, Paul. How are you?

Thank you (44:25). All right. I'm managing. A busy day today. So, in terms of Illinois, legislatively speaking, do you expect anything to happen in this abbreviated session here? Would you switch to clean energy or the formula rate stuff that you put forward and what have you? I mean, do you see anything legislatively significantly happening?

Yeah.

(44:52)?

Yeah. So, Paul, this is Warner. So, yeah, and I said in the talking points, we do not expect comprehensive energy legislation to be addressed in the veto session which is coming up. They obviously have two sessions scheduled in November and December for certain days. So, we do not see that at this point. Of course, we can't certainly predict that. But as we sit here now, we do not see comprehensive legislation on really any of those fronts being addressed in the veto session at this time.

Okay. And then just to clarify, it looks to me that you're – although you're lowering the top end of the guidance for this year, your growth rate is still off of the midpoint of your original guidance of 2020, correct?

Yeah.

That's the way to think about it. Absolutely. This is Michael.

Awesome. Thanks, guys.

Sure, Paul. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Sophie Karp with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.

Hi. Good morning.

Good morning.

This is – good morning. This is Sangita for Sophie. Thanks for taking my question.

Absolutely.

Just to follow-up on the Illinois legislature question. Can you tell us when they do come back full time and if you have a sense of when they may decide to pick up this piece of legislation?

Well, so, we laid out on the talking points the specific dates for the veto session. And...

Yeah.

...and there's a thing called a lame duck session. There's been no specific dates for them to set that. That would be sometime in January. So, whether they have that remains to be seen. That's ultimately up to the Speaker and the President and the Senate. So, no specific dates. But one of the things getting to the second part of your question is when might they take it up. I've learned long ago not to handicap, not just legislative proposals or when legislation ultimately be taken up. I would just say this, that there – stakeholders are absolutely engaged on energy legislation in a lot of various forms including the Downstate Clean Energy Affordability Act, right? That is continuing to be a topic of conversation, as well as comprehensive energy legislation to address items and issues that are being addressed up in the northern part of the state. And, obviously, we're very focused on things that are new in the southern part of the state. So because of that, I do expect energy legislation to be a topic of discussion in the next session, but I certainly can't predict when and what form it'll take at this time. All I can say is that Richard Mark and his team are advocating for the Downstate Clean Energy Affordability Act for all of the right reasons because we believe it will deliver a significant value for our customers, certainly for the state of Illinois. And we believe, too, it'll continue to deliver long-term value for not just customers, but also for shareholders. So, stay tuned.

Oh, thanks for that. And then, if I can follow up with just one more. Can you tell us what the timeline looks like for the Missouri IRP approval since that'll give us some kind of an indication on CapEx (48:11)?

Sure. A couple of things around that. I know Marty Lyons is on the line, he can jump into some of the specifics. But there is no set time period with regard to the Integrated Resource Plan. History has shown that it's usually all addressed within sort of one year of the filing. And, I think, last time, it was around nine months when it was all said and done. And so, remember, too, the Commission, when they go through this, they really approve the overall process and what we go through in terms of putting together the Integrated Resource Plan. They don't necessarily go through and approve specific elements or projects contained within that plan. And so, the process has been started. Filings have been made. And then, Marty, I'll let you come on in if there's any other specific details around that. But, again, the Commission doesn't have a set time period, but history has shown it's usually done within 9 to 12 months. Marty, do you have anything to add from that?

Warner, that's all accurate. I would say that once we file the IRP, there's opportunities for others, other stakeholders to comment on their perspectives and any deficiencies they see. The Commission at its option can have a hearing to discuss those matters that others bring up and ultimately will provide some perspective on the IRP. But typically, what the Commission does is just identifies whether there were any deficiencies or not. It's not necessarily an approval of the IRP itself or an endorsement of the IRP. So, with all that said, the other thing I would simply mention is in our prepared remarks, we mentioned that we have already issued a request for proposal relating to projects that we would plan to do in accordance with our preferred plan. And we're not precluded from moving forward with negotiating or announcing or filing for certificate of convenience and need with the Commission. There's nothing that precludes us from taking any of those steps before the Commission actually rules on the Integrated Resource Plan in the way that I mentioned.

Great. Thanks. Thank you so much and that was very helpful.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Levi with HITE Hedge. Please proceed with your question.

