Alliant Energy Q4 2021 Earnings Report

Alliant Energy EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.35
• Consensus EPS: $0.35
• Beat/Miss: Met Expectations
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Alliant Energy Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $927.00 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Alliant Energy Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2021
• Date: 2/17/2022
• Time: N/A
• Conference Call Date: Friday, February 18, 2022
• Conference Call Time: 11:06AM ET

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) (NASDAQ: LNT) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Alliant Energy’s core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories. The company has invested in a mix of generation resources and in recent years has expanded development of renewable energy projects and grid modernization efforts aimed at improving reliability and integrating higher levels of wind and solar capacity. In addition to traditional utility operations, Alliant offers customer programs for energy efficiency, demand response and other services that support system planning and customer needs.

As a regulated utility holding company, Alliant Energy is governed by a corporate management team and board of directors and works with state regulators in its service areas on rates, planning and infrastructure projects. The company’s business strategy emphasizes reliable service delivery, investment in infrastructure upgrades and evolving its generation mix in response to market and regulatory trends. Alliant’s operations are positioned around long-standing utility franchises in the Midwest and the company focuses on balancing customer service, regulatory compliance and investments in cleaner energy and grid resilience.

Alliant Energy Q4 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Alliant Energy reported 2021 GAAP earnings of $2.63 per share and 7% adjusted EPS growth year-over-year, marking its third consecutive year of 7% EPS growth and the 19th consecutive dividend increase.
• The updated 2022–2025 capital expenditure plan pulls forward approximately $300 million of solar spending into 2022—accelerating 325 MW of Wisconsin projects—and adds clean energy investments to meet anticipated MISO seasonal capacity requirements.
• 2022 earnings guidance midpoint is $2.74 per share—a 6% increase over 2021 adjusted results—anchoring a long-term 5% to 7% earnings growth outlook supported by higher AFUDC and production tax credit benefits.
• Regulatory wins include approval for 675 MW of Wisconsin solar (CA-1), plus filings for 414 MW of additional solar in Wisconsin and 475 MW of solar and battery storage in Iowa, with decisions expected later this year.
• Financing plans call for up to $1.4 billion of long-term debt to fund solar investments and refinance maturities, complemented by about $25 million of equity from the dividend reinvestment plan.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good morning, and welcome to Alliant Energy's conference call for fourth quarter and year-end 2021 results. This call is being recorded for rebroadcast. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Zach Fields, Lead Investor Relations Analyst at Alliant Energy.

[Zach Fields, Lead Investor Relations Analyst at Alliant Energy]

Good morning. I would like to thank all of you on the call and on the webcast for joining us today. We appreciate your participation. Joining me on this call are John Larsen, Chair, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Robert Durian, Executive Vice President and CFO. Following prepared remarks by John and Robert, we will have time to take questions from the investment community. We issued a news release last night announcing Alliant Energy's fourth quarter and year-end 2021 financial results and updated our 2022 earnings guidance. This release, as well as an earnings presentation, will be referenced during today's call and are available on our investors page of our website at www.alliantenergy.com. Before we begin, I need to remind you that the remarks we make on this call and our answers to your questions include forward-looking statements.

[Zach Fields, Lead Investor Relations Analyst at Alliant Energy]

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks that could cause actual results to be materially different. Those risks include, among others, matters discussed in Alliant Energy's press release issued last night and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. In addition, this presentation contains references to non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation between non-GAAP and GAAP measures are provided in the earnings release, which is available on our website. At this point, I'll turn the call over to John.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Thank you, Zach. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us. 2021 was another successful year of growth, solid operations, and strong financial performance. I wanna thank our talented and dedicated employees for all they do to help us deliver on our purpose, to serve customers and build stronger communities. It shows in how we work each day and in our results. I'm humbled by their efforts and proud to be part of the Alliant Energy team. My sincere thank you to our team. Yesterday, we announced 2021 GAAP earnings of $2.63 per share compared to $2.47 per share in 2020, finishing the year at the top of our guidance range. Excluding temperature and non-recurring items, our earnings per share were up 7% from 2020.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

