Emera Stock

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Emera Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference call over to Dave Bezanson, please go ahead.

Thank you, Jenny, and thank you all for joining us this morning for Emera's Third Quarter 2026 Conference Call and live webcast. Emera's third quarter earnings release was distributed this morning via Newswire and the financial statements, management's discussion and analysis and the presentation being referenced on this call are available on our website at emera.com. Joining me for this morning's call are Scott Belfort, Emera's President and Chief Executive Officer; Jared Green, Emera's Chief Financial Officer; and other members of Emera's management team. .

Before we begin, I'd like to advise you that this morning's discussion will include forward-looking information, which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slide. Today's discussion and presentation will also include references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the appendix for reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP financial measure. Unless otherwise specified, all financial information referenced is in Canadian dollars. And now I will turn things over to Scott.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. This morning, we reported third quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.85, bringing year-to-date adjusted EPS to $2.90. That is modestly below last year's very strong performance. But importantly, we remain on track to deliver compound adjusted EPS growth above our 5% to 7% growth target range in 2026. And we remain committed to our longer-term EPS guidance through 2030.

In the quarter, our Board of Directors approved a 1% dividend increase, marking our 20th consecutive year of annual increases. That track record reflects the strength of our business, but also the discipline and expertise we've built in allocating capital. investing where we see the best opportunities and recycling capital when that makes sense. That approach has supported consistent earnings and cash flow growth and continue to create value for both customers and shareholders.

In addition to our financial results today, we're introducing a 5-year, $21.5 billion capital plan, approximately $1.1 billion or 5% higher than the plan we shared last year. This is Emera's stand-alone capital plan and does not include the proposed merger with Canadian Utilities announced last month. Our $21.5 billion plan reflects the significant opportunities that we continue to see across our regulated utilities and are confident in our ability to execute. We expect the plan to drive rate base growth of 7.5% to 8.5% through 2031, up from the 7% to 8% rate base growth in our previous plan.

At its core, this is a plan focused on customers. About 3/4 of our investment plan is directed to reliability and resiliency, strengthening and modernizing the system customers depend on every day. We're also investing to support customer growth and in renewable generation that can help provide greater predictability in customer costs over the long term. Florida continues to be the largest driver of our capital plan, where approximately 82% of our planned capital will be invested. We continue to see strong fundamentals in the state including a strong and growing economy and population.

Our investments are responding directly to that growth while strengthening and modernizing the grid, hardening the system against storms and ensuring we continue to deliver safe and reliable service. And as we invest, affordability remains front and center. We need to make the investments required to support growth and maintain safe and reliable systems while being thoughtful about what these investments mean for customer bills. That means prioritizing the investments that matter most, pacing them appropriately and delivering them as efficiently as we can.

Tafelectric is a good example of this approach in Acton. Since we acquired business in 2016, we've invested to serve a growing customer base and strengthen the system. At the same time, customer bill increases have remained below the national average. That doesn't happen by accident. It reflects disciplined investment choices and execution and a continued focus on finding ways to deliver more value for customers. In fact, the combination of Tampa Electric's recent rate reduction of approximately 12% in August, combined with a further 1.4% reduction in January with benefit of lower-than-expected fuel costs.

Tampa Electric rates are now approximately 25% below the national average. The circumstances are different in Nova Scotia, but our focus on affordability is the same. We need to support growth in the process, strengthen the system against increasingly severe weather and help advance the province transition away from coal. And as we do that, we continue to look for ways to reduce the cost impact to customers. To that end, we're working to securitize approximately $1 billion of costs including those associated with certain thermal assets being retired as part of the energy transition.

By accessing lower cost financing, if approved by the Note Energy Board, we expect securitization to save customers approximately $265 million over the 30-year repayment period. These are different markets with different needs, but the approach is consistent and best where it's needed, manage costs carefully and find innovative ways to deliver better outcome for customers. Our updated capital plan gives us strong visibility into growth across the business.

This new plan results in 7.5% to 8.5% consolidated rate base growth through 2031 with our Florida utilities expected to deliver closer to 9%. We have a strong track record of delivering. This year alone, we're on pace to invest approximately $4 billion across the business, the largest annual capital plan in our history. We're excited about the investments we're making for the benefit of our customers across our portfolio of companies.

At Tampa Electric, in addition to significant investments to strengthen the grid, the modernization of Big Bend Unit 4 will use existing infrastructure to add approximately 720 megawatts of highly efficient generation capacity. It's a practical cost-effective way to add capacity and improve reliability as demand continues to grow. Construction is expected to begin in 2027 with the facility targeted to be fully operational in 2032.

At Peoples Gas, we plan to invest approximately $1 billion to support customer growth building the infrastructure needed to serve expanding residential and commercial opportunities across Florida through 2031. In Nova Scotia, we're making important reliability investments to prepare the grid for the provinces clean energy transition. That includes the deployment of grid stabilizing scenes condensers at 5 sites across the province, which will enable and critically support the significant new wind generation in service and plan in the province.

None of these projects are, of course, possible with other people. Across Emera, our teams are planning, designing, building, and operating critical infrastructure every day, safely and reliably. Their expertise and execution are what gives us the confidence to take on a capital program of this scale. We're also making progress on several important regulatory matters across our business and seeing important economic growth drivers.

In Florida, we continue to see significant momentum around data center demand. Tampa Electric filed its proposed large load tariff on September 30, designed to accommodate up to 1,000 megawatts of large Leman along with a second proposed formula rate for demand beyond that initial 1,000 megawatts. Importantly, the framework is designed to ensure that these new customers pay the costs required to serve them while protecting existing customers. The filing has been very well received by stakeholders to date, and we expect a decision early next year.

At the same time, the data center pipeline continues to advance. Tampa Electric has now completed complex system impact studies for approximately 1,300 megawatts of potential demand with commercial discussions across these projects at various stages. We're encouraged by that progress and with a number of other data center discussions underway, Tampa Electric is working towards signing a contract by year-end for the first 350 megawatts for the Auburndale Technology Center that was announced by Hillwood Corporation earlier this week, put these opportunities into perspective, each additional 100 megawatts represents approximately 2% growth in system demand.

We're also seeing opportunities emerge in Nova Scotia. The recently announced potential data center development in Nova Scotia is a good example. It's still early, but the interest itself is encouraging and speaks to the potential for new economic growth in the province while the ultimate impact to customers and to the utility will depend upon how the tariff is an approved by the regulator, which certainly will include ensuring these large load customers pay their own way -- we believe this growth has the potential for it to deliver meaningful benefit to customers.

Just as importantly, large customers can help support investments in the system and spread costs across a broader customer base. Our focus is on supporting the province in its efforts to grow and attract new investments by investing where necessary to provide the reliable energy projects like this proposed data center will need to succeed in the province. And finally, as I mentioned earlier, Nova Scotia Power held its application on October 9 for a financing order to securitize approximately $1 billion of costs. The Nova Scotia Energy Board has 60 days from filing on October 9 to issue its decision.

I'd like to take a moment to talk about the proposed merger between Emera and Canadian Utilities that was announced a month ago. At its core, this combination is about positioning us for the growth ahead. Across North America, demand for energy is increasing, and significant investment will be needed to strengthen and modernize infrastructure, improve resilience and support economic development while keeping affordability front and center for customers. These investments are becoming increasingly large and complex.

Together, Emera and Canadian Utilities will be better positioned to meet that opportunity. We're bringing together 2 best-in-class teams with strong operating capabilities and a track record of investing and executing at scale. We'll be able to learn from each other, bring our combined expertise to a broader set of opportunities and have greater financial and operating capacity to invest in growth. The combination is also expected to strengthen our financial position and support credit a stronger credit profile and lower cost of capital.

All of that positions the combined company to compete for and deliver more of the infrastructure investment that we see ahead. One of the things that makes this combination so compelling is the strength of our 2 largest jurisdictions, Florida and Alberta. We've talked for years about what makes Florida such an attractive place to invest, strong population and economic growth, constructive regulation and significant infrastructure needs. Well, we see many of those same fundamentals in Alberta. It has a constructive regulatory environment. Equally strong economic growth, stronger population growth, and significant investment opportunity ahead to support the provinces expanding energy and industrial economy.

This isn't about creating one growth story for another. It's about bringing two very strong growth platforms together. -- giving the combined company significant exposure to two of the most attractive utility growth markets in North America. Alberta is central to Canada's economy and particularly its energy future. growth in energy production, industrial development, LNG, petrochemicals, large load customers and broader infrastructure modernization is creating significant demand for the utility infrastructure that supports that growth.

When we acquired TECO in 2016, we saw strong fundamentals and significant opportunity for long-term investment. Since then, we've invested along Colorada's growth, strengthen the business and created meaningful value for customers and shareholders. We see a similar opportunity in bringing Canadian Utilities and Emera together, different businesses and different markets, but the same fundamental opportunity, strong jurisdictions, growing customer needs and the ability to invest and execute discipline over the longer term.

In terms of next steps, we expect the transaction to close in Q3 or Q4 2027 or earlier, given the strong progress of positive response we've seen since the deal was announced. The application for the most significant regulatory filing with the Alberta Utilities Commission was submitted on October '27, with a decision requested by the end of April 2027. All additional regulatory requirements have either been filed already or expected to be submitted by end of 2026.

A joint information circular is expected late in the year or in early January, followed by a special meeting of each company shareholders expected to be held in early 2027. We're very pleased with the progress made to date and expended to see this transformative transaction advance.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Jared.

Thank you, Scott, and thank you to all of you for joining us here. This morning, we reported year-to-date adjusted earnings of $887 million, up $9 million over last year. And as Scott noted, adjusted earnings per share of $2.90. Third quarter adjusted earnings were $260 million or $0.85 per share, representing a modest 3% decrease year-over-year. Earnings for the first 9 months of the year also contributed to a 7% increase in operating cash flows, excluding working capital compared to the same period last year.

We continue to make meaningful progress in strengthening our credit profile. Moody's recently lowered our downgrade threshold from 12% to 11%, reflecting their view of the better business risk profile post the New Mexico gas sale and on a pro forma basis, once we close the Canadian Utilities transaction. We remain on track to achieve a 12% CFO to debt metric by the end of the year. as a result of the progress we've made growing cash flow, reducing leverage and strengthening our balance sheet.

Fitch has indicated that following the close of the Canadian Utilities transaction, they will revise their leverage threshold from 6.0 to 6.4x, reflecting its view of the combined company's lower business risk. Taken together, these developments reinforce the progress we've made and continue to make on the balance sheet and give us greater financial flexibility as we execute our growth plans. Turning to the highlights of our individual operating company's third quarter results.

At Tampa Electric, earnings were largely in line with the third quarter of last year. Higher revenues from new base rates and customer growth were offset by the impact of the FPSC approved settlement for changes to depreciation rates at Bayside Power Station, along with the fuel cost recovery reduction. The revised depreciation rates are expected to reduce annual depreciation expense by approximately USD 20 million. As a part of the settlement agreement, Tampa Electric agreed to reduce 2026 fuel clause recovery by USD 10 million, which was recognized in Q3 of 2026.

Peoples Gas delivered strong results in the third quarter, reflecting new rates that took effect on January 1, favorable market conditions that drove higher off-system sales. These gains were partially offset by lower earnings at New Mexico Gas primarily due to higher operating expenses prior to the transaction closing mid-quarter. In the Canadian Electric segment, Nova Scotia Power delivered higher earnings, reflecting new base rates that went into effect earlier this year as well as higher residential sales volumes and lower interest expenses. This was partially offset by higher operating costs.

From a financing perspective, Q3 was a quieter quarter with much of our financing needs wrapped up in the first half of the year. The focus for the rest of 2026 will be on the securitization process in Nova Scotia Power and a financing at Tampa Electric to support their ongoing capital plan investment needs. As Scott mentioned, we are still on track for a solid year and to achieve our compound annual EPS growth of 5% to 7% through 2030. We will be rolling forward our EPS guidance when we release our annual results on the Q4 call in February.

Also, as Scott mentioned earlier, our updated 5-year capital plan includes more than $1 billion of incremental investment compared to the plan we shared here. Importantly, despite the increase in capital, our funding strategy remains largely unchanged. Cash flow from operations continued to be our largest source of funding and we expect it to fund 45% to 50% of our CAP requirements over the planning period. Our operating companies will continue to access debt markets consistent with their approved regulatory capital structures representing approximately 30% to 35% of our total funding requirements.

Equity will continue to play a small role in our funding plan. We expect our DRIP and ATM programs to fund 10% to 15% of capital requirements averaging approximately $600 million annually, with issuances weighted towards the 2027 through 2029 period as capital investment increases. We are no longer focusing proceeds from asset sales in this plan, as once the securitization process is complete by the end of 2026, we will have completed this component of our funding strategy.

We also continue to see value in hybrid capital as part of our balanced funding strategy. Following successful hybrid issuances in 2025 and 2026, we expect hybrids to fund 5% to 7% of our requirements, reflecting their efficient 50-50 debt equity treatment from the rating agencies. Overall, we have a balanced and diversified funding plan that supports our increased capital investment while maintaining our focus on balance sheet strength and credit quality.

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Scott for closing remarks.

Thank you, Jared. And before closing, I want to take a moment to thank Vivek Sood for his leadership of NSP and I was GoshPower over the past year and to recognize Chris Smith, who officially stepped into the role of President and CEO of Nova Scotia Power earlier this week. Chris knows the business extremely well. have been part of the Nova Scotia Power leadership team since 2017, and he brings deep utility and energy experience to the role. .

I have a great deal of confidence in Chris and the broader leadership team as they continue the important work underway to strengthen reliability manage costs for customers and position the business for the future. As we look ahead, we're in a strong position. We're delivering strong results, executing a $21.5 billion capital plan with clear visibility to long-term growth and continuing to invest in the needs of customers. We believe the combination with Canadian Utilities positions us even better for that opportunity ahead. It brings together 2 strong businesses anchored in Florida and Alberta with the scale, expertise and financial strength to invest and grow over the long term.

Most importantly, we have experienced teams with a proven ability to execute. That gives us confidence in our ability to continue delivering for customers and creating long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you. And we'll now open the call for questions.

[Operator Instructions] and your first question is from Maurice Choy from RBC Capital Markets.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Scott, I appreciate your comments sharing the similar elements in Alberta and Florida. Obviously, the market covers in terms of the attractiveness of Florida. So I wonder if you could just dive a little bit deeper into this and share where you think there are elements where Alberta may perhaps be superior to Florida?

Yes. Thanks for the question, Maurice. And it's interesting. And we thought it was important to share that sort of side-by-side contrast of the 2 jurisdictions. And you're right, there is there is a lot of similarities. Of course, I think the unique advantage in Alberta, and you heard me say it in my comments, but I mean it really is the driver in many ways of the economy in Canada, particularly today with an energy-focused agenda that is obviously important to the national agenda, but certainly to the provincial one and so we're just seeing a significant amount of industrial-driven growth in that, of course, connected to the oil and gas economy there, but that growth and the infrastructure that is needed to support it, some of which falls directly into the line of sight and opportunity for Canadian utilities with its important gas and electric businesses there.

But because that growth, we're also seeing, as you saw, a very strong population growth, which is also driving and expected to continue to drive strong growth from a residential perspective for those utilities. So we really are quite excited about this and the opportunity for Canadian Utilities to be very additive to the strong growth profile that we've enjoyed and continue to demonstrate and look forward to continue to supporting and investing in the growth in Florida. But now as I said in the remarks, now we can add to that with a growth opportunity, a significant growth opportunity with the business in this strong economy of Alberta.

And my second question is a two-pronged question, which thematically is meant to surround the [indiscernible] derisking. In your CapEx plan, the CapEx obviously goes up by about 5%, I think. But the percentage in terms of the funding from Trip and ATM has gone to $600 million a year versus $400 million in the past plan. So just curious what is driving that. And another element of derisking here is the PBR framework that's been proposed in Nova Scotia, -- your thoughts on when that helps you is what do you think is driving that suggestion from the government?

Sure. So let me start with the second question, and then Jared can get back to your first one. So I think PVR is being looked at by the province as an opportunity to connect performance of the utility to its financial performance to connect operating performance and financial performance. And it was -- there's many PVR jurisdictions that work just fine, including, frankly, in Alberta and other places. So the regulator is going to go through and review this. That doesn't mean that the province is committed to putting this into place, but they're committed to understanding it better and seeing what it would look like.

And importantly, within the legislation that the regulator is now responding to it recognizes and anchor this point, it really is important. It recognizes the importance of the utility earning a fair return in the financial health of the utility, which, of course, is fundamental within regulatory compacts, including the one in Nova Scotia. And on that latter aspect has admittedly been a little more challenging for Nova Scotia Power over the last few years. So we're looking forward to working with the regulator and the interveners to explore PBR to see as to whether that does create a better framework moving forward to manage the cost aspects of energy for its customers, which, of course, is a challenge. And in Nova Scotia as much as anywhere, but also one that provides the opportunity for the utility to maintain its financial health and earn a fair return on its capital.

Jared, do you want to address the first question?

Sounds good, Scott. And so for this question, Maurice, probably the most direct largest piece of that would be this plan doesn't have any asset sales in it. So while the percentage for equity being slightly higher, we are not having kind of almost equity anyways from the asset sales going out. So as you did note, the increase in the dollar amount of the equity is funding portion of this incremental growth. But then with the plan, we don't require asset sales as we're going forward.

And the last part, I'd say for here is like always, we do have great respect for our investment-grade ratings and the strength of the ratios and the maintenance of those ratios is also a very core fundamental to the strategy as we look at it.

Your next question is from John Mould from TD Cowen.

Maybe I'd like to start with the updated rebase. Growth 7.5% to 8.5% under the new capital plan from 7% to 8%. Under last year, what would need to happen if you get to the high end of that new rate base growth range? And I appreciate we're not updating EPS guidance today, we can wait until Q4 for that. But how should we think philosophically about the conversion of incremental rate base growth into EPS growth?

