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Text: Before we get started, I'll draw your attention to Slide 2 and a brief cautionary statement.
We appreciate you joining us for our 2021 year-end earnings call.
Moving to Slide 3 and the agenda for today's call.
I'll highlight key achievements we made throughout the year, including our progress in strategically repositioning PPL for future growth and success.
Turning to Slide 4.
I'm incredibly proud of how our team performed and what was truly a remarkable year for PPL.
As we began a new century in our company's history, we took bold steps to strategically reposition PPL as a US-focused energy company committed to sustainable growth and well-positioned to lead the clean energy transition while maintaining affordability and reliability for our customers.
We completed the sale of our UK utility business in June.
Achieving exceptional value at almost $11 billion while eliminating risks associated with foreign operations.
We then took steps to strengthen PPL's balance sheets by reducing $3.5 billion of our holding company debt, which provides us with significant financial flexibility going forward.
We advanced our planned acquisition of Narragansett Electric, which will expand and diversify our US presence, add another high-quality regulated utility to our portfolio, and create additional opportunities to leverage our proven operating model to drive value for customers and shareowners.
We anticipate receiving a final order from the Rhode Island division of public utilities and carriers with respect to the acquisition by March of 2022.
While strategic repositioning was a key priority in 2021 to set PPL up for long-term success, we also remain focused on achieving our near-term objectives.
In 2021, we continued our track record of earning equity returns that were in line with those allowed by our regulators.
We also achieved constructive regulatory outcomes in 2021 with the settlements on the Pennsylvania FERC ROE challenge and the rate case in Kentucky, which will provide added stability and predictability to our plan over the next several years.
We also returned over $2 billion to share owners through dividends as well as share repurchases, which included the completion of our targeted $1 billion in share buybacks through December 31.
And true to our mission, we delivered energy safely, reliably, and affordably for our 2.5 million customers in the United States.
And as the pandemic refused to yield, we stayed resilient acted responsibly to protect our employees, and remain focused on continuous improvement.
From Kentucky to Pennsylvania, we delivered exceptional service throughout 2021.
We maintain transmission and distribution reliability as well as generation availability that was among the best in the industry.
Despite PPL electric utilities experiencing significant storms during 2021, it maintained top quartile performance for safety, which measures the average number of outages our customers experienced.
Meanwhile, our Kentucky operations posted their second-best year on record for the state.
When severe weather struck either in Pennsylvania or Kentucky, we responded quickly and effectively.
For example, after December tornadoes tore through portions of our service territory in Kentucky damaging or destroying more than 500 transmission and distribution poles.
We restored power to most customers within 48 hours.
Similarly, when the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through our Pennsylvania service territory, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers, we mobilized quickly and effectively to get the lights back on as soon as possible.
Our restoration performance in the wake of Hurricane Ida was recognized with an EEI Emergency Response Award.
This performance is the result of the investments we've made in our grid and our dedicated employees who pride themselves on delivering a superior level of service each day.
And that service was once again reflected in our customer satisfaction scores.
We were honored to receive four new JD Power awards in 2021 for electric utility residential and business customer satisfaction with PPL Electric Utilities and Kentucky Utilities both ranking highest among similarly sized utilities in their respective regions.
And following an independent survey of customers at 140 of the largest utilities in the US, PPL Electric and Kentucky Utilities were recognized by Escalent as two of the most trusted utility brands in the nation.
Across PPL, we also continue to foster a culture of innovation, investing in advanced technology and data analytics to deliver industry-leading reliability and enterprisewide cost efficiencies.
This resulted in multiple industry awards in 2021, including the use of dynamic line rating, technology, and the use of data analytics to better target vegetation management.
With an eye toward keeping reliability strong and empowering our customers, we also continue to invest in the future.
This included executing more than $2 billion in infrastructure improvements to further strengthen grid resilience, modernize our networks, incorporate advanced technology, and pave the way for increased electrification and renewable energy in our service territories.
Turning to Slide 5.
Over the past year, we also delivered on our commitments to deliver a sustainable PPL for our shareowners, employees, and the communities we serve.
We made significant progress in advancing our clean energy strategy.
We adopted a net-zero carbon emissions goal, accelerated our interim emissions reduction target to 70% from 2010 levels by 2035 and 80% by 2040.
And we also accelerated our coal plant retirements scheduled.
Separately we announced the commitment of over $50 million in new investment to fund research and development in the clean energy space with our planned investment in EIP and EPRI's low carbon resources initiative.
We also launched a new partnership to study carbon capture at a natural gas combined cycle power plant and reached new agreements to provide an additional 125 megawatts of solar power to major Kentucky customers.
