John Moreira: Well, Steve, let me start by saying that having — being at the 13% right now does give us a little bit more flexibility where we can be opportunistic from an equity standpoint. But as I’ve said, I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we strive on maintaining a very strong credit rating. And right now, based on our plan, I do see — everything else being equal, I do see us getting to 15% by the end of 2024.
Steve Fleishman: Okay. And is — okay. And then — so from that standpoint, given that, that you don’t — you not see then any need for more equity in the plan beyond what you’ve already talked about?
John Moreira: That’s what I confirmed in my formal remarks. That is correct.
Steve Fleishman: Okay, great. And then just could you maybe — I remember early in the year you talked to about the plan being kind of — you thought kind of conservative on interest rate exposure and how you judge that. Just could you talk to just — I know you had a slide going through some of the stuff. But just overall, how to think about the plan in terms of interest rate exposure?
John Moreira: Yeah, I mean, we’ve done a great job in managing to the current year exposure, and we will continue to be focused on that. We are very disciplined in our O&M strategy, and we’ve been very successful, as a matter of fact. As a result of that cost discipline, we’ve been able to narrow our guidance range, our EPS guidance range. So, yes, I would say to frame it, when I started the year, I didn’t think the Feds were going to move as rapidly as they did with increase in rates. So it has put some further pressure on us, and we have a plan that will get us to where we need to be.
Steve Fleishman: And is that true for not just for this year, but for the long-term growth rate? Is that..
John Moreira: That’s correct. That is correct.
Steve Fleishman: Okay. I’ll let others ask. I appreciate the time. Thank you.
John Moreira: Thank you, Steve.
Joseph Nolan: Thank you, Steve.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from David Arcaro from Morgan Stanley. Your line is now open, please go ahead.
Joseph Nolan: Hi, David, good morning.
David Arcaro: Thanks so much for taking my question. Hey, good morning. Let’s see. Maybe just following up on Steve’s last question. If rates stay where they are, do you continue to see the ability to hit solidly in the upper half of your guidance range? And maybe could you elaborate on some of the cost-cutting initiatives where the opportunities are that you see going forward?
Joseph Nolan: Sure. Thanks, David. So, yes, I mean, in our longer forecast, based on what consensus had interest rates moving and where the Fed is likely to be, we have factored that into our long-term growth prospects. The question is, when will the Fed start to turn the corner, either stabilize or perhaps even go start reducing rates? So that’s what we’re looking at in our 2024 plan. But right now, as I’ve said, the cost-cutting that we have been very successful to implement has compensated for that. From a cost-cutting measure we look at a multitude of things, right? We have done a great job in introducing technology that has lower operational costs. We look at on the shared services side what can we do there? So those are some of the items that we are very focused on.
David Arcaro: Okay, great. That’s helpful. And then also just looking out at the FFO to debt trends you’ve got a couple or I guess I’m thinking of the tax equity payment in 2024, that’s a bit of a one-time boost. But then post 2024, is there a trend off of that year where you expect FFO to debt to trend naturally just based on the core business outlook, does it fall below 15% after that or are there ways to maintain it in that rough range? Thanks.
John Moreira: No, no. If you recall my formal remarks, I said, look, right now our prospects is turn the corner in 2024 and beyond. So our core business is going to be a significant contributor to that. And the biggest driver of that will be the rate adjustments that we have in Massachusetts locked in. And while the pathway that we see to start recovering the nearly $1.6 billion of the first storm costs in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as I’ve mentioned, we have about $400 million to $500 million kicking in into rates in 2024 that’ll be recovered over the five year period. And then, we will be focused on the Connecticut deferred storm costs. And as we’ve said in the past, we look to file a Prudency, a cost review, and get that filing into PURA later this year.
David Arcaro: Okay, got it. Thanks. Appreciate the color.
Joseph Nolan: Thanks, David.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Nicholas Campanella from Barclays. Your line is now open, please go ahead.
Nicholas Campanella: Hey, everyone.
Joseph Nolan: Good morning, Nick.
Nicholas Campanella: Thanks for taking my question. Good morning. I just wanted to follow up on Connecticut. I think you started to hit it there, but obviously the governor, you’re saying, has been more supportive, but it has been a challenging backdrop from a rate-making standpoint. Just how are you kind of thinking through the timing of a next CL&P rate case? And then secondly, just the strategy for deferred storm balances. I think you said that you’re going to file later this year with recovery thereafter, but can you just kind of give us some more detail on what that process looks like? Thank you.