So as we look within that region, obviously, we're rolling this range out for the upcoming 5-year period. So to be into the higher end of that range is a lot around the execution of the projects as well and being able to design, deliver them on time and on budget was a track record that Emera is very good at and has a very long path towards that. The kind of the second part of being able to transition the rate base growth into ePlus growth. That is also something that we put a lot of care and attention into. And the pace of how we execute and grow our programs is an important thing of rolling your growth into EPS.

The key on this is your regulatory strategies and your success in front of the regulators. So your ability to show the value to customers, your ability to reduce the potential regulatory lags that can come from these investments as you're putting them forward to your regulators. And I'd say again on this, John. We have very good track records of our teams being able to work with our regulators and with our customers to be able to kind of have as close of a band between rate base growth and our EPS growth. I think that's something that we've been very proud of through time as well of our ability to keep a pretty tight band on that. So as we kind of the wrap on there, a lot of it is on execution to be able to move into the higher end and transition that into earnings.

Add to that, Jared, sorry, is we're in an environment right now. I mean, obviously, we're not increasing our growth guidance or repays growth guidance lightly, but we're in an environment where there's a need to invest more. And so we're -- really, what we're doing is trying to make sure that we're managing the pace of that investment in a way that isn't challenging affordability. Frankly, if anything, the investment opportunities are outpacing that kind of growth, at least in the short term.

And so that decision to guide our rate growth a little bit is reflecting trying to find that balance between addressing the significant investment opportunity with navigating the rate impacts for customers.

That's a good dovetail. I'm going to try a 2-part question here on large loads. Firstly, how much, if any, incremental investment associated with potential large loads if you gotten out plan today? And how should we think about what the range of incremental investment could be if you do secure some road that's -- and I know this has been nebulous, but consistent with what the opportunity set you're seeing right now, and then secondly, on the 300-megawatt Aberdale, data center or initial 300 megawatts, I should say, in more insights you could provide on how large that opportunity could potentially be?

And how the timing of a contract there potentially dovetails with the large load process that you've got going in Florida?

Yes. So maybe, John, for that Jared, why don't you start with the first part of that question and then Archie can round that out and answer the second part of the question.

For the announcement for the 350 megawatts that came out earlier this week, it's actually fairly minimal incremental capital investment required to be able to deliver to that load level. This is -- we're looking at. It's in the tens of millions of dollars for the infrastructure tie-ins for it. So that's one that can be delivered kind of very smoothly and efficiently. For loads above the 350, it would really depend on the circumstances of the customer and the timing for what that -- those load requirements would be.

But as those do come to a little bit more clarity, then we could look at those in a little more detail.

You want to add to that and answer the second part of John's question?

Yes, sure. I can do that. So to the first half of the question, so looking just exclusively at Tampa Electric's 5-year capital plan, embedded within our capital plan was the contemplation that we would be serving 350 megawatts of large load. And we simply -- that's all that's reflected in the year capital plan because that's sort of what's right in front of us at 10 seconds and what was announced this week. It's not to say there isn't more in the hopper, but we don't -- we just don't want to count our chickens before they hatch.

I think the second half of your question was what's the timing of the contract first of all, this project at the Hillwood Corporation announced publicly on Wednesday. This is actually a project that we've been quietly working on in Pope County for about 10 months now. So it's not as though this is just a concept. This is -- buildings are built. We've already made all the distribution upgrades, substation upgrades, and we're working on the transmission interconnection now. So we're well along on this project.

And all of the earthworks are happening around that site as well. So the contract with Hillwood for that first 350 megawatts to serve, is expected to be executed before the end of the year. I think the other part of your question, John, is what is the -- at that Auburndale technology center, what is the full capability of what could be delivered there -- we're very confident that we could deliver up to 700 megawatts we're in discussions as to whether or not it could go to 1,000, but that's a bit premature at this point.

But this is an area that is zoned industrial. It is a technology and innovation hub -- it's adjacent to the Polytech technologies school. So it's an engineering school. And so far, the message has landed really well with the community. We haven't seen any pushback yet on Hillwood announcement, which is positive.

Your next question is from Hanna Balaskas from JPMorgan.

I just wanted to double tap back on to the equity component of your revised capital plan. I understand a good portion of that is replacing the asset sales that no longer will need or use the form of proceeds. But just when we think about the composition of that the $600 million to $1 million of incremental compared to the $1.5 billion increase in CapEx, it just is meaningfully higher than your regulated structure and everyone else in your comp set. How do you about that? And then I have a second question on the impact to your EPS CAGR, but I'll save that.

So for the mix on those with the incremental $1.1 billion to the capital plan as week forward, we don't color code kind of any individual financing with any increase. I'm looking at the overall financing plan for the entirety of the $21.5 billion capital program. And when we do incorporate those 2 pieces together and as we noted for here, we don't have any asset sales, so the combination of the DRIP and the ATM are the equity funding component for that incremental $21.5 billion program. We do also have that built to be able to look to, as I noted before, have strength within our credit metrics.

So we have talked about wanting to have our CFO to debt ratio for Moody's in the 12s and having some cushion room and strength within that for flexibility of the business as we move forward. That's one of the key tenets, and we look at the kind of the balance of the mix of the overall capital plan. So if I look at it from the entirety of the plan and that the $600 million average, so it's $600 million kind of average year for the 5-year period is what we have for the program.

And just as a follow-up there on the impact to your EPS CAGR, I don't want to front load update in 4Q, but just on my quick back of the envelope map it would suggest that you would land towards the lower end of the 5% to 7% CAGR. Is the right way to think about it? Or I don't know if I'm being too punitive, but just how do we think about the impact from equity dilution despite the rate base CAGR increase?

So Hanna, for that one, I would say it'd be too early for us to be speaking to the earnings forecast that's coming through this plan, as I noticed. That's one that we will be updating the forecast as we do come out of again, with an appropriate starting point and the earnings going forward. So we'll have that update for you at our next quarterly call.

Your next question is from Michael Lonegan from Barclays.

So since we're waiting on the Nova Scotia Energy Board's decision on securitization, just wondering, are you in the meantime keeping the thermal assets in your updated rate base growth forecast today until that is approved? And -- if so, can you say what's assumed in 2031? Just trying to get a sense of the rate base CAGR if those assets were.

So Michael, so the forecast that we have in the rate base growth, that assumes that we have completed securitization. So that would be -- have the thermal assets excluded from the rate base. So we're feeling very good about that process in calendar 2026.

And then I assume a merger is approved, Moody's would lower your downgrade threshold you'd have some more cushion and capacity to pay higher dividends. Just wondering if you would consider accelerating your dividend growth outlook.

First off, I'd say, for Moody's, we actually are already moved to the 11% downgrade threshold for Moody's. So I wanted to have that as the opening. And Scott, I'll pass over to you for the second part.

Yes. And you would have been fine to answer to, of course, Jared, but Jarand I are in different rooms. -- that's why the mix there. So yes, I think -- Michael, thank you for your question. But I think for the time being, we continue to be comfortable with the with the dividend growth rate that we've got. Of course, we've done that for a reason to bring the dividend payout ratio down. We've made some great progress on that. But it's too soon to be thinking about change in the dividend growth rate. We remain comfortable with that current range as evidenced, of course, by the decision and announcement last month to increase the dividend again. this year within that range.

Next question is from Patrick Kenny from National Bank Capital Markets.

Just back on the Canadian Utilities platform. I know first things first in terms of closing the deal, but I just wanted to touch on some of the political developments since you announced the transaction. So we have a change in government in B.C. U.S. midterms, the results that perhaps putting the data center spotlight on Alberta. So just curious, Scott, to get your thoughts on how this perhaps accelerated industrial activity up in Northern BC or within intra-Alberta, whether it be expanding intertie or bringing forward new gas supply, which opportunities in Western Canada might have moved in your mind from more of the longer-term bucket to perhaps now thinking more of a near-term opportunity set? .

Yes. It's really good framing, Patrick. And while it's too soon to have a clear view as to at a project level is to as to what we might see. But I think your premise is exactly right, is that what we've seen since announcement is only reinforcing the opportunity that we that we see and the political outcomes north and south of the border. I think overall, have actually been quite encouraging for our portfolio and our growth opportunity is ahead. And that certainly includes the future that we think is really exciting and other.

And I guess if those core T&D opportunities do are brought forward a little bit, maybe back to Jared's comments on asset sales. Scott, you can jump in too. But -- just wondering if you spend any more time thinking about some of the nonregulated assets within Canadian Utilities either the power or the energy infrastructure assets, if you still view these as core to the pro forma platform or if there's been any change there in your thinking? .

Yes, fair question. And no, I don't think there's been any change. Of course, those are assets that we're familiar with those class of assets. And but it's too soon to be sort of thinking about the portfolio from the perspective of where we'll sort of look to put a foot on the accelerator and where our key focus will be. But the underlying nature of the asset, the strategy that Bob has been leading in driving for growth in Alberta. We're completely comfortable with that, of course, because the transaction time that we've made and we'll have opportunities to once we get to closing and beyond to think about some of those things, they have an unregulated portion of the portfolio.

Of course, we have Emera Energy as well. And there's the skills and experience and market positioning and relationships in both of those businesses. And we'll look to see how we can optimize that, how we can continue to support growth through both of those businesses. So I think that would be more of the perspective we're looking at, at the moment.

And then last 1 for me, if I could. And I know we'll get more detail down in Sapin a couple of weeks, but just given the general narrative or the stigma, I guess, filter regarding data centers and their impact on customer affordability. Just wondering if you could unpack your comments a little bit more with respect to Tampa Electric's ability to absorb the load, integrate any incremental generation required and create that win-win opportunity for both data center and residential customers? .

Yes. Maybe I'll start, and then Archi can add on. I mean, I think what's really important and maybe there's time for coming late to a priority for such of a better word in terms of as a lack of -- we haven't really been engaged in sort of the data center activity before the time line that are Jared laid out. We, of course, have been -- these have been things that have been on the radar for and in motion for a number of utilities across across the country for a long time. But I think there's the opportunity for Hillwood certainly has been demonstrating this and Archie and the team at Tampa Electric also have been made very clear that existing customers come first.

And that if there's going to be data center type large load that is part of the customer base in Tampa, they have to pay their own way. They also have to deal with the other issues that are important to communities around minimizing any impact to water, ensuring that there's no noise levels that are that are above certain levels. And if we get it all right, it is actually a rate profile that actually helps contribute to the system. It helps to reduce the rate pressure for the balance of customers and certainly not the opposite.

And I think that's reflective in the filing that Tampa Electric made the Martin I mentioned, all those things as it relates to existing customers first, all the capital and cost of serving a new large load customer has to be paid for by that new large load customer and a tariff design that hopefully allows for a contribution to the broader system cost that helps to reduce rate pressure for customers. And I think if you get all those things right, plus those other things around water and noise that are equally important, like Hillwood seems to have done and like Archi and the team at Tampa Electric, have insured is within their large load filing, then I think you create the conditions that this is a win-win for the new customer and for existing customers.

But our team, happy to let you add on to that and around anything out.

Well, so I would just say -- so you used the word stigma. I think that so much of the stigma, if I use that word as well, has just simply been rooted in the fact that we've been in an election cycle here in the U.S. And so a narrative was propagated -- and it was difficult in the midst of the midterm elections for a counter-narrative to ever take route. I think now that we're through the elect cycle, -- we have some certainty. And certainly, here in Florida, where we -- the governor elect campaign platform of pro-growth, pro-infrastructure investment. -- done right.

And in fact, as it relates to data centers, I mean, he like Byron Donald's repeatedly would have said, as it relates to data centers, there's a right way and there's a wrong way to invest in these important foundational investments. And in Florida, we're only going to do them the right way. When we designed our large load tariff, which as was shared earlier, we filed with the FPSC on the 30th of September, we designed in a manner which was -- certainly was consistent with what the law requires in Florida, but it was rooted in affordability.

We were very intentional to try to strike that balance between supporting economic development but protecting our existing group of customers, and in fact, trying to design it in a manner that as we grow data center revenue, it's putting downward pressure on electricity rates for the balance of our customers. So I agree with you, there has been a stigma, but I think that now that we're through the election cycle, I think you're going to start to see that narrative change a bit. and I am very confident in the approach that we've taken at Tampa Electric that we are -- this is data centers done right. And I think it's part of the reason why the large load tariff that we filed on the 30th of September has been so well received by the consumer parties, by the media, by elected officials because they can see how intentionally we designed that to find that balance.

There are no further questions at this time. Please proceed with the closing remarks.

Thank you all. That concludes the call. Appreciate the interest. If you have any questions, please follow up with the Investor Relations team. Have a great weekend.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now ended. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Emera 2026 Q2 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This conference call is being recorded on August 7, 2026. I would like to turn the conference over to Dave Bezanson. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Sylvie, and thank you all for joining us this morning for Emera's Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call and Live Webcast. Emera's second quarter earnings release was distributed this morning via Newswire and the financial statements, Management's Discussion and Analysis and the presentation being referenced on this call are available on our website at emera.com. Joining me for this morning's call are Scott Balfour, Emera's President and Chief Executive Officer; Jared Green, Emera's Chief Financial Officer; and other members of Emera's management team.

Before we begin, I'd like to advise you that this morning's discussion will include forward-looking information, which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slide. Today's discussion and presentation will also include references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the appendix for reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP financial measure. Unless otherwise specified, all financial information referenced is in Canadian dollars.

And now I will turn things over to Scott.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Before turning to our quarterly results, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge a significant milestone in the execution of our strategy. Last Thursday, July 30, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved the sale of New Mexico Gas to Bernhard Capital Partners, and we expect the transaction to close later this month. We began this process with a strategic plan focused on driving long-term value for shareholders to strengthen our balance sheet and credit ratings, allowing us to prioritize our focus on high-growth core areas of our business.

The approval of the transaction advances our strategic objectives while further supporting the investments needed to deliver safe, reliable and affordable service across our utilities. While this transaction supports Emera's strategic growth objectives, it is also important to recognize the strength of the New Mexico Gas business and the people behind its success. Since joining Emera in 2016, New Mexico Gas has continued to grow and strengthen its position through disciplined investment, strong operational performance and the commitment of its employees.

We're proud of the progress achieved over the past decade and are confident that New Mexico Gas is well positioned for continued success under Bernhard's ownership. We appreciate the Commission's careful review of the transaction and thank the entire New Mexico Gas team for their contributions and dedication over the years. We expect after-tax proceeds from the transaction of approximately USD 650 million to USD 700 million to be reflected in our third quarter results later this year. These proceeds will be used to reduce holding company debt and enhance our financial flexibility, supporting continued investment across our regulated utility businesses and the opportunities we see ahead.

This morning, we reported second quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.69, bringing year-to-date adjusted EPS to $2.06, consistent with last year's very strong performance. These results reinforce our confidence in our outlook. We remain on track to deliver compound annual adjusted EPS growth above our 5% to 7% target range through 2026, and we continue to expect growth within that range through 2030. Our performance reflects disciplined execution across the business, including continued portfolio optimization, investment in critical utility infrastructure and strong operational performance across our regulated utilities.

We continue to benefit from strong economic and population growth across our service territories. At Peoples Gas, recently implemented rates are supporting the investments needed to safely and reliably serve a growing customer base. At Tampa Electric, continued customer growth is driving investment in infrastructure needed to meet increasing demand. Together, these businesses highlight the strength of our regulated portfolio and the opportunities created by Florida's constructive regulatory and economic backdrop. They support continued investment in our systems, drive long-term rate base growth and position us to deliver value for both customers and shareholders.

The long-term outlook for Florida remains particularly compelling. A recent Florida Chamber of Commerce report highlighted that if Florida were its own country, it would rank as the 14th largest economy of the world ahead of Mexico and Australia. With strong population and economic growth expected to continue, there is substantial need to invest in the infrastructure required to meet our customers' evolving energy needs. We're seeing similar momentum in Nova Scotia, where growing economic activity and electrification are increasing demand for energy infrastructure.

We continue to see encouraging activity related to data center development in Tampa Electric service territory with opportunities advancing through system planning and evaluation. As required by Senate Bill 484 that will be -- Tampa Electric is developing a large load customer tariff that will be filed with the Florida Commission by October 1. The tariff is designed to ensure new large load customers pay their fair share of the cost required to serve them while protecting existing customers and providing a clear framework for future investment.

We view this as an important step in the continued economic growth, enabling infrastructure investment and creating long-term value for both customers and shareholders. We continue to execute at a high level across our regulated utilities. In the first half of 2026, our teams safely deployed more than $1.7 billion of capital, keeping us on track to execute our largest ever capital plan of approximately $4 billion this year and is aligned with our targeted 7% to 8% annual rate base growth through 2030.

We look forward to providing an updated capital plan on our third quarter earnings call later this year. In Florida, Tampa Electric continues to advance reliability investments and investments required to serve a growing customer base. In Nova Scotia, construction is underway on the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick Transmission Intertie following receipt of all required approvals. This important project will strengthen connections in the regional grid, support the integration of additional renewable energy resources and enhance reliability for customers. The project is expected to be completed in late 2028 and reflects our continued ability to deliver large-scale infrastructure investments that support long-term customer and shareholder value.

As announced on our first quarter call, we entered into an agreement to sell Grand Bahama Power Company, and the transaction closed on May 12. The sale is reflected in our second quarter financial results. Combined with the approved sale of New Mexico Gas, these transactions represent important steps in executing our strategy. These strategic actions are enhancing financial flexibility, sharpening our focus on our core regulated utility operations and supporting continued investment in the higher value and growth opportunities across our portfolio.

In Nova Scotia, we're seeing encouraging progress on the securitization of Nova Scotia Power's retiring thermal assets. Nova Scotia Power is working with the government to provide information in support of establishing a framework that is expected to deliver meaningful long-term savings for customers while also supporting the federal and provincial governments' objectives to phase out coal-fired generation. The team will continue to work constructively with stakeholders on this important affordability initiative and are encouraged with the progress made towards completing by the end of the year.

