WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the WEC Energy Group Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Gale Klappa. Mr. Klappa the floor yours.

Thank you very much, and good afternoon, everyone. It's just past 1:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the time set for convening WEC Energy Group's 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I'm Gale Klappa, Executive Chairman of WEC Energy Group and I will serve as Chairman for today's meeting. Before we begin, I'd like to call your attention to the rules of conduct for our meeting. They're available on the right side of the meeting page on your screen in the documents folder. A link is also provided if you'd like to reference our proxy materials. And now it's time to call our 2022 Annual Meeting to order. I've been given the inspector's report, which indicates that more than 86% of the company's outstanding shares are represented. This constitutes a quorum under the company's bylaws, and this meeting, therefore, is duly convened to conduct business. At the end of our formal program, we'll be happy to answer your questions as always, some of the information you will receive at this meeting is forward-looking in nature and is based on our current expectations. Our projections clearly involve risks and uncertainties. Factors discussed in the company's latest Form 10-K and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause our actual results to differ materially from those discussed today. And now we'll begin our business session. All members of the WEC Energy Group Board of Directors who are standing for election are joining us today. Also attending virtually is Dennis Sneyers from Computershare. That's a company that serves as our transfer agent and registrar. Dennis has been appointed as the Inspector of Election for our meeting. Also with us today are P.J. DiStefano and Tom Keefe from our Deloitte & Touche, our independent auditors. And now I'll call on our Executive Vice President, General, Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Peggy Kelsey, to report on the proposals we have before us this afternoon. Peggy?

Thank you, Gale. On March 24, 2022, a notice of this meeting was sent to all stockholders of record as of February 24, 2022. We will now proceed with the vote for the 2022 Annual Meeting. If you have previously voted your proxy, your vote has already been recorded. If you entered the meeting using your control number and have not yet voted or you wish to change your vote, you may do so now by clicking on the Vote link in the online meeting center. The link is labeled Vote on the icon of both. We will close the polls shortly. As set forth in your proxy statement, there are 3 items on which stockholders have been asked to vote: number one, election of 11 directors to serve for terms expiring at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders in 2023, including Curt Culver, Danny Cunningham, William Farrow III, Cristina Garcia-Thomas, Maria Green, Gale, Gale Klappa, Thomas Lane, Scott Lauber, Ulice Payne Jr., Mary Ellen Stanek, and Glen Tellock. Number two, ratification of Deloitte & Touche LLP as independent auditors for 2022. And number three, an advisory vote to approve compensation of the named executive officers, otherwise known as Say on Pay. I have been appointed to vote all of the shares represented by the proxy votes sent in by our stockholders. I have submitted the proxy ballot that reflects your instructions to the inspector of election. The polls are about to close. So if you have not finished voting, please do so now. [Voting]

Thank you. The online voting is now closed. The preliminary inspector's report has been completed. Based on the preliminary review of the votes cast, I declare that all nominees for the Board of Directors have been elected. The appointment of Deloitte & Touche as independent auditors for 2022 has been ratified and the advisory vote to approve the compensation of the named executive officers has passed. A final report will be filed with the SEC in the next few days. And I'll now turn the meeting back over to you, Gale.

