Exelon (EXC) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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Date

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 at 10 a.m. ET

Call participants

President and Chief Executive Officer — Calvin G. Butler

Chief Financial Officer — Jeanne M. Jones

Chief Operating Officer — Michael A. Innocenzo

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations — Andrew C. Plenge

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Takeaways

Operating earnings per share -- Reported $0.86 for Q3 2025, an increase of $0.15 year-over-year, driven by $0.12 from higher distribution and transmission rates net of depreciation and $0.06 from PICO storm deferral treatment (non-GAAP), partially offset by interest expense.

Full-year EPS guidance -- Reaffirmed 2025 operating earnings guidance at $2.64 per share-$2.74 per share (non-GAAP), with management targeting achievement at or above the midpoint.

Rate base growth -- Projected 7.4% annualized rate base growth through 2028.

Annualized operating earnings growth rate -- Reaffirmed at 5%-7% through 2028, with an internal goal to deliver at least the midpoint.

Return on equity -- Targeting allowed returns of 9%-10% on equity capital invested for 2025.

Operational reliability rankings -- Utility operating companies ranked first, second, fourth, and seventh among their peer set for 2023, showing improvement from prior rankings.

Financing plan progress -- Issued $1 billion in long-term debt at PICO in September 2025, completing 2025’s planned debt issuance; nearly 50% of equity needs through 2028 already priced, including $663 million, or 95%, of 2026 annualized equity needs to be settled in 2026.

Financial flexibility -- Projected consolidated credit metrics to average 100-200 basis points above Moody’s downgrade threshold throughout the guidance period to 2028, approaching 14% by guidance period end.

Large load pipeline -- More than 19 gigawatts in the active pipeline as of Q3 2025, with at least 27 gigawatts in process for transmission security agreements or active cluster studies.

Regulatory developments -- Pepco filed for a $133 million net revenue increase in Maryland on October 14, 2025, supporting $38 million in investments projected to generate nearly $262 million in customer benefits over the next twenty years.

Legislative updates -- Illinois’ Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act expands efficiency budgets, establishes a three-gigawatt storage target by 2030, and enhances distributed generation support.

Transmission CapEx opportunity -- Management highlighted $10 billion-$15 billion in potential transmission investment outside current guidance.

Cost control -- Management continues to drive O&M cost containment and push for cost growth below inflation through technology and operational improvements.

Innovative tariff approach -- Introduction of transmission services agreements (TSAs) to prioritize large load growth and protect existing customers, first implemented at PICO and now filed for ComEd service territory.

Summary

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) reported higher year-over-year operating earnings per share in Q3 2025 driven largely by increased rates and successful storm cost deferral. Management maintained its annual guidance and emphasized a robust pipeline of large service loads as a key future earnings driver. Several regulatory and legislative milestones, including progress on multi-jurisdiction rate cases and grid modernization laws in Illinois, signal an expanding landscape of capital deployment. Transmission growth potential was positioned as material yet excluded from the current outlook, with the company selectively incorporating only executable projects as regulatory processes unfold.

Jeanne M. Jones stated, "we have priced nearly half of our equity needs through 2028, including all of our annualized equity needs in 2025 and $663 million, or 95%, of our 2026 annualized equity needs, which we expect to settle next year."

Management stated that addressing all repairs in the corporate minimum tax calculation could raise consolidated credit metrics by approximately 50 basis points on average over the plan period, boosting balance sheet flexibility if favorable guidance is received.

Michael A. Innocenzo described Pennsylvania resource adequacy legislation as seeing "active discussions," with movement expected in the spring following budget negotiations.

Illinois’ new law mandates a three-gigawatt energy storage program and expanded rebate eligibility, with implications for grid investment and distributed energy resource integration.

Pepco's new rate case support includes independent firm analysis quantifying nearly $262 million in customer benefits from $38 million in infrastructure investments, demonstrating a data-driven approach to regulatory cost recovery.

Industry glossary

Transmission services agreement (TSA): A contract that establishes terms for large load customers to secure grid connection, allocating project risks and costs to limit exposure for existing customers and ensure project commitment.

Cluster study: A process where multiple potential new interconnections are studied together to determine the cumulative impact on the transmission system, improving scheduling and project certainty.

Base rate case: A formal request by a regulated utility to a state commission to increase (or sometimes decrease) the rates charged to customers, typically to recover investments and changes in operating costs.