This was our third straight year of delivering 7% EPS growth and the nineteenth year of consecutive dividend increases. This consistent growth, driven by solid execution and operational results, showcases the resilience and flexibility of our employees, our strategy, and our company. I'll highlight a few of our many strategic and operational achievements from the year, then turn it over to Robert, who will provide more details on our solid financial and regulatory outcomes. From the start of last year with Winter Storm Uri to the heatwaves experienced during the summer months, our employees weathered each and every storm to keep delivering safe, reliable, and affordable energy to our customers. Our customers noticed, as we earned the second-highest increase in year-over-year J.D. Power's Residential Electric Customer Satisfaction scores among large utilities.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

2021 was also the first full year of operations for our 1,150 MW of new wind, delivering clean, reliable, and affordable electricity for our customers. Our forward-thinking and renewable investments also led us to develop our comprehensive clean energy blueprints for Iowa and for Wisconsin, which continue to showcase our commitment to providing a thoughtful path to a clean energy future. Also, in 2021, we made tremendous progress on advancing the solar and energy storage aspects of our clean energy blueprints. The customer-focused and transparent planning by our teams led to successful regulatory outcomes and positions us well for straightforward execution. We received approval for our first certificate of authority for 675 MW of solar in Wisconsin and have advanced into the construction phase.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

We also filed for an additional 414 megawatts of solar for our customers in Wisconsin and 475 megawatts of solar and battery storage for our customers in Iowa. Both filings are expected to be decided in 2022. I'd also like to note that our teams were well-prepared and continue to navigate through difficult global supply chain issues. While these supply chain issues are not over, the proactive efforts by our talented team, along with leveraging our strong partnerships, have resulted in solid progress on panel and equipment deliveries, resulting in an increase in our capital investment plan. Robert will be sharing more details about this positive news later in the call. Our efforts to build stronger communities were also on full display this past year.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

While there are many examples I could share, I'll take a little time and highlight a few for you now. Alliant Energy was once again named a top utility in economic development by Site Selection magazine. Site Selection credits our economic development team in collaboration with local, regional, and state partners with delivering more than $900 million in new capital investment and more than 2,200 jobs in 2021. We were honored to receive the award and proud of all we've accomplished to help bring new jobs and continued investment to our communities. Another way we're making things better in our communities is our pledge to plant 1 million trees by the end of 2030. These trees will grow to provide shade, reduce greenhouse gases, and improve water quality.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

We're off to a great start, planting thousands of trees at community events from Ripon, Wisconsin, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It's just another way we are living our value of acting for tomorrow. We also help to build stronger communities by nurturing a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This past year, we earned a perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index issued by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, and they named us a Best Place to Work for the fifth year in a row. We were proud to be named to Newsweek magazine's Most Responsible Companies for the second year in a row, and we made Forbes America's Best Midsize Employers list for the fourth year in a row. 2021 was an excellent year for our company, our customers, and our communities. We look forward to building on that momentum in 2022.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

I thank you for your continued interest in Alliant Energy, and I'll now turn the call over to Robert.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Thanks, John. Good morning, everyone. Yesterday, we announced 2021 GAAP earnings of $2.63 per share compared to $2.47 per share in 2020. On an adjusted basis, which excludes the impacts of temperatures and nonrecurring adjustments, our earnings per share increased 7% from 2020. Looking year-over-year, the increases in 2021 were driven by higher revenue requirements, primarily due to increasing rate base at our Wisconsin and Iowa utilities and higher electric sales due to strong demand from commercial industrial customers and the impacts of warmer summer temperatures. These favorable drivers were partially offset by higher depreciation and lower allowance for funds used during construction.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Our temperature-normalized retail electric sales grew 3% in 2021 when compared to 2020, primarily driven by a resurgence of our commercial and industrial customers as our state economies have strengthened from the worst impacts of the pandemic in 2020. This recovery was more robust in 2021 than initially forecasted, led by stronger industrial sales, resulting in total commercial and industrial sales levels for the year, roughly 1% higher than 2019 levels. As customers across our service territories have gradually been returning to their workplaces, we have seen some decline in residential sales. However, residential sales remain modestly higher than 2019 levels.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

