Unitil Q1 2026 Earnings Call - Maine Gas Integration and New Hampshire Rate Wins Drive 8% EPS Growth

Conference Call Operator: Welcome to the first quarter 2026 Unitil earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker’s presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Christopher Goulding, Vice President, Finance and Regulatory. Please go ahead.

Christopher Goulding, Vice President, Finance and Regulatory, Unitil Corporation: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us to discuss Unitil Corporation’s first quarter 2026 financial results. Speaking on the call today will be Tom Meissner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Dan Hersack, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer. Also with us today are Bob Hebert, President and Chief Administrative Officer, and Todd Diggins, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller. We will discuss financial and other information on this call. As we mentioned in the press release announcing today’s call, we have posted information, including a presentation to the investor section of our website at unitil.com. We will refer to that information during this call. Moving to slide 2. The comments made today about future operating results or events are forward-looking statements under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements inherently involve risk and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted. Statements made on this call should be considered together with cautionary statements and other information contained in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents we have filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of today. We assume no obligation to update them. This presentation contains non-GAAP financial measures. The accompanying supplemental information more fully describes these non-GAAP financial measures and includes a reconciliation to the nearest GAAP financial measures. The company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating its performance. With that, I will now turn the call over to Chairman and CEO, Tom Meissner.

Tom Meissner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Unitil Corporation: Great. Thanks, Chris. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. I’ll begin on slide three, where today we announced adjusted net income, excluding transaction-related costs of $33.8 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.88 for the first quarter of 2026. This represents an increase of $0.14 per share or 8% compared to the first quarter of 2025. We are fully earning our authorized returns on a trailing 12-month basis with a GAAP return on equity of 9.6%. We have several positive business updates to share this quarter. Integration work for our Maine Gas acquisitions has proceeded as planned. Bangor Natural Gas was fully integrated last year, and the integration of Maine Natural Gas is now substantially complete, with most corporate services now being provided by Unitil.

In other business, we recently received an order for our New Hampshire electric rate case, approving the settlement agreement in its entirety. We also recently filed a rate case for Northern Utilities Gas subsidiary in New Hampshire. We expect to file a gas rate case for Northern Utilities in Maine on or about June first. Daniel Hurstak will provide additional details about these rate filings later during this call. Given the strong results for the first quarter, we are reaffirming our 2026 guidance range of $3.20 to $3.36 per share, with a midpoint of $3.28. We are also reaffirming our long-term earnings growth of 5%-7%. Turning to slide 4. We are now the largest natural gas utility in Maine, serving approximately 90% of all gas customers.

The acquisitions of Bangor Natural Gas and Maine Natural Gas meaningfully increased our rate base and will be accretive to earnings over the long term. In the most recent quarter, Bangor Natural Gas contributed $5.1 million, and Maine Natural Gas contributed $6.1 million to adjusted gross gas margin, resulting in a combined $4.1 million of incremental net income before considering financing costs for Maine Natural Gas that are currently being incurred by Unitil Corporation in the short term. As I mentioned, all integration work for Bangor Natural Gas was completed last year, and we recently completed the integration work for most corporate services for Maine Natural Gas. The success of these integration efforts was made possible by leveraging our experienced workforce and by our seasoned, locally managed operational framework.

We continue to realize the operating and financial benefits of these transactions consistent with our original expectations. The next significant milestone for these companies will be to establish cost of service rates under Unitil’s ownership, with rate filings expected in the first half of 2027. Turning now to slide five. We continue to monitor regulatory approvals in Connecticut pertaining to the sale of Aquarion from Eversource Energy to the Aquarion Water Authority. This sale received approval from the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on March 25th. More recently, on April 30th, the authority denied a petition for reconsideration, and we understand the current appeal period will now expire in mid-June, absent any additional filings in this proceeding. The closing of this transaction between Eversource Energy and the Aquarion Water Authority must occur prior to our transaction with the Water Authority.

As I’ve said before, the Aquarion water companies are an ideal fit with our existing utility operations, given their geographic proximity, potential for synergies and strong growth profile. We view the pending acquisition as highly complementary to our fully regulated portfolio, supporting rate base growth above the upper end of our long-term range and enabling opportunities for future growth. Building on our successful integration of the Maine Gas acquisitions, we are well-positioned to integrate these water companies following the closing of the transaction. With that, I’ll now pass it over to Dan, who will provide greater detail on our first quarter financial results.

Dan Hersack, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer, Unitil Corporation: Thank you, Tom. Good afternoon, everyone. I’ll begin on slide 6. As Tom mentioned, we announced first quarter 2026 adjusted net income of $33.8 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.88, representing an increase of $5.4 million in adjusted net income or $0.14 per share compared to the same period in 2025. We are reporting adjusted earnings that exclude transaction costs related to our gas acquisitions and the announced water transaction, which we view as not indicative of the company’s ongoing costs and operations. Our first quarter results were supported by higher distribution rates and customer growth, partially offset by higher operating expenses.