O&M (operations and maintenance): The ongoing cost of running utility assets and systems, distinct from capital expenditures.

Alternative minimum tax (AMT): A parallel tax system that sets a minimum level of tax liability for corporations or individuals, affecting utility balance sheet calculations and credit metrics.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Andrew C. Plenge: Thank you, Gigi, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our 2025 third quarter earnings call. Leading the call today are Calvin G. Butler, and Jeanne M. Jones, Exelon's Chief Financial Officer. Other members of Exelon's senior management team are also with us today, and they will be available to answer your questions following our prepared remarks. Today's presentation, along with our earnings release and other financial information, we would also like to remind you that today's presentation and the associated earnings release materials forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties. You can find the cautionary statements on these risks on slide two of today's presentation or in our SEC filings.

In addition, today's presentation includes references to adjusted operating earnings, and other non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations between these measures and the nearest equivalent GAAP measures can be found in the appendix of our presentation and in our earnings release. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Calvin G. Butler, Exelon's President and CEO.

Calvin G. Butler: Thank you, Andrew, and good morning, everyone. We are happy to have you all with us today for our third quarter earnings call. As we reach the last months of 2025, the twenty-fifth year since Exelon's founding, our employees continue to execute with excellence, serving our customers, communities, and shareholders. We reported earnings of 86¢ which was stronger than anticipated due to slightly warmer weather and a mild storm season along with timing-related drivers. We continue to reaffirm our operating earnings guidance for 2025 of $2.64 to $2.74 per share and we look forward to closing out the year strong. We also continue to deliver some of the best operational performance in the industry.

In fact, we now have the final results of our reliability benchmark for last year. And our four utility operating companies are ranked one, two, four, and seven out of our peer set improving upon last year's already stellar one, three, five, and eight rankings. I could not be prouder of the way our employees show up every day whether it's selecting, planning, and operationalizing the right investments to avoid outages or being the fastest to get customers back online if the power does go out. This performance has real value. Particularly when you consider that a typical major storm can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for the average customer depending on its size.

Our operational North Star is to continuously improve upon this performance offering above-average performance at below-average rates to the communities we have the privilege and honor of serving. Results like that show we're living up to that standard. As it pertains to rate cases, we remain on track for our gas distribution rate case at Delmarva Power and our Atlantic City electric rate case. We also filed a rate case at Pepco, Maryland with the decision required per statute by August 2026. The following supports the company's commitment to delivering safe, reliable, and resilient service while further preparing the local grid for future clean energy demands.

Our filing also demonstrates true focus on customer value reflecting strong O and M cost containment and robust projected benefits from specified reliability investments that significantly exceed their cost. Outside of rate cases, we have seen more progress in our states and at PJM. When it comes to advancing solutions to meet the growing need for reliable and resilient power. Last week, Illinois passed the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act. Which directly supports resource adequacy by expanding the annual budget for energy efficiency, broadens the types of assets eligible for the distributed generation rebate, and creates an energy storage procurement plan. It also requires the commission and other state agencies to develop four-year integrated resource plans.

And gives the ICC discretion to facilitate transmission projects that support state goals. This marks the next chapter in Illinois energy transition and we look forward to working with policymakers on implementing this next set of programs. In Maryland, the commission initiated a request for merchant generator proposals for up to three gigawatts of new energy supply. The process attracted several submissions. Though the disclosed capacity levels have fallen short of their target, and we will learn in December which of those projects the Maryland Department of Natural Resource power plant research program might recommend.

And PJM is working through its critical issue fast path process, for options to better accommodate new large loads assisting our states as they navigate unprecedented levels of growth. We are encouraged by the breadth and amount of engagement in that process. And we look forward to finding solutions that ensure customers can rely on cost-effective power supply. And as we have stated, these efforts are welcomed and necessary. But they are not enough. There is a significant anticipated shortfall in supply. And hoping that markets alone will fill it puts too much risk on customers that increasingly depend on affordable supply to power their lives.

All states need to leverage all available options to bring control certainty, and customer benefits to securing power. These options help ensure that all customers, continue to have reliable access to energy and that the states can participate more fully in the economic development opportunities from artificial intelligence and onshoring. Supply challenge is real. And we know utilities can be a key partner in helping the state solve it. Whether it's supporting investments in the demand side like energy efficiency, distributed and community solar and storage, or even owning more traditional generation plants. We stand ready to work with our states as they seek opportunities to address growing energy security needs in a manner that fits their goals.

