Dariusz Lozny: Okay, great. Thank you very much for that detail. I’ll pass it along here.
Andrew Cooper: Thanks, Dariusz.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question is coming from Alex Mortimer from Mizuho. Your line is live.
Alex Mortimer: Hi, good morning.
Jeff Guldner: Hi, Alex.
Alex Mortimer: So, with the dual tailwind of new rates next year and the load increase that was expected this year materializing more in 2024, how should we think about the linearity of earnings in 2024 and 2025 and beyond kind of within the long-term growth rate should we expect to be at the higher end of the 5% to 7%, or should we think that there could potentially be more of a onetime step-up in 2024 given coming out of the rate case?
Andrew Cooper: Yes, Alex, we are definitely focused on the tools that we have at our disposal to create more linear, predictable earnings stream within that 5% to 7% growth rate. And so we’re comfortable with the 5% to 7% rate. Certainly we’ll be updating all of the key drivers of our financial performance after the rate case concludes. Inevitably, given the outcome of the 2019 rate case and the financial reset there, rate relief will be a meaningful driver of our growth over the medium term. It’s hard to avoid that fact. However, the work we’re doing around how do we manage O&M within the context of weather from year-to-year? How do we push for more capital to be tracked so we can create more rate gradualism for customers, but also more linearity for shareholders?
Those are the levers within our control that we’re trying to deliver within that long-term EPS growth rate range a little bit more of a predictable track within it. Ultimately, doing the things that are within our control and managing costs as best we can.
Alex Mortimer: Understood. Has there been any discussion internally about how to potentially think of a new base year for the long-term growth rate, given the increased clarity and potential step up, we’ll see following the resolution of the case later this year?
Andrew Cooper: Yes. Alex, that’s all, I think a conversation that we could have after the rate case. Ultimately, over the long-term we want to be able to through a linear earnings stream, create a long-term earnings growth rate that isn’t based on a base here. That is a continuous product of more predictable, less regulatory lag; and so those are the things that we’re focused on to create that. So it becomes less about a specific base here. But as far as updating from our current 5% to 7% of 2022 weather normalized guidance, that’s a conversation we can have after the rate case.
Alex Mortimer: Alright. Thank you so much. I’ll leave it there.
Jeff Guldner: Thanks Alex.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question is coming from Paul Patterson from Glenrock Associates. Your line is live.
Paul Patterson: Hey. Good morning.
Jeff Guldner: Hey Paul.
Andrew Cooper: Hey Paul.
Paul Patterson: So, I apologize if I just, I wanted to sort of just follow up again on the rate case. In the past, you guys were thinking that was potential that there’d be a settlement. And I’m just sort of wondering where things maybe stand with respect to that potential given that we’ve had so many filings now and what have you?
Jeff Guldner: Yes. As we mentioned we’re just here a day away from filing, rejoin our testimony. So you got five rounds of testimony and the hearing scheduled to start in a week or so. So the likelihood that a settlement would sort of come up from there is low. We continue and we always look for opportunities to narrow issues or for opportunities to engage in a conversation around that. But I think right now, it certainly seems like we’re moving towards hearing. I will say if you can follow on the testimony and the intervenors and the physicians on this case, that this is much more what I call a traditional rate case. It’s a lot more fewer issues the more traditional things that are coming. So I think that that is positive in terms of where the case has evolved to.
Paul Patterson: Yes. It’s a notable change from the last one, I agree with that. I wanted to also just sort of ask you, I’ve never been to Arizona in the summer, and there’s a lot of national media coverage of the recent heat wave. And I don’t know whether or not it’s being over dramatized or not, but it sounds like kind of extreme. And I’m just wondering, a) sort of your take on it because you guys are guys are native, so to speak, or at least close to it. And so b) I know you mentioned it doesn’t seem to have impacted your outlook for growth. But just, I mean, I don’t need to sort of check off the list of sort of horrors that they’re describing in terms of people getting burned by just sitting on the sidewalk or I’m talking about like the Cactus is done kind of thing. Could you sort of just give a little more perspective on that?
Jeff Guldner: Yes. I mean it’s clearly a concern when you get into prolonged stretches of this. We’ve had, we had a hotter day number years ago I think the still record high day was actually quite a while ago. But it’s the persistence of this heat wave that I think has really sort of challenged the policy makers. But the important thing to remember is that the heat in the desert in the summer is not new to us. And so there have been certainly cases where you’ve had multiple days in the north of 115, where you get the same kind of issues about being safe outside, making sure that you don’t – you don’t make contact with the pavement. The most important thing, I think, that the policymakers here are doing a nice job of is trying to address the unsheltered population.
We’ve got, for example, [Paul an] (0:25:20) air conditioner program where we can help support through the foundation for senior living. People getting air conditioner repairs because those are where it gets really dangerous. If you’re just in a home with an air conditioner, people are kind of used to this, I think, but it’s certainly something that you need to look at from a resilience standpoint in ensuring that as you continue to see longer periods of hot weather that we’ve got the resilience to be able to navigate that. But people are still moving here. It’s still a very I think it’s still the fastest-growing county in the U.S. So I don’t think the heat deters them, and it’s kind of similar to what you deal with in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest where you’ve got the really cold winters, you just got to know how to adapt to it.