The strong sales we experienced in 2021 were bolstered by a great year from our economic development efforts, as our team was able to assist with several key industrial customer additions and expansions, ultimately adding about 75 MW of load to our system. Additionally, we saw one of the strongest years of incremental customer growth in the past decade. We are announcing an update to our capital expenditure plans for 2022 through 2025. Our new plan is summarized on slide 6 of our earnings presentation. There are two primary drivers for the updated plans. The first relates to recent progress made with our solar equipment suppliers that will allow us to receive equipment and materials earlier than previously anticipated. These efforts have allowed us to pull forward approximately $300 million of renewable expenditures into 2022.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

This enables us to complete these clean energy investments earlier than planned, with 325 MW now scheduled to go into service in 2022 for our Wisconsin customers. The balance of our previously announced solar and battery projects are expected to go in service in 2023 and 2024. The second driver of the updated capital expenditure plans involves accelerating clean energy investments into 2023 through 2025 to address capacity needs resulting from MISO's proposed seasonal resource adequacy construct. For those who may not be familiar, MISO has proposed to accredit generation capacity on a seasonal basis under this new construct versus the current state where capacity is accredited on an annual basis. The additive investments included in our updated capital expenditure plans will help satisfy our anticipated seasonal capacity requirements and support reliability for our customers.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Our capital expenditure plans also continue to include investments to replace the capacity from the anticipated exercise of options by WEC Energy and MGE to purchase a portion of our West Riverside natural gas facility. We anticipate making a certificate of authority filing with the PSCW in the first half of this year for additional capacity resources to replace the capacity expected to be lost with the exercise of these options. We plan to share more details about these resources as we get closer to making that filing. Turning to this year's earnings guidance, with the updates to our capital expenditures plans, we are increasing our 2022 earnings guidance and remain well-positioned for consistent 5%-7% earnings growth going forward. The midpoint of our updated guidance range is $2.74 per share, which represents a 6% increase over 2021 adjusted earnings.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

The expected drivers of this increase in earnings include higher earnings on increasing capital investments and higher AFUDC benefits from our solar projects under construction. More details on our 2022 earnings guidance are provided on slide 7 of our earnings presentation. In 2022, we estimate a consolidated effective tax rate of 4%, with substantial production tax credits generated by our large wind portfolio, helping us maintain the low effective tax rate for the upcoming year and several more years to come. The benefits from these production tax credits are passed on to our electric customers to help manage customer bills and therefore are largely earnings neutral. Moving on to the financing plans for 2022. We plan to issue long-term debt of up to $1.4 billion in total for WPL and Alliant Energy Finance.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

The proceeds from the new debt will be used largely to finance investments in solar projects, as well as to refinance $625 million of debt maturities in 2022. We also expect to receive approximately $25 million of new common equity under our DRIP plan in 2022. Lastly, we have included this year's key regulatory initiatives on slide 8. Related to our customer investments, in Wisconsin, we anticipate a decision on our approval request for 414 MW of solar in the first half of this year. In Iowa, our advanced ratemaking filing for 475 MW of solar and battery is progressing as expected. The Iowa Utilities Board issued a procedural schedule last month, which can be found on slide 9.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

We anticipate a decision on this advanced ratemaking filing in the second half of this year. In Wisconsin, we also filed a joint application for the sale of a portion of our West Riverside natural gas generating facility to WEC Energy Group and MGE at the end of January. We anticipate a decision on this application in either late 2022 or early 2023. These regulatory initiatives are an important part of executing our strategy, and we are thankful for the continued constructive relationships with our regulators in both of our state jurisdictions. As we conclude another successful year with solid financial results and constructive regulatory outcomes, I want to express my optimism for the year ahead. We've demonstrated the flexibility of our CapEx plan to shift quickly due to opportunities in the solar project supply chain.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

We have regulatory certainty for the next couple of years with no major rate reviews planned. We have dedicated and talented employees working hard every day to serve our customers and shareholders. We appreciate your continued support of our company and look forward to meeting with many of you virtually and in person in the coming months. As always, we will make our investor relations materials available on our website. At this time, I'll turn the call back over to the operator to facilitate the question-and-answer session.

