AltaLink engaging with customer groups to deliver on five-year commitment to keep rates flat

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CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Following the approval of its $230 million refund to customers in March, AltaLink continued its engagement with customers during the second quarter of 2021. AltaLink filed its 2022-2023 GTA on April 30, 2021, delivering on the last two years of its commitment to keep rates at or below the 2018 level for customers for five years.

“We have made a commitment to our customers to keep our rates flat through to the end of 2023,” said Gary Hart, AltaLink’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “With the filing of our 2022-2023 GTA, we have delivered on our commitment and built a foundation to find innovative solutions to reduce costs for our customers in the future.”

“There is incredible value in working closely with customers in the regulatory environment,” said Mr. Hart. “Our customers create jobs and keep Alberta’s economy moving while we deliver the energy they need to thrive.”

Working closely with its largest customers, AltaLink has delivered close to $1.4 billion in savings since 2015. The almost $1.4 billion in savings from AltaLink’s tariff levelization efforts resulted in an average decrease of $3/MWh per year since 2015.

AltaLink announces 2021 second quarter results

AltaLink continues to invest in transmission facilities to ensure the reliability of the electricity grid. During the second quarter of 2021, AltaLink invested $65.5 million in its transmission system.

Today, AltaLink, L.P. announced net and comprehensive income of $76.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $83.3 million for the same period in 2020. Our net and comprehensive income decreased mainly due to higher operating revenue recognized in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of one-time adjustments related to the 2019-2021 GTA decision. Revenue from operations for the three months ended June 30, 2021, was $234.9 million compared to $239.6 million during the same period in 2020, a decrease of $4.7 million. The change is primarily due to one-time revenue recognized in the second quarter of 2020 partially offset by higher recovery of allowed expenses in the second quarter of 2021.

As a partnership, AltaLink, L.P. reports its net income before income taxes; therefore its results are not directly comparable with net income reported by corporations that recognize income taxes in their financial statements.

AltaLink’s full financial results and management’s discussion and analysis can be found on AltaLink’s website at www.altalink.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Headquartered in Calgary, with offices in Edmonton, Red Deer and Lethbridge, AltaLink is Alberta’s largest electricity transmission provider. AltaLink is partnering with its customers to provide innovative solutions to meet the province’s demand for reliable and affordable energy. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, AltaLink is part of a global group of companies delivering energy services to customers worldwide.

Significant highlights during the second quarter of 2021

During the three months ended June 30, 2021:

• We refunded $76.7 million of the $230 million customer tariff relief refund as approved by the AUC for 2021.
• On April 30, 2021, AltaLink filed its 2022-2023 GTA, delivering on the last two years of our commitment to keep rates at or below the 2018 level for customers for the five-year period from 2019 to 2023. Similar to the $80.0 million refund of the previously collected accumulated depreciation surplus approved by the AUC for 2021, AltaLink proposed to provide further similar tariff reductions by refunding an additional $120.0 million over the two-year period. In addition, the two-year application achieves flat tariffs by continuing to transition to the AUC-approved salvage recovery method and continuing the use of the flow-through income tax method with an overall year over year increase of approximately 2% in 2022 and 2023 revenue requirements.
• Our outstanding safety performance continued with zero injuries for the last 15 months. Our year to date total recordable injury frequency rate was zero, representing zero injuries compared to one injury for the same period in 2020.
• Alberta experienced the peak of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the quarter and AltaLink effectively managed the safety of employees with no workplace transmission to date. We also continued to maintain the transmission of essential and reliable electricity for Albertans and our industrial customers while managing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Our customer outage duration improved and was four minutes compared to five minutes for the same quarter in 2020. Our year to date customer outage duration improved and was ten minutes compared to 14 minutes for the same period in 2020.
• AltaLink experienced two unexpected customer load shed events in the past two quarters based on AIES dynamic response. The AESO indicated the cause of these events was related to unexpected generation response to system outages. AltaLink is supporting the AESO in their follow up with industry.
• Customer satisfaction average score improved and was 9.45 compared to 9.04 for the same quarter in 2020. Our year to date customer satisfaction average score was 9.35 compared to 9.04 for the same period in 2020.
• We earned net and comprehensive income of $76.0 million compared to $83.3 million for the same quarter in 2020. Our net and comprehensive income decreased mainly due to higher operating revenue recognized in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of one-time adjustments related to the 2019-2021 GTA decision.
• On April 14, 2021, S&P reaffirmed its issuer credit rating and senior secured rating on AltaLink at “A” with a stable outlook. On July 20, 2021, DBRS reaffirmed AltaLink's Issuer Rating and Senior Debt rating at “A” with stable trends, and the rating of its Commercial Paper at “R-1 (low)”. An “A” rating allows us to keep debt financing costs low for our customers.
• We invested $65.5 million in capital assets compared to $75.4 million for the same quarter in 2020 to ensure continued reliability of the electricity network.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy AltaLink’s securities in any jurisdiction, including but not limited to, the United States. AltaLink’s securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States except in certain transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

Except for the historical and present factual information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release, including words such as “expects”, “intends”, “projects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, and similar expressions, are forward looking information that represents management of AltaLink’s internal projections, expectations or beliefs concerning, among other things, future operating results and various components thereof or the economic performance of AltaLink. The projections, estimates and beliefs contained in such forward looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause AltaLink’s actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, those described in AltaLink’s filings with the Canadian securities authorities. Accordingly, holders of AltaLink securities and potential investors are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause results to differ materially from those predicted. AltaLink disclaims any responsibility to update these forward looking statements.

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