Now we'd like to provide you with a brief update on our company's progress. I'm pleased to report that on virtually every meaningful measure, we delivered another year of solid results in 2021. Our focus on efficiency and financial discipline, along with favorable weather and a solid economic recovery in our region, resulted in record net income and record earnings per share. Then in January of this year, the Board of Directors increased our dividend by 7.4%. We believe this increase will rack in the top decile of our industry. This also marks the 19th consecutive year that our company has rewarded shareholders with higher dividends. And as you may know, on Monday, we reported first quarter earnings of $1.79 a share. Our year is off to a strong start. In the light of this, we raised our earnings guidance by $0.05 a share for 2022. Now I'd like to discuss the progress we've made in building a bridge to a clean energy future. Over the past year, we set some of the most aggressive goals in our industry for reducing carbon and methane emissions. Across our generating fleet, we're targeting a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by the end of 2025 and an 80% reduction by the end of 2030, both from a 2005 baseline. In fact, by the end of 2030, we expect to use coal only as a backup fuel for power generation and our plan calls for a complete exit from coal by the end of the year 2035. Of course, for the longer term, we remain focused on achieving net-zero carbon emissions from power generation by 2050. Now we all recognize that advances in technology will be needed to decarbonize the economy by 2050. Hydrogen, for example, could be a key part of the solution in the decades ahead. Earlier this year, we announced one of the first hydrogen pilot programs of its kind in the United States. We're joining with the Electric Power Research Institute to test hydrogen as a fuel source at one of our natural gas-powered units in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Engineering specifications and testing protocols are now being developed, and we're on track for actual blending of hydrogen in the unit this fall. We look forward to sharing the results across the industry. We're also making progress in reducing methane emissions. We've set a goal to be net methane neutral across our natural gas distribution networks by the end of 2030. More on that initiative in just a moment. Switching gears now, we're driving forward on our $17.7 billion ESG progress plan, the largest 5-year investment plan in the company's history. The plan is focused on efficiency, sustainability and growth. Overall, we expect the ESG progress plan to support average growth in our asset base of 7% a year, driving earnings growth, dividend growth and dramatically improved environmental performance. We continue to be a leader in the energy industry. A leader in reliability, a leader in customer satisfaction, a leader in financial performance and a leader in the transition to a low carbon future. And now I'll turn the meeting over to Scott Lauber, our President and Chief Executive. Scott will address the status of a number of important projects. Scott, all yours.

Thank you, Gale. As Gale mentioned, we're continuing to make progress on the transition of our generation fleet in our ESG progress plan. I'm pleased to report that over the past few months, we've received regulatory approval for more than $1.1 billion of needed capital projects in Wisconsin. This includes investments for new renewable generation from solar, wind and battery storage. We've also received approval to build natural gas generation at our existing Weston power plant site in Northern Wisconsin. The new facility, who use 7 reciprocating internal combustion engines, or as we call them, RICE units. By providing capacity that is dispatchable, these units will complement our renewable generation and allow for the retirement of older coal generation. Turning now to our gas distribution business. We're working to secure renewable natural gas or RNG from local dairy farms. The RNG will directly replace higher emission methane from natural gas that would have entered our pipes. To date, we have signed 2 contracts. These contracts bring us halfway to our net zero methane goal for the end of 2030. Moving forward, as we plan for a bright, sustainable future, our priorities can be summed up in 3 words: affordable, reliable, clean. Before I close, Gale and I would like to extend appreciation to Kevin Fletcher for his leadership as CEO over the past 3 years and the more than 40 years he's dedicated to the industry. Kevin, we wish you all the best in your retirement. Now I'll turn the meeting back to Gale.

Amen. Thank you so much, Scott. And now it's time for the question-and-answer portion of our meeting. Stockholders may submit questions online by clicking on the Q&A icon. And Peggy Kelsey has kindly agreed to read us the questions.

Thank you, Gale. Actually, the first is a comment for you. So I will read it as it came in. I'd like to commend you for setting aggressive environmental goals and leading the way in new technology development. I was pleased to hear that WEC is leading the first hydrogen pilot in the country, and I'm looking forward to seeing the role of hydrogen may play in meeting our energy needs in the future. Thank you all for your efforts.

Well, thank you for your comment. We do appreciate that. I think as you've heard us say over the years, we want very much to be -- to help shape the future of clean energy and to maintain reliability and affordability along the way. Scott mentioned earlier the 3 words that sum up every decision we make in terms of investment opportunity or investment need and that's: affordable, reliable, clean. This will be one of the first hydrogen power pilot programs in the United States. We have a technology currently fired by gas in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where the manufacturer of the technology believes the technology is hydrogen-ready. So this will be a very important first step experiment. We're looking forward to it, and we'll be happy to report the results around January of next year. Thank you for your comment.

