Jim Piro
Analyst · Ladenburg Thalmann
Thank you, Lucia. Good morning and thank you for joining us. Welcome to Portland General Electric’s second quarter earnings call. As presented on slide four, we recorded net income of $35 million or $0.43 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2014, compared with a net loss of $22 million or $0.29 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2013. PGE continues to demonstrate strong operational performance across the company in 2014. Construction of our three new generating resources is proceeding on time and on budget. Our 2015 general rate case is progressing on schedule and we are affirming our full year 2014 earnings guidance of $2.05 to $2.20 per diluted share. Now for an operational update on slide five. The first half of this year, our generating plants operated as planned, with PGE’s generation availability at 89%. We continued to maintain top quartile system reliability metrics, and our national rankings for customer satisfaction are top quartile for residential customers, along with top decile for general business and key customers. Last week, we announced that we have begun exchanging 70,000 residential meters in our service area that do not meet PGE’s safety standards. Work is to be completed by the end of October and we currently expect to capitalize the majority of the replacement cost. As recently reported by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, PGE’s renewal book program in 2013 enrolled more customers, and sold more green power than any of the utility program in the nation. We’re proud of our commitment to generating renewable energy and providing our customers with sustainable power options. In 2014, we continue to focus on safe and efficient operations to leveraging new technology and refining our business processes. We are preparing for the implementation phase of our transmission and distribution transformation project, which includes deployment of the Maximo work management system across our distribution line operations. Now for an update on the economy and our customers. Turning to slide six. Our operating area continues to show signs of economic growth and new development. In particular, our customer count is up 1%, new connects are 25% year-over-year and we continue to see expansion in multi-family construction and high-tech. Employment indicators also continue to be positive. Oregon’s unemployment rate was 6.8% in June, unchanged since February and below the unemployment rate of 7.8% a year ago. Unemployment in Oregon has remained below the 7% mark for five consecutive months, and is the lowest since August 2008. As recently reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Oregon’s real GDP grew 2.7% in 2013 driven by the high-tech’s sector’s contribution to the state output. The unemployment rate in our service area has dropped to 6% from 6.7% a year ago, and employment in our service area grew at an annualized rate of 2.4% this past quarter, when compared to a year ago. As a result of these positive signs, we are maintaining our forecast for weather adjusted load growth of approximately 1%, over 2013 weather adjusted results which excludes our one large paper customer. This forecast is net of approximately 1.5% of energy efficiency based on the energy trust of Oregon’s projected programmatic efficiency savings for 2014. Now let me update you on our construction of our new generating resources. Through June 30th, we have invested $755 million, excluding AFDC in these resources, and I’m pleased to report that all three projects continue to be on time and on budget. Slide seven provides a detail on Port Westward Unit 2, a 220 megawatt natural gas fuel capacity plant under construction next to our existing port Westward plant, in Clatskanie, Oregon. With all 12 engines installed and the cooling tower completed, initial testing will begin later this summer. We expect the full plant to be operational in the first quarter of 2015, with total capital costs estimated to be $300million excluding AFDC. Turn to slide eight, we have provided detail on Tucannon River Wind Farm, a 267 megawatt wind farm located in Southeastern Washington. Now entering their peak construction period, the turbine foundations are complete, and turbine installation has begun. As of last week, components for 38 turbines are now on sight and nine are fully erected. We expect Tucannon River to be online between December of this year and the end of first quarter 2015. Upcoming work includes continued delivery of turbine components to the site, and erection of the wind turbines, followed by turbine testing. Estimated total capital costs continue to be about $500 million, excluding AFDC. Lastly, slide nine summarizes the Carty Generating Station, 440 megawatt base-load natural gas fuel plant that is being constructed our existing Boardman plant. Point of the foundations gas and steam and turbines is progressing smoothly, and the installation of the heat recovery steam generator will begin shortly. The plan is expected to be operational in mid-2016, with a total capital cost estimate of $450 million, excluding AFDC. Slide 10 provides a summary of the company’s five year capital expenditure forecast. The new generating projects are expected to result in an average rate base increase of 1.2 billion. We expect this growth, along with base business capital expenditures to lead to an average rate base of approximately 4.5 billion in 2017. Now for a regulatory update. In February, we filed a new general rate case for 2015 test year, requesting an overall revenue increase of $81million, based on a 10% ROE capital structure of 50%, debt and 50% equity, and rate base of 3.9 billion. The primary focus of this general rate case is cost recovery of Port Westward Unit 2 and Tucannon River Wind Farm that are both expected to go into service by the first quarter of 2015. The case is progressing as schedule, with several rounds of settlement discussions over the last two months. We expect a final order from the commission by the end of the year for a prize increase effective in the early 2015. Now I’d like to turn the call over to Jim Lobdell, who will discuss our financial results for the second quarter and provide more detail on the 2015 general rate case.