The demand for power is not slowing down. Our large load pipeline now stands at over 19 gigawatts as we have finalized our cluster study approach and now account for our first transmission security agreement at PICO. The innovative TSA approach ensures we strike the right balance in prioritizing large loads while ensuring our existing customers are protected. Furthermore, we now have at least 27 gigawatts either waiting signed TSAs or in active cluster studies with many more behind those. Additional details on our large load outlook can be found in the appendix. Connecting new business is expected to be just one of the drivers of the anticipated growth in transmission investment in our next four-year plan.

This new business will also drive broader needs for the grid, which get identified in reliability assessments like PJM's open windows. And it helps drive inter RTO opportunities like MISO tranche 2.1 segment running through ComEd's territory. We will be monitoring the recommendations coming out of PJM's latest open window over the next three months. To determine if any of the solutions we have proposed either individually or with partners are selected. With no project greater than 3% of our four-year plan, we are focused on bringing all of our customers along at the appropriate pace.

While also ensuring we can earn a fair return of 9% to 10% on the equity capital provided by our With rate base growth of 7.4% through 2028 and a balanced financing plan, we expect to grow our earnings at an annualized rate of 5% to 7%, with the expectation of always delivering at the midpoint or better of that range. I will now ask Jeanne to cover more details on our regulatory updates and financial performance. Jeanne?

Jeanne M. Jones: Thank you, Calvin, and good morning, everyone. Today, I will cover our third quarter financial update along with our financial and regulatory outlook for the remainder of 2025. Starting on Slide five, we present our quarter over quarter adjusted operating earnings walk. Exelon earned $0.86 per share in the third quarter, compared to $0.71 per share in 2024. Reflecting higher results of $0.15 over the same period. Earnings are higher in the third quarter relative to the same period last year, driven primarily by $0.12 of higher distribution and transmission rates net of associated depreciation and $0.06 associated with the ability to seek deferral treatment of the PICO extraordinary storms. This favorability is slightly offset primarily by interest expense.

These results are ahead of the expectations noted in our prior quarter call primarily due to better than normal storm conditions, timing of O and M spend and tax timing at PICO. As we close out the year in the fourth quarter, we remain on track to achieve operating earnings of $2.64 to $2.74 per share with the goal of delivering at midpoint or better. Distribution earnings at ComEd and PICO taxes. Fair and reasonable outcomes for open rate case proceedings, including reconciliations at BGE, PEP Maryland and ComEd and normal weather and storm activity. Finally, we reaffirm our annualized operating earnings growth rate of 5% to 7% through 2028.

With the expectation to be at the midpoint or better of that range. Turning to slide six, I will now review the regulatory activity across our platform. Starting with the base rate case activity, we continue to make progress on the Delmarva Power Gas Distribution Rate Case filed last September. With the final settlement conferences held in October. As a reminder, the filing seeks to recover reliability investments such as aging pipe replacements, and it also seeks recovery of LNG plant upgrades. Which would protect customers from price volatility during peak periods. We anticipate an order in 2026.

Atlantic City Electric, settlement discussions continue as we seek recovery for grid improvements and modernization investments in line with New Jersey's energy master Plan and the Clean Energy Act. Continue to anticipate an order by the end of the year. Finally, on October 14, Pepco filed an electric base rate case in Maryland. Requesting a net revenue increase of $133 million utilizing a fully forecasted test year. The request supports key infrastructure investments to modernize aging infrastructure and improve reliability while also supporting Maryland's clean energy goals.

As part of the filing, Pepco, through an independent firm, found that $38 million of investments generate nearly $262 million in benefits to customers through avoided outage and restoration costs, as well as avoided O and M expenses over the next twenty years. The filing also offers a suite of programs and resources that help manage rising energy costs increase awareness of energy usage, and provide direct assistance to those who need it most. Per statute, an order is expected from the Maryland Public Service Commission in August 2026.