In November, we published our latest comprehensive climate assessment report, which highlights the risks associated with climate change and the opportunities in responding to it and evaluating potential future emissions under multiple scenarios.
This included a scenario consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Our climate assessment outlines our clean energy strategy and goals to enable a responsible transition that balances our commitments to the environment, our customers, our employees, and our communities.
LG and KU also submitted their triannual joint Integrated Resource Plan, which reflected a significant increase in projected renewable additions in the 15-year planning horizon compared to our prior plan.
We expect the trend of more rapid decarbonization of our generation fleet in Kentucky to continue with further improvement in cost and technology for renewables, as well as other clean energy technologies.
In addition to our focus on advancing our clean energy transition, we also remain very engaged in the communities we serve and with our employees throughout 2021.
We continue to move PPL forward by creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
We implemented an enterprisewide diversity equity inclusion strategy, adopted DEI commitment, increased diversity within our leadership ranks, overall workforce in the board, and we expanded our support for social justice and equity initiatives in the communities we serve.
In addition, we continue to create new opportunities for business resource groups for employees of all backgrounds and experiences to collaborate, share perspectives, and contribute to PPL's success.
Our strong commitment to diversity and inclusion received recognition from multiple organizations in 2021, with PPL being named the best place to work for LGBTQ equality and disability inclusion, as well as a top company for ESG.
And this January, PPL once again was named the best place to work for LGBTQ equality, marking the sixth straight year PPL has received this recognition.
During our fall giving campaign, PPL employees, and retirees collectively raised more money than ever before.
More than $7 million in individual pledges and corporate matching contributions will help lift individuals, families, and the community.
And in the aftermath of the Kentucky tornadoes, we responded quickly providing financial support to assist Kentucky families and businesses.
In other highlights, we continue to build an exceptional management team that we believe will lead PPL to its best years to come.
We promoted Greg Dudkin to the chief operating officer and our leveraging his experience in building one of the most advanced utilities in the nation and PPL Electric Utilities to drive further value for stakeholders across all the PPL operating companies.
We're extremely excited to have Wendy Stark on our team as our new general counsel.
Wendy's extensive experience in regulatory matters and her deep knowledge of our industry have made her a great addition to PPL.
We named two new utility precedents in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, with Stephanie Raymond in Pennsylvania, and John Crockett in Kentucky.
Stephanie is the first female utility president in our company's 100-year history.
We also named a highly qualified and experienced leadership team in Rhode Island led by Dave Bonenberger from PPL and numerous talented employees from National Grid to lead our electric and gas operations pending the completion of the acquisition.
We also took steps to strengthen our corporate governance during the year.
Our board of directors appointed an outstanding leader and experienced board member as independent Board Chair in Craig Rogerson, reflecting PPL's continued commitment to strong corporate governance and independent oversight by a diverse, engaged board.
In summary, across our business, we made tremendous progress in 2021 as we pursued our strategy to deliver sustainable value for all stakeholders and position PPL for future growth and success.
Today, we announced fourth quarter reported earnings of $0.18 per share.
Special items in the fourth quarter were $0.04 per share, primarily due to integration expenses associated with the planned acquisition of Narragansett Electric and discontinued operations associated with the UK utility business.
Adjusting for special items, fourth quarter earnings from ongoing operations were $0.22 per share.
Our fourth quarter results bring our total 2021 results to a net loss of $1.93 per share.
Special items for 2021 were $2.98 per share, primarily due to discontinued operations associated with the UK utility business, a UK tax rate change prior to the sale, and a loss on the early extinguishment of debt.
Adjusting for special items, 2021 earnings from ongoing operations for $1.05 per share.
Before turning to the 2021 earnings walk, I'll highlight a few other financial updates.
As we indicated on our third quarter earnings call, we plan to update the dividend following the January 3 payment as we continue to progress on PPL's strategic repositioning.
Recall that we had maintained the dividend at the prior rate despite the sale of WPD, providing $350 million of dividends to reward long-term shareowners as we work to close the transactions and deploy the cash proceeds from the WPD sale in a value-accretive manner.
Today, we've announced the first quarter 2022 dividend of $0.20 per share payable on April 1.
The updated quarterly dividend aligns with our earnings projections for PPL's current businesses and a targeted payout ratio of 60% to 65%.
We plan to provide an updated annualized dividend rate and growth projections to align with earnings growth during an Investor Day following the completion of the Narraganset regulatory review process.
We recognize that it would have been optimal to declare the April 1 dividend when we provide our annualized earnings forecast.