[Operator]

Thank you, Mr. Durian. At this time, the company will open the call to questions from members of the investment community. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow your signal to reach our equipment. Once again, that is star one if you would like to ask a question. We'll take our first question from Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Bank of America.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Hi, good morning, everyone. It's Darius on for Julien. Thank you for taking my question. Just wanted to, at the outset, ask a more high level as far as your long-term EPS CAGR. It seems like in the last few years, you've had pretty good success achieving growth at the upper end of that range. As we look ahead in the context of your increased CapEx plan, I guess what would you see happen that would potentially see growth at the lower end of that CAGR. Just trying to think of the various scenarios, again, in the context of the increased investment plan.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, appreciate the question. You know, we're still very comfortable with the 5%-7%. You know, think of it as you know, sales would be one of those drivers for being either on the upper or lower end of that. Certainly we've got a strong focus on controlling costs, O&M. Those would be you know always along with weather, but those are the primary drivers.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Okay, great. Appreciate that. I guess more on the potential legislation side of things. I know the environment's changed a little bit, and we were talking about potential direct pay getting passed a few months ago. Just curious, how are you thinking about that prospectively? How would your financing or FFO metrics change, assuming that some kind of direct pay legislation or provision were passed in coming months?

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, Darius , this is Robert. Yeah, so first off, I just wanna reiterate, our strategy was created without the expectation of Build Back Better or any type of clean energy legislation. No impact to our strategy if that does not pass. If it does, we are evaluating the opportunities to switch from tax equity partnership structures to a full ownership. As a result of that, we would expect, I think, somewhere in the neighborhood of a little over $1 billion of additional capital expenditures in our plan over the next four years. We would expect to maintain our capital structures consistent with what our regulatory bodies have approved in both states.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Therefore, you'd see probably a mix of both debt and equity issued, as a result of that, to maintain the current credit ratings that we have and the strong balance sheet and the strong metrics that we currently entertain.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Okay, great. Thank you. If I could just sneak one more in here, just a point of clarification on the updated CapEx plan. Obviously, you can appreciate that the renewable spend went up, as you alluded to. It looked like the other, the non-renewable bucket on generation ticked down a little bit. Can you just speak to, I guess, what got either reduced or moved out in that bucket?

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, Dari, the thing of that is we continue to look at our resource plan as we go through the process, and I'd characterize it, we have more confidence in our ability to execute on renewable projects going forward. You'll see that is our primary focus along with our electric distribution spend. The nice thing about our spend is it's very flexible, and we can constantly evaluate it and look for different opportunities. Right now we see renewables as kind of the best opportunities when we think about both renewables and storage for the future of our customers. We're always trying to balance the needs of our customers, which are focused largely on clean energy, reliable energy, and affordable.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

We see that as a really big focus on solar storage and even some wind as we think into the future. That's what made us pivot a little bit to that.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Okay, great. Appreciate those responses. I'll pass it along here. Thank you.

[Operator]

We'll take our next question from Andrew Weisel with Scotiabank.

[Andrew Weisel, Managing Director of Sell-side Equity Research at Scotiabank]

Thank you. Good morning, everybody. I'd like to ask a question about the CAGR in a different way. Similar idea though, you're reiterating 5%-7%. In the past, you've talked about a bias towards the midpoint, and I believe the guidance midpoint for 2022 is 6%. Just given the historical strength, I know you're sticking with the range, but is there a bias toward the high end in 2022 and beyond? Or do you really think that 6% is the more realistic number? I know you're conservative, but how to think about that?

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Well, thanks, Andrew. I think you might have captured my answer or response back. Perhaps a bit of conservatism in there, but we do plan for the 6% for the long term and right in the middle of our 5%-7%. That will remain.