Beyond base rate cases at ComEd, we remain on track for our first reconciliation under the new multiyear plan framework, where we continue to robustly support the spend submitted for reconciliation throughout the final briefing process. An ALJ proposed order is expected later today, and the ICT will issue a final order by December 20. In Maryland, we continue to wait decisions on our final reconciliations from the first BGE and Pepco Maryland multi-year plans. Along with the commission's order on the lessons learned proceeding to support future filings. In balancing affordability, reliability, and the state's economic development and energy policy goals. Finally, turning to slide seven, I will conclude with updates on our balance sheet activity.

Where we've continued to derisk our financing plan and ensure cost-effective. In September, PICO issued $1 billion in debt completing all of our planned long-term debt issuances for the year. The strong investor demand and attractive pricing we've achieved in our debt offerings is supported by the strength of our balance sheet and by the low-risk attributes of our platform. We continue to seek opportunities to take advantage of current market dynamics to derisk our plan. This includes utilizing our pre-issuance hedging strategy and pricing future equity needs to settle through forward agreements under the ATM, reducing interest rate and share price exposure. Through the third quarter, we have priced nearly half of our equity needs through 2028.

Including all of our annualized equity needs in 2025 and $663 million or 95% of our 2026 annualized equity needs, which we expect to settle next year. In line with our last earnings call, we continue to project 100 to 200 basis points of financial flexibility on average over the Moody's downgrade threshold of 12% approaching 14% at the end of our guidance period. We also continue to advocate for language that incorporates all tax repairs calculating the corporate alternative minimum tax. As a reminder, favorably addressing all repairs in the minimum calculation would result in an increase of approximately 50 basis points in our consolidated credit metrics on average over the plan. Thank you.

And I'll now turn the call back to Calvin for his closing remarks.

Calvin G. Butler: Thank you, Jeanne. As we approach the end of our twenty-fifth year as Exelon, we are working to add to our legacy of excellence, delivering on our commitments to our customers, our communities, and our investors. Many of you may have seen us ring the opening bell at Nasdaq last month. And I was honored to represent our company alongside some of our longest-tenured employees. Standing next to me were just a few of our more than 2,500 employees who have been with us and our local energy companies for twenty-five years or more.

Our operating companies have over eight hundred years of collective experience delivering energy to customers provided by dedicated employees who keep the lights on and the gas flowing day in and day out. No matter the conditions. And they are the reason our utilities are ranked as the best or among the best in the business for reliability. They also can't do it without smart targeted investments in our grid. It's why 98% of the net profit earned at our utilities generated with fair returns on the shareholder dollars entrusted with us have been reinvested back into the system over the last five years.

Those investments not only deliver top-notch service, they also boost local economies with every $1 million creating eight jobs or $1.6 million of economic output. So we don't take this performance or the responsibility of supporting our communities for granted. And we know it will take continued discipline to ensure that we can provide high levels of service at below-average prices for another twenty-five years and beyond. We will continue to advocate that our jurisdictions provide fair recovery for our investments with the expectation that service remains high, that we treat all users of the grid fairly and equitably, and that we put our customers first. Our priorities this year do just that.

Ensure we earn that right to provide our customers top-notch value every day. For example, we continue to focus a dedicated team on pulling cost out of our business to keep cost growth below inflation. We push our business lines to work smarter and leverage technology, providing better service at lower cost. We advocate for rate-making constructs that ensure we can plan invest, and operate as efficiently as possible benefiting from alignment and forward-looking planning. We continue to support and leverage customer assistance programs like LIHEAP and to advance rate designs that support the customers who need it most. And we advocate for fair policies that can equitably serve growing load while instilling greater confidence in resource adequacy.

That includes developing our innovative TSA approach which we have filed for our first customer with FERC and are proposing as part of tariff adjustment at ComEd. And it's why we're increasingly advocating that our jurisdictions take more control over their power supply. They can complement supply induced by better design markets with solutions like utility-owned generation that regulators oversee, giving them control certainty, and cost benefits for customers that markets alone don't offer. We look forward to closing out 2025 strong. Earning an ROE aligned with allowed levels in the 9% to 10% range, and delivering against our guidance of $2.64 to $2.74 per share. Always with the goal of midpoint or better while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

There would be no better way to celebrate our twenty-fifth year's Exelon and further cement our foundation to deliver consistent growth and long-term value for another twenty-five years. Gigi, we are now ready for questions on the line.

Operator: Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Shar Pourreza from Wells Fargo.

Calvin G. Butler: Shar, good morning.

