Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Daniel Cregg: Yes, I think, Ryan, it’s a tough question to answer, given that we don’t have what we need to have from treasury. We have been stepping into hedges as we’ve approached the year fairly similar to what we’ve done in the past to be as prepared to mitigate the market volatility as we can. And so I think the question is going to be best answered when we do have that guidance and as we continue to go through the rest of the year.

Ryan Levine: Just a follow-up on that. I mean when I look back on where you were last year at this time from a hedge standpoint and you were meaningfully more hedged on a 1-year forward basis than you are today. Given that comment, what’s driving the lower hedge profile?

Daniel Cregg: Well — and Ryan, the other thing I would add to that is we’ve said in the past that we’ve tended to work our way through a 3-year period within a range kind of a band of hedges across those 3 years. And so there are periods of time where we will try to take a look at what the market looks like within that range to take advantage of market opportunities. And so if you just think about where we’ve been historically from a price point perspective and where we are now, I think the opportunities led us to be a little bit higher within that band before and a little bit lower within that band compared to last year right now.

Ralph LaRossa: Which at the end of the day is exactly the way Dan has managed this for years, and the team has managed it for years and they’ve looked for those opportunities. So absent really clear guidance from treasury, we’re doing what we’ve done in the past.

Ryan Levine: Interesting topics. How does the recently approved second energy efficiency framework impact the company’s approach to energy efficiency into the next filing later this year?

Ralph LaRossa: Yes. I don’t think it impacted what’s going to happen in the next filing. What really impact — will impact what’s going to happen in the next filing is what was just released by the Board of Public Utilities, which is their triennial report or direction that was an order that came out on energy efficiency. And we’re still studying that, but that has a lot of upside for us there that we think will really encourage additional energy efficiency investments from companies like ours. So more to come on that, but that I would encourage you to take a hard look at that order because I think it really did provide a good road map for all the utilities in New Jersey to follow and provide some opportunity for us.

Carlotta Chan: Rob, we’ll take 1 last call and then we’ll turn it back to Ralph for closing comments.

Operator: Thank you. That last call will come from Paul Freeman with Ladenburg Thalmann.

Unidentified Analyst: Quick question on generation gross margin year-to-date and how we should think about generation gross margin for your following your hedges?

Daniel Cregg: Yes. I think as you take a look year-to-date, one of the things we talked about upfront was the hedge price we saw most of that uplift within the first quarter. So we got more of the benefit from the timing of the hedges that were put on during the winter period. I think what you’re more likely to see as you go through the balance of the year is a little bit of a change from the standpoint of looking back at ’22 when we kind of rolled off our final load-serving contracts compared to where we are now without them is that we have a little bit higher cost to serve last year compared to what we’re seeing this year because of those contracts. And so most of the top-line benefit has been recognized year-over-year if you take a look at where the hedge prices are, but the cost to serve will benefit as we go through the balance of the year, Paul.