[Andrew Weisel, Managing Director of Sell-side Equity Research at Scotiabank]

Okay, got it. On equity, I see the $25 million in 2022. That's a number you've talked about for kind of the foreseeable future, I believe. Is that still the case given the increase to the CapEx plan? Or might there be some upward pressure on equity needs? A lot of variables, of course, but given what you know today.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah. Given what we have today, still, you know, besides the DRIP, no other equity planned.

[Andrew Weisel, Managing Director of Sell-side Equity Research at Scotiabank]

Okay. Remind us, the DRIP was at 25, you mean, right?

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Yes. Yes.

[Andrew Weisel, Managing Director of Sell-side Equity Research at Scotiabank]

Okay, perfect. Thank you very much.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

You're welcome. Thanks, Andrew.

[Operator]

We'll now take our next question from Peter Borden with Mizuho.

[Peter Borden, Equity Research Analyst at Mizuho]

Morning, John and Robert. Thanks for taking my question.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Morning, Peter.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Good morning.

[Peter Borden, Equity Research Analyst at Mizuho]

On the solar CapEx pull forward, is that for Iowa or Wisconsin? Secondly, how should we be thinking about the recovery of that spend?

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

That's for our Wisconsin projects. That pull forward represents that CA 1 that we referred to, that first 675 MW. About half of that's in 2022 and 2023. We've gone through the regulatory process for that one. You would think of it in the normal course of our regulatory proceedings.

[Peter Borden, Equity Research Analyst at Mizuho]

Okay. The additional $300 million to that same period, does that have any regulatory approvals tied to it?

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, Peter, think of that as, it's mainly for the CA 1 projects that we're constructing here in 2022, and as part of the 2022, 2023 rate review that was approved by the PSCW in December. They've approved those projects and allowed us to get a recovery on those costs as well as to earn AFUDC as we're constructing those facilities. We will have to prove prudency with those, given the costs were about 7%-10% higher than what we originally filed for when we received approval for that. We feel confident with the execution of those projects and the prudency of the spend, that will be supported.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

We've been keeping the PSCW informed all along with updates on the capital expenditure costs for the solar projects in both CA 1 and CA 2 and feel well positioned to get recovery of those costs.

[Peter Borden, Equity Research Analyst at Mizuho]

Okay, appreciate that detail. Just one other separate one for me. Can you just kind of give us an update on the West Riverside Energy Center with the ownership options? Is there still a cash inflow expected for 2022, or is that pushed into a later year?

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, I think we would expect more in the 2023 for that. Think of that regulatory proceeding right now that we filed jointly. I think we're thinking end of this year, maybe early 2023. We would expect the cash infusion in 2023.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Just as a reminder, Peter, there are two pieces to that. There's actually the first half of it, as John indicated, we'll see for the first time in 2023, and there's also a 2024 piece. That roughly $200-$250 million of cash will come in pretty evenly between those two years.

[Peter Borden, Equity Research Analyst at Mizuho]

Okay, perfect. Thanks for the detail.

[Operator]

As a final reminder, that is star one if you would like to ask a question. We'll now take our next question from Michael Sullivan with Wolfe Research.

[Michael Sullivan, Director of Equity Research at Wolfe Research]

Hey, everyone. Good morning.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Morning.

[Michael Sullivan, Director of Equity Research at Wolfe Research]

I wanted to follow up with that last question there on the 7%-10% cost increase. That, as I recall, is a number you've already pointed to, so no additional change since prior communications on cost?

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

That's correct, Michael.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Correct, Michael.

[Michael Sullivan, Director of Equity Research at Wolfe Research]

Just from a total incremental megawatts perspective, I think you pulled some forward and that drove some of the CapEx increase. In the back end of the plan and what's tied to this MISO capacity construct change, how should we think about that from a megawatt standpoint?