I'd also highlight a meaningful reduction in customer rates at Tampa Electric. Effective August 1, customer rates have been reduced by the removal of the storm surcharge associated with the recovery from 2024 hurricanes, resulting in an approximately 11% to 12% decrease in residential rates.

I'll now turn the call over to Jared to discuss our financial results.

Thank you, Scott, and thank you all for joining us this morning. Moving to financial highlights. This morning, we reported year-to-date adjusted earnings of $627 million, up $12 million over last year. And as Scott noted, adjusted earnings per share of $2.06, effectively consistent with last year. Second quarter adjusted earnings were $212 million or $0.69 per share, representing a $0.10 decrease year-over-year.

Earnings growth in the first half of the year contributed to an 8% increase in operating cash flow, excluding working capital, compared to the same period last year. Combined with the expected close of the New Mexico Gas transaction, these improvements continue to strengthen our credit profile and financial flexibility. We remain on track to achieve Moody's 12% operating cash flow pre-working capital to debt target in 2026, with the New Mexico Gas sale expected to contribute approximately 50 basis points on a sustained basis. During the quarter, Moody's revised our credit outlook to stable. Combined with the expected closing of the New Mexico Gas sale, this reflects meaningful progress we have made in strengthening our financial position and improving our credit profile. These developments further enhance our financial flexibility and reinforce our confidence in our ability to fund growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

Year-to-date, Emera Energy delivered earnings that were more than $40 million higher than the same period last year, building on a record first quarter. Results were driven by favorable market conditions early in the year and disciplined execution across the business. Peoples Gas also delivered strong year-to-date results, reflecting new rates that came into effect on January 1 and favorable market conditions that drove higher off-system sales. These gains were partially offset by lower earnings at New Mexico Gas, primarily due to higher operating and maintenance and depreciation expenses.

At Tampa Electric, year-to-date earnings benefited from new rates approved as part of the 2024 rate proceeding, combined with colder-than-normal weather early in the year and strong operational performance, which contributed to higher off-system sales. These factors were partially offset by increased depreciation, operating and maintenance and interest expense.

Within our corporate segment, you'll recall Emera completed a significant refinancing program ahead of the large debt maturity and planned hybrid redemption in mid-June. As part of that process, we upsized our hybrid issuance by USD 300 million to support future growth while preserving the associated credit benefits. These actions strengthened our funding position and demonstrate continued access to capital on attractive terms. Year-over-year corporate costs reflects higher interest expense from temporarily carrying both the new financing and the maturing obligations for a portion of the year.

Within our Canadian Electric segment, earnings were lower than the same period last year. The decrease was primarily driven by a lower income tax recovery and increased regulatory lag as the implementation of new rates was delayed until May 1. These impacts were partially offset by higher sales volumes and modestly favorable weather. Earnings in our Other Electric segment were generally consistent with the prior year. At Caribbean Utilities, lower income tax expense resulting from the recognition of a deferred tax liability earlier this year was offset by lower revenues and the loss of earnings associated with the sale of Grand Bahama Power Company in May.

Year-to-date, a stronger weighted average Canadian dollar reduced EPS by $0.05 and a higher average share count reduced adjusted earnings per share by $0.05. You'll recall, we issued approximately 2.7 million shares under our ATM program in Q1.

While some factors influencing our second quarter results were consistent with the year-to-date drivers, there are a few items worth highlighting. Peoples Gas delivered a strong quarter with earnings increasing by more than $14 million compared to the same period last year. Results benefited from the new base rates and higher off-system sales, partially offset by higher operating costs and depreciation. At New Mexico Gas, earnings were affected by higher operating costs, depreciation and lower revenue as the favorable weather conditions experienced in the second quarter of last year did not recur this year.

Earnings contributions from our Florida and Canadian Electric segments were generally consistent with the second quarter of last year. At Tampa Electric, higher base rates contributed to revenue growth, partially offset by increased depreciation, interest expense and modestly higher O&M costs. At Nova Scotia Power, new rates that took effect on May 1, together with continued customer growth contributed to higher base revenues. These benefits were offset by increased depreciation and interest expense.

Emera Energy's second quarter earnings were also in line with last year. Lower marketing and trading margins were offset by higher equity earnings from Bear Swamp, reflecting business interruption insurance proceeds received following an unplanned outage in 2025. Finally, foreign exchange provided a modest benefit in the quarter with a weaker weighted average Canadian dollar contributing $0.01 to adjusted earnings per share, while a higher average share count reduced adjusted earnings per share by $0.02.

With that, I'll pass the call back over to Scott for closing remarks.

Thanks, Jared. Overall, the first half of 2026 reflects continued progress in executing our strategy and positioning Emera for long-term success. Looking ahead, our focus remains clear: investing in the infrastructure our customers depend on, capturing the growth opportunities across our regulated utilities and allocating capital in a disciplined manner. Supported by a high-quality portfolio of regulated utilities, compelling growth prospects and the strength of our teams, we are confident in our ability to continue to deliver sustainable value over the long term.

And with that, we can open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] First, we will hear from Maurice Choy at RBC Capital Markets.

I just wanted to start with the impending closing of NMGC. Can you just remind us where you anticipate FFO-to-debt to be before and after the transaction closes? And just help us paint the picture as to what is a reasonable buffer you'd like to sustainably have versus downgrade threshold and what that will take to achieve that?

Good morning, Maurice. Jared here. So for the -- so the downgrade threshold that we have for Moody's is at 12% of the CFO-to-debt. We do see ourselves being able to be above that threshold level in calendar 2026. The 50 basis points of annual benefit we would get from the closing of New Mexico Gas is helpful in that cushion above the 12% threshold. So, we do see ourselves getting there in the calendar year. The 50 basis points helps for some incremental cushion.

But your other point to the question of where are we comfortable for cushion room. I do like having that 50 basis points cushion. I would like to see us being able to have that increase a little bit more through time so that we can just have that extra flexibility to make sure that Scott and the team are able to focus on execution of the business, and we're able to, again, have that extra little cushion in there. So probably the kind of the mid-12s is a good place, but being able to get to the higher 12s over the longer term would be a much better place to be from my happiness.

That's good to hear. And if I could just finish off with a question on the Maritimes. I guess in July, the 3 Maritime Provinces agreed to work together on their future electricity needs, and that possibly could include a road map for transmission by next spring. Just your thoughts on what this means for NSPI. And as a quick follow-up, are you seeing any different levels of support from the federal government with regards to initiatives like the former Atlantic Loop project?

Yes. Thanks, Maurice. So yes, I mean, I'd say we're encouraged. I think it's quite constructive that the federal government and the provinces are engaged in discussions around how to enhance the infrastructure, how to optimize the infrastructure in Atlantic Canada, looking at a pathway of establishing a regional system operator, I think, is quite encouraging and smart, and I think would benefit all provinces in the region.

And similarly, yes, as you know, the idea of large-scale transmission in Atlantic Canada from East to West to support renewable energy -- new renewable energy resources, whether that's wind or onshore or offshore or additional nuclear in New Brunswick, if that were ever to happen, I think, is something that has captured the attention of all in the region as being an opportunity that could enable economic activity, enable investment in renewable generation and support the broader plans of some provinces and certainly the federal government to continue to eliminate coal-based generation and deploy cleaner generation to meet broader Canadian initiatives. So I think all that's very encouraging, and we're pleased to be doing what we can to support those discussions.

And just on that, are you seeing a different urgency or support from the Feds with regards to some of these initiatives than before?

Yes. Certainly, I think over the -- since the announcement of the major project office and the identification of electric transmission in Atlantic Canada as a potential project of national interest. There's certainly been strong federal government engagement. And we're, as I say, encouraged in that, and they're directly engaged in discussions with the provinces and the utilities as well. So yes, relative to where we were 2 years ago, we're quite encouraged and seeing a high level of interest and discussion and trying to see what's possible.

Next question will be from Ben Pham at BMO.

You mentioned the Florida large load tariff filings in the fall. Can you clarify -- I know you mentioned discussions with data center companies before. Does this tariff as you envision it for conditions like 50 megawatts and water requirements, lack of socialization in rates. Is this going to be the catalyst for advancing your data center initiatives in Tampa Electric?

Yes. I think Senate Bill 484, I think, was helpful in terms of providing clarity as to what the rules of the road are for large load customers that is helpful to utilities like Tampa Electric, ensuring that there's no cost shift to existing customers, ensuring that there's no negative impact to water supply and the like.

And all of that is fully aligned with where Tampa Electric was already and ensuring that to the extent that any large load customers look to the Tampa Electric service territory, not only would they have to pay their full share of cost, but rate structure would, in fact, support and help reduce cost pressure for customers, certainly, not the opposite. So we see this as something that if it were to happen, would be good for our existing customer base and help reduce rate pressure for them while serving potential new large load.

Got it. We did notice one of the utility peers announced a redomicile to the U.S. this morning. And I'm just -- they referenced 80% of assets in the U.S. and a number of benefits, including inclusion in indices. Is this something that Emera is looking at right now or maybe in the future potentially? And do you see the same benefits? And is there any sort of impediments of potentially moving the headquarters from there?

Yes. It's not something that we're looking at, at the moment, Ben. And certainly, when you talk about impediments, certainly, one of them would be -- there would be a significant tax impact from that. But no, not something that we're looking at, at the moment.

Next, we will hear from John Mould at TD Securities.

Maybe just starting with Nova Scotia, and apologies if I missed this off the top. On the securitization front, can you maybe just give us an update where your discussions are at with the government and potentially the regulator just on moving forward with that securitization of the thermal assets? And I ask the question, recognizing you've got the deferral account in the rate order that was approved. But just wondering if you could give us an update on that as well as key milestones you're hoping to hit there.

Sure. Vivek, do you want to address that question, please?

Sure. Thank you, Scott. Thank you for the question. I would answer it by saying that we continue to be encouraged with the progress towards getting this done by year-end. And we're pleased with that.

Okay. Great. And then maybe just one more on some of your business development activities. And I can appreciate you're focused on executing on the capital plan. Just wondering what other investment opportunities you might be looking at outside of your key markets of Florida and Nova Scotia right now? And I'm thinking just as an example of your engagement in transmission potential investments in Ontario. And I'm just wondering, just as an organization in the context of obviously executing on your broader capital plan, just where you're spending time looking at further growth initiatives.

Yes, John, thank you for the question. And you're right, we are looking for other growth opportunities and something we think of as sort of adjacency opportunities where we can take experience that we have and bring that to the table with opportunities that would fit for us strategically. And so, one of them would tie in, of course, to Maurice's earlier question and the potential opportunity for there to be large-scale transmission build in Atlantic Canada to support Premier Houston's offshore wind ambitions to potentially support more onshore wind in the Maritimes. And so that's certainly something that we are looking at and engaged in discussions on with others.

And then similarly, in Ontario, as you mentioned -- as you know, in Ontario, they are looking at an HVDC connection between Darlington Nuclear Station and the Port Lands in Toronto that would run along Lake Ontario. So it would be marine-based. And as you know, that's something that we know a little bit about with the Maritime Link experience and the technology that is being looked at there is near identical to what is in place at for the Maritime Link that we, of course, developed, built and are currently operating.

So depending on how the procurement process unfolds there, that's certainly another project that we are actively engaged in with -- in a partnership and encouraged about. So those kinds of opportunities are certainly on our radar and quite excited about what we're seeing in terms of a broader opportunity set as it relates to potential opportunities like that.

And at this time, it appears we have no other questions registered. Please proceed.

Thank you all very much for your interest and support in Emera, and have a great weekend.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending. And at this time, we do ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Good afternoon. My name is Dina Bartolacci Seely from Emera's Corporate Affairs team. Thank you for joining us for Emera's 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Please note, certain statements made in today's presentations and during the question-and-answer session afterwards may be forward-looking or may include non-GAAP financial measures and should be received with caution.

Any such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions contained in applicable securities laws. Actual results and financial performance could differ materially from historic results or any conclusions, forecasts or projections in the forward-looking statements. Certain material factors or assumptions were applied in drawing the conclusions or making the forecasts or projections as reflected in the forward-looking statements. Additional information about the material factors that could cause actual financial performance to differ materially from the conclusions, forecasts or projections in the forward-looking statements can be found in Emera's latest MD&A and financial statements, which are available on SEDAR+ and EDGAR.

Today's meeting is taking place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is located in Mi'gma'gi, the ancestral and unseated territory of the Mi'gma'gi people. Emera seeks to build deep and meaningful relationships with indigenous peoples and organizations across Mi'gma'gi and in all other regions where we operate.

Thank you. I'll now turn the meeting over to Karen Sheriff, Chair of the Emera Board of Directors.

Thank you very much, Dina, and good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Emera's 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. This year's meeting is virtual through live webcast with a video feed. The virtual meeting format is designed to ensure that opportunities and rights for shareholders to participate are comparable to attending an in-person meeting.

We believe the virtual-only meeting format helps to support broader shareholder accessibility and participation. It helps ensure the same rights and opportunity exists for all shareholders to attend and participate in this meeting regardless of where they are located. The meeting platform permits participating shareholders to vote in real time, ask questions verbally or in writing and hear from the company. Now employees across Emera begin every meeting with a safety moment, and our Annual Shareholder Meeting is no different. Safety remains our highest priority, and our teams are focused on creating and maintaining a world-class safety culture and performance. Safety requires constant attention and striving for continuous improvement.

We remain unwavering in our commitment to continuously strengthen our safety approach and ensure every person can go home safely every day. I now turn to the business of today's meeting. Shareholders were invited to vote in advance by proxy and many took advantage of this option. There will also be an opportunity to vote virtually in real time during the meeting through the online platform, and I will provide instructions when we get to the voting process. As stated in the company's management information circular, to help ensure your vote is recorded when voting commences, you must remain connected to the Internet at all times during the meeting.

Thank you for exercising your voting rights through whichever method you have chosen. Joining me today are Scott Balfour, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Jared Green, our Chief Financial Officer; and Brian Curry, Emera's Corporate Secretary. Now I would like to introduce our 2026 director nominees. Biographies of each director nominee can be found in our 2026 management information circular. In addition to Scott and myself, the other 9 director nominees are James Bertram, Isabelle Courville, Henry Demone, Paula Gold-Williams, Kent Harvey, Lynn Loewen, Ian Robertson, Jochen Tilk and Carla Tully.

Thank you to all the director nominees for your ongoing contribution and commitment to Emera. I would also like to officially welcome Isabelle Courville to Emera's Board. Isabelle joined the Board in September 2025 and is standing for election for the first time. As the former President of Hydro-Québec Distribution and Hydro-Québec TransÉnergie, Isabelle brings a rich history of energy industry experience. Her extensive background as a Board Director in both public and private sectors, along with her leadership track record, makes her a very valuable addition to our Board.

I would also like to note that Brian Porter is not standing for reelection this year. We thank him for his valuable service and contributions to Emera during his time on the Board. Additionally, in January 2026, Jackie Sheppard completed her transition from the Board. Jackie was Chair of the Board from 2014 to 2025 and provided strong leadership through a period of significant expansion for Emera. We are grateful for her service and dedication to Emera and its shareholders.

Now before we begin the official business of the meeting, I'd like to share a few remarks. And most importantly, thank you again for joining us today. Our annual meeting is an important moment in time where we consider the progress of the previous year while also looking ahead. This year, that reflection feels particularly meaningful. 2025 was a landmark year for Emera, reinforcing our strategy, strengthening our foundation and clearly shaping our path forward. We continue to operate in a complex and evolving environment. Growing demand, the energy transition and heightened expectations around reliability and affordability are reshaping the utility landscape. At the same time, digital and physical resilience remains critical as severe weather events and cyber risks increase. Against this backdrop, Emera remains focused on disciplined execution.

In 2025, we delivered strong operational and financial performance while advancing the company's long-term strategy. We reached important milestones, including Emera's listing on the New York Stock Exchange. 2025 was also a record financial year, underscoring the strength of our regulated portfolio and the benefits of a prudent long-term approach. The Board continued to support Emera's largest capital investment, approving the extension of the company's $20 billion plan through 2030. This long-term clarity allows Emera to invest with intention, focusing on system reliability, modernization and growth while balancing affordability for customers and value for shareholders. Throughout the year, the Board remained actively focused on maintaining strong governance, strategy, enterprise risk and capital allocation. There was a particular emphasis on cyber and digital resilience, which remain critical areas of oversight and priority.

Now that we're well into 2026, Emera is moving forward with momentum and focus. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our employees for their commitment and performance, our CEO, Scott Balfour; and the executive team for their leadership and our shareholders for your continued confidence. Together, we have made strong progress, and we are well positioned for the years ahead.

Thank you. I will now call the meeting to order. And in accordance with the company's articles, I will chair the meeting, and Brian Curry will act as Secretary. Representatives of TSX Trust Company, the company's registrar and transfer agent, will act as scrutineers, report on shareholder participation and count the votes. The scrutineers have reported that a quorum is present.

The Secretary has confirmed that proper notice of the meeting has been given and that the materials for the meeting were provided to common shareholders, including the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, which are hereby presented to the meeting. With that, I now declare the meeting duly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. We received the scrutineer's report on the number of shares represented at this meeting.

Mr. Secretary, could you please read the report?

Madam Chair, the scrutineers have provided their preliminary report. There are present at the meeting or represented by proxy approximately 159.4 million shares of the company. This represents 52.14% of the outstanding shares. The final report will be kept on file with the record of this meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary. We will now move to the items requiring shareholder approval, and I will explain the voting procedure. The mail out to shareholders provided notice that in addition to receiving the financial statements for 2025, 6 items would be placed before this meeting for approval. Most shareholders submitted their votes by proxy in advance of this meeting.

As mentioned, this meeting is fully virtual and registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders can vote online. If you have already voted by proxy, your vote has been received by the scrutineers, and there is no need to vote online during the meeting. But if you want to vote online by making your selection from the options shown on your screen, that's what you can do. Confirmation of your voting choice will appear on the screen. You can change your votes until the end of the voting period by selecting another choice.