Shar Pourreza: Good morning, Calvin. How are you doing?

Calvin G. Butler: I'm good, man. Welcome back.

Shar Pourreza: Appreciate it. Luckily, there's no news flow in this space, and it's been kinda relaxed.

Calvin G. Butler: That's just our way of saying we missed you.

Shar Pourreza: Yeah. We I miss you too. I miss you too. So Calvin, just obviously resource adequacy was very topical in your prepared remarks. Maybe just starting with Maryland. Just your broad thoughts around the RFP, I mean, you've been out there talking about regulated to solve the needs there. Now Constellation just came out their own solutions ironically this morning. Can we just get a sense on how you're thinking about the process, the timing, and then your views on sort of these competing options that were proposed this morning? Thanks.

Calvin G. Butler: Yeah. Thank you, Shar. And appreciate the question. Let me first begin by saying that we commend the state of Maryland for initiating the process. And while we appreciate that they received some responses, our view is that they fall short of what's needed for the state and for PJM more broadly. Having said that, we're happy to see that several parties stepped up and actually talked about adding supply. Let's be clear. This is all about solving the problem and bringing energy costs under control for our customers. And that's what we're focused on, affordability and reliability each and every day. Customers have voiced very strongly that they're frustrated with high energy costs, and we are frustrated too.

But overall, we are encouraged to see a reply to the RFP. And like I said, the disclosed need fell short of the goal, and we'll have to see what the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and other stakeholders recommend the PSC. But we are more than willing to step up. And as we've said before, Shar, if the competitive market is willing to step up and fill this need, to meet us where we are at this time and not rely on the old rules of the past, we're okay. But it's time to move forward and continue to be progressive and aggressive in what we're trying to do for the state.

Shar Pourreza: Got it. That's perfect. That's actually consistent with what you've been saying. And then maybe just, Calvin, shifting to Pennsylvania, there's obviously two bills sitting at the house and senate around resource adequacy. I think they reconvened in November. I guess thoughts there and more importantly, can the wires companies kind of strike a middle ground with the IPPs maybe around a long-term resource adequacy agreement structure that is also being proposed in the legislation versus this kind of push-pull around rate basing generation or doing nothing and letting the market dictate new builds. So I guess how are the discussions in Pennsylvania going? Do you think you could strike a deal there?

Calvin G. Butler: First off, we are committed to working with all the parties. From the governor's office to the IPPs and, of course, with our peers in the state. Michael A. Innocenzo, our chief operating officer, is here, and I know he's been a former CEO of PICO. He's been very engaged in that discussion as well. Mike, anything else?

Michael A. Innocenzo: Yes, sure. Thanks, Calvin. Thanks, Shar for the question. Discussions in Pennsylvania continue to go very well. As you're aware, Pennsylvania is a little different space in that they continue to be an exporter, continue to see the value of being an exporter, leveraging our natural resources in Pennsylvania and continue to see the advantage of being an exporter in terms of economic development. And look as that as an opportunity to solve that. There are two active bills, one in the senate, one in the house that are being discussed. At the same time, we're talking with the governor's offices about on all of the above solutions, including longer-term PPAs, contracts.

So I think you'll start to see more activity. Probably more likely in the spring, candidly, they're in the middle of budget discussions. In Pennsylvania right now, which is taking most of the legislative space. But we've seen some active discussions with the governor's office in addition. I don't know if you saw that the PUC hired a party to do a third party, study on that, and I think that will also inform, where we go in the spring.

Shar Pourreza: Okay. That's perfect. Thanks so much for the clarity there. And Calvin, big congrats on the results.

Calvin G. Butler: I appreciate it.

Shar Pourreza: Thank you, Shar. It is good to hear you.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Paul Andrew Zimbardo from Jefferies.

Paul Andrew Zimbardo: Hi, good morning team. Thank you. I was hoping you could unpack the new Illinois legislation a little bit. Just in terms of what you see the investment opportunities, energy transmission for some of these distributed resources, if you could just kind of unpack that a little bit, that would be helpful. Thank you.

Calvin G. Butler: Sure. Sure, Paul. I will start, and I will lean to my colleague, Jeanne, to help with that discussion as well. But as you know, on the last night of the fall veto session, Illinois passed what is called senate bill 25, the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, and it really focused on two things, Paul. It around state new customer programs, as well as state policy and resource adequacy. It enhanced the energy efficiency program, which is one of the quickest and most efficient ways to improve resource adequacy. And it laid out a target of three gigawatts of storage by 2030. That is significant.