Our first quarter results also include a charge of approximately $900,000 related to the FERC transmission formula rate proceeding in the order that was issued by FERC in this proceeding on March 19th, 2026. This charge represents the refund obligation for a retroactive reduction to the return equity for transmission assets from 10.57% to 9.57%. The company’s transmission rate base, subject to this FERC decision, is approximately one-half of 1% of total rate base, and the company does not expect this order will have a significant effect on future earnings. Turning to slide 7, I will discuss our electric and gas adjusted gross margins. I will begin with our electric operations.

Electric adjusted gross margin for the first quarter was $29.6 million, an increase of $2.1 million as compared to the same period in 2025. The increase reflects higher rates of $2.8 million, partially offset by the one-time reduction of FERC transmission revenue of $0.7 million for the return on equity matter that I previously mentioned. The company also recorded approximately $200,000 of interest associated with the transmission return on equity matter, which is recorded in interest expense. As noted during prior calls, all of our electric customers are under decoupled rates, which eliminates the dependency of distribution revenue on the volume of electricity sales. Moving to gas operations.

Gas-adjusted gross margin for the first quarter was $82.1 million, an increase of $11.2 million compared to the same period in 2025. The increase in gas-adjusted gross margin was driven by higher rates in customer growth of $10.3 million and the favorable effects of colder winter weather in 2026 of $0.9 million. Gas-adjusted gross margin for the quarter includes $6 million related to Maine Natural Gas. The higher rates in the first quarter of 2026 were driven by inflation adjustments under our performance-based rate plan for our Fitchburg subsidiary and capital trackers. The company added approximately 7,100 new gas customers compared to the same period in 2025, including 6,400 customers from the acquisition of Maine Natural Gas.

Approximately 52% of the company’s gas customers are under decoupled rates, with Maine representing our only non-decoupled service area. Moving to slide 8, we provide an earnings bridge comparing first quarter 2026 results to the same period in 2025. The combined adjusted gross margin for our electric and gas divisions increased by $13.3 million, which reflects higher rates, colder winter weather, and customer growth. Operation and maintenance expenses increased $0.8 million due to higher utility operating costs of $1.1 million, partially offset by lower transaction costs of $0.3 million. Operation and maintenance expense includes $1.3 million of utility operating costs related to Maine Natural Gas.

Excluding Maine Natural Gas and transaction costs, operation and maintenance expenses for legacy operations would have decreased by $0.2 million compared to the first quarter 2025. The increases in depreciation and amortization expense and taxes other than income taxes reflect higher levels of utility plant and service, as well as the inclusion of amounts related to Maine Natural Gas in 2026. Moving to slide 9, I’m pleased to note that last week, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission issued an order approving the settlement agreement in its entirety for permanent rates for our Unitil Energy Systems, Inc. The order approves a base rate increase of $13 million based on pro forma rate base as of December 31, 2024 of $289 million, which reflects a post-test year adjustment to include the Kingston Solar facility.

The authorized return on equity is 9.45% with an equity layer of 52.67% compared to the previously approved return on equity of 9.2% and equity layer of 52%. The settlement maintains revenue decoupling. The decoupling methodology changed from an authorized revenue per customer model to a total authorized revenue target. As a reminder, in New Hampshire, permanent rate case awards are reconciled back to the effective date of the temporary rate award and are subject to recoupment or refund. In this case, because the permanent rate award was greater than the temporary award, the company will record approximately $1.7 million of pre-tax income in the second quarter. The settlement also included a multi-year rate plan that provides for accelerated cost recovery for investments made in 2025 and 2026.

The first step adjustment request, which is currently pending approval of the New Hampshire Commission, includes a $3.2 million rate increase effective September 1st, 2026. We believe that the constructive outcome reached in this proceeding will allow us to continue to provide the safe and reliable service our customers expect and offers the company an opportunity to earn its authorized rate of return. Turning to slide 10. As Tom noted at the outset of the call, we filed a base rate case in New Hampshire for our gas subsidiary, Northern Utilities, on April 1st, 2026. The filing requests a permanent base rate increase of $9.8 million and a temporary rate award of $6 million.

I’m pleased to say that the company has reached a settlement agreement for temporary rates with the New Hampshire Department of Energy and the New Hampshire Office of the Consumer Advocate that allows for a temporary rate increase of $5.5 million. Temporary rates are expected to take effect June 1st, pending commission approval, and permanent rates are expected to take effect April 1st, 2027. The filing also includes the continuation of revenue decoupling, similar to our Unitil Energy Systems, Inc., we have proposed a decoupling methodology change from a revenue per customer model to a total authorized revenue target. We’ve also proposed a multi-year rate plan with two-step adjustments to recover all 2026 and 2027 system investments. We are expecting to file a base rate case for Northern Utilities, Inc. with the Maine Public Utilities Commission on or around June 1st.