Hey, guys. How are you doing?

Good morning. How are you (50:56)?

Terrific. How are you doing?

I'm doing well.

That's terrific.

Actually, I think I'm all set. I think Paul already asked my questions. But just to clarify, so the 5% delta from your guidance, we shouldn't carry that into 2021. There's really no effect from that as far as the midpoint or what was going to be your base or anything like that. It's all kind of weather related and kind of one time, I wouldn't say (51:31) one-time stuff, but you don't extend (51:32) stuff that you can – that will come back in 2021.

You got it, Andy. I think you said 5%, but $0.05, yeah, is – yeah.

I said $0.05. Yeah.

Yeah. So, anyway, so...

Andy, you made my knees buckle when you said 5% Let's be clear, (51:52), it's $0.05.

Did I say that? I apologize (51:55).

No. no. No worries. But you're thinking about the right way in terms of the jump-off point, so.

Okay. Great. Thank you very much.

Sure. Thank you, Andy.

Thank you. Our next question comes from line of Insoo Kim with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning, Insoo. How are you? Insoo Kim - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC: Thank you (52:16). Good. Good morning. Just one question from me. Can you just give us the latest update on the appeals process for the, I think, the judge's ruling last year on the Labadie and Rush Island plants and whether we expect any updates before the end of the year?

Sure. Insoo, this is Warner again. We have filed our briefs with the appellate courts, obviously, putting forth what we believe are very strong arguments. And so, really, where things are at today is that we're waiting for the court to schedule oral arguments. And we're still hopeful to have those scheduled by the end of the year. So, that's – it's going through the normal process. Of course, there are no specific timeframe that the court has to act or to take specific action. But – so, we'll wait to hear the schedule, and it's still possible to have them still by the end of the year. Insoo Kim - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC: Got it. And if the decision – the appeals process is going against you, then what are procedurally the next steps that you're considering? And given these plants in your IRP, at least, I know you've outlined some of the retirement dates and this could potentially require you to take other actions, like what are some of the thought processes there?

So, I think, Insoo – and I'm just making sure it's a little bit garbled here. In terms of – is your specific question, as a result of the court's decision how much time might that change? Is that what your question was in terms of our IRP? Insoo Kim - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC: Not necessarily IRP. But if the appeals process doesn't go your way, what are the next steps and just thought processes around given the remaining rate base of the plants, what your thought process around the plants will be?

Sure. Look, if – as I said, we strongly believe we have a great case. But having said that, if things go against what we think is the appropriate answer, then we'll do what we always do. We'll step back. We'll take a look at what we believe our next steps are. It depends on the specific actions and things that the court says, of course. And then, we'll take a look and determine what we think, is the – in the best long-term interest of our customers and certainly our shareholders. So, it'd be premature to speculate just exactly where that might head. Insoo Kim - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC: Understood. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Insoo.

Take care.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Line of David Paz with Wolfe Research. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning, David. How are you?

Yeah. Good morning, Warner. How are you doing?

I'm terrific. Thank you.

Great. Just one follow-up question maybe. Assuming you were to own the 1.2 gigawatts of renewables under your preferred option in the IRP, and I think those are projected to be online by year-end 2025...

Correct.

...do you anticipate that to be – have an upward bias on your EPS growth target or will that CapEx – renewables CapEx push out or displace other nonrenewables CapEx in that 2024, 2025 period? Thanks.

Yeah. Hey, David. This is Michael. Probably won't be a terribly satisfactory answer. But I mean, I think – look, we're probably a bit premature to speculate on that. I mean, it's something that we will be very thoughtful about and we'll take a number of things under consideration when you look at it just in terms of what the overall rate impact is, the timing of it. I mean, hopefully, we'll be able to give us some additional color on that in February as Warner talked about. I mean, we don't want to get ahead of just the regulatory process there. But we'll be very thoughtful about it, but it's probably a bit premature to answer that.

Okay. Understand. Thank you.

Thanks, David.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our time allowed for questions. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Kirk for any final comments.

Yeah. Thank you for participating in this call. A replay of this call will be available for one year on our website. If you have questions, you may call the contacts listed on our earnings release. Financial inquiries should be directed to me, Andrew Kirk. Media should call Brad Brown. Again, thank you for your interest in Ameren. We look forward to visiting with you at our EEI meetings next week. Until then, have a great day.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.