And it also expanded the opportunities for consumers to leverage distributed generation rebate programs and also advance virtual power plan approaches and mandate and mandating time of use rate offerings, which, by the way, ComEd already offers some time of use rate offerings. So this is in furtherance of that and telling people if you're gonna come into the market, we're going to evolve into that area. And finally, it also focuses on the broader role that the state can play in developing that integrated resource plan that I mentioned in my opening comments. So we think this gives the state further opportunity and this is how they're looking at it.

To demonstrate leadership in energy policy while also supporting economic development. Now let me tell you from ComEd's point of view and Exelon's point of view, any opportunity we can to invest in the grid to keep that number one spot of reliability and resiliency and to create jobs and economic development in the state, we're leaning in with them. And I know our CEO, Gil Kiones, at ComEd has been in discussions with not only the commission, but the governor on what's next, but we're very actively engaged in that process.

Paul Andrew Zimbardo: Excellent. Thank you very much. And as we all start to think about fourth quarter and maybe a little bit of a sneak peek, I like that trend transmission slide where you show the large step up in rate base. In 2028. And obviously, does not let earnings in 'twenty eight. As we think about 2029 and that roll forward, is it fair to think about the stronger growth year than 2020, you say, below the midpoint of the range, is it fair to think 2029 stronger within the range?

Jeanne M. Jones: Yes. We'll give formal guidance on the Q4 call. Paul. But I think you're thinking about it right. We've got a lot of transmission opportunities to drive, you know, the solutions necessary as we see all this demand come in. We're very excited about transmission on the competitive side as well. You probably saw that we were active in the open window. Both with partners, but also solutions just from an Exelon perspective. And we think we'll have clarity there by the end of the year on some of that, roll that into the Q4 update.

None of that is contemplated in our guidance, nor is it in $10 to $15 billion of transmission that we talk about outside the window. What I would also say is a lot of those solutions, all of those solutions are 2030, twenty thirty-two. So the spend is sort of around the corner outside of the planning period. But what it does is it speaks to sort of the strength and the length of the continued growth in our rate base. We always aim to be at that seven to 8% to drive the five to 7%. And I think this just positions us well to execute in the upper portion of that seven to 8%.

Paul Andrew Zimbardo: Okay. Excellent. No. Thank you. I had to try 2029. See you all soon.

Calvin G. Butler: Alright, Paul. I saw the effort. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Nicholas Campanella from Barclays.

Nicholas Campanella: Good morning, Nick.

Nicholas Campanella: Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just you mentioned it in the prepared remarks around repairs in the CMAT But just is this something that you think you kinda get clarity on by year end and potentially consideration for the financing outlook as we kind of prepare for the disclosures out to '29. Just what's the kind of timeline there to get that clarification? Thank you.

Jeanne M. Jones: Sure. Yeah. We're hopeful for the Brett and the year. We know the IRS is working on additional sort of guidance for Camtie. And so, hopefully, we get that clarity by the end of the year. We do know some guidance was put out It's the way it was written didn't achieve sort of the full intent. And we're still working on that. But what I would say, though, is that we've talked about, that would be incremental cushion to the balance sheet and would be factored into the full update for our financing plan on Q4. But pleased to see progress there. Just wanna hopefully close it out here in this year.

Nicholas Campanella: And I guess, like, if you had the opportunity to use that cushion, is it less equity needs, or accelerate CapEx further, just cognizant of the, you know, the different pushes and pulls there.

Jeanne M. Jones: Yeah. We wanna stay on that path to 14% as we mentioned. So this would be good momentum towards that 14% by the end of the planning period. And I think we would you know, we've got equity in there. We've got hybrids. Got additional capital coming in. So we'll put all that together. Make sure that we deliver kind of the most efficient plan while we maintain that 14% or better but also driving the five to 7% mid screen or better. So we'll factor that all in, but I would say that's just helpful we think about the cushion towards that 14%.

Nicholas Campanella: That's great. And then just, if I could really quick, I know it's small, but just the ACE rate case has been going on for a long time. And you're still saying that you're on track to settle, this case. And maybe you can kind of talk a little bit about what's kind of informing the view that settlement's still on the table. And why this wouldn't just go to a final order, in the in the coming months here. Thank you.