Thank you, Gale. And now we have a question. Recently, the Chicago Sun-Times ran an article stating 18% of Peoples Energy customers are in arrears for over $112 million. Illinois will soon not allow late fees to be charged. With natural gas rates at high levels, what can be done to prevent this from becoming an increasing problem that affects people's profitability.

Well, good question, and I'm going to ask Scott to help answer this one as well. Let me say this, that Chicago Sun-Times article, which was just a week or 2 ago, was really a snapshot in time. And the snapshot took place really at a point of high arrears is basically our collections process under Illinois law and the Illinois regulation really doesn't start until April. And so that snapshot in time is really when arrears are always got the highest in any of our states that we serve. So one thing, I think that's important, Scott, to point out is that through the federal government, there is a record amount of dollars available for low-income customers in particular to cover their heating costs for this past winter. So we would expect, I believe, Scott, the arrears number to go down materially.

Yes. The arrears number will continue to go down. And as Gale mentioned, there's a record number of energy assistance and also we work hand-in-hand with our customers as they call them, working with them, helping them get assistance and help them reduce their arrears. So I expect that number to continue to go down.

And we hope that responds to your question. Thank you very much.

All right. Here's your next question. It's a series of questions and some comments. Given what sounds like a shortage of natural gas going forward due in part to the Europe situation, should we not pause switching plants being converted to natural gas until a clear path forward is determined. We need a solid reliable platform for base generation, of which natural gas appears to not be relied upon, such as with the next Polar Vortex or extreme hot weather. We can't afford to go backwards with reliability, given the rise in intermittent to green power. Lastly, what is happening with the Rothschild Biomass plant that was a big deal when it was developed.

Well, first of all, we couldn't agree more about the comment that we cannot go backwards with reliability. Period. End of story. Everything we look at is focused, as Scott mentioned, on affordable, reliable, clean. But we will not make decisions that are going to, in any way weaken the reliability of our network. It is just too important to the economy. It's too important to people's lives. You mentioned the Polar Vortex in your comment, Gosh, February a year ago, President's Day weekend a year ago, they got to minus 42 degrees Fahrenheit the northern part of our service area. You have to be reliable. We are laser-focused on that, and we are not going to make any decisions that are going to weaken our reliability. Period. End of story. And then Scott, the Biomass plant running well up in Rothchild.

Yes, the Biomass plant is running extremely well, and we're bringing in the used biomass, and it is dispatching and running like the rest of the fleet. So really happy with the performance of the plan.

Very good. All right...

All right. Gale, I see another question is rolling in now. So here it is. Will future virtual meetings provide for live video of the management and Board. It will allow us, stockholders to better understand those who we have trusted our capital.

Well, good question. And the short answer is, it depends upon the technology. What we're using right now for the virtual meeting is really pretty much state-of-the-art technology. Would love to have a technology that would allow us to have a virtual meeting, that would have both video and audio. But right now, this is pretty much as we understand it, state-of-the-art technology. Now having said this, one of the reasons why we have migrated other than COVID to a virtual annual meeting is that we literally have stockholders all over the world. In fact, 2 meetings ago, our first question was from a stockholder in Sweden. And doing a virtual meeting allows those stockholders to have access, the ability to listen to us, the ability to answer questions. And so as the technology evolve, we certainly would love to have video and audio. And we'll see where we go. And if that's possible with technology developments, we would certainly do that. Thank you for your question.

And Gale, there are no more questions at this time.

All right. Terrific. Well, thank you, everyone, for tuning in today. We appreciate your time. This concludes our 2022 Annual Meeting. Again, thank you for your participation. Thank you for your comments and support. And please be assured that we will work hard in the year ahead, uphold your confidence. Thank you, everyone. Good day.

This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect, and have a pleasant day.