Chris Sotos
Analyst · Bank of America. Your line is open
Thank you. Good morning and my first thank you for taking the time to join today’s call. Joining me this morning are Akil Marsh, Senior Manager of Investor Relations; Chad Plotkin, our Chief Financial Officer; and Craig Cornelius, President and CEO of Clearway Energy Group. Craig will be available for the Q&A portion of our presentation. Before we begin, I’d like to quickly note that today’s discussion will contain forward-looking statements, which are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. Actual results may differ materially. Please review the Safe Harbor in today’s presentation as well as the risk factors in our SEC filings. In addition, we will refer to both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. For information regarding our non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, please refer to today’s presentation. Turning to Page 4, 2021 was a historic year for Clearway Energy. From an operational performance and CAFD generation standpoint, we exceeded our objectives for the year. We also deployed approximately $820 million into accretive growth projects, while our sponsor made significant strides in expanding its development portfolio, which will help drive our future growth. We materially reduced the risk in our natural gas portfolio with new contracts. Finally, Clearway Energy announced the sale of our thermal business at a very attractive multiple. As a result of all these efforts, Clearway enters 2022 with unprecedented flexibility. This flexibility provides Clearway with the longest visible runway for dividend per share growth in its history with $750 million of net proceeds remaining for capital deployment after the thermal sale. In summary, we are very well-positioned for 2022 and beyond. For 2021, our CAFD generation performed well with full year CAFD of $336 million, ahead of our guidance. Clearway also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend by 2% or $1.3872 per share on an annualized basis. The sale of our thermal business is on track with anticipated closing in the second quarter. We are also increasing the amount of capital – of remaining capital as a result of the sale from $680 million to now $750 million. This was primarily due to a recent change in California law, where prior suspension and the company’s ability to utilize state NOLs in 2022, was reversed. For 2022, taking into account the sale of thermal and our current committed growth commitments, we are on track for $385 million of pro forma CAFD translating into $1.90 per share, with $520 million out of the $600 million in capital commitments already funded. Moving forward, CWEN is working to deploy the $750 million of remaining capital to drive CAFD and dividend per share. And working with our Clearway Energy Group colleagues, we have line of sight to a minimum of $250 million or roughly a third of this capital being allocated to the next drop-down with Clearway Energy Group’s development pipeline growing to 19 gigawatts. This $250 million of capital deployment we view as a floor that would potentially be increased dependent on what climate and clean energy tax provisions working their way through Congress are ultimately passed. With the full deployment of the $750 million of remaining capital, Clearway will be able to drive CAFD per share to over $2.15 on a long-term basis. Clearway is also announcing a goal in 2050 of net zero DSG emissions. The ownership of our long-term contracted clean energy assets is at the heart of what Clearway does everyday and represents the significant majority of our CAFD and EBITDA generation going forward as well as a platform for future accretive renewable growth through drop-downs from our sponsor or through opportunistic third-party M&A. However, we thought it was important to formally state our Board-approved long-term goal around climate change and our emissions given our natural gas holdings. As a leader in the clean energy transition, Clearway is well-positioned for 2022 and beyond to achieve the upper range of its long-term 5% to 8% DPS growth target through 2026. Turning to Page 5, this provides a roadmap for anticipated CAFD growth utilizing the now $750 million of remaining capital resulting from the thermal sale. Starting on the left side of the page the $385 million or $1.90 CAFD per share takes into account the disposition of thermal as well as the committed growth investments. The next column indicates the anticipated CAFD on our next drop-down from our sponsor with an anticipated minimum capital requirement of $250 million at an average 8% to 9% CAFD yield. Due to this drop-down, we now have line of sight to deployment of a third of the remaining proceeds from the sale of thermal. As discussed on previous calls, Clearway is always focused on efficiency of capital deployment with an emphasis on accretive growth. We are continuing to work to commit the remaining $500 million of thermal sale proceeds to accretive growth investments, driving CAFD on a long-term basis to approximately $440 million and CAFD per share to $2.15 or greater dependent on CAFD yield. In this process, we remain focused on meeting our underwriting criteria. If we cannot meet this criteria we retain the option to evaluate other means of capital allocation, including returns to shareholders. Page 6 provides an illustration of our environmental footprint. Clearway Energy has one of the lowest GHG intensities in the U.S. power sector, driven by 5.2 gigawatts of net pound renewable generation. As a result, approximately 91% of our electricity megawatt hours in 2021 were from renewable generation. This number should increase in the future as the size of our renewable fleet grows through investment in our sponsor’s 19 gigawatt renewable development pipeline as well as third-party acquisitions. This renewable footprint also provides the vast majority of Clearway’s economic value, with 75% of our pro forma CAFD and 82% of our pro forma adjusted EBITDA coming from renewables after accounting for the thermal sale. As we discussed over the years, Clearway views its gas fleet as essential for the transition to renewable energy of California’s electricity generation. Our natural gas assets are predominantly peaking assets that help ensure the grid’s reliability during periods of high demand and for electric grids with high penetrations of renewables. Our California gas has its characteristics of being fast start, efficient and load pockets are critical to providing electricity during periods in which renewable generation maybe waning. As I mentioned earlier, the Board has approved a net-zero GHG emission target by 2050, aligned with the Paris climate agreement. Taken together, Clearway is a leader in clean energy and a premier investment opportunity in the energy transition space. With that, I will turn it over to Chad. Chad?