However, since we haven't completed the Narragansett regulatory review process, we wanted to be transparent today by providing clarity on the dividend reset following the sale of WPD.
We plan to reflect any increase in the dividend due to the inclusion of Narragansett in our forecasts when we provide a comprehensive financial update at Investor Day.
As Vince noted, one of the key financial highlights for 2021 was a reduction in our holding company debt as we allocated a significant amount of the WPD sales proceeds to strengthen PPL's balance sheets.
We had a unique opportunity to establish one of the leading credit profiles in the sector, an attribute we see as increasingly important with a growing capital needs to fund the clean energy transition and now amid the backdrop of rising interest rates.
In other financial updates, we amended and extended our credit facilities during the fourth quarter to better align our liquidity needs.
Post the strategic repositioning.
In short, we slightly reduced the capacity of PPL capital funding to $1.25 billion from $1.45 billion, as we no longer need the same level of liquidity without the foreign currency risk associated with the UK.
We've also included an option to add Narragansett as a co-borrower to the PPLcapital funding credit facility pending the closing of the acquisition.
And we continue to target 16% to 18% CFO and FFO to debt metrics, including the Narragansett Electric acquisition.
We believe these actions provide a very strong financial foundation and place PPL among the best credit profiles in our industry.
Let's move to our full-year 2021 earnings results on Slide 8.
I would note that while I will compare 2021 earnings to our 2020 results, the periods are not truly comparable given the sale of the UK businesses, the reallocation of certain costs, the balance sheet recapitalization along with the outcome of the transmission ROE challenge.
Similar to prior quarters, we have adjusted the 2020 corporate other amounts to reflect certain costs previously allocated to the UK regulated segment, primarily interest expense and other support costs.
These costs totaled about $0.07 per share for the year.
Turning to the ongoing segment drivers.
Our Pennsylvania Regulated segment earned $0.61 per share, a $0.04 year-over-year decrease.
Earnings results in Pennsylvania were primarily driven by a reduction in the transmission formula rate return on equity, lower peak transmission demand, and higher operation and maintenance expense.
These decreases were partially offset by returns on additional capital investments in transmission.
Turning to our Kentucky segment, we earned $0.61 per share in 2021, a $0.6 increase over comparable results one year ago.
The increase was primarily due to higher base retail rates effective July 1.
Lower interest expense, primarily due to lower interest costs that were previously allocated to the Kentucky regulated segment and lower interest rates.
Partially offsetting these items were higher operation and maintenance expenses related to several factors including support costs, generation plant costs, T&D costs, and higher depreciation due to the additions to PP&E.
Results at corporate and others were $0.03 higher compared to the prior year.
Factors driving earnings results at corporate and other, primarily included lower interest expense primarily due to less outstanding long-term holding company debt, partially offset by interest costs previously allocated to the Kentucky segment, partially offsetting this increase were several factors that were not individually significant.
Moving to Slide 9.
The capital investments made in Pennsylvania and Kentucky during 2021, support grid modernization, grid resiliency and reliability, and improved service for our customers.
Of the $2 billion of capex that Vince noted, we invested about $1 billion in each of the segments.
In Pennsylvania, investments in distribution were made to maintain top quartile industry reliability and performance and investments in more advanced IT systems.
Meanwhile, on the transmission side, investments were primarily related to asset health reliability with a focus on smart relays, equipment monitoring, and automation to support of more advanced grid.
Our Kentucky investments were primarily related to replacing the aging transmission, infrastructure, maintaining and enhancing our electric distribution network, generation outages, environmental compliance, and grid modernization.
This resulted in total rate base growth of nearly 6%.
Even as a rate based related to our coal-fired generation facilities decline.
As I mentioned at the outset of my remarks, 2021 was very much a transition year for PPL.
It was about reimagining PPL and laying a firm foundation for the company's future growth.
And I believe we achieved just that.
Looking forward, our focus is on completing the acquisition of Narragansett Electric and introducing a new PPL to shareholders.
The PPL that is committed to delivering sustainable value for shareowners backed by one of the strongest balance sheets in the US utility sector, distinguished by best-in-class customer service, committed to net-zero carbon emissions, and well-positioned to lead the clean energy transition while maintaining affordable reliable service for our customers.
We look forward to sharing further details on our strategy and the exciting growth prospects for the new PPL at our Investor Day.
With that operator, let's open the call for Q&A.

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q4 earnings per share $0.18.
q4 adjusted earnings per share $0.22 from continuing operations.
strategic repositioning remains on track.

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