2020 ANNUAL REPORT Strength in Connections
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FORTIS INC. 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Strength in Connections Fortis Place | Suite 1100, 5 Springdale Street | PO Box 8837 | St. John’s, NL, Canada A1B 3T2 T: 709.737.2800 | F: 709.737.5307 | www.fortisinc.com | TSX NYSE: FTS [email protected] | @Fortis_NA | Fortis Inc. 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Fortis Inc. Executive Board of Directors David G. Hutchens President and Chief Executive Officer Douglas J. Haughey Q X H Jocelyn H. Perry Chair of the Board, Fortis Inc. Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Calgary, Alberta Nora M. Duke Q H Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Chief Human Resource Officer Tracey C. Ball Corporate Director James P. Laurito Victoria, British Columbia Executive Vice President, Business Development and Chief Technology Officer James R. Reid Pierre J. Blouin X H Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary Corporate Director Montreal, Quebec Gary J. Smith Executive Vice President, Eastern Canadian and Caribbean Operations Paul J. Bonavia X H Stephanie A. Amaimo Corporate Director Vice President, Investor Relations Dallas, Texas Karen J. Gosse Lawrence T. Borgard Q X Vice President, Treasury and Planning Corporate Director Ronald J. Hinsley Naples, Florida Vice President, Chief Information Officer Maura J. Clark Q H Karen M. McCarthy Vice President, Communications and Corporate Affairs Corporate Director New York, New York Regan P. O’Dea Vice President, General Counsel Margarita K. Dilley Q X James D. Roberts Corporate Director Vice President, Controller Washington, D.C. Julie A. Dobson X H Corporate Director Potomac, Maryland David G. Hutchens President and CEO, Fortis Inc. Tucson, Arizona Jo Mark Zurel Q X Corporate Director Photography: David Howells, St. John’s, NL St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador David Sanders, Tucson, AZ Design and Production: Q Audit Committee X Human Resources Committee m5 Marketing Communications, St. John’s, NL www.m5.ca H Governance and Sustainability Committee Moveable Inc., Toronto, ON www.moveable.com Printer: The Lowe-Martin Group, Ottawa, ON For Board of Directors’ biographies, please visit www.fortisinc.com. PURPOSE Delivering a cleaner energy future VALUES We never We value We keep compromise our people it local on We believe in local safety Our employees are dedicated. decision-making. Our teams Nothing matters more to us than We take pride in working hard understand the communities protecting the health and safety and doing the right thing. we serve. Our companies operate of our employees, customers We seek and develop diverse independently, but together as a and contractors. Our pursuit of talent and offer an inclusive family of companies we do more safety is relentless. work environment. than any of us could do alone. We act with We are We aim for courage and community excellence integrity champions every day We are energy delivery experts, We make the right decisions We make our communities dedicated to service, performance for the long term, even when stronger by nurturing local and growth. We respect the it’s a tough call. We keep our partnerships and giving environment and drive innovation promises and hold ourselves to back to the places we to provide energy solutions for the highest ethical standards. proudly serve. our customers. REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS 1 3.3 Quick Facts million employees9,000 strong customers Corporate-wide emissions reduction target of 75% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels consecutive47 years of dividend Fortis delivered its payment best safety increases performance ever in 2020 $55in total billion assets 60% of Fortis utilities have either a female CEO or Board Chair 10utilities in Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean Community investment of more than $15 million in 2020 TSX/NYSE: FTS Unless otherwise specied, all nancial information is referenced in Canadian dollars and all numbers are as at December 31, 2020. 2 FORTIS INC. 2020 ANNUAL REPORT REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS Connected to Our People and Communities Leading with Strength We are proud of what we have accomplished as a family of companies in 2020. Our accomplishments were many despite the new and unusual ways the pandemic required us to approach our work. The COVID-19 response at Fortis utilities is grounded in our commitment to employee safety and supporting our local communities. Approximately half of our 9,000 employees quickly and efficiently transitioned to working from home while our teams working in field operations adapted to work safely to keep the lights on and the natural gas flowing for our 3.3 million customers. Jason Milne, Journeyperson Throughout the pandemic we are seeing our resilience and values shine bright and, while we are physically distant, in many ways we have never been more connected. On behalf of our Board, we extend our sincerest thanks and gratitude to our employees and their families for the commitment and care they have Melissa Hardy, Investor Relations