NiSource (NI) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Motley Fool Transcribing, The Motley Fool Wed, May 6, 2026 at 11:46 PM GMT+7 24 min read NI Image source: The Motley Fool. President and Chief Executive Officer — Lloyd M. Yates Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer — Michael S. Luhrs Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer — Shawn Anderson Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Lloyd M. Yates: Thank you, Durgesh, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. I will begin on slide 3. At NiSource Inc., our mission is to deliver safe, reliable, and competitive energy that drives value for our customers. Our disciplined capital deployment, operational excellence, and constructive regulatory frameworks remain the foundation of our business strategy. 2026 reflects continued execution of this strategy, supported by a robust regulatory foundation, ongoing operational improvements, and a commitment to our customers. NiSource Inc.’s value proposition is anchored in regulated utility operations across six highly constructive jurisdictions, providing diversification in both asset mix and regulatory environment. As we continue to modernize our electric and gas infrastructure, we are delivering on our core objectives by advancing innovative solutions such as NIPSCO Genco, partnering with Amazon and now Alphabet, to recognize higher and faster savings to customers. In addition to the announcements made a few weeks ago, I am pleased to share another expansion: an incremental 400 megawatts of capacity serving Amazon. Given the present inflationary climate, the value of these partnerships is tremendous, unlocking cost savings totaling approximately $1.4 billion for our existing customers over the next 15 years. Moving to slide 4, collaborative regulatory and stakeholder relationships, while operating with excellence, pave the way for NiSource Inc. to execute on its financial commitments. We continue to work alongside stakeholders through regulatory processes to ensure resources are available for critical investments to protect our system, serve our customers reliably, and grow local economies, all while balancing the impact these investments have on our customers. Working collaboratively with stakeholders, we are able to support enhanced ratemaking practices in our jurisdictions and advance legislative priorities, such as Indiana House Bill 1002 and Ohio Senate Bill 103, to help ensure fair, balanced outcomes for our customers and our communities. A key tenet to our operating plan is to work efficiently and improve our systems and processes, leveraging AI and technological upgrades to improve both efficiency and reliability for our customers. Today, we reported first quarter 2026 consolidated adjusted EPS of $1.06, which accounts for 52% of our projected midpoint earnings guidance. We are reaffirming our 2026 consolidated adjusted EPS guidance of $2.02 to $2.07 per share, and we are increasing our consolidated adjusted EPS CAGR by 100 basis points for 2023 to 2033 to 9% to 10%, with performance tracking toward the high end of that range through 2030, driven by the robust portfolio of investment opportunities supporting data centers. Turning to slide 5, safety remains our top priority and the foundation of operational excellence, and our first quarter results reflect the strength of that commitment. We delivered the safest first quarter on record for employee injuries dating back to 2016 through strong winter preparedness and disciplined field execution. We also continue to advance our proactive risk reduction programs across the system, completing over 11 thousand miles of leak survey in the quarter, helping identify and mitigate 113 large-volume leaks, well above plan. We exceeded our targets for both electric pole inspections and replacements for the quarter and maintained strong execution in our cross-bore program, reinforcing the long-term resilience of our infrastructure. These results underscore the operational discipline of our teams and our continued commitment to delivering safe, reliable service across our footprint. The Apollo continuous improvement team is focused on boosting operational efficiency via programs like Fleet Focus to reduce idling and right-size fleets, streamlining IT applications, and using AI to improve permitting, invoicing, and locate screening. AI and analytics are improving NiSource Inc.’s operations via the work management intelligence platform. Enhanced spend visibility in supply chain enables faster procurement, while AI contract tools have increased productivity over 20%. These solutions are expanding to customer and back-office functions for greater efficiency and service quality. We continue to engage proactively with stakeholders and regulators in all jurisdictions, as shown on slide 6. Our regulatory strategy is informed by thoughtful, careful consideration of customer affordability and cost pressures, ensuring we proceed in a manner that balances these conc

NiSource (NI) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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NiSource (NI) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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