Hello, and welcome to AES Corporation third quarter 2021 final review. My name is Juan, and I will be coordinating your call today. I will now hand over to your host, Ahmed Pasha, Global Treasurer, Vice President of Investor Relations to begin with. Ahmed, please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning and welcome to our Third Quarter 2021 Financial Review Call. Our press release, presentation, and related financial information are available on our website at aes.com. Today, we will be making forward-looking statements during the call. There are many factors that may cause future results to differ materially from these statements, which are discussed in our most recent 10-K and 10-Q filed with the SEC. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures can be found on our website, along with the presentation. Joining me this morning are Andres Gluski, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Coughlin, our Chief Financial Officer, and other senior members of our management team. With that, I will turn the call over to Andres.

Good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining our third quarter financial review call. Before discussing our progress since our last call, I want to introduce our new Chief Financial Officer, Steve Coughlin. Steve has been with AES for 14 years and has served in a variety of roles, including as CEO of Fluence, and most recently, as head of both Strategy and Financial Planning. I am happy to report that we're making excellent progress on our strategic and financial goals and remain on track to deliver on our 7% to 9% annualized growth in adjusted EPS and parent-free cash flow through 2025. We had a strong third quarter with adjusted EPS of $0.50, a 19% increase versus the same quarter last year. We expect to deliver on our full-year guidance, even with a $0.07 non-cash impact from an updated accounting interpretation related to the equity units of a convert we issued earlier this year. Steve will provide more details shortly. Today I will discuss both the growth in our core business as well as the strategy and evolution of our innovation business, called AES Next. We see ourselves as the leading integrator of new technologies. The two parts of our portfolio are mutually beneficial to one another and enable us to deliver greater total returns to our shareholders. More specifically, and as we have proven, our core business platforms provide the optimal environment for exponentially growing technology startups. At the same time, our AES Next businesses provide us with unique capabilities that enable us to offer customers the differentiated products they seek to achieve their sustainability goals. Turning to slide 4, I will provide you with an update on our core business, including our growth in renewable and an update on the overall macroeconomic environment. Beginning with renewables: we continue to see great momentum in demand overall. As we speak, we have senior members of our team attending a COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, meeting with governments, organizations, and potential customers. Since our last call in August, we have signed an additional 1.1 gigawatts of renewable PPAs, bringing our year-to-date total to 4 gigawatts. Additionally, we are in very advanced discussions for another 850 megawatts of wind, solar, and energy storage. Based on our current progress, we now expect to sign at least 5 gigawatts this year versus our prior expectations of 4 gigawatts. This represents the largest addition in our history, and 66% more than in 2020. With our pipeline of 38 gigawatts of potential projects, including ten gigawatts that are ready to bid in the U.S., we are well-positioned to capitalize on this substantial opportunity. Our success is a result of our strategy of working with our clients on long-term contracts that provide customized solutions for their specific energy and sustainability goals. As such, almost 90% of our new business has been from bilateral negotiating contracts with corporate customers. This allowed us to compete on what we do best: providing differentiated, innovative solutions. One example of our work with major technology companies to provide competitively priced renewable energy netted on an hour-by-hour basis. As we announced earlier this week, we signed a 15-year agreement to provide around-the-clock renewable energy to power Microsoft's data centers in Virginia. Year-to-date, we have signed almost two gigawatts of similarly structured contracts with a number of tech companies, integrating a mix of renewable sources and energy storage. Outside the U.S., we have a similar strategy of focusing on bilateral sales with corporate customers, which has enabled us to sign long-term U.S. dollar-denominated contracts with investment-grade customers. For example, in Brazil, we see demand for more than 25 gigawatts of renewables, providing a significant opportunity to earn mid to high-teen returns in U.S. dollars. While at the same time, diversifying our Brazilian portfolio of mostly hydro generation. To that end, for the first time ever in Brazil, we are in very advanced negotiations to sign a 300-megawatt U.S. dollar-denominated contract with a large multinational