Calvin G. Butler: Thank you, Nick. To your point, that case was filed in November 2024. And I need to give the Atlantic City Electric team and Tyler Anthony the CEO of Pepco Holdings, a lot of credit because they've been working with the commission and all stakeholders, including our governor, and just making sure that we're being transparent talking about each and every investment where it's needed and what the goals the shared goals of the parties are. And that's why we're encouraged that we can get to settlement. But it is a process. And we do anticipate, that will happen by the end of the year.

But at the same time, they do have the right to implement the interim rates subject to refund. So I believe that keeps all of the discussions moving forward in this settlement on the table because under law, you once you implement it, then it's subject. So they're saying let's get it right out the gate. And that's what they've been working on from day one. And I know we've been talking to both gubernatorial candidates on where we're going, and what we're trying to do in that partnership, so that's why we're encouraged.

Nicholas Campanella: Thanks so much.

Calvin G. Butler: Welcome.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Jeremy Tonet from JPMorgan Securities LLC.

Jeremy Tonet: Good morning, Jeremy.

Jeremy Tonet: Hi. Good morning. Just want to pivot a little bit here if we could towards, the Amazon TSA. And it seems like there's been some developments there. Just wondering if you could provide us, I guess, your most updated thoughts on this part of the business.

Jeanne M. Jones: Yeah. So what we started to do, for our large load is implement what we're calling a transmission services agreement. And so with that, the first one that we did was the one that you mentioned with the PICO data center And the data center in PICO's territory. We like this because it does a couple things. One, it helps really kinda solidify projects. Right? And kinda maybe weed out any speculative projects. But it also protects the rest of our customer base.

So it's similar to what we've had on the distribution side where you have, deposits and letters of credit and other things that sort of that help protect the other customers should the demand that we build for not show up. And so we executed our first one there with in the PICO territory, but we've now also filed in the ComEd service territory a large load tariff which would ask that are all large loads greater than 50 megawatts sign these agreements. And so that, we think, help does the two things that I Right? Kinda really firm up the commitments, but also protect other customers should the demand not rise.

And I think, you know, what we also tried to do on slide 13 of the deck is to show you kind of how that pipeline of large load is kind of filtering into the high probability column You can see in the column of the 47 gigawatts of the ones that we're studying which ones are still being studied, which ones have already been studied and are awaiting a TSA. Once we get that TSA signed, we would move it into the high probability. So that's the way to kinda keep track of how different load and different megawatts are moving from one category to the next.

Jeremy Tonet: Got it. That's helpful. Thanks. And just wondering, I guess, thoughts, I guess, on the $10 billion to $15 billion of transmission CapEx and thinking about probability weighting all this and everything as you as you outlined there, we've seen a number of your peers across the state space lift their growth outlooks. I'm just wondering, I guess, what opportunities Exelon sees to stay kind of competitive with those type of growth rates?

Jeanne M. Jones: Yeah. I think we are like, running our I think we are running our core business really, really well. Right? Transmission and distribution operations, first quartile for all operations, delivering above average performance with below average rates, continue to have met or actually exceeded all of the guidance, upgraded S and P. So I think the core businesses running really, really well. And as we think about additional growth, that comes to your point, you know, in the form of transmission and energy security solutions. But you also know us at Exelon, we're not gonna put anything in the plan that isn't certain and bankable.

And so as we look for transmission, for example, I mentioned earlier, we do have some proposals in front of PJM in the current window. We'll we'll know more about those proposals by the end of the year. And once we once we have certainty on those, those will come in. And we'll put them in the plan. So that you don't have to speculate or probability weighted, you know, weight some of them that once they're in, you know, that we feel very certain about them. But as I as I mentioned before, you know, we're focused on delivering really in the high end of what we've committed to.

And as we see some of these opportunities, materialize in the back end of our plan, then we can start to think about that. But let's let's focus on the execution first and getting them in and, of course, we'd always love to be talking to about more, but we're gonna focus on what's executable and build it in and put it into the plan once we know it's certain.

Jeremy Tonet: Got it. That's helpful. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of David Keith Arcaro from Morgan Stanley.

David Keith Arcaro: Good morning, David.