If you are a registered shareholder or a proxy holder, you will be able to ask questions at designated points in the meeting, starting with questions related to the 6 motions I mentioned that require your approval. [Operator Instructions] Questions received this way will be read aloud by our moderator. Please note that if your question relates to a matter other than the motions for approval, please wait until the time provided for shareholder questions following the formal business of the meeting. As I mentioned, there are 6 items for approval at today's meeting. I will ask the Secretary and Chief Financial Officer, both of whom are shareholders, to move and second the motions. I now declare the polls open on all items, and I would ask the secretary to make motions regarding the 6 items. Mr. Secretary?

Madam Chair, I move that, one, each of the 11 nominees set out on Page 16 of the 2026 Management Information Circular be elected as directors of the company to hold office until the next annual meeting or until their successor is elected or appointed.

Two, Ernst & Young LLP Chartered Accountants be appointed auditors of the company to hold office until the close of the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are appointed

Three, the directors of the company be authorized to establish the auditor's fee for the current year in such amounts as they may determine in their discretion.

Four, resolution set out on Page 18 of the management information circular regarding the company's approach to executive compensation be approved.

Five, the resolution set out in Appendix A of the 2026 Management Information Circular regarding the amendment to the company's employee common share purchase plan be approved.

Six, the resolution set out in Appendix B of the 2026 Management Information Circular regarding the amendment to the company's senior management stock option plan be approved.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And I would now ask Jared Green, our Chief Financial Officer, to second these 6 motions.

Madam Chair, I second all 6 motions.

Thank you very much, Jared. Now at this point, are there any questions from registered shareholders or proxy holders relating to these items of business. Again, I remind everyone that this is not the general question-and-answer portion of the meeting. That session will follow the formal business of the meeting and Scott's remarks.

As noted earlier, you have the option to ask questions verbally and in writing through the Lumi platform or by e-mail. Dina, do we have any questions?

Madam Chair, there are no questions related to the motions.

Thank you, Dina. As a reminder, voting is open and the motions and voting options are displayed. If you are voting online, please remember to scroll down the page to ensure you vote on all 6 motions. We're going to take a short pause now to allow for voting, and I will announce when the polls are closed.

[Voting]

Thank you very much. Polls are now closed. And while the scrutineers are tabulating the votes, Emera's President and Chief Executive Officer, Scott Balfour will provide some remarks.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and good afternoon, everyone. I want to start with performance the results tell an important story. 2025 was a very strong year for Emera. We delivered record earnings, exceeded our long-term growth targets, strengthened our balance sheet, stabilized our credit ratings and continue to invest safely and prudently in the systems our customers rely on every day. Just as importantly, we did all that while staying disciplined on costs, navigating operational and regulatory complexity and supporting customers through affordability pressures.

All of this is something the entire Emera team is rightly very proud of. Across our operations, teams deployed a record $3.6 billion in capital in 2025. That investment wasn't abstract. It delivered real tangible outcomes, stronger reliability, safer systems, cleaner energy and better customer experiences. What underpins that performance is who we are as a company. We have a strong ethos around operational excellence, and we are disciplined investors. We pursue investments that directly tie value to customers, improving reliability, managing costs and building systems that will stand the test of time. That shows up across our businesses.

In Florida, our largest market, economic growth is driving rising energy demand. Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas responded by expanding generation, strengthening storm resilience, modernizing operations and advancing solar and storage, all while maintaining strong reliability and constructive regulatory outcomes. In Nova Scotia, where severe weather and energy transition requirements continue to intensify, Nova Scotia Power advanced critical infrastructure and reliability initiatives, renewing aging assets, strengthening the grid and integrating new technologies to support additional renewables across the system. And that work and investment contributed to the best reliability performance in Nova Scotia Power's history in 2025.

And across every jurisdiction, we have been deliberate about pacing investment, recognizing the very real cost of living pressures our customers are facing and working to balance affordability with the need for increasing investment in long-term system strength and reliability. At Tampa Electric, the new headquarters at Bearrs Operations Center, or BOC went live. Built to withstand Category 5 hurricane conditions, the BOC strengthens our ability to day-to-day reliability as well as storm response work when customers need us the most.

Tampa Electric also added 150 megawatts of solar, bringing total solar capacity to more than 1,500 megawatts, helping reduce customers' exposure to volatile fuel costs and supporting long-term affordability. At Peoples Gas, the team delivered a constructive rate case outcome and continued to advance system modernization and safety enhancements and operational efficiencies, all while meeting continuing high levels of customer growth. Peoples Gas once again demonstrated strong execution in a complex operating environment. And that focus is showing up where it matters most in customer experience with a #1 J.D. Power ranking in its segment for the 12th time.

Nova Scotia Power advanced the Nova Scotia New Brunswick Reliability tie, securing unprecedented indigenous engagement and support, environmental approvals and Canada Infrastructure Bank participation. Early construction activities are now underway on this project and will materially strengthen regional reliability and resilience. Nova Scotia Power also brought new battery storage sites online in 2025 and is continuing to integrate new technologies to support system flexibility and decarbonization. The Maritime Link continued to demonstrate the value of subsea HVDC transmission, delivering approximately 2 terawatt hours of clean electricity to Nova Scotia with industry-leading reliability. This represents about 10% of Nova Scotia Power's annual energy needs, providing dependable emissions-free power to customers.

The sale of New Mexico Gas Company continues to progress. Just yesterday, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission hearing examiners recommended approval of the proposed sale to Bernhard Capital Partners. This is a key regulatory milestone, and we anticipate closing the transaction by midyear. And earlier this month, we finalized an agreement to sell our interest in Grand Bahama Power Company to the Government of Bahamas.

Across all our utilities, teams leaned into innovation and cost discipline using tools like drone surveys of solar arrays, AI-enabled analytics and predictive maintenance to reduce costs and ultimately help mitigate upward pressure on customer bills. Affordability is not theoretical for us. It's operational. These efficiencies matter as do other creative options that help save customers' money such as the proposed securitization of existing thermal assets that was part of Nova Scotia Power's recently approved consensus general rate application. While there remains work to do on the finalizing the specifics and securing the necessary regulation to support, this approach is aimed at lowering financing costs and supporting significant customer savings.

Our focus on operational execution translated directly into financial performance. In 2025, Emera delivered more than $1 billion in adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share of $3.49, a 19% increase year-over-year. That performance exceeded the top end of our long-term growth range and clearly demonstrated the strength of our portfolio and execution. We also achieved our 19th consecutive year of dividend growth, reinforcing the durability and predictability of our business model.

Total shareholder return was 31.9% in 2025, among the best in the industry, reflecting the confidence the market has in Emera's strategy and our ability to deliver through different cycles. So yes, 2025 was a strong year for Emera, and we've continued that positive momentum into 2026. Our first quarter financial results were once again at record level and have set us up for another year of exceeding our 5% to 7% adjusted EPS growth objective. Looking ahead, the energy system is undergoing a profound transformation, including surging demand from data centers and electrification, global supply chain pressures that are reshaping how we plan and build and a shifting policy environment that requires agility and adaptability.

Our industry is evolving, and so are we. Consistently delivering the reliable energy our customers expect means that we must invest at historic levels. That's why we extended our $20 billion capital plan through 2030 and are projecting rate base growth of 7% to 8% in the same time period. In 2026, we expect to execute approximately $4 billion of capital across our regulated utilities, yet another record. Our investment plan is designed to meet critical needs by modernizing our electric and gas systems and strengthening resilience. We will continue to work with our stakeholders to manage the pace of investment and sequence projects to align with evolving requirements, avoid cost spikes and deliver enduring value, all while staying focused on customer costs.

It's an exciting time in the energy sector. There's a real appetite for tangible solutions that connect jurisdictions, strengthen energy sovereignty and unlock economic potential. Emera has a proven track record of building complex transformative infrastructure. It's part of our DNA. In all the regions where we operate, we are looking at ways to support bold ambitions and collaborate with partners on solutions. As the Chair mentioned, we've been successfully trading on the New York Stock Exchange for the past year. This listing broadens our access to U.S. capital, supports our long-term growth and reflects the quality of our assets and our strategy. We're proud to be the first Nova Scotia headquartered company to list on the NYSE. And of course, we continue to maintain our long-standing listing on the TSX.

None of this happens without our people. The past year demanded a lot, navigating severe weather, rising costs, cyberattack, regulatory complexity and an increasingly dynamic operating environment. Across Emera, our teams delivered time and again. They solved problems, kept customers supplied with safe, reliable energy and executed one of the strongest years in our history. To every employee across our operating companies and corporate teams, thank you. Your discipline, expertise and commitment made this performance possible.

And before I close, I'd like to take a moment to recognize Judy Steele for her 26 years with Emera, including the past 14 years leading Emera Energy and to congratulate her on her upcoming retirement as of the end of June. Judy, you will be missed. To our Board of Directors and the entire Emera team, thank you for your guidance and stewardship. And to our shareholders, thank you for your continued trust and confidence in Emera. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Scott, and congratulations to you and your whole team for a terrific year. Now the Secretary advises me that the preliminary voting results have been received. Mr. Secretary?

Madam Chair, the scrutineers report that all 6 items voted upon at the meeting have received more than the required number of votes, and therefore, all items are passed. The final voting results will be posted online on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary. With these voting results, I now declare all 6 motions approved.

With the formal business of the meeting now complete, I will ask the Secretary and the Chief Financial Officer to move and second a motion to terminate the meeting. Mr. Secretary?

Madam Chair, I move that the meeting be terminated.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Jared, can I ask that you second the motion?

Madam Chair, I second the motion.

Thank you very much. I now declare the meeting terminated. We will now proceed to the general question-and-answer session and take questions from registered shareholders and proxy holders. Dina, do we have any questions?

Madam Chair, we've received a question in writing that reads data centers represent a huge growth opportunity for many sectors, particularly energy. What does this look like for Emera?

Well, thank you for your question. And you're right. There's a lot of activity and discussion around data centers, particularly in the electric sector today. Now to be honest, the Florida market has not yet been front and center on this activity, but that's changing. Recently, Governor DeSantis passed legislation that sets a clear path for data center development in the state, providing clarity and ensuring fairness to all stakeholders for the development of data centers.

We're very encouraged by a number of conversations that are going on inside the Tampa Electric service territory and quite excited and encouraged, as I say, about the prospect of bringing these data center customers online, which over the long run will, in fact, help with the issue of customer affordability by contributing to overall system costs and reducing cost pressure for customers.

Thank you, Scott. Dana, any other questions?

Yes, we've received another question in writing. This one from [ Alan Lynch, ] who asks, last June, after the data breach, Emera had a team travel the province offering individual consultations answering customer questions. I asked if there was additional information about shareholders taken in this breach or put in jeopardy. The 3 Emera reps couldn't answer my question, but promised to get an answer. They didn't.

So thank you for the question. I do not believe that there was any shareholder information that was accessed as part of the data breach. It was more internal to Nova Scotia. Mr. Lynch, we'll make sure that -- I will make sure that someone gets back to you to confirm that, but that is my understanding. But there are some folks in the room that can help to make sure that we get back to you with a proper response to your very good question.

Thank you, Scott. Dina, any more?

We've received another question in writing. This one from [ Jeff Carlson. ] It reads the April 25, 2025 cybersecurity incident is concerning. What steps has Emera taken to prevent reoccurrence?

So thank you for your question, and I understand the concern. We are in an environment now where unfortunately, cyber criminals are taking a much more aggressive and sophisticated lens to their crimes, and we unfortunately fell victim to that last year. We have since then, as you would imagine, engaged a number of world-class consultants and experts to help us to ensure that an incident like that never happens again.

This takes an enormous amount of investment and activity and energy in order to do, but we have the very best people that are engaged and continuing to ensure that we are relentless in continuing to strengthen our cybersecurity protections against an ever sophisticated world of cybercrime.

Thank you again, Scott. Dina?

Madam Chair, no further questions.

Thank you. And thank you all very much for your participation in today's meeting and for your continued support of Emera. If you do have any follow-up questions or comments, we encourage you to reach out to us by e-mail, phone or mail. You will find our contact information in the 2026 management information circular you received in advance of today's meeting or on our website.

Thank you again for joining today's Annual Shareholder Meeting, and have a great day.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Emera Q1 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Also note that this call is being recorded on Friday, May 8, 2026.

And I would like to turn the conference over to Dave Bezanson. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Sylvie, and thank you all for joining us this morning for Emera's First Quarter 2026 Conference Call and Live Webcast. Emera's first quarter earnings release was distributed this morning via Newswire and the financial statements, management's discussion and analysis and the presentation being referenced on this call are available on our website at emera.com. Joining me for this morning's call are Scott Balfour, Emera's President and Chief Executive Officer; Jared Green, Emera's Chief Financial Officer; and other members of Emera's management team.

Before we begin, I'd like to advise you that this morning's discussion will include forward-looking information, which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slide. Today's discussion and presentation will also include references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the appendix for reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP financial measure. Unless otherwise specified, all financial information referenced is in Canadian dollars.

And now I will turn things over to Scott.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. This morning, we reported record first quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.37, up 7% year-over-year. This marks the strongest first quarter result in Emera's history. This performance positions us well to once again deliver above our 5% to 7% adjusted earnings per share compound annual growth target in 2026 using 2024 as the base year. Our first quarter results reflect strong execution, meaningful regulatory progress and solid performance across our regulated utilities. Results were also supported by record performance at Emera Energy.

I want to thank our teams across the organization for their focus and discipline in serving our customers and delivering these results for our shareholders.

At Tampa Electric, first quarter results benefited from the subsequent year revenue adjustment, which came into effect on January 1, 2026. Results were also supported by colder-than-normal weather early in the year, including Winter Storm Fern, which drove higher demand across the region. The team responded with reliable generation, disciplined operations and a secure fuel supply, enabling strong contributions in off-system sales in support of our neighboring utilities. Consistent with our approved sharing mechanism, customers benefit from the majority of the revenues generated from these sales.

At Peoples Gas, first quarter earnings reflect new rates effective January 1, 2026, that support ongoing rate base investments supporting growth, system expansion and reliability across Florida. Favorable market dynamics also supported strong off-system sales execution with half of those revenues shared directly with customers.

Emera Energy had a standout first quarter, supported by favorable market conditions early in the year and the business' ability to capitalize. As a result, Emera Energy delivered another record first quarter for the second year in a row, with earnings expectations for this business now in the range of USD 60 million to USD 80 million for 2026, well above its traditional range of USD 15 million to USD 30 million. Building on Emera Energy's strong start and with the solid performance across the rest of the business, we are well positioned to earn above our guidance range in 2026 and remain confident in our long-term average EPS growth guidance of 5% to 7% through 2030.

We continue to see customer growth across our portfolio that will support our ability to affordably invest in our utilities. We're also seeing meaningful interest from multiple data center developers in Tampa Electric service territory. A number of developer-funded system impact studies are advancing and in some cases, developer-funded construction work is underway.

Overall, we're pleased with how 2026 is shaping up. First quarter results reflect strong execution across the business and continued momentum in our regulated utilities.

From a regulatory perspective, we saw good progress early in 2026 with the approval of new rates by the Nova Scotia Energy Board. The decision was largely aligned with the consensus settlement agreement by all customer groups. New rates took effect May 1. A key element of the Board's decision was the approval of a securitization deferral mechanism for approximately $700 million of retiring thermal assets. This allows related costs, including depreciation to be deferred during the rate period, pending proposed securitization, helping to manage the timing of cost recovery.

The regulator agreed with Nova Scotia Power and customer representatives that securitization would deliver meaningful long-term savings for customers while supporting the Nova Scotia independent system operators (sic) [ Independent Energy System Operator ] work to meet the federal mandate to retire coal plants by 2030 and the province's target of achieving 80% renewables by 2030. While work remains to fully implement securitization, the Nova Scotia Power team will continue to work with the province to advance the process and ensure the substantial customer and policy benefits are realized.

Turning to New Mexico. We continue to await the hearing examiner's recommendation following the hearing that concluded in November. While the duration of this part of the regulatory process is not in our control, our view of the outcome remains unchanged. The key elements remain in place to support a successful transaction, and we now expect the sale to close in mid-2026.

In the first quarter, our teams safely executed more than $870 million of customer-focused capital investment, keeping us firmly on track to deliver our $4 billion capital plan for 2026, supporting our targeted 7% to 8% rate base growth.

Across the portfolio, major projects continue to advance as planned. At Tampa Electric, we're progressing solar investments, grid modernization and reliability upgrades. In Nova Scotia, we're moving forward on energy storage, transmission and system reliability investments. At Peoples Gas, the team continues to execute on critical infrastructure expansion, supported by strong customer growth. At its core, our capital program is focused on delivering customer value by enhancing reliability, strengthening system resilience and supporting growth in the communities we serve. We remain disciplined in how we pace these investments, carefully balancing timing and execution to help manage customer rate impacts while positioning our systems for long-term value enhancement for customers.

With new rates now in place at Nova Scotia Power and multiyear rate frameworks already established at Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas, we have rate clarity across our three largest utilities through 2027. This regulatory clarity gives us greater confidence to continue investing in essential infrastructure while providing a more predictable path for earnings and cash flow growth over time.

Before I hand it over to Jared, I want to highlight that earlier this week, we reached an agreement to sell Grand Bahama Power Company to the government of the Commonwealth of the Barbados -- of Bahamas. The transaction is expected to close by the end of May and while not a material financial impact, it is a further example of our focus on optimizing Emera's portfolio and focusing our efforts on our core utility operations in Florida and Atlantic Canada. While it is never easy to part ways with a company and team that have been part of the Emera family for 15 years, this sale provides support for the government's national energy policy, while at the same time, further simplifying and derisking Emera's portfolio. We want to thank the Grand Bahama team for their unwavering commitment to delivering safe and reliable energy to customers. We thank each of you for your commitment, your excellence and your hard work.

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jared to discuss our financial results.

Thank you, Scott, and thank you all for joining us this morning. I am very glad to be with you. Turning to our financial highlights. This morning, we reported first quarter adjusted earnings of $415 million or $1.37 per share, representing a 7% or $0.09 increase year-over-year. As Scott noted, this marks a record first quarter for the company. Strong earnings growth drove a 6% increase in operating cash flow, excluding working capital.

