Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Robert Durian: Yes, that’s correct. Ross, it’s a reminder, so we’ve got 2019 and 2020 vintage wind projects that will be continuing to provide PTCs for us. We’ll be building out the full 1,500 megawatts of new solar projects. We’ve added to our recent CapEx plans, 500 megawatts of repowering of wind projects that will produce new PTCs for us to be able to monetize. And we also have battery projects that we’ve put into the plant, 275 megawatts, which have already been approved by the PSCW that have all be generating tax credits. And so still a very robust set of tax credits for us to monetize over the next four or five years.

Ross Fowler: And then one last one for me. If I heard correctly, there’s still some go-forward filings here that could raise your CapEx profile around some renewable projects and some clean energy initiatives in your state. So if I think about sort of looking forward, there’s still an opportunity to add more renewables to the plant?

John Larsen: You know, Ross, John here. I think what I’d say, we’ve got a lot of future CapEx opportunities, so we’ll be sharing more of the details of how we’re thinking about the latter part of not only this four years but, you know, kind of where we would see our future CapEx going. But we’re continuing to advance development for future renewables. But as Robert and Lisa noted, right now it just makes sense for us to add some capacity resources while we continue to look for future renewable developments.

Ross Fowler: That’s perfect, John. Thank you. And that’s it for me. Congratulations once again and we’ll see you soon in Arizona.

John Larsen: Thanks, Ross.

Lisa Barton: Thanks, Ross.

Operator: Your next question comes from Andrew Weisel with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Andrew Weisel: Hi, everybody. Agrivoltaic, that’s a new one for me. First, I just want to say congrats to John and Lisa. Great to see for both of you next.

Lisa Barton: Thank you.

Andrew Weisel: Next, my first question is on O&M. You’ve talked about a 3% to 4% reduction. I know a lot of the year-over-year swing was supposed to come in the fourth quarter. Now that we’re here, can you maybe refine or reaffirm that estimate and maybe some thoughts on how much might be sustainable versus one time?

John Larsen: Yes. Hey Andrew, this is John here. I’m going to let Robert talk about that and it’s really good news and the timing, but I want to — I appreciate you listening and picking up on Agrivoltaics. We can talk more about that when I see you at EEI. So Robert, over to you.

Andrew Weisel: Definitely.

Robert Durian: Yes, Andrew. I would say, as we’ve kind of evaluated 2023 and 2024, we are looking for opportunities to continue to kind of time to spend to be able to achieve all of our financial objectives over the two years. You’re correct in thinking that when we announced our plans for O&M spend for 2023, there is a fair amount of reduction that we were expecting as a result of some of the strategic spend we had in 2022, including focuses on resource planning, economic development, and advancing some of our technology projects. But we continue to find opportunities to be able to reduce costs through the efficiencies of a lot of the folks out in our field organizations. I think Lisa had a nice story that she started out with her script talking about efforts underway with our underground program that are providing some benefits for us.