David Keith Arcaro: Hey. Thanks so much. Good morning. See. I had a I had a quick question on that. Large load pipeline that you've laid out on slide 13. I was just wondering, if you could just maybe characterize how you probability weight that 47 gigawatt pipeline. I appreciate the extra, detail you provided there. But like, in aggregate, are those still less likely to move forward? Or for some of those, is it just more of a matter of timing? Where eventually those could become, you know, more advanced, stage projects?

Jeanne M. Jones: I think it's more a matter of timing. But what we're really trying to do is, we move it to that column, do two things. One, complete the cluster study. So all of the load is now studied in a cluster approach so that we can give more certainty to the customers on time. And time to connect and other associated questions, location, etcetera, we wanna go through that first. And then from there, once we provide that information to customer have them sign the TSA agreement.

So those that's kind of a two-step process, which once it goes through that, can have you and us and our states and our customers can have much more certainty around this is highly probable, and it'll go into that eighteen plus column. So that's how we're thinking about it. But I would tell you it's all real. It continues to grow. If you look at the chart, right, you've got six that have already been studied and just awaiting, TSA signing. You've got 20 across the Mid Atlantic and Illinois that is actively being studied, and then another 20 that is ready to be in the next cluster study.

So we've seen this grow over the last couple years that we've been talking about this from six gigawatts to 18 highly probable and 47 studied or awaiting to be studied. So I think that speaks to there's a lot of certainty around this, but it until we tell you until we go through those two steps, we don't count it highly probable. That's the process we're following now.

Calvin G. Butler: And, David, I would just add, that is what's significant about that. You've probably heard the discussion around a lot of double counting. That may be taking place across the country and the industry. This our process helps eliminate that and really focus on who's real and who's not.

David Keith Arcaro: Yeah. Absolutely. That makes sense. Thanks for that color there. And I guess on that time to connect, I guess, what is the, time to connect that you're seeing, you know, for new data center projects that are kinda getting into that 47 gigawatt, getting into the cluster study process. What is the, maybe weight time or when are you able to offer power, in your service territory for new data centers?

Calvin G. Butler: You know, I'll start with that general. It depends. It depends on size, location, the ramp-up period. But Michael A. Innocenzo and his CEOs have been involved in this process from day one. And I'll look to Mike to, give any further clarity.

Michael A. Innocenzo: I mean, I would just say that I would I would expand on the it depends. I would say the things that we do to try to shorten that, we understand the speed is really important. First thing we start with is where do we have capacity on the grid. So our first discussion with any data center would be where is existing capacity, where is existing infrastructure. You've seen that in so for example, the North Point one in Pecos territory where we've used site of a former facility and, by you know, they signed the TSA agreement. Just a couple of months ago. And by the spring, it'll be Pico's largest on their site.

So where we can use existing infrastructure, existing capacity, we're doing everything we can to connect them. We're working with our customers on the ramp-up times that we can connect them quickly, within a year or two or even less than that as an example of Northpointe with existing facilities and ramp that up. And then working with PJM in terms of expediting the process for any of the long-term investments that are needed for updating the grid for some of the larger loads.

Calvin G. Butler: And if I can, David, let me share with you've got the back end of what operations takes over. Over a year and a half ago, we centralized all of our large accounts our data center accounts to really work with the customers in the strategic planning process. Just last month, we had our 25 largest customers in Chicago and really started talking to them about what you need, where you're going, and what is your ramp-up time on certain things in across our jurisdictions. So it's not just one state.

We're working with them about what we have across our footprint, which once again elevates the size and scale of Exelon because we're in multiple jurisdictions, and we can help meet that need. So we started this process a long time ago, and we get up in the strategic planning process before we even start talking about shoveling ground.

David Keith Arcaro: Okay. Great. Thank you so much.

Calvin G. Butler: Welcome. Thank you for the question.

Operator: Thank you. At this time, I would now like to turn the conference back over to Calvin Butler for closing remarks.

Calvin G. Butler: Well, first off, let me just say thank you. Thank you for taking the time today. For being part of our twenty-five-year journey at Exelon. We appreciate your support, and we look forward to seeing many of you next week at EEI. We're looking forward to the discussion and just the constant dialogue means a lot to us, and I know for our employees to be engaged in. And so with that, Gigi, this concludes the call.

Operator: Thanks to all our participants for joining us today. This concludes our presentation. You may now disconnect. Have a good day.

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