From a credit metrics perspective, we remain on track to achieve Moody's 12% operating cash flow preworking capital to debt target for 2026, which would be further enhanced by an expected sustained 50 basis point contribution from the close of New Mexico Gas.

I'll now walk through the key drivers of our financial results. Starting with Emera Energy. The business delivered a record first quarter with earnings up 57% year-over-year. Results were supported by favorable market conditions early in the year and strong execution by the team.

At Tampa Electric, earnings benefited from new rates following the 2024 rate filing, including an USD 88 million subsequent year adjustment for 2026 as well as colder-than-normal weather earlier in the year. These factors, combined with strong operational execution also supported higher off-system sales.

Turning to our gas utilities. Peoples Gas delivered a solid quarter, supported by new rates effective January 1 this year. Similar to Tampa Electric, results also benefited from favorable market conditions that supported higher off-system sales in the first quarter. For our Other Electric segment, results at our Caribbean utilities benefited from lower fuel costs as well as lower income tax expense related to a deferred tax liability recognized in the first quarter of last year.

Corporate costs were largely in line with the prior year. We saw modestly higher O&M expense and a lower gain on the long-term incentive hedge, partially offset by higher income tax recovery and an increase in the deferred income tax asset valuation allowance adjustment.

During the quarter, a higher average share count reduced adjusted earnings per share by $0.03 and a stronger Canadian dollar reduced EPS by $0.06.

Finally, in our Canadian Electric segment, earnings were lower primarily because of a lower income tax recovery compared to the first quarter of 2025 and higher regulatory lag as new rates were not in place for the first quarter as we would have expected, though this was partially offset by higher sales volumes.

Before I hand it back over to Scott, I'll briefly touch on our recent financing activities. In the first quarter, we issued USD 750 million of hybrid securities. So together with the USD 750 million hybrid issued late last year, these proceeds will refinance Emera's USD 1.2 billion hybrid, which we do plan to redeem in June. Following the planned redemption, we will have added approximately USD 300 million of incremental hybrid capital to our structure. This provides about 10 basis points of credit metric benefit. Hybrid capital will continue to be part of our long-term growth funding strategy. Also in the first quarter, we issued USD 750 million of senior notes to refinance a USD 750 million maturity coming due in June.

With that, I'll turn it back to Scott for his closing remarks.

Thank you, Jared. Before I close, I want to recognize that this is Judy Steele's final earnings call as CEO of Emera Energy, marking 14 years leading the business and 26 years with Emera. Judy, thank you for your leadership, strategic insight and deep commitment to the organization. We are grateful for the lasting impact you've had on Emera Energy and, of course, on Emera more broadly.

To close, we're encouraged by the way the year started and by the consistent execution we're seeing across the business. Our first quarter results reflect continued progress in executing our strategy, the underlying strength of our regulated utilities and positions us well to deliver above our adjusted earnings per share growth target of 5% to 7% this year. We remain focused on investing to deliver safe, reliable energy for customers while maintaining disciplined capital execution, constructive stakeholder engagement and a strengthening balance sheet to support predictable long-term growth.

We appreciate your continued interest in Emera and your time today, and we'll now open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] You will hear first from Rob Hope at Scotiabank.

First question is on the funding plan. What are the expected proceeds from the Grand Bahama sale and was that in the prior funding plan, I'm assuming it was not.

So we haven't stated what the proceed levels are at this point in time. So they are still confidential during the closing side. But you would be correct. The proceeds on that wouldn't have been in our original funding plan. We will use the funds though to just go into the normal corporate funding. So it will go to repaying debt, and we will still be executing our capital program and the rest of the funding plan as originally stated.

Sorry. And then maybe just to clarify, do you think that this sale will reduce your equity funding needs and potentially lower the ATM?

I don't think this is going to make a material difference on the overall funding plan.

All right. Appreciate that. And then maybe moving over to Nova Scotia. Can you provide an update on how the securitization conversations are going for the decarbonization initiatives up there?

So Rob, Jared here again. So discussions are ongoing with the government. The team is working with them. We do still need to have the regulations put in place and so those are continuing forward. Timing wise, we're still optimistic and hopeful that we will be able to get through those steps and have the securitization approved and in place in this calendar year, but discussions are ongoing.

And Judy, all the best. It's been enjoyable.

Next question will come from Maurice Choy at RBC Capital Markets.

Just sticking with the Nova Scotia theme. It feels like all the stakeholders have been able to move on following the recent rate case approval. And if you agree with that, how do you see the opportunity for incremental growth opportunities for the utility given all the energy and economic objectives laid out by the government recently.

Yes. Thanks, Maurice. So I mean, yes, there's certainly -- not unlike other jurisdictions, the reality is there is a lot of investment opportunity, investment required in electric systems. That's certainly true in Nova Scotia. Of course, with the independent system operator (sic) [ Independent Energy System Operator ] in place, it's continuing to proceed with the generation procurement, while Nova Scotia Power continues to proceed with investments in poles and wires and the transmission and distribution aspects of the system.

There's, as you know, some major project initiatives there, including the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia intertie and other system upgrades. There's also synchronous condenser work that the utility is doing, which helps to support the intermittent renewables that are being added on to the system. So continues to be a lot of investment. At this point in time, we're not looking at any adjustments to the rate base growth profile for Nova Scotia Power. Of course, we'll typically update those rate base growth profiles in the fall.

But with the rate profile that's in place now, we have benefit of agreement with all the stakeholders, including the regulator and customer interveners as to not only the rate profile, but the capital profile that supports it. And so there's great clarity for Nova Scotia Power on the execution path ahead.

So then if I could finish off with NMGC. I know you mentioned that where the process is right now is out of your control. But are you made aware as to what may be causing the slight delay? And maybe just thinking bigger picture, any reasons you think it's worthwhile keeping this utility, particularly from a growth perspective?

Maurice, it's Karen Hutt. No, we don't have any specific reason to go to in terms of the timing. This is an open docket in front of the commission. So that means that there are specific rules for how you can engage. And so that means we need to wait to hear from them. But as Scott said, we continue to feel confident in our case, and we continue to feel confident in our ability to move forward with the transaction. So at this point, we're waiting for word from the hearing examiner and the rest of the team is ready to go in terms of transition. So it's full steam ahead.

Understood. And my thank you, of course, to Judy for the many years of help, and congrats to Karen on your additional role.

Thanks. We're sitting next to each other. Karen, says thank you too.

Next question will be from John Mould at TD Cowen.

Maybe going back to Florida, your comments on data center discussions there. Can you maybe just provide a little more color around the scale of the conversations you're having, what the timing could look like and any key gating items that you're seeing in those conversations?

Archie, over to you.

Sure. So John, I guess what I would say is interest from data centers has certainly been quite elevated for us over the last 6 to 9 months, lots of interest in our region in West Central Florida, given the fact that we kind of span that I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando. So lots of interest in there. One of the gating items just that certainly was -- everyone was waiting to see whether or not the governor was going to sign Senate Bill 484 into law, and he did that yesterday. That certainly makes it clearer to the data center investment community that Florida is, in fact, open for business as long as certain guidelines are respected in the process.

And I will say the guidelines that are embedded within that bill are guidelines that we've agreed with all along. They're rooted in the principles of transparency, fairness of cost allocation, environmental stewardship and so we certainly -- we collectively, whether it's us as the utility or the data center developers are feeling confident about the support from the community and from government.

Lots of interest. I would say that certainly, discussions with multiple parties are much further advanced from a scale perspective, I would say, we've got about 1,300 megawatts of interested data center counterparties, and that's a collection of them as opposed to any single entity but those discussions are much more further advanced. They've acquired the land. They're pursuing permits. They -- as Scott said, they have funded very detailed system impact studies, and they're backing a lot of capital work that we're currently undertaking to meet their interconnection time lines and ramp rates. And so lots happening. We're feeling confident.

We're pleased to see that the governor has signed Senate Bill 484 and I expect that we'll have more to say on who these counterparties are and what the ramp rates are over the next couple of months. The only other point I would make on this is like for a utility our size, the growth potential here is meaningful. 100 megawatts of data center revenue is about -- is 2% load growth on an annual basis. So you start doing the math and it's a significant opportunity for a utility like ours.

Maybe just continuing because you raised it at the end there. Can you just talk about your supply picture and ability to if you are able to land a couple of these over the midterm? What does that look like in terms of incremental generation and potential additions to the capital plan? Not -- appreciating you probably don't want to get too far ahead of yourself, but just trying to get a sense of the room that you have in the system.

Yes, I don't -- I do have to be careful here. And of course, it's a function of the desired ramp rates from the counterparties and a function of our ability to meet those ramp rates while continuing to respect our regulatory obligations vis-a-vis reserve margin requirements. We have -- we're well positioned in the short term to serve in the neighborhood of 300 to 500 megawatts of data centers, and we're working with the counterparties to firm up their commitment, their ramp rate and manage our exposure to make -- so that we can make other decisions as far as shoring up the generation side of the equation. So in the short term, we're well positioned for 300 to 500 megawatts over the next couple of years.

Next question will be from Ben Pham of BMO Capital Markets.

I just want to start off, congratulate Judy and Karen on the next steps. I just want to go back to the new Mexico sale. Given that it's taken about 1.5 years or so since the announcement, I assume the outside dates have been extended with parties. If this transaction is delayed beyond midyear, does this really open up a potential renegotiation of the deal?

Ben, it's Karen. You're right. We did deal with the outside date as it relates to the contract. We'll deal with that again to the extent that we need to. But we wouldn't anticipate any other discussions beyond that.

Got it. And I just want to go back to the marketing results just given the strength in the quarter and your new guidance. Can you talk about maybe I just -- looking at maybe results from other infrastructure names. Some have done well from the storm results, some have done not as well and some have actually been negatively impacted depending on your position. Can you remind us how your trading works in that area? Is that the transmission bids you're doing? Is it other business development opportunities that you've been working on?

So I think you're asking me that question. So I always start by saying that we manage the business to limit the downside risk always and have some optionality when the market conditions present themselves, and they did in Q1. So without kind of giving away the whole commercial strategy, there were 4 big rocks that contributed to the results. So we do have a transport portfolio. And specifically, the capacity we had between New England and New York became very, very valuable as the New York pricing spiked.

We have also picked up short-term capacity from Western Canada before the cold weather event hits at pretty reasonable prices and that increased our available gas volumes. We had options that we had invested in for risk management purposes that we exercised at some very healthy margins. And New York gas generators were being dispatched for reliability, which also had a very bullish impact on the market. So fundamentally, the story is the same as always. We have transportation assets and when things -- when the market conditions present themselves, we're able to use those assets to move lower-priced gas into higher-priced markets.

[Operator Instructions] Next, we will hear from Michael Lonegan at Barclays.

In the event that Nova Scotia were to reject the securitization approval of the regulations, what would you see as your next step? Would you apply for conventional rate recovery? Or is there a way you could make a different securitization proposal and renegotiate or repackage the securitization structure?

Michael, Jared here. So the formal first steps, if securitization were not to proceed, the regulator actually set that out in their decision coming from this last settlement. And so there is a deferral account that is set up in that circumstance. And so if it didn't proceed with securitization, then those assets would be treated in the normal course of rate base and rate making.

As that moves forward, then Vivek and the team would be looking at the full rate structures, the company and what scenarios would be present there. But as we sit right now, we're confident that we will be able to proceed with the securitization because it makes really good sense for customers. But absent that, we do have the regulatory pathway for the alternative.

And then in the event that the New Mexico gas sale were not to close and also if the securitization of the thermal asset regulations are not approved, what could we expect the path forward for your financing plan to be? Obviously, Moody's set you on negative outlook. Would you consider issuing more equity or selling additional noncore assets like Barbados or pipelines? Just wondering if you could talk about that.

So the #1 plan on that, Michael, is business execution. And that's actually been what has occurred over this last couple years period as well. And we're sitting in a place where we are kind of right up at the down -- or the threshold levels even without the securitization in New Mexico Gas close. I would like to have the extra flexibility in our measures that would come from that to get some strengthening into the balance sheet. But the business itself has improved a lot and the execution of the business has been that core piece.

So in that unlikely scenario you described, those two pieces not going forward, the execution plan of the business is not going to have an abrupt change. We're going to execute, and we will move forward in a prudent measured fashion.

Thank you. And at this time, Mr. Bezanson, we have no further questions registered. Please proceed.

Thank you very much, Sylvie, and thanks, everyone, for your interest and support of Emera. We look forward to seeing you in the coming months in our marketing. Have a good day.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending. And at this time, we do ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have yourselves a good weekend.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Emera Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Monday, February 23, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Dave Bezanson. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Jenny, and thank you all for joining us this morning for Emera's Fourth Quarter 2025 Conference Call and Live Webcast. Emera's fourth quarter earnings release was distributed this morning via Newswire and the financial statements, management's discussion and analysis and the presentation being referenced on this call are available on our website at emera.com. Joining me for this morning's call are Scott Balfour, Emera's President and Chief Executive Officer; Jared Green, Emera's Chief Financial Officer; and other members of Emera's management team. Before we begin, I'd like to advise you that this morning's discussion will include forward-looking information, which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slide. Today's discussion and presentation will also include references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the appendix for reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP financial measure. Unless otherwise specified, all financial information referenced is in Canadian dollars.

And now I will turn the call over to Scott.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Before I begin, I want to introduce Jared Green. Today is Jared's first earnings call as CFO since joining us in December. We're excited about the value his expertise and leadership will bring going forward. Jared, welcome to Emera and your first earnings call. Emera is entering 2026 with strong momentum, building on record performance in 2025. Our 2025 results are evidence of both the strength of our strategy and the quality of our portfolio. Our team safely deployed a record $3.6 billion in capital investment, resulting in approximately 8% rate base growth over 2024.

In addition, we delivered significant adjusted earnings growth, achieving more than $1 billion in annual adjusted net income for the first time in Emera's history. This performance is the outcome of disciplined customer-focused operational management and execution of our capital plan with investments centered on safely delivering the energy needs of our customers. As we enter 2026, we're confident in our ability to continue to deliver sustainable value for customers and shareholders alike.

This morning, we reported annual adjusted earnings per share of $3.49, representing an increase of $0.55 or 19% over 2024. This performance significantly exceeds the upper end of our stated annual EPS -- adjusted EPS growth target of 5% to 7%. We also delivered a 19% increase to operating cash flow, further underscoring the strength of our financial results. By almost every measure, 2025 was our strongest year in the company's history. This exceptional performance positions us to continue making the critical investments required to strengthen our systems and ensure the safe, reliable delivery of energy that our customers depend on every day.

Looking back in 2025, our continued financial and operational success highlights the effectiveness of our strategy, the quality of our premium portfolio of regulated utilities and the unwavering commitment of our highly skilled teams. I am deeply proud of our people and of what we continue to achieve together. Much of our success in 2025 can be attributed to strong performance at Tampa Electric. Emera Energy's record first quarter was also a contributor to our performance due to cold weather in the Northeast, which drove higher pricing and market volatility and where market conditions were strong again in the fourth quarter.

In both instances, the team did an excellent job of responding to these favorable market conditions. We've made meaningful progress on disciplined operating and management cost management. By sharply -- by staying sharply focused on efficiency, we are helping offset upward pressure on customer bills while continuing to invest where it matters. Technology is a key enabler of this work. At Nova Scotia Power, more modern technologies, including AI tools are being deployed across a number of customer-facing and operational functions from the contact center to generation. This will make it easier for customers to do business with us while improving reliability through earlier detection of equipment issues, fewer unplanned outages and a safer, more efficient system.

At Peoples Gas, we're similarly applying AI-enabled technology to improve crew dispatch efficiency, strengthen damage prevention and location practices and reduce outage risk. We're also optimizing upstream pipeline capacity through off-system sales with benefits flowing directly back to customers through a lower purchased gas adjustment. At Tampa Electric, drone and AI technology are being deployed to support inspections at solar sites. This approach reduces manual effort and inspection time, enhances safety and helps optimize asset performance. The result is a more efficient, cost-effective inspection process.

In 2025, our operating companies safely deployed $3.6 billion of capital, representing the largest annual investment in Emera's history. These essential investments advance our reliability and resiliency initiatives and support the safe, reliable delivery of energy our customers expect. Importantly, we continue to carefully pace these investments, aligning project timing and execution to balance system needs with affordability impacts helping to ease rate pressure for customers while positioning our systems for long-term value.

At Tampa Electric, the team installed an additional 150 megawatts of solar generation in 2025, bringing their total installed solar in service to 1,505 megawatts. These solar investments continue to reduce exposure to volatile fuel costs and deliver real savings for customers. The Tampa Electric team also made meaningful progress on grid resilience, undergrounding 77 miles of overhead distribution circuits in 2025 as part of its Storm Hardening Program.

With more than 54% of the system now underground, the grid is better protected from severe weather and supporting improved reliability. 2025 also marked an important milestone for Tampa Electric with the opening of its new state-of-the-art energy control center. This facility brings teams together in a modern, centralized environment that strengthens day-to-day coordination and operational performance and which importantly is much more resilient to the impacts of severe weather, ensuring critical operational and system controls can be maintained.

As part of its grid modernization and reliability improvement initiatives, Tampa Electric is also near complete in the deployment of a private LTE network, a progressive and industry-leading means to strengthen system-wide communications, enabling real-time connectivity to increasingly modern system devices to better support critical grid and field operations. At Peoples Gas, the 2025 capital program was supported by a steady residential and commercial growth, requiring continued reliability and distribution expansion investment across the state.

Florida is still leading the nation in residential and commercial customer growth rates and signings for future residential business were strong in 2025 as builders and developers remain optimistic about the long-term growth outlook in the state. I'd also like to highlight that Peoples Gas was ranked #1 in the nation in J.D. Power's 2025 residential customer satisfaction study, a distinction that reflects the team's unwavering focus on customers and service excellence. We are extremely proud of this achievement and of the people who made it possible.