corporation for 15 years. Turning to Slide 5, our backlog of 9.2 gigawatts is the largest ever, with 60% in the U.S. These projects represent one of the main drivers for our growth through 2025 and beyond. With this pace of growth, we are laser-focused on ensuring that we have adequate and reliable supply chains. For several years, we have anticipated a boom in renewable development that could potentially lead to inadequate panel supply, and as such, we took preemptive measures to ensure supply chain flexibility. Despite current challenges in the market, we have non-Chinese panels secured for the majority of our backlog, which is expected to come online through 2024. We have benefited from a number of strategic relationships with various suppliers and a clear advantage stemming from our scale and visibility of our pipeline. More generally, we continue to proactively manage potential macroeconomic headwinds, including inflation and commodity prices. As part of our efforts to de-risk our portfolio over the past decade, we have taken a systematic approach to risk management. In fact, in places where we use fuel, it is mostly a pass-through, and therefore we have limited exposure to changes in commodity prices. Furthermore, more than 80% of our adjusted pre-tax contribution is in U.S. dollars, insulating us from fluctuations in foreign currencies. We not only remain committed to achieving our long-term adjusted EPS and parent-free cash flow targets, but we also continue to improve our credit metrics, and are on track to achieve triple-B ratings from all agencies by 2025. Now to slide 6, we continue to benefit from a virtual cycle with our corporate customers, in which our ability to provide innovative solutions leads to more opportunities for collaboration and more projects. For example, this quarter we announced a partnership with Google to provide our utility customers cost savings and energy efficiency features, as well as opportunities to accelerate their own clean energy goals through Nest Thermostats. Moving to Slide 7, through AES Next, we integrate new technologies to bring innovation to the industry and work with existing and new customers. AES Next operates as a separate unit within AES, where we develop and incubate new businesses, including a combination of strategic investments and internally developed businesses, representing approximately $50 million of growth capital annually. As I mentioned, the combination of AES Next and our core business creates the optimal environment for growth, whereby we can better create solutions for customers by utilizing our industry insights and operating platforms. One example of this mutually beneficial arrangement is in the combinations of renewables plus storage. We first combined solar and storage in 2018 in Hawaii. And today, nearly half of our renewable PPAs have an energy storage component. Another example is 5B, a prefabricated solar solution Company that has patented technology, allowing projects to be built in a third of the time and on half as much land while being resistant to hurricane-force winds. We see 5B technology as a source of current and future competitive advantage for years, allowing us to build more projects in places where there is land scarcity, constraints around height or soil disruption, or hurricane risk. Likewise, 5G benefits greatly from the ability to grow rapidly on our platform. And we are currently developing projects in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Chile, Panama, and India. I am highlighting the AES Next portion of our business because it is increasingly clear that AES essentially has two distinct business models that add value to our shareholders in very different ways. With our core business, we continue to measure our success through growth in adjusted EPS and parent-free cash flow, as well as PPA signed. With AES Next, these businesses contribute value creation through their extremely rapid growth in valuation, with the potential for future monetization. Nonetheless, they are a drag on AES earnings during their ramp-up phase. In 2021, this drag on earnings is expected to be approximately $0.06 per share. We assume these losses from AES Next in our 2021 guidance and our 7% to 9% annualized growth rate through 2025. Turning to slide eight, as you know, last week Fluence, our energy storage joint venture with Seasons, which began as a small business within AES, became a publicly listed Company with the current valuation around $6 billion. Similarly, early this year, another AES Next business offline received evaluation in a private transaction of $1.5 billion. The value of our interest in these two businesses is now at least $2.5 billion or $3 per share compared to the book value of our investments of approximately $150 million. In my view, this massive shareholder value creation more than justifies the temporary negative impact to earnings. In summary, our strategy of being the leading integrator of new technologies on our platform has yielded great results. And we have several other innovations in development under AES Next. As they mature, we will continue to take actions to accelerate our growth and their value. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Steve Coughlin.

