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#So, let's first talk a little bit about how a newspaper is run.
We went and met with the editorial board, and we had what I thought was a good conversation, over an hour and 50 minutes, but then it gets boiled down into an article.
Once that article is written, then there is a headline writer, who goes and writes a headline, to try to draw attention to that article.
The headline that was written for that article was completely inaccurate, as to anything we discussed during that interview.
In the interview, I was asked the specific question of, are we in any way working to get the legislature of the state to consider re-regulating.
And my answer was no.
In the context of the discussion about the PPAs, here is my view.
We are talking about trying to find ways to preserve major generating assets that have plenty of useful life left in them, and keep them from closing prematurely.
Exelon is looking at doing that in Illinois and New York.
Ohio utilities are looking at it doing that in Ohio.
You don't ever hear any conversation about needing to do that in states that are regulated.
Regulated states have plenty of generation.
They have integrated resource plans, and if they need more generation, they either buy or build it, so they are assured, they have adequate generation to serve the customers.
So these PPAs, I see as a bridge to keep these plants alive, long enough to allow whatever happens.
If our state wants to look at that issue over time, great.
But it's not going to happen fast enough for these two plants.
If we are ultimately able to make significant corrections in the market, to make sure they provide for the long-term security of base load generating facilities, great.
But I don't think we have time to wait on that either.
And yesterday, the Senate Energy Committee put forth a bill that talks about asking the markets to kind of come up with a process to make sure they ensure diversity of both fuel and types of capacity, generating capacity across the markets.
We don't have time to wait on that either.
These plants are at risk today, and we need to get a decision made, as to whether we're going to look at ways to protect them, so we let all of those debates and legislation in Washington, DC and everything else play out.
I'll let <UNK> answer it.
But my view is they are sustainable.
And I met with our fuel team yesterday about how we can get more.
So under that context, I'll turn it over to <UNK>.
I mean, the obvious context is, the competitive generating fleets, both nuclear and fossil are under duress, as a result of current market conditions.
The second industry that's under equal or maybe even more duress is the coal industry.
And I think what we are trying to do is work together, partner together for the survival of both.
There are some savings in there for nuclear fuel.
And essentially, what we did there is we were looking at procuring additional nuclear fuel to take advantage of the very low prices of uranium that are in the market today, way ahead of when we needed it.
We don't need it for number of years yet.
We decided not to do that, mainly on the basis that as we assess that uranium market, we think the pricing is going to stay where it's at for a long time.
And so, there was no urgency to try to need to capitalize that on this year.
Yes,
We are above the midpoint in all three segments through six months.
And that combined with the CFIP results that we talked about, that were are going to get in the second half of the year, are what caused us to say we can point you to the high end of the guidance.
So if you're follow-on question is, why don't you kind of change your guidance.
The answer is, we have got $1.15 in the bank through six months.
Our midpoint of our original guidance was $2.55.
That means we have got $1.40, that we have got to capture, the second half of the year, just to get to the midpoint, and the $1.55 we've got to capture to get to the high end of the range.
And we've got a lot of very volatile weather months in the third quarter, and a big third quarter.
So we just decided we're going to wait, and see what happens in July and August in particular.
And then at the end of the third quarter, when we do this call at the end of the third quarter, we'll tell you where we expect to be more definitively at that time.
Yes.
Well, I would say this.
We did a number of things to prepare our plants for the winter of 2014/2015.
And in order to ensure they operated reliably for this winter, even in an environment where there weren't any penalties; as far as how we look at that going forward, we're going to make that determination, in terms of how much you are willing to spend on reliability improvement, versus where the capacity performance market clears.
In terms of the specific numbers, I don't think we are in a position to talk about those at this time.
We need to see were both the base residual auction, and then where in particular the transition auctions clear, because those are the more imminent.
For the base residual, you've got three years to figure out how to get your units reliable for that one.
The transition auctions are little more pressing in terms of time.
So we'll make those determinations, once we see where the auction results come out.
You're talking about our guidance for the third quarter, <UNK>.
Okay, for the second quarter, yes, we looked at where we thought we would be based on our plan.
We did come out above the high end of our guidance.
We deferred some of our plant outages to later in the year, so we picked up a couple of cents there.
Distribution, they performed a little bit better, slightly lower O&M.
And then, we had slightly better results from our transmission business we've already talked about.
So that is what really what drove us above the top end of the guidance in the second quarter.
They will be substantially finished by the end of 2015.
We only have a minor amount carrying over to 2016.
My view, it would be I think it's a non-factor.
I think the governor's decision to run for president is a political decision, and it affects things that might have been politically.
I think he has made it clear all along, that he expects the Ohio Public Utilities Commission to look at this issue, and make an informed decision on this issue.
And so, I don't think that would change as a result of his decision.
Okay, I don't see any more questions in the queue, so we are actually going to end a few minutes early here.
I want to thank everybody for your support, and obviously, we feel good about where we are at for ---+ <UNK> just popped in there, so I'm going to stop, and let <UNK> ask his question.
Yes, that's correct, <UNK>.
No, I wouldn't say there is any offsets.
I talked a little bit earlier, I don't think you will see the growth in the revenues that you did see the first half, you saw $0.20 there in the first half.
We had guided you to $0.30 in the year I think we're going to be slightly above that.
Some of the offsets that you saw during the first half, were depreciation, general taxes, and interest.
They will probably be about in line the second half of the year, as they were the first half of the year.
So I think we will trend, as <UNK> said, to the upper end of the range on transmission.
But it's not going to be the same $0.11 that you saw in the first half.
Right now, <UNK>, we are tracking about $0.01 behind where we were last year, and we guided you to about $0.11 behind.
There are a few offsets.
We had some improvement in distribution, and we have been helped somewhat by weather in the earlier part of the year.
So I would not expect, based on normal weather going throughout the rest of the year, that we would drop-down to the $0.11 that we guided you to.
---+ be at the upper end also
We had a bet on when it was going to end, and you just cost me a lunch so ---+ (laughter).
Now thanks to everybody.
As I said, I think we are off to a great start this year.
We feel good about the results.
I will tell you, I am constantly impressed with our team here, and whatever we asked them to deliver, they find a way.
Under <UNK>ny's leadership, this cash flow improvement team exceeded my expectations.
I don't know what you're all expectations were when I told you we were going to get to the $200 million, but they exceeded my expectations.
And we are working hard, and will capture those savings over the next couple of years.
So thanks for your support, we look forward to talking to you on the third quarter call, and probably many of you in between.
Take care.