At Nova Scotia Power, the team brought 250-megawatt 4-hour battery storage facilities into service, delivering immediate customer value by supporting the system during peak demand, including 2 cold snaps already this winter. A third battery facility is on track to come online this summer. The company also executed more than $200 million in the first year of its $1.3 billion 5-year Reliability Plan, consistent with the capital profile supported by all customer representatives as part of Nova Scotia Power's general rate application.

In 2026, we plan to execute a record $4 billion of capital across our regulated utilities, part of our 5-year, $20 billion capital plan, supporting the 7% to 8% rate base growth outlined on our Q3 call. This plan is centered on essential investments that strengthen resiliency and reliability while meeting customers' evolving needs. More than half of our 5-year program is directed towards transmission, distribution and gas infrastructure expansion, enabling customer growth while enhancing system resilience through storm hardening, vegetation management and grid modernization.

Notably, our capital plan does not reflect any data center-driven growth. While we do not have any data center signings to announce today, we remain actively engaged in discussions and are optimistic about future opportunities. From a regulatory perspective, 2025 delivered steady and constructive progress. We achieved a favorable rate case outcome at Peoples Gas. And in the fourth quarter, the Florida Commission approved an USD 88 million rate base adjustment for Tampa Electric for 2026, consistent with the company's 2024 rate case decision. These outcomes provide important regulatory clarity and reinforce our confidence in deploying the capital needed to support Florida's growth, strengthen system reliability and continue delivering stable long-term value for customers and shareholders.

Supported by this strong growth environment and regulatory framework and through a disciplined focus on cost effectiveness and operational excellence, Tampa Electric continues to maintain customer rates that are below the national average. In Nova Scotia, the general rate application continues to progress. The hearing concluded in mid-January, and we are awaiting a final decision from the Nova Scotia Energy Board. This GRA supports critical reliability and infrastructure investments needed to serve homes, businesses and communities across the province while also carefully considering and balancing affordability pressures for customers.

The consensus solution brought forward by Nova Scotia Power, which limits the average rate increases to an average of 2% per year across all customer classes over the 2026 to 2027 period is the result of extensive collaboration with all customer representatives and a shared focus on enabling essential investment while minimizing customer impacts. All parties agreed this application strikes the right balance. The consensus filing also reflects a proposal to securitize approximately $700 million of Nova Scotia Power's retiring thermal assets, providing significant customer savings.

Together, the GRA and securitization demonstrate Nova Scotia Power's disciplined, thoughtful approach to managing affordability for customers. In keeping with the independent regulatory process in Nova Scotia, the Energy Board will now review the full record and set customer rates. We believe the evidentiary record is very strong, and we expect the decision will be rendered in the next month or 2. If approved as filed, the settlement provides Nova Scotia Power with a clear path to returning to its approved ROE band in 2026 and 2027.

And finally, at New Mexico Gas, the sales process is proceeding. The hearing concluded in mid-November, and we're currently awaiting the hearing examiner's recommendation. We continue to expect a positive decision and a closing of the sale transaction in the first half of 2026. I'm also pleased to note that we're extending our average adjusted EPS growth target of 5% to 7% through 2030, while continuing to anchor the outlook to our 2024 results. Extending our growth rate out to 2030 shows our commitment to driving shareholder value over the long term and our confidence in the growth we continue to see in our company.

Given that 2025 represented a step change for Emera's earnings with a 19% increase over 2024, we believe maintaining 2024 as the base year remains the most appropriate measure for the long-term growth of our company. With Tampa Electric now representing approximately 59% of our total operating company earnings, new rates in that business drive meaningful increases in our consolidated earnings as we experienced in 2025, but that we would not expect to replicate every year.

By moving to a 5-year growth target from our previous 3-year outlook, we are providing greater long-term visibility into our adjusted earnings trajectory that is more closely aligned with our projected rate base growth of 7% to 8% through 2030. This longer horizon better reflects the multiyear nature of our capital planning and regulatory cycles and aligns our disclosure with evolving practices across the North American utility sector where the 5-year forecast periods are increasingly standard.

Before handing the call over to Jared, I want to take a moment to acknowledge Peter Gregg, who will soon conclude his tenure as President and CEO of Nova Scotia Power and take on the new role of EVP of Strategy and Policy at Emera. On behalf of the entire team, I want to thank Peter for his leadership, integrity and commitment to serving customers in the province. And we extend a warm welcome to Vivek Sood, who will join us next week as the new President and CEO of Nova Scotia Power.

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jared to discuss our financial results.

Thank you, Scott, and thank you all for joining us this morning. I am glad to be here with you for my very first Emera's earning call. So turning over to our financial highlights. This morning, we reported full year 2025 adjusted earnings of $1.45 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $3.49 compared to $849 million and $2.94 per share in 2024. This reflects a 19% or $0.55 increase in adjusted earnings per share over 2024. In addition, we reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings of $167 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.55 compared to $246 million and $0.84 in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Let me spend a few minutes walking through the key drivers of our full year results. Starting with Tampa Electric, we saw a strong performance in 2025, driven by new rates and continued customer growth. That said, some of this benefit was offset by higher O&M, increased depreciation, interest expense and income tax of the growing business. Emera Energy also had a very strong year. Results were supported by favorable market conditions, and the team did an excellent job of capitalizing on those opportunities.

At our gas utilities, earnings at New Mexico Gas increased, reflecting the first full year of new rates in the business. Earnings at Peoples Gas were flat year-over-year. So across the segment, results were partially offset by higher O&M and increased depreciation at both of the growing utilities. At our Canadian electric utilities, earnings were lower compared to last year. This was primarily due to higher O&M and depreciation driving lower earnings at Nova Scotia Power as well as the sale of our equity interest in the Labrador Island Link in early 2024. These impacts were partially offset by stronger residential and commercial sales, along with modestly favorable weather in Nova Scotia.

Corporate costs were largely in line with 2024. We did see higher interest expense as a result of increased corporate debt outstanding, although this was partially offset by lower interest rates. During the year, a higher share count reduced adjusted earnings by $0.13. And finally, foreign exchange had a meaningful impact on the year. A weaker Canadian dollar in 2025 benefited earnings from our U.S. utilities. Looking ahead to 2026, based on our current hedge adjusted position, we expect that every $0.01 change in the Canadian U.S. dollar foreign exchange rate will have an approximate $0.02 impact on our adjusted earnings per share.

Now turning over to the drivers of our fourth quarter results. Many of the factors were consistent with what we discussed for the full year, but there are a few items worth calling out specifically for the quarter. Starting with our Canadian -- our Canadian electric utilities, contributions were lower year-over-year. This was largely driven by higher O&M costs as well as a tax recovery that was recognized at Nova Scotia Power in the fourth quarter of last year. That tax item had a meaningful impact to the utilities adjusted earnings.

At the corporate level, costs were higher than the fourth quarter of last year. This is primarily because Q4 2024 benefited from the recognition of a deferred tax asset that did not repeat itself to the same extent in 2025. Corporate results also reflected higher operating expenses and modestly higher interest expense year-over-year. For our gas and other electric utilities, Peoples Gas delivered a strong quarter with earnings up 11%, supported by higher off-system sales. This performance was more than offset by softer results at New Mexico Gas, driven by higher labor and benefit costs as well as lower earnings at BLPC.

At Tampa Electric, quarter-over-quarter earnings were essentially flat. Higher O&M, increased depreciation and less favorable weather were largely offset by the benefit of new rates compared to the fourth quarter of last year. And finally, foreign exchange had a modest impact on the quarter. A slightly stronger Canadian dollar compared to Q4 2024 resulted in a modest reduction to adjusted earnings. Our robust earnings growth drove a 19% or $386 million year-over-year increase in operating cash flow after normalizing for fuel and storm deferrals.

This momentum translated into strong key credit metrics, including a 130 basis point improvement in the Moody's CFO preworking capital to debt. This improvement reflects significant and meaningful progress towards target metrics. And pro forma the announced New Mexico gas sale, we would have exceeded Moody's 12% threshold. Additionally, our strong financial results contributed to an improved payout ratio of 83% in 2025. This puts us on track to reach our 80% goal by 2027.

Before I hand it over to Scott for closing remarks, I want to briefly touch on 2026. With roughly USD 2 billion of the TECO acquisition-related call dates and maturities approaching midyear, we do expect to return to the hybrid and bond markets over the next few months. Debt market conditions remain constructive as we enter 2026, supporting our plan to refinance our June bond maturities. As we continue the process of refinancing the hybrids, which we started in Q4 2025, we'd like to highlight additional capacity in our capital structure for hybrids over and above the USD 1.2 billion issued in 2016.

And now I'll hand things back to Scott for his closing remarks.

Thank you, Jared. As we reflect on 2025, I'm proud of the strong execution and discipline our teams demonstrated across the organization. That performance has created meaningful momentum as we enter 2026, supported by a clear strategy, a strong balance sheet trajectory and a portfolio of high-quality regulated assets. Looking ahead, our focus remains on executing our $20 billion capital plan, completing the New Mexico Gas transaction and continuing to work constructively with stakeholders, particularly in Nova Scotia to reliably deliver the energy our customers expect.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of our TECO acquisition, and it's notable that we have now invested more capital in our Florida utilities than the entirety of the original purchase price, a milestone that underscores how that transaction transformed Emera and created long-term value for customers and shareholders alike. With a solid foundation in place and strong visibility into our growth outlook, we are well positioned to continue delivering sustainable value for customers and shareholders in 2026 and beyond.

With that, I'll be happy to answer your questions.

[Operator Instructions] And your first question is from Maurice Choy from RBC Capital Markets.

Just wanted to start with a question about the extension of growth rates. So obviously, you are doing this for EPS all the way through to the end of the decade. And I wonder whether or not you could indulge us in what your outlook is for the dividend? Obviously, you've got 1% to 2% through to 2027. Is that also something that you think the Board may consider extending? Or put differently, what do you see the payout ratio being at the end of the decade.

Maurice, as far as the dividend, we do like the 1% to 2% dividend growth that the organization is working within. We like seeing the trajectory of the payout ratio starting to decrease. If we were to look back a couple of years, we would have had a target of looking kind of 70%, 75% as a good payout ratio for the organization. We still have that belief. And as we do progress towards kind of that level, I think that you'll see that moving along.

And if you could just finish off with a question on the data center discussion that you had in your prepared remarks. Given your optimism of future data center opportunities arriving, what are some of the early stakeholder engagements that you're doing right now and also perhaps power generation requisitions that you think you might do in the very near term to facilitate some of this power load coming on?

Yes. Thanks for the question, Maurice. I'd say that Tampa Electric is involved in a number of discussions with potential data center developers and operators is in advanced system planning work with a number of them and continues to be optimistic that we're going to see some element of that kind of large load activity within its service territory. As it relates to generation, the current plans are similar to what we've shared before. We continue to invest in solar in the 150 megawatts to 200 megawatts a year range.

As I said, we put in place 150 megawatts in '26 and expect another 170 megawatts in '27 -- sorry, I got myself advanced the year, 150 megawatts in '25 and another 170 megawatts in '26. And as you know, we are in the queue for 2 H-class machines from GE that would continue to provide generation support for the growing generation needs in Tampa Electric service territory, potentially including data center-driven load. So those would be the sort of the key aspects. And as I say, we're hoping that we'll see some of those things firm up as this year progresses.

Just as a quick follow-up. I think in your prepared remarks, you mentioned that the CapEx plan that you have in front of you doesn't materially include much by way of data center investments. When we think about this extension of 5% to 7% EPS growth, would you say that the data center growth when it does come, is incremental to this 5% to 7% EPS growth target? Or has it all been baked in already?

Well, no, I would not -- and it's not baked in already as to -- I mean, from our perspective, one of the biggest advantages and opportunities we see with large load additions into the Tampa service territory is the impact that it can have on broader customer affordability, helping to reduce rate pressure for other customers. And yes, depending on how this activity unfolds, it could drive the need for incremental investment in order to support those needs over time. And yes, that could contribute positively to earnings over time. But we have not assumed any of that within our current rate base forecast or within our continued 5% to 7% EPS guidance. And as I say, we see the primary benefits of attracting that kind of customer load is reducing rate pressure for customers.

And my congrats and welcome to Jared and also to Vivek and Peter for the upcoming transition.

Your next question is from Rob Hope from Scotiabank.

Just regarding the extension of the EPS outlook out to 2030, how should we think about the growth range in the context of Tampa Electric returns and rate filings? Which could move you to the top end of the range? And what could move you to the bottom end of the range, especially given the fact that you do have a step-up in earnings when you do have new rates at Tampa?

Yes, Rob, thanks for the question. I think nothing new here in terms of the profile. I think for Tampa Electric, similar to most utilities, certainly those within our portfolio, generally, when new rates are secured as part of a regulatory application, often, we're able to earn in the upper half of the band if we're prudent in terms of our capital allocation and execution and the management of costs. And then as we get closer to the need for rates, typically every 2 to 3 years, depending on the capital investment profile, then, of course, the ROE profile starts to reduce.

And we might see in the lower half of the range in the year of regulatory filing to secure new rates, which is really an indicator that the business requires those new rates to support the continued investment of capital. So that's the profile we expect with Tampa Electric. And of course, the other big driver is weather. And if we have favorable weather, then that can contribute positively. If we have less favorable weather, of course, that can drive ROE profiles lower a little bit. And generally, we've been pretty fortunate over the last few years, but you saw a bit of that impact in the fourth quarter, of course, with less favorable weather impacting results in a couple of our operations.

The 2026 outlook has Nova Scotia Power earning at the lower end of the band, even with the partial year of new rates. If the regulatory or political situation in Nova Scotia worsens. Could we see you materially cut capital and reallocate those funds to Florida, which the market views as more favorable?

Yes, I'll pass it over to Peter in a second. But yes, there's always -- if there isn't regulatory support or the capital investment profile that's been put forward, then, of course, that capital won't be able to be invested. And so that could have an impact. But we continue to believe the evidentiary record and the capital profile that's been put forward and supported by all customers represents the right balance between the investments needed and the impact on affordability.

But maybe I'll pass it over to Peter to take it from there.

Thanks, Scott. Rob. Yes, I'd just underline our confidence in what we put before the regulator and our reliance on the independent regulatory process as well. It's important to remember that we did work with all of the customer representatives to put together a consensus agreement. So we've got support from all of the customer representatives. As Scott said, we think the evidentiary record is strong. So we do have confidence that we'll get a good decision from our regulator.

Your next question is from Mark Jarvi from CIBC Capital Markets.

Just sticking with Nova Scotia, just there was some pushback around some of the terms of securitization. Just wondering where those conversations are, anything you've provided and sort of feedback to the government and when we might get clarity on that?

Mark, it's Peter. So we continue to work with the province and are committed to continuing to work with the province to demonstrate the benefits to our customers through the proposed securitization. I guess all I can say is continue to address questions that come in from that, but confident that what we put forward is in the best interest of customers and look forward to what the Energy Board has to say on that as well.

Can you remind us again in terms of what cash has been provided and when the next sort of payments were expected?

Sorry, not sure I follow your question, Rob (sic) [ Mark ] one more time.

No. I just can't remember, was all the securitization paid upfront? Or was there installments and when sort of what the next planned installment if there was?

So there's been 2 securitizations that have been completed. So there was $117 million and then another $500 million that was done both relating to unrecovered fuel costs, the FAM. The proposed securitization as part of the general rate application is an additional $700 million that relates to the retiring thermal assets, the coal plants that are required to be retired by 2030 under provincial and federal legislation.

And then just going back to the EPS guidance. Anything else you guys can share in terms of any key assumptions, whether it's expected ATM usage or Jared, you brought up the refinancing in 2026 in terms of how much more you issue this year at the holdco and the rates you assume there?

So I don't know if there's a whole lot of difference in color to give you on the financing plan on that side. Obviously, we do have the shelf prospectus is outstanding for the ATM, and we would be looking to utilize that throughout the year. Also remind on there that we do have the DRIP program. So we'd be accessing the equity through both of those mechanisms. As far as the upcoming financings, so June 15 is the date that we're coming up to that anniversary date. And so just the ability to get out a little bit ahead of that.

And as we noted, we do have some incremental capacity as Emera has grown since the original size. And so being able to utilize that just in the hybrid market is something that it has obviously good credit components on it. And we are seeing, as I said before, a strong market in that side. So we're seeing the spreads and the cost there is something that we are liking. But going back, the overall financing plan for the $20 billion program over the 5-year period is very similar to what we have been saying over this last year.

And then you made a comment, Jared, about you would have been above the Moody's threshold. Can you just kind of outline where that would have been?

So that would be with the pro forma of the closing of the New Mexico Gas. So we see the Moody's metric with the adjustments through there. We're at about 11.6% is what we ended the year at. And then we do see on an annualized basis, there's probably about 50 basis points of credit related to the closing of the New Mexico Gas. So that's where we would see that.

Your next question is from Ben Pham from BMO Capital Markets.

A couple of questions on the New Mexico transaction. Can you give a context on the timing? Again, I know you had initially pushed it out from late last year to early this year because of the hearing change. And I'm curious what's driving the recent timing delay, if I can put it like that? And then also, is this decision then linked to the pending Blackstone application as well that hearings in early February?

Yes. Ben, so as I mentioned, the hearing is complete. We believe the hearing went well. And now we're just awaiting the decision or the recommendation from the hearing examiner, which could be any day now. And then following that, the commission would meet and if the commission then approves the transaction, we could close almost immediately right after that. So we don't really have a good line of sight as to the exact timing of the hearing examiner decision. But as I said, it could literally be any day now. And no, we don't believe that there's any sort of knock-on impacts or connection of timing of this to the TXNM transaction with Blackstone.

And maybe going back a second on the NSPI at the sub-security situation last year weighed on your earnings to some extent. So where are you with that now in terms of remediation and any potential costs this year? Is that some of that built in the ROE expectation for NSPI for 2026?

Sorry, Ben, could you repeat that again? I didn't think I caught the front end of that.