Thank you, Andres, and good morning, everyone. It's my pleasure to participate in my first earnings call as CFO of AES. I have been at AES for 14 years and feel very fortunate to work at a Company that is transforming the electric sector so profoundly along with so many talented people in finance and throughout the Company. With our strategic and financial progress to date, AES is well-positioned to continue leading this transformation. In my previous role, I led corporate strategy and financial planning, where we developed our plan to get to greater than 50% renewable and at least 50% of our business in the U.S., and to reduce our coal share to less than 10% by 2025, all while growing the Company 7% to 9%. We are committed to those goals, and I look forward to continue executing toward them. Before I dive into our financial performance, I want to discuss the adjustment to our accounting that we made this quarter relating to the treatment of the $1 billion in equity units we issued in the first quarter this year. Our prior guidance assumed that the underlying shares would not be included in our fully diluted share count until 2024 upon settlement of the equity units. This approach was in line with industry practice and supported by our interpretation of the accounting literature and our external auditors. However, we're now subject to an updated interpretation of these instruments and we are adjusting to include these shares in our fully diluted EPS calculations. This adjustment results in an annual impact of roughly $0.07 this year and $0.09 in 2022 and 2023 using a full year of an additional 40 million shares. It's important to keep in mind that this adjustment has no cash impact and has absolutely no impact on our business or longer-term growth rates, as we had included the underlying shares in our projections for 2024 and beyond. Prior to this adjustment, we had expected to be in the upper half of our 2021 adjusted EPS guidance range, but we now expect to be at the low end of the range. Now, I'd like to cover two important topics. Our performance during the third quarter and our capital allocation plan. Turning to slide 11, you can see the strong performance of our portfolio in this quarter. Adjusted EPS was $0.50 for the quarter versus $0.42 for the comparable quarter last year. This 19% increase was primarily driven by improvements at our operating businesses, new renewables, and parent interest savings. These positive drivers were partially offset by lower contributions from South America, largely due to unscheduled outages in Chile. Third quarter results also reflect an approximate $0.03 quarter-to-date impact from the higher share count due to the inclusion of $40 million additional weighted average shares relating to the equity units, as I just mentioned. Turning to Slide 12, adjusted pre-tax contribution, or PTC, was $428 million for the quarter, an increase of $97 million versus the third quarter of 2020. I'll cover our results by strategic business unit over the next four slides, beginning on Slide 13. In the U.S. in the utilities SBU, PTC increased by $69 million as a result of our continued progress in growing our U.S. footprint. The improvement was largely driven by higher contributions from Southland, which benefited from higher contracted prices, new renewables coming online at AES Clean Energy, and higher availability at AES Puerto Rico. In California, our 2.3-gigawatts Southland Legacy portfolio demonstrated its critical importance by continuing to meet the State's pressing energy needs. In fact, as you may have heard, last month the State Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved an extension of our 876 megawatt Redondo Beach facility for two years through 2023 to align with our remaining legacy units. If the demand-supply situation remains tight, some of our Legacy portfolio could be available to meet California's energy needs beyond 2023 if State energy officials determine a need, although we have not assumed this in our guidance. As you can see on Slide 14, at our South America SBU, lower PTC was primarily driven by unscheduled outages in Chile due to a blade defect impacting six turbines across our fleet that has now largely been resolved. Our third quarter results were also driven by lower hydrology in Brazil. Before moving to MCAC, I would like to provide an update on the 531 megawatt Alto Maipo hydro project, owned by a subsidiary of AES Andes in Chile. Construction continues to go well, and generation is expected to begin in December of this year, with full commercial operation of the plant expected in the first half of 2022, in line with our expectations. Alto Maipo is in discussions with its non-recourse lenders to restructure its debt to achieve a more sustainable and flexible capital structure for the long term. AES Andes has honored its equity commitments to Alto Maipo and will not be assuming any additional equity obligations. We expect this restructuring to be completed in 2022, and AES Andes already assumed zero cash flow from Alto Maipo, so we don't see the restructuring impacting our guidance. Now, turning back to our third-quarter results on slide 15, the higher PTC at our MCAC SBU primarily reflects higher LNG sales in the Dominican Republic and demand recovery in Panama. And finally, in Eurasia, as shown on Slide 16, higher results reflect improved operating performance in Bulgaria. Now to Slide 17. To summarize our performance in the first three quarters of the year, we earned adjusted EPS of $1.07 versus $0.96 last year. As I mentioned earlier, in terms of our full-year guidance, we are incorporating the $0.07 per share non-cash impact from the adjustment for the equity units issued earlier this year. Prior to this adjustment, we had expected to be in the upper half of our 2021 adjusted EPS guidance range, but we now expect to come in at the lower end of the range of $1.50 to $1.58. It's important to note that this adjustment does not affect our longer-term growth expectations and has no impact on our cash flow. With three-quarters of the year behind us, our year-to-go results will benefit from contributions for new renewables, continued demand recovery across our markets, reduced interest expense, and our cost savings programs. These positive drivers are offset by the impacts of the higher share count and the dilution from AES Next, as Andres discussed earlier. Now, turning to our 2021 parent capital allocation on Slide 18, beginning on the left side of the slide, and consistent with our prior disclosure, we expect approximately $2 billion of discretionary cash this year. We remain confident in our parent-free cash flow target midpoint of $800 million, and the $100 million from the sale of Itabo. And we received the $1 billion of proceeds from the equity units issued in March. Moving over to the right side, the uses are largely unchanged from the last quarter, with $450 million in returns to our shareholders this year, consisting of our common share dividend and a coupon on the equity units. We also continue to expect almost $1.5 billion of investments in our subsidiaries, with about 60% going towards renewables globally. Our investment program continues to be heavily weighted to the U.S., with approximately 70% targeted for our U.S. businesses. The increased focus on U.S. investments will contribute to our goal of growing the proportion of earnings from the U.S. to at least half of our base. Finally, as I ramp up in my new role, I've had the chance to speak with many of our internal and external stakeholders. It's clear that AES continues to successfully execute on our strategy, and we've remained resilient in the face of volatile macroeconomic conditions. Continuing to drive the successful execution and delivering on our financial goals is my top priority. I look forward to getting input from more of our investors and analysts, and providing the information you need to understand the great future ahead for AES. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Andres.