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, Michael, maybe I'll kick it off here. There's actually two pieces of this. There's about up to 300 MW of capacity needs we expect as a result of the West Riverside options being exercised. Think of us as making a filing, like I said, sometime here in 2022 for that, most likely here in the first half of the year. As we think about the forward capacity requirements as a result of the MISO seasonal constructs, keep in mind that's still in a proposed state, and so we're working through some of the details on that. We don't have specific information, but most likely expect to have something later this year.

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

We'll provide more details regarding the exact megawatts and the nature of the resources that we're gonna use between renewables and storage.

[Michael Sullivan, Director of Equity Research at Wolfe Research]

Okay, great. Thank you. My last one was just, what are you embedding for, sales growth in 2022 guidance? Any color on that?

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, think of it as maybe flat to, you know, maybe 0.5% long term is generally what we have for our sales. We did see a nice 2020 to 2021 increase, but we're not assuming that to be necessarily go forward. Back to what our typical 0.5% type of sort of overall growth.

[Michael Sullivan, Director of Equity Research at Wolfe Research]

Very helpful. Thanks a lot.

[Operator]

We'll take our next question from Ross Fowler with UBS.

[Ross Fowler, Managing Director Head of North America Power and Utilities Equity Research at UBS]

Morning, John. Morning, Robert. How are you?

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Good.

[Ross Fowler, Managing Director Head of North America Power and Utilities Equity Research at UBS]

Just following up on the 7%-10% increase in CapEx. I know you pointed to that number before. You know, that's a little bit of cost pressure on the solar side, but you were able to pull it forward into this year. I just stepped back and I juxtaposed that against some others in the industry that have actually pushed out solar projects because of cost and supply chain issues. Maybe just delving into, you know, the details of your agreements there with your suppliers that allowed you to pull that forward. Then second part of the question is, are you seeing further sort of cost pressures or supply chain issues beyond that 7%-10% as I think about future years for solar, in particular?

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, thanks, Ross. Maybe a couple of parts of that, and I'll ask Robert if he wants to add a bit here. You know, we've got a good portion of the materials for the first part of our CA that we're gonna be constructing here in 2022. We feel good about having those pieces of equipment, panels on site, if you will. We've got more solar to build, so we certainly know the supply chain issues aren't over with. The team's done a lot of great work in proactive planning. We do partner with some very strong suppliers as well. We did a lot of work back in you know, earlier years and as well into 2021 that really put us in a pretty good shape here for carrying that out in 2022.

[John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO at Alliant Energy]

You know, those were the probably no more detail than besides, we picked some very strong partners to work with. We were able to navigate that for our first CA. We know the supply chain issues will continue for a while, so we continue to monitor it. We're in good shape for our first solar coming out, and that's why we've been able to be more confident about having that completed in 2022 and 2023. Anything to add, Robert?

[Robert Durian, EVP and CFO at Alliant Energy]

Yeah, maybe just relatively speaking, in November, we pushed out some of those projects knowing that there was some supply chain constraints. The team's done an amazing job over the past few months to remedy that situation. We're pretty much close to the original planned in-service dates that we had toward the earlier part of 2021. Just to keep that in mind, to keep as a reference point.

[Ross Fowler, Managing Director Head of North America Power and Utilities Equity Research at UBS]

Okay, thanks. That's great.

[Operator]

The operator, there are no further questions at this time.

[Zach Fields, Lead Investor Relations Analyst at Alliant Energy]

This concludes Alliant Energy's fourth quarter and year-end earnings call. A replay will be available on our investor website. Thank you for your continued support of Alliant Energy and feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions.

[Operator]

Once again, that does conclude today's conference. We thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• John Larsen, Chair, President, and CEO
• Robert Durian, EVP and CFO
• Zach Fields, Lead Investor Relations Analyst

Analysts

• Andrew Weisel, Managing Director of Sell-side Equity Research at Scotiabank
• Michael Sullivan, Director of Equity Research at Wolfe Research
• Peter Borden, Equity Research Analyst at Mizuho
• Ross Fowler, Managing Director Head of North America Power and Utilities Equity Research at UBS
• Analyst at Bank of America