Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE:LNT) Q4 2017 Earnings Conference Call - Final Transcript

Thank you for holding, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Alliant Energy's Year End 2017 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Susan Gille, Manager of IR at Alliant Energy. Please go ahead.

Good morning. I would like to thank all of you on the call and the webcast for joining us today. We appreciate your participation. With me here today are Pat Kampling, Chairman and CEO; Robert Durian, SVP, CFO and Treasurer; and John Larsen President, as well as other members of the senior management team. Following prepared remarks by Pat and Robert, we will have time to take questions from the investment community.

We issued a news release last night announcing Alliant Energy's Year End and Fourth Quarter Financial Results and affirmed the consolidated 2018 earnings guidance issued in November 2017. Press release, as well as supplemental slides that will be referenced during today's call are available on the investor page of our website at www.alliantenergy.com. (Forward-Looking Cautionary Statement)

In addition, this presentation contains non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation between the non-GAAP and GAAP measures are provided in our investor presentation, which are available on our website at www.alliantenergy.com.

At this time, I'll turn the call over to Pat.

Good morning and thank you for joining us. 2017 was another excellent year for our company and I'm happy to share our financial results with you today. On slide two, you'll notice that our non-GAAP temperature normalized earnings of a $1.99 per share, a 6% higher than 2016's comparable number. Also, I'm reaffirming our 2018 earnings guidance midpoint of $2.11 per share and our long-term earnings growth guidance of 5% to 7%.

Our forecasted long-term growth guidance through 2021 is supported by our capital expenditure plans, modest sales growth, constructive regulatory outcomes and assumes normal temperatures and was also re-based of the 2017 non-GAAP temperature normalized earnings of $1.99 per share. This was the fifth year in a row that we achieved at least 5% to 7% earnings per share growth and increased our dividend by at least 6%.

Our robust capital plan during this time has helped us transition our generation fleet to and that achieve significant reductions in SOx, NOx, mercury and carbon, this made our grid stronger and more resilient. We began the transition of our generation fleet almost a decade ago with the retirements of our smaller, less efficient fossil fuel generating stations and the start of our utility owned wind additions.

In 2017, we achieved some major milestones including a commercial operation of a 700 megawatt highly efficient natural gas-fired generating facility in Marshalltown Iowa. The start of construction of a similar unit at our West Riverside Energy Center in Beloit, Wisconsin and the announcement of our plant 1,200 megawatt wind addition. In 2016, the Iowa utility board approved the first 500 megawatts of our 1,000 megawatt plant wind additions.

In