Southern California Edison’s first-quarter 2016 net income from continuing operations decreased by $18 million, or 5 cents per share, to $287 million and 88 cents per share, from the same period in 2015, parent company Edison International reported Monday.
Edison’s earnings report said the decrease was mainly due to the timing of revenue recognized in 2015 resulting from a delay in that year’s California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) general rate case decision, which altered SCE’s electricity rates. The company also cited increased operation and maintenance costs, as well as lower incremental income tax benefits.
“First quarter results were consistent with our expectation leading us to reaffirm 2016 core earnings guidance,” Edison International Chairman and CEO Ted Craver said in a statement. “At SCE, we continue to see significant rate base growth driven by continued investment in infrastructure reliability and public safety and supporting California’s low-carbon policy objectives.”
Based in Rosemead in Los Angeles County, SCE is the primary electric provider for the region, supplying more than 14 million people in a 50,000 square-mile area of central, coastal, and Southern California. It is preparing this summer to issue a decommissioning contract for its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which has been closed since 2013.
Edison International reported first-quarter 2016 core earnings of $268 million, or 82 cents per share, compared to $294 million, or 90 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2015.
During Monday’s earnings call Craver reaffirmed the company’s 2016 earnings guidance and said the first quarter was in line with expectations. In discussing Edison International’s long-term outlook, he said there’s good visibility for sustained investment of at least $4 billion annually, which should yield rate-based growth of about $2 billion a year.
Craver said he’s confident in the company’s future outlook for several reasons. For one, he said Edison’s clean-energy-technology strategy is in line with California’s goal of creating a low-carbon economy, which is supported by the state’s carbon cap and trade system. This means several infrastructure projects, notably the electrification of stationary and mobile sources of energy, will require years of continued investment. Additionally, Edison has been steadily improving its ability to control fuel and overhead and purchase power in order to keep customer rates low.
“Edison supplies the critical electric infrastructure investment needed to meet the state’s low-carbon goals and facilitate customer choice of low-carbon technology,” Craver said.