Yes, absolutely. You had the cybersecurity incident at NSPI impacted your earnings in that franchise. And my question is, is that the -- what's the remediation of that now? Is it pretty much all rectified? Is there impact to 2026 -- related to that at all?

I missed that. We still remain confident that insurance will cover the costs -- largely cover the cost of this incident. We did expense the amounts in 2025, as you've seen in our financials. We're making really good progress. One of the biggest impacts we saw was the impact to the -- what we call the head-end system that connects the meters, AMI meters to our billing engine. We've made very good progress on that. We've got over 85% of our meters now communicating with our billing system and we'll have 100% of those meters communicating by the end of next month. So we continue to make very good progress. I don't expect to see any significant impact on 2026.

Your next question is from John Mould from TD Cowen.

Just wanted to get a little more color on your coal assets. And I appreciate -- sorry, in Nova Scotia, and I appreciate you don't have responsibility for system operation anymore, but I'm just trying to get a sense of their importance to provincial reliability and how you're thinking about their actual operations through 2030 in the context of the phaseout timeline and maybe some color on the importance they've had for reliability in some of the recent periods of high demand and stormy weather. I think that would be helpful.

Sure. John, it's Peter. I'll take a crack at that. So we do continue to make plans to have those coal assets shut down by 2030 as required. But we've seen electrification growth, and they do continue to contribute to reliability. The independent electricity system operator here in Nova Scotia has recently -- they just got the environmental assessment approved last week for 2 sites to put in some fast-acting gas generation. That's a really important step in terms of replacement energy and capacity for us to shut down those coal plants.

We have had to make some tweaks to our plans. If you look at the most recent GRA, we've asked for the ability to spend up to $18 million to invest in our Lingan 2 generating assets because it continues to contribute meaningfully to reliability, especially during cold snaps. So that's $18 million to sort of keep it around until that 2030 phase out. So managing the system while new resources come online, but knowing that we have a legislative requirement to shut down the coal by 2030.

And the only thing I'd add to that, John, is what Peter spoke about is all part of a plan, executing an approach to achieving the 2030 goals that was announced by the province and supported by the utility that in order to close those coal plants, really 4 key components to be able to make that happen and achieve -- both the provincial and the federal legislation. Two of those things, the responsibility of Nova Scotia Power, which is the addition of 150 megawatts of batteries. And as mentioned, 2/3 of that is now in service. The other 1/3 will go in service this year.

And then the other part that is Nova Scotia Power's responsibility is the tie line, the transmission line interconnection between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The independent system operator is managing the procurement of the additional renewable resources, wind resources and the gas generation that Peter mentioned. It's the combination of those 4 things that enables the achievement of those 2030 goals. And as I said, the portion that Nova Scotia Power is responsible for is in progress and well on hand and certainly no risk to be able to deliver on its commitments to achieve that 2030 goal.

And then I'd just like to ask about potential new markets. You're on the list of eligible transmission bidders in Ontario's competitive transmission procurement. You do have underwater line development experience. Province is also running this PULSE Panel on its local distribution utilities. I'm just wondering if you could give us a sense of your appetite more broadly to deploy capital beyond your current markets and how Ontario might fit into that?

Yes. So we're certainly paying attention to opportunities in that market. And yes, the decision by the Province to look to procure transmission interconnection between Darlington and the Port Lands of Toronto, downtown Toronto by way of underwater high-voltage DC cable is definitely something that we know something about. Of course, having built and now operating the 2 longest subsea cables in North America and doing that, I think everyone would agree quite successfully.

So that's certainly an opportunity we're paying attention to, and we'll await the procurement process that the Province decides upon and what's going on with the LDC market in Ontario, we pay attention to as well and looking forward to seeing what opportunities might get created in Ontario. But in the meantime, our focus continues principally to be on the execution of the organic growth that we've got in the portfolio, that $20 billion that I mentioned that continues to drive strong EPS growth guidance based upon that extension of that 3-year guidance to 5 years as we talked about.

Your next question is from Elias Jossen from JPMorgan.

Maybe just thinking about the overall generation mix shift down in Tampa. Can you guys just frame, one, how the discussions are evolving with regards to generation type? I know you have a lot of different options there. And then maybe secondly, just more broadly, what the outlook is for renewables in the state long term, recognizing that you continue to deploy a good mix shift of renewables annually.

Yes. Thanks for the question. So for Tampa Electric, pretty similar to other utilities in the state, natural gas is a really important part of the generation mix there. Over 70% of Tampa Electric's generation is natural gas. And as mentioned, we're looking at adding more of that in order to meet the growing needs and the growth in Tampa Electric service territory. But we also do continue to invest in solar and would expect to continue to do that for the next few years. Obviously, the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill and the tax credits create some uncertainty in the long term. But certainly, over the profile of our capital investment -- 5-year capital investment forecast that's provided.

You'll note there continues to be meaningful solar investment in Florida because we can continue to demonstrate that it saves customers money. And doing that on an economic basis continues to be an important part of how we meet the generation needs of customers in Tampa. So for the time being, continued investment in solar and some additional gas generation capacity that would be the primary generation sources for us in Tampa. The one remaining coal unit that we have is used very, very rarely, and the team is looking at what its retirement options might be in the near term.

And then maybe sticking with Tampa, I know there's been a lot of discussion about data center opportunities, but we've seen others in the state structure sort of large-load tariffs. Is there any color you can provide about the nature of the discussions you're having, whether that's regarding size of the opportunities or just overall structure, again, given the sort of the other contracting we've seen in the state?

Yes. So thank you for the question. And yes, one of our -- one of the other large investor-owned utilities in the state, as you know, had a large-load tariff supported through its settlement -- approved settlement of a recent rate case. And without surprise, the kind of conversations that we're having, the approach that we've taken to large-load tariff is completely aligned to that, which is really ensuring that these new large loads, data center-driven large loads fully pay for the cost, the incremental cost that is required to serve them and contribute some portion to the broader system in order to, as I mentioned before, help reduce the rate pressure on the socialized system on other customers. So that's very much aligned with our approach.

And I'm sorry, I've now forgotten the second part of your question. Size, yes. Really, what we've been articulating over the last year or so is we've got the capacity to serve in 300-ish megawatts in the near term and the ability to grow that modestly over the years ahead. So we're not talking about the kind of massive multi-gigawatt type opportunities that some are discussing, but very incrementally helpful to all stakeholders to the extent that we're able to attract some of this large load into the Tampa service territory and the team is very focused on ensuring it's positioned to be able to meet that need.

[Operator Instructions] And your next question is from Patrick Kenny from National Bank.

I guess just on Emera Energy with the performance in '25 here exceeding even the previously revised guidance. Just wondering what you're expecting to change or, I guess, normalize here over the near term in terms of market dynamics? Or should we be thinking about 2026 as having a similar upside potential?

It's Judy. Yes. So we've kind of provided the guidance that we think 2026 will be in line with 2025's results. We're still not changing what we consider our normal guidance. Clearly, the weather in the last -- especially over the winter and then the first quarter of last year has been a little abnormal, which has been good for us, but we keep the general guidance the same at 15% to 30%. And when we see conditions that tell us that we should update people for a little bit of a change, we'll do that -- deal with it that way. So again, I will reiterate though that we do think that 2026 will be closer in line to 2025.

And then I guess just stepping back and looking at the $20 billion capital plan, can you just remind us maybe where you might have certain flexibilities in terms of pushing certain projects out if cost inflation or FX rates move against you along the way? I'm just wondering how much flex you might have to be able to manage any affordability pressures that might pop up if need be?

Yes. Let me start, and then Jared can add on. I think, Patrick, generally, our thinking and approach traditionally has been that 7% to 8% rate base growth guidance is kind of the right place to be and to the extent that we see inflationary pressures on projects start to drive costs up or as you mentioned, foreign exchange impacts or tariffs or whatever the case may be, then generally, yes, we would be reprofiling a little bit because we do want to make sure that we're not putting too much pressure on rates for customers. So I would not be expecting that we'd be sort of seeing those pressures drive our 7% to 8% guidance higher, but rather really just creating more durability, sort of a longer profile to continue to see that kind of rate base growth. But maybe Jared can give a little more color.

No. Just adding on, Scott, for that. From a financial perspective, probably very similar to what we have seen in the $20 billion side. The scope of what goes within that utilities do have some ability to adjust that through time. But with, as Scott noted, customer affordability being a key factor in there, safety, reliability, customer growth are all legs to the stool that come into factor when you're looking at these investment plans. So we see -- we have pretty good comfort in that $20 billion forecast.

And as Scott said, programs that might get pushed out a little add more to the durability of that growth program. Final color, I'll just put on that is we do feel quite confident in the durability of this 7% to 8% growth range into rate base. It's one where again you can factor in all 3 legs to that stool of customer affordability, safe, reliable and the sustainability that goes within it. So we do see a lot of good longevity to that growth as well.

And I know it's a relatively small investment for NSPI, but maybe just on the New Brunswick, intertie -- would you have an update there on where things are at from an engineering or construction standpoint and how things are progressing towards the 2028 in-service date?

Yes. Patrick, it's Peter. As you know, we got approval for that in the fall. We've been doing land preparation forestry work through the winter. So doing the tree clearing. We expect to be doing foundation pours in the spring. So everything well on track for that '28 in-service date.

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. Please proceed.

Thank you all for your interest today. That wraps the call. Have a great day.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now ended. Thank you all for joining. You may all disconnect your lines.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Emera Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Friday, November 7, 2025.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Dave Bezanson. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Joanna, and thank you all for joining us this morning for Emera's Third Quarter 2025 Conference Call and Live Webcast. Emera's third quarter earnings release was distributed this morning via Newswire and the financial statements, management's discussion and analysis and the presentation being referenced on this call are available on our website at emera.com.

Joining me for this morning's call are Scott Balfour, Emera's President and Chief Executive Officer; Greg Blunden, Emera's Chief Financial Officer; and other members of Emera's management team.

Before we begin, I'd like to advise you that this morning's discussion will include forward-looking information, which is subject to the cautionary statement contained in the supporting slide. Today's discussion and presentation will also include reference to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the appendix for a reconciliation of historical non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP financial measure.

And now I will turn things over to Scott.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Emera enters these last months of 2025 with solid momentum. Our third quarter marked our fifth consecutive quarter of strong adjusted earnings growth, which has been underpinned by disciplined execution and customer-focused investments and reflects both the strength of our strategy and the quality of our portfolio. With a record $3.6 billion in capital investment this year and a newly extended 7% to 8% rate base growth profile, and a $20 billion capital plan through 2030, we're confident in our ability to continue to deliver sustainable value for customers and shareholders alike.

This morning, we reported third quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.88, a nearly 9% increase over the same period in 2024. Year-to-date, adjusted earnings per share of $2.94 represents a 14% increase over the same period in 2024. The progress this year sets us up well to deliver on our 5% to 7% adjusted earnings per share growth guidance through 2027. In September, our Board of Directors approved a 1% dividend increase, our 19th consecutive year of annual increases. This continued growth in our dividend reflects our confidence in the strength of our premium asset portfolio and our ability to deliver consistent earnings and cash flow growth. We remain focused on delivering value to all stakeholders and we're delivering.

We're on track to deliver our largest annual capital spend of $3.6 billion in 2025, with more than $2.6 billion already deployed across key projects, including solar and reliability investments at Tampa Electric, energy storage and transmission upgrades in Nova Scotia, and gas infrastructure at Peoples Gas, and we remain on track to fully execute on our full year plan. Looking forward, our 2026 to 2030 capital plan adds $20 billion of essential investment across our portfolio, enabling us to continue to deliver the reliable energy our customers expect.

Like many across the sector, we see increased demand for core investments in reliability, resilience, modernization and generation capacity driven by key market conditions, such as accelerating demand growth, changing grid configuration, renewables integration and of course, electrification. Put simply, there is no shortage of investment opportunity across our portfolio.

Our capital plan thoughtfully maintains our 7% to 8% rate base growth trajectory as we remain focused on pacing our capital investment in a way that best delivers value and manages cost impacts for customers while also delivering solid and sustainable growth for investors.

Affordability for customers is an important consideration that we must balance with the need to invest in our systems to ensure we were able to reliably deliver the energy our customers need. Since our acquisition of Tampa Electric in 2016, Tampa Electric's rate base has grown by more than 8% annually, driven by investments to support the delivery of essential service to our customers. Over the same period, Tampa Electric's bill increases have remained below the national average. Our success in managing customer cost impacts is driven by prudent cost management, smart investments and a focus on strategic initiatives that deliver value for customers. For example, our solar investments in Florida have saved customers more than USD 350 million in avoided fuel costs.

In Nova Scotia, investments required to meet growth in the province to maintain reliability in the face of increasing severe weather and to support government policies of closing coal plants are also driving rate base investment and growth. And we're working to find creative solutions to minimize the impact on customer rates. Last year, Nova Scotia Power is supported by both federal and provincial governments, we securitized more than $600 million in fuel costs and the recently filed consensus general rate application proposes an additional $700 million of securitization related to a portion of Nova Scotia Power's thermal generation assets. These steps are helping to minimize near-term customer cost impacts and demonstrate the thoughtful approach we continue to take in managing rates for customers.

Florida continues to be a powerful engine of growth, with robust population and economic expansion driving increased demand for electricity and natural gas. In the last 5 years, Florida has experienced nearly 38% GDP growth. And in 2024, it was the #1 state for net migration and experienced the second highest population growth in the country. To support that growth, more than 80% of our capital plan will be deployed here. The influx of new customers has translated into increased demand for both electricity and natural gas across both residential and commercial sectors.

At Tampa Electric's capacity needs grow as a result of economic development, our 2026 to 2030 capital plan includes approximately $1.2 billion of transmission expansion and capacity improvements, averaging approximately $240 million of investment per year. This is in addition to the more than $2 billion of anticipated ongoing spend on solar and complementary energy storage projects, which will result in 2,100 megawatts of solar to be in service by the end of 2028.

At Peoples Gas, our investments will be targeted at bringing new customers online as we see continued growth in natural gas demand. In addition, our investments will continue to focus on hardening the system and increasing reliability for customers.

As a direct result of the growth we continue to see in Florida, we expect rate base growth from our local utilities to outpace the average of our consolidated plan with these investments driving 8% to 9% rate base growth through 2030. And with the recently approved settlement of Peoples Gas and last year's Tampa Electric rate case, both of which include subsequent year adjustments, we are pleased to have regulatory clarity in support of our investment in rate base over the next 3 years.

I'd like to acknowledge that a capital plan of this size is not just numbers on a page. It requires a team of dedicated professionals to execute on. I'm very proud of our teams across all our companies that year after year developed thoughtful plans to take our customers' current and future needs and government regulations and policies into consideration, anticipate what it will take to execute and then go out and deliver on these plans, safely and efficiently.

We made a meaningful regulatory process in 2025. The Florida Public Service Commission approved the Peoples Gas settlement with USD 67 million of new rates to go into effect in 2026 and subsequent year adjustments of USD 25 million and USD 5 million in 2027 and 2028, respectively. The settlement agreement also reflects a 15 basis point increase in return on equity, bringing it to 10.3%. This agreement helps to manage regulatory lag and the recovery of investments and important reliability and distribution expansion needs across the state.

Earlier this week, the FPSC formalized Tampa Electric's 2026 base rate increase of USD 88 million, which was approved as part of their 2024 decision. In Nova Scotia, the utility filed a consensus general rate application with the Nova Scotia Energy Board in September, requesting new rates for 2026 and 2027. This consensus GRA reflects agreement reached with all customer representatives following extensive engagement and constructive collaboration with key stakeholders across the province. The hearing has been scheduled for January 2026, and we expect a decision and new rates early next year.

The GRA enables critical reliability and infrastructure investments necessary to support the needs of Nova Scotians, which are reflected in our updated capital plan. If approved as filed, the settlement provides Nova Scotia Power with a path to return to earning its approved ROE in 2026 and 2027. Finally, at New Mexico Gas, the sales process is proceeding. The regulatory hearing began earlier this week, and we remain confident in obtaining regulatory approval in early 2026.

Before turning the call over to Greg, I wanted to highlight that while we extended our rate base growth forecast today through 2030, we've maintained our 5% to 7% adjusted earnings per share growth guidance through 2027. We plan to roll forward our EPS guidance on our fourth quarter call in February of 2026.

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Greg.

Thank you, Scott and all of you for joining us this morning. Turning to our financial highlights. This morning, we reported third quarter adjusted earnings of $263 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.88, compared to $236 million and $0.81 in the third quarter of 2024. This represents a 9% increase in our Q3 earnings per share.

Year-to-date, we reported adjusted earnings of $878 million and adjusted earnings per share of $2.94, compared to $603 million and $2.10 per share in 2024, representing a 40% increase in earnings per share over the same period in 2024.

The robust earnings growth the business has delivered so far has translated into a 23% increase in operating cash flow compared to the same period last year when normalized for fuel and storm deferrals. In addition, recently, we issued USD 750 million in hybrids, effectively replacing the expected proceeds from the sale of New Mexico Gas this year and derisking our hybrid maturity in 2026.

This quarter's cash flow growth, in addition to the hybrid offering in late September has delivered an over 150 basis point improvement in our key credit metrics since this time last year, bringing us to 11.9% on a trailing 12-month basis for the must-watch Moody's metric.

Turning to the drivers of our third quarter results. Adjusted earnings per share increased $0.07 to $0.88 compared to $0.81 in Q3 2024. At Tampa Electric, new rates in 2025, reflecting the level of capital we've invested on behalf of customers and continued customer growth increased contributions by $0.16 compared to the third quarter of 2024. Contributions from our other electric utilities modestly increased due to lower operating costs and a slightly stronger U.S. dollar increased adjusted earnings by $0.01 during the quarter, while a higher share count decreased adjusted earnings per share by $0.03 compared to 2024.