Analyst, and Bernard Young, Internal Auditor consistently demonstrated. REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS 3 2020 COMMUNITY INVESTMENT AREAS Environment and Safety Biodiversity 6% Education 5% 14% Small Business Social and Other Support Development 7% 23% Arts and Culture 4% Health and Wellness 8% COVID-19 Support 33% $15 million community investment in 2020. Rodel Nacion, Customer Service Leader Our local operating model remains at the forefront, with our teams maintaining close connections to their customers and communities throughout the pandemic. This facilitated our timely, decisive and agile The Fortis Community response to COVID-19. Our management teams stay Matters Project focused on what matters most to their employees, In May 2020, Fortis donated $500,000 to customers and local communities, while tapping into 20 non-profit organizations to provide the vast network of expertise across the Fortis group immediate financial support to frontline to collaborate and create innovative ways to deliver COVID-19 community response efforts in excellent customer service. the headquarter province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We understand the pandemic has been very difficult for so many of our customers. Our utilities have been “Thank you, thank you, we are truly supporting customers by suspending service disconnects, humbled. From all those children waiving late fees and offering flexible payment options. and families who will have food, The Fortis group of companies also invested more than because of Fortis, what an impact $15 million in our communities in 2020. This amount you are making.” includes approximately $5 million specifically for COVID-19 community support, such as food banks, mental health – Fortis Community Matters Project recipient agencies and organizations providing personal protective equipment for essential workers. 4 FORTIS INC. 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Scott Hutton, Lead Powerline Technician Construction Record Safety Results Safety of our employees is crucial and in 2020 Fortis delivered the best safety performance in its history. We track our all-injury frequency rate (“AIFR”) as an indicator of safety performance, which represents the Reliable Service to Customers number of injuries for every 200,000 hours worked. Fortis consistently remains in the top quartile relative to our industry peers in terms of reliable Our AIFR for 2020 was 1.09, an improvement of energy delivery. We track electricity reliability using approximately 25% in comparison to the prior three-year the average hours of interruption per customer. average. Achieving these results in such a challenging In 2020 our average outage duration was 1.9 hours, year is a testament to our focus and commitment to outperforming both Canadian and U.S. industry safety, especially since historically we perform better average outage durations. than the industry average. ALL-INJURY FREQUENCY RATE (1) ELECTRICITY CUSTOMER AVERAGE OUTAGE DURATION (2) 2.0 HOURS 1.78 1.50 4.0 3.0 1.0 Year over year 2.0 top quartile reliability performance. 1.0 0.0 0.0 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Fortis Fortis USA Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016-2019 Average) Canadian Electricity Association and Canadian Electricity Association (2016-2019 Average) U.S. Energy Information Administration Average (1) Injuries per 200,000 hours worked. (2) Based on weighted average of Fortis’ customer count in each jurisdiction. REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS 5 Strong Financial Performance In 2020 net earnings attributable to common equity required to execute our five-year capital plan and shareholders were $1,209 million, or $2.60 per common significantly strengthened our liquidity. At the end of share, compared to $1,655 million, or $3.79 per common 2020 total consolidated credit facilities were $5.6 billion share, for 2019. The change in net earnings reflects with $4.3 billion unutilized. significant one-time items including a $484 million gain on the disposition of the Waneta Expansion and a $56 million year over year impact associated with a U.S. federal regulatory decision. Notwithstanding these one-time items, earnings grew by $94 million in 2020. Over a 20-year period, Fortis has delivered a We achieved adjusted net earnings of $1,195 million, . or $2.57 per common share, in 2020 compared to total shareholder return of 1,107% $1,115 million, or $2.55 per common share, in 2019. Fortis is well positioned in terms of liquidity due in part to a $1.2 billion common equity offering and the Over the same 20-year period, the S&P/TSX Composite $1.0 billion sale of the Waneta Expansion hydroelectric and S&P/TSX Capped Utilities indices delivered total generating facility in 2019. Together, these actions returns of 231% and 541%, respectively. generated a significant portion of the equity funding SUPERIOR 20-YEAR TOTAL SHAREHOLDER RETURN 1,400 FTS 1,200 S&P/TSX Capped Utilities Index 1,107% 1,000 S&P/TSX Composite Index 800 600 541% 400 200 231% 0 (200) 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Note: Cumulative 20-year total shareholder return as at December 31, 2020.