On April 1st, we filed a notice of intent in Maine, which included a rate request of approximately $7.5 million. Similar to our previous rate cases in Maine, we intend on utilizing a historical test year with adjustments to forecast rate base, revenues, and expenses through the rate effective year to reduce earnings attrition. We will provide additional details regarding these proceedings on future calls. Turning to slide 11. As noted during our previous earnings call, our current 5-year capital investment plan through 2030 totals approximately $1.2 billion, which is an increase of $200 million or 20% compared to our previous 5-year plan. This updated investment plan includes approximately $65 million for Bangor Natural Gas and Maine Natural Gas, but does not reflect any amounts for the pending Aquarion Water acquisition.

With the addition of the two Maine gas companies, rate base increased 17% compared to the prior year, and average rate base growth has been 8.1% over the past 5 years, which is near the upper end of our long-term rate base growth guidance of 6.5%-8.5%. Moving to slide 12. We continue to prudently manage our balance sheet, targeting a balanced mix of common equity and long-term debt to maintain our investment-grade credit ratings. Our primary funding source for our 5-year investment plan is our stable cash flow from operations with additional funding from long-term debt and equity. On April 30, we issued $40 million of senior notes at our Fitchburg subsidiary to repay short-term debt and for general corporate purposes.

As of today, the company has approximately $160 million of capacity available on its revolving credit facility. The company also has access to equity via its ATM program, which has $48.5 million of available capacity. As a reminder, the company has committed debt financing for the pending Aquarion acquisition. We anticipate that the ultimate funding for the pending water transaction could be satisfied by a combination of ATM proceeds and senior notes at the holding company or operating companies. We plan to maintain a level of holding company debt consistent with rating agency expectations. As we discussed last quarter, our annualized dividend for 2026 is $1.90 per share, representing an increase of 5.6% compared to 2025. Our dividend payout ratio target range remains at 55%-65%. Turning to slide 13.

With our strong first quarter and constructive rate case outcome for our New Hampshire Electric Company, we reaffirm our 2026 earnings guidance of $3.20-$3.36 per share with a midpoint of $3.28 per share. The midpoint of our 2026 guidance represents 6.1% growth relative to the midpoint of our 2025 guidance. We have also presented our expected 2026 quarterly earnings per share distribution, which highlights the seasonal nature of our earnings. I will now turn the call back over to Tom.

Tom Meissner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Unitil Corporation: Great. Thanks, Daniel. Now on slide 14, the first quarter provided a strong start to the year. Our core businesses are performing well, and we are executing on our strategic initiatives. Our value proposition remains unchanged, investing in low risk regulated assets that generate stable cash flows while ensuring our customers are provided with top-tier utility service. We look forward to providing additional updates on our progress throughout the remainder of the year. With that, I’ll pass the call back to Christopher.

Christopher Goulding, Vice President, Finance and Regulatory, Unitil Corporation: Thanks, Tom. That wraps up the prepared material for this call. Thank you for attending. I will now turn the call over to the operator, who will coordinate questions.

Conference Call Operator: Thank you. Our first question comes from Andrew Weisel with Scotiabank. Your line is open.

Rebecca Kujala, Analyst, Scotiabank: Hi, this is Rebecca Kujala on for Andrew Weisel. Given the recent updates with respect to Aquarion, will the terms and conditions of the Aquarion approval have any impact on your earnings outlook?

Dan Hersack, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer, Unitil Corporation: Rebecca, are you speaking about any state in particular?

Rebecca Kujala, Analyst, Scotiabank: no, just, in general.

Dan Hersack, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer, Unitil Corporation: I think as Tom mentioned, earlier, you know, a transaction between Eversource Energy and the Aquarion Water Authority is a condition for our transaction to move forward. We are keenly watching what happens in Connecticut, and we understand that the current appeal period for the PURA order goes through mid-June. As far as the other states, if you look at the Massachusetts order that was issued earlier this year, it contained 2 conditions, 1 related to the sale of Hingham assets and 1 related to a stale period. As we said in the motion for reconsideration and clarification, the risk that those 2 matters pose to us is something that is unacceptable for us and would likely prevent us from moving forward with the Massachusetts operations as part of the transaction.

Rebecca Kujala, Analyst, Scotiabank: Got it. That’s helpful. Just a quick second question. Given the spike in oil prices since the conflict in Iran started, have you guys seen any changes in customer behavior, pace of conversion from oil or even the tone of conversations with regulators around customer behavior related to these issues? Thank you.

Tom Meissner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Unitil Corporation: Hi, Rebecca. This is Tom Meissner. I think it’s too soon to see any of those trends emerge because it’s been really just a short period of time. To your point, the cost of oil has increased dramatically for home heating. realistically, we probably enjoy almost a 2-to-1 price advantage right now. We do hope to take advantage of that, and we do believe that natural gas offers a much more affordable choice for customers to heat their homes.

Rebecca Kujala, Analyst, Scotiabank: Got it. Thank you.

Conference Call Operator: Thank you.