Contributions from our Canadian Electric Utilities decreased $0.04 compared to the third quarter of 2024, primarily driven by higher operating costs and higher depreciation expense. Timing differences in the valuation of long-term compensation and related hedges primarily related to a large gain recognized in 2024 drove a $0.02 increase in corporate costs compared to the third quarter of 2024. And at Emera Energy, favorable weather conditions that led to higher natural gas prices and increased volatility, modestly increased contributions from marketing and trading, but this was offset by lower earnings at Bear Swamp due to an outage. And at our Gas Utilities, lower contributions from New Mexico Gas and Peoples Gas decreased earnings by $0.02 compared to the third quarter of last year.

Year-to-date adjusted earnings per share is up $0.84 compared to the same period in 2024, many of the drivers for the quarter are the same as for the year, but there are a few items I'd like to highlight. In addition to new rates at Tampa Electric in 2025, driving increased earnings year-to-date, favorable weather conditions in Florida contributed $0.07 year-over-year. The timing differences in the valuation of long-term compensation related hedges and the reversal of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, also drove lower corporate costs. The weakening Canadian dollar increased the earnings contribution from our U.S. operations by $25 million for the year, contributing $0.09 year-to-date.

Emera Energy's year-to-date performance reflects the record first quarter where cold weather in the Northeast early this year brought higher pricing and market volatility that the business was able to capitalize on. As a result, in the first quarter of this year, we adjusted Emera Energy's earnings guidance up to a range of USD 35 million to USD 45 million. And contributions from Canadian Electric Utilities benefit from the recognition of investment tax credits related to the ongoing energy storage projects and favorable weather in Nova Scotia in the first quarter of 2025. This was partially offset by the sale of our equity interest in Labrador Island Link in June of 2024.

Our capital plan for 2026 to 2030 is similar in size to our previous capital plan, and that is true for our funding plan as well. The only change in our funding plan this year is the inclusion of the proposed asset securitization at Nova Scotia Power that Scott mentioned earlier. The largest source of funding for our new $20 billion capital plan will continue to be reinvested cash flows from our operations. We expect organic cash flow generation to provide 45% to 50% of our funding needs.

We expect debt to be issued by our operating companies to support staying in line with the regulated capital structures. And at the holding company, we expect to maintain our holding company debt at 30% to 35% of total debt. As Scott mentioned in his regulatory update, a final decision on the sale of New Mexico Gas is expected in early 2026, and we remain confident in a constructive outcome.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund approximately USD 700 million of our capital plan. And in addition, Nova Scotia, the expected securitization of thermal assets will contribute an additional CAD 700 million for our funding needs. We continue to expect to access equity markets through our DRIP and ATM programs for up to 10% of our funding needs, supporting the strong profile of organic growth reflected in our $20 billion capital plan. On average, this represents approximately $400 million of equity annually.

And we believe hybrid capital has an important role to play in meeting our funding requirements and are pleased with the competitive rates we accessed in the hybrid market a few weeks ago. The 50-50 debt equity treatment by rating agencies makes them attractive tools that we will strategically access to fund up to 5% of our funding plan.

And with that, I'll now turn it back over to Scott.

Thanks, Greg. Before I move into my closing remarks, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that after nearly 10 years, this will be Greg's last earnings call as CFO. On behalf of all of us at Emera, I'd like to thank Greg for his significant contributions over the last decade. Over his tenure, Greg helped the company to navigate a challenging macro environment, unexpected headwinds driven by policy changes and help to absorb our transformative acquisition of TECO. Thanks to Greg's leadership today, Emera is on solid financial footing and well positioned to execute on the organic growth we see ahead. And importantly, I'm pleased that Greg will continue to be part of the team in his new role of Executive Vice President, Finance for our U.S. Utilities supporting our largest and fastest-growing businesses.

We also look forward to welcoming Jared Green to the Emera team as our CFO as of December 1. Greg will, of course, work closely with him to ensure a smooth and seamless transition of finance responsibilities, as Jared steps into his new leadership role at Emera.

More broadly, for everyone in our industry, this is a critical time to invest in meeting growing demand while strengthening resilience and improving efficiency and, of course, being focused on affordability for customers. Emera will continue to build on our strong momentum, executing our customer-focused $20 billion capital plan at a pace that best manages cost impact for customers. With a strong foundation, premium portfolio of assets and expert teams, we will continue to deliver value for customers and shareholders alike and achieve our targeted adjusted per earnings per share growth.

This concludes our formal presentation, and we now open the call for questions from our analysts.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Rob Hope at Scotiabank.

And Greg, all the best. Thanks for all the years. Okay. Maybe just taking a look at the capital forecast. So if we compare the capital forecast that you put forward today versus your prior one, there seems to be a little bit of a different shape specifically a little bit less capital here in the next couple of years, looks like across the board and maybe a little bit more in kind of that '29, 2030 time frame. Can you maybe speak to kind of how some of the capital has been shifted as well as kind of what the key drivers are there?

Yes. Rob, it's Greg. I think there's a couple of things. One of the things that you may notice is that some of the planned capital at Tampa Electric for the '26 and '27 period. Some of that has been accelerated into 2025, in particular, around some of our solar investments and getting in front of some of the uncertainty that we see from a policy perspective a couple of years out.

And secondly, as part of the rate settlement at Peoples Gas, there was an agreement with intervenors that some of the capital we had planned to spend, it would be better to profile that out over a little bit longer period of time. So that would be an example of a couple of things.

All right. Appreciate that. And then maybe once again on the capital forecast. What -- how do you think about your credit metrics as being a governor or maybe to ask us a different way, are you seeing potential upside to the forecast? And would you be willing to go there if it did require some incremental equity?

I think as Scott said, Rob, there's no shortage of opportunities to deploy capital in our business. I think it's a question of pace. And when we look at that, we look through all lenses in terms of the ability to execute the lead times on certain equipment, the impact on customer rates and whether there's any kind of regulatory lag associated with large capital projects and, of course, funding and credit metrics are part of that as well. But like I think many companies in our sector, we're not going to shy away from issuing equity if we need to, to fund accretive capital projects in our businesses.

Next question comes from John Mould at TD Cowen.

First, best wishes to Greg on the next step, and thanks very much for your assistance. I'd like to just start appreciating it's early days here, but starting with Wind West. It continues to be topical across political levels came up in the federal budget. I appreciate any involvement by yourselves would be on the transmission side. But wondering what conversations have you been a part of on this initiative? How are you thinking about potential scale and timing? And maybe just higher level comments on the broader opportunity for Emera that could come from this push on projects of national importance.

Yes, John, thanks for the question. And I may get Peter to add on to perspective you hear from me here. So first of all, obviously, it's still very early days on all of these projects of national interest that are all at various stages of planning activity, some -- as you know, the SMR program in Ontario is already under construction. And I think from a broad perspective, from Emera's perspective, we're here, we're interested in seeing how this progresses. We're cheering the premier on certainly for his bold vision as it relates to the Wind West initiative. I'm pleased that the federal government seems to have been captured with that vision and enthusiasm.

But of course, it is still very early days, we'll be looking to support the premier's initiative in any way that we can. You're right, we would not naturally look to be participating in offshore wind development. That's not our game. But if we can be assisting those developers with subsea connection into Mainland Nova Scotia, we can be assisting and participate in the transmission build requiring to bring that energy to broader markets beyond Nova Scotia. Of course, we're interested to be doing that. We'll be paying attention, of course, to the Budget Implementation Act, which is expected in the coming weeks. It will increasingly provide more clarity.

We will support the office of the -- that is organizing these projects of national interest led by Dan Farrell in any way we can. So at this point, we're early days. We're trying to be helpful to the parties that are there, and there's still a lot of questions to answer as to where this project sits and its timing. But overall, I think it's exciting to see that the focus of the federal government and many premiers is on enhancing and building national infrastructure in Canada, and we'll be pleased to play any part in that, that we can.

Peter, anything you want to sort of add a little more Nova Scotia perspective within that?

I think you covered it really well, Scott. But I'd just say, I think the potential for that East-West transmission is real. We've looked at that in the past. I think it's an exciting opportunity getting a lot of attention at both the provincial and federal level. I think the opportunity to start optimizing generation resources through transmission links in the region is something we should look at. I think it's good for Nova Scotia, and I think it's good for Atlantic Canada. So we'll continue to stay close to the conversation and see what happens.

Okay. Great. And then just going back to the capital plan and the generation aspect in Florida, you commented earlier about the magnitude of customer savings that solar investments in Florida have brought through avoided fuel costs. Just curious, as you work through your capital plan, how did all the moving pieces with the federal tax credits and some of the [ FEEAC ] concerns or uncertainty effect where you landed in terms of the timing of generation spend and whether there's potential for further customer saving investments there if you do get further clarity on some pieces of that puzzle.

Yes, John, it's Greg. Yes, the fuel savings that Scott referred to, obviously, is related to the build of the solar in our service territory that is obviously economic for customers, and part of that is the availability of tax credits. And if I go back to my comments in response to Rob, that's one of the reasons why we've accelerated some of the otherwise planned solar investments for the next couple of years is to advance those projects, realize the savings for customers earlier and also just get in front of what could be some policy uncertainty in the next couple of years. So it hasn't changed our overall plans, but on solar, in particular, a little bit more sooner rather than later.

The next question comes from Maurice Choy at RBC Capital Markets.

Can I just start with the Nova Scotia rate case? I wanted to specifically ask about your engagement with the Nova Scotia government proceeding up to the settlement and even after the filing with the regulator, particularly given the government's public comments about the rate impact, and with that, what can be done to avoid the outcome that we saw in 2022?

Thanks, Maurice. It's Peter again. I think obviously, affordability is on a lot of people's minds, including our premier. I won't speak for the premier. But when we look at how we came to this filing, and I think it's important to underline that it's a consensus filing, as Scott mentioned, with all of the customer representatives. So we spent several months working with them. I think we found the path to balancing reliability and affordability through this rate case. So I think it's significant that it is a consensus agreement that was filed. And we're on a path to that hearing in early January.

Obviously, you would imagine there have been ongoing discussions with provincial officials for months, those continue. We do have a productive relationship with officials inside the government, and we continue those discussions. I think it's important, too, that the premier statements, while he's concerned about affordability and I understand that, his statements have also been that they will become intervenors in the process, the regulatory process, which is normal, that the government does have a lawyer that participates in that. So that's our expectation. We'll continue to prepare for the hearing in January.

Maybe as a quick follow-up. Are you detecting any differences in, say, body language or engagement that would avoid the legislative intervention?

No, no. We continue to have those discussions with, I'd say, partners in government on a number of files, a number of issues. We'll stay close to that. But again, I think the strength of the filing in front of the regulator because we spent all of that time with all the customer representatives. I think, has struck that right balance between reliability and affordability.

That's great. And if I could just finish up with a discussion about credit metrics and payout ratio, I wasn't much mentioned here about credit metrics. And I remember, Greg, that previously, you mentioned that the funding plan supports about a 50 bps improvement annually in your cash flow to debt metrics as well as payout ratio towards 80% by 2027. Just thoughts on what the funding plan and CapEx plan today...

Yes, I think -- thanks for the question, Maurice. Yes, nothing has changed from our view with the funding plan is consistent with what we had before and with the soon to be closing of the sale of New Mexico and the securitization of the thermal plants or assets at Nova Scotia Power. We fully expect to continue to have that level of improvement in our credit metrics over the next couple of years. So we're very pleased about that.

On a trailing 12-month basis, we are at our downgrade threshold or a threshold with Fitch now who has us at stable. We've got about 150-plus basis point cushion on our downgrade threshold at S&P, they have us at stable. And as I mentioned in my remarks, we are effectively at the 12% with Moody's as well. So albeit we're still on negative outlook. So all to say is we've accomplished what we needed to do and the path for further improvement over the next couple of years has not changed.

The next question comes from Eli Jossen at JPMorgan.

Just wanted to kind of start on the strategic leadership changes. Congrats to Greg on next steps and Jared and the rest of the team just top priorities going forward. I think the release highlighted a lot of the strategic goals for the business, but just from a very high level, how should we think about this leadership transition moving forward?

Yes. Eli, thanks for the question, and welcome to Emera. So yes, I mean, this is really just about continuing to strengthen the bench as we've shared with others in the past, Greg and I are within months of the same age and looking to bring Jared in and just continue to strengthen the bench. We're blessed with -- I'm blessed with working with a great team. And as I say, pleased that Greg can continue to contribute to the team and adding Jared on just continues to bring some fresh talent and fresh perspective and position us well for the future.

And we've got great talent those that are on this call and their teams underneath them. We're, as I say, blessed with a team of really terrific people. We don't -- I don't use that term in the call script, expert teams lately, I really believe that we've got a deep bench and a strong team and just continue to think about ensuring that succession planning in the years ahead, continues to be thoughtful as we've navigated in the past with a number of executives retiring and not missing a beat and keeping the momentum that we've got a strong performance through the piece. So just looking to continue to do that.

Great. And then maybe just pivoting to some of the attractive growth that's been discussed on this call in Florida. So I guess, can we just talk a little bit about potential pockets of upside beyond the plan that you see, whether that's in the near or longer term? What do those look like from a mix shift industrial possible data center opportunities across your service territory?

Yes. I think Eli, I would say, first of all, I'd anchor back to the point that Greg made, which is there is no shortage of capital for us to invest. We could easily put forward a capital plan that saw significant more CapEx over the next couple of years. But we're working really hard to balance that capital investment profile with the impact on affordability for customers. And at the same time to make sure that we can execute it both safely, but also cost effectively and construction capacity and supply chains in this market are constrained. And so there's risk that in the ability to execute with excellence as I think we have over the years in our capital programs. And so that is sort of home base for us.

Now as you mentioned, data centers, data centers have not yet been a part of our story. But I would say that we continue to see active interest in and by the data center side of things in our service territories, of course, particularly in Florida. And there's nothing material that we're in a place to share now, but it continue to be encouraged by the conversations. And I would like to think that we may see some opportunity to grow at the very least to make sure that we're sustaining that 7% to 8% rate base growth for durable time, which I continue to believe. But over time, we may see some opportunity to upside that.

But as we sit today, we've continued to believe that 7% to 8% rate base growth profile is kind of the sweet spot, and data center growth may help to support the affordability impacts on broader customers if we can use some of that revenue generation from data centers to mitigate cost impacts for the broader system. This is all part of the equation that every utility I know is dealing with. And as we sit today, as I say, that 7% to 8% growth is home base for us, and we see that as durable for a long time.

The next question comes from Mark Jarvi at CIBC Capital Markets.

Scott, when you guys gave EPS guidance, I think you said you wanted walk before you run and weren't comfortable going out to sort of 5 years. As you think about rolling over guidance next year, is the plan to stay with that 3-year guidance? Or would you line that up with the capital plan to 5 years?

I mean, we haven't fully landed on that yet, Mark, but I would reasonably expect that we'll stick with the 3-year forecast for now.

Got it. And then just one question on Maritime Link. It's depreciating asset kind of a bit of a drag on the rate base CAGR. It doesn't require capital. But what's your view on that asset? Are you wedded to it? Is there a lot of strategic value when you think about potentially some of the transmission opportunities in the Atlantic provinces, just sort of long-term view on that asset?

Yes. It's a pretty strategic asset, I think. I mean it really is just an extension of Nova Scotia Power. It's regulated by the same regulator as Nova Scotia Power, all of that cost profile effectively it is, in a way, a generation source for Nova Scotia Power through import through the Maritime Link. So it really is tagged with Nova Scotia Power.

And the only reason really it was separated into its own distinct entity was for financing purposes, and being able to secure the federal loan guarantee. The federal government was looking to ensure that, that asset was physically separated -- legally structurally separated from Nova Scotia Power. So I'd really think of it as an extension of Nova Scotia Power.

Would there be an opportunity to maybe do like a minority sale if you saw some other opportunities to continue to push rate base investments across your portfolio?

We've always got options like that, Mark, but not something that we're thinking of or pursuing at the current time.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Ben Pham at BMO.

I have a follow-up question on the Mark's query on the EPS CAGR. I'm wondering from the Emera perspective, when you think about setting the CAGRs and that starting year, you roll forward. How do you guys thinking about '25 as a base just because you had the marketing trading benefit and Tampa rates going up, like it's a high starting point that it's tough to get a CAGR that looks similar to the last or the current CAGR that you have right now?

And I think -- sorry, go ahead Greg, if you want it.

Yes, Ben, I think if you think back to when we first established it, there was a couple of, I'd call it, baseline assumptions that was embedded on the 5% to 7%, and that was that Emera Energy would earn kind of their midpoint of their earnings range of $15 million to $30 million, and it was also based off a consistent foreign exchange rate over the period. So again, I don't want to get over our skis in terms of what we're thinking about for February. But I think it's fair to assume that when we talk about going forward, EPS guidance, it would be normalizing for some of those things that were a bit of a tailwind in 2025.

Okay. That makes sense. And what we're seeing from other companies as well. Can you talk about -- I'm not sure if on Nova Scotia Power, the rate base CAGR you have here, it's been quietly creeping up over the years in a good way. What's in that rate case? What's driving that? And I assume you note here, you're normalizing for the thermal securitization, it's apples-to-apples?

Yes. We are, Ben. The rate base investments going forward in Nova Scotia Power are really focused on reliability investments. And predominantly, if I take even a step back, transmission and distribution investments. And what I would include in that also is like battery projects, battery storage. So transmission upgrades between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, strengthening the backbone of the transmission system in the province, more vegetation management and other distribution things all the things to support the transition to an ISO in New England and ultimately getting to our 2030 renewable energy targets in Nova Scotia.

Okay. Maybe just one last cleanup question. I know there's a -- I think I saw a positive contribution from BlockEnergy, which I thought your Emera shutdown a while back, is that different now in terms of where that business is?

No, we had a settlement on a contract that we had accrued last year as part of the wind up and the settlement was more favorable than we would have anticipated. So basically, just adjusting for an over accrual from 2024.

We have no further questions. I will turn the call back over for closing comments.

That concludes our call for today. Thank you all for joining us. Please reach out to the Investor Relations team if you have any further questions. Have a great weekend.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.