Thank you, Steve. In summary, we have had a strong third quarter with both our core business and AES Next doing well. We're increasing our target for signed renewable PPAs from 4 gigawatts to 5 gigawatts, and Fluence successfully completed its $6 billion IPO. We remain committed to delivering on our strategic and financial goals, including our 7% to 9% annualized growth rate in earnings and cash flow, and will continue to create greater shareholder value by being the leading integrator of new technologies. With that, I would like to open up the call to questions.

Operator Instructions. And our first question comes from Greg Chamberlain from JP Morgan. Please reach out, your line is now open.

Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Just wanted to start with the equity units change here. We look to offset any of the $0.09 impacts to '22 or '23, and just thinking about the incremental positives after the Analyst Day this year, such as the higher renewable signings and the Redondo extension. How do you see all of that shaking out with the latest change here?

Well, as you know we have a work portfolio, and so we have pluses and minuses. Overall it's a portfolio that has shown its great resilience over the last two years. So right now we're not ready to give guidance for next year. But we're committed to the 7% to 9% growth rates in earnings and free cash flow. So we'll be getting back to you on that. But as you correctly point out, there are positives. And then we have the drag of the additional shares, and we will be working with that. I'd say overall, we feel we're in an excellent position. We had a very strong quarter and year-to-date. One of the things I'd like to highlight is that we had a design malfunction in our steam turbines in Chile. This required them to undergo maintenance at 50,000 hours instead of 100,000 hours. This happened during the worst drought in Chile's history. We were short on energy when energy prices were high. Nonetheless, if it weren't for the accounting, we would have been well within the mid or upper region of our earnings. So this is the way that our portfolio works. I don't know, Steve, do you want to add something?

Sure, thanks, Andres. And thanks for the question. As I said in my script, this is a recalculation, so it's just a different denominator on the capital, on the equity units that we raised earlier this year. It's purely just math, frankly. And looking ahead, we do see we have many levers, as Andres said. So we're fully committed to the 7% to 9%. These shares were already incorporated as of 2024, so it has no impact on that longer-term growth rate. And then, looking ahead, we have a number of value-accretive opportunities in the portfolio. So we're in the midst of our planning process at this point and we'll give 2022 guidance in February. But we feel very confident in the overall growth rate and there's definitely things that we can do to stay within that range going forward.

Understood. Thank you for the color there. And then maybe just switching gears to the C&I side of the progress shown with the Microsoft deal. Curious if you could speak a little bit to the 2 gigawatts you cited at similarly structured solutions signed year-to-date, how that compares to initial expectations. And then just broadly, any near-term limitations to your ability to further roll out this around-the-clock product to just how you think about scalability there overall. Thank you.

Sure. I think we're rolling it out very well. We have said, from the beginning when we did the first Google one, that this was a product that there was a lot of interest from other large corporate customers. We feel good that this is not the last deal we'll do. The key here is the ability to provide around the clock, and so this is 100% renewable for 15 years. The product keeps getting more sophisticated. Now, to do that, you need to be able to model all possible situations in a given area of service, integrating also batteries and different forms of renewable power. So we've been very flexible on that. We're very excited about that, and we see additional opportunities going forward. I think as we mentioned, 90% of the deals we have signed in the last year-to-date have been with corporate customers. We see this type of structured project product really being a competitive advantage for us. So stay tuned. We think there's something that we've been talking about. We're really seeing it come to fruition.

Understood. Thank you for the time today. Thank you. The next question comes from Durgesh Chopra from Evercore ISI. Please, Durgesh, your line is now open.

Hey, good morning, Andres and Steve. Welcome and I look forward to working with you. A couple of questions from my end. First, just, Andres you made that comment, that majority of the backlog to 2024 is now secured. Can I just ask you to clarify when you say that, that means wind, solar, storage, everything?

No, we were primarily discussing solar panels, but we also have the rest of the plan in place, so we feel very secure about it. The topic that has received more attention has been solar panels. Early on, we began transitioning from purchasing Chinese panels to sourcing panels made in Malaysia, Vietnam, and in the future, Cambodia. Additionally, we have taken the lead in urging our suppliers to certify that no polysilicon from Western China is included, as this could raise concerns about labor practices. Therefore, we feel very comfortable with our supplies and flexibility. We're also purchasing a number of U.S. panels produced domestically, which do not contain polysilicon. In total, we are confident that we have enough resources to fulfill our backlog through 2024, including the rest of the plant and batteries.

Got it. I mean, I guess in the last quarter, Andres, you'd mentioned something around maybe 90% of the equipment needed for your then-stated backlog of like, I think it was 8.5 gigawatts. Are you in that similar percentage-wise for this updated 9.2 gigawatt number?

Yes.

Okay. Perfect. Thank you. And then just, obviously, great execution 5-gigawatts year-to-date. You have a target of 3 to 4 going to 5 up to 2025, right? Like 5-gigawatts a year to 2025. So as you have this momentum, can you talk about your margins, profitability, and cash returns that you've seen cost pressures?

We are targeting and achieving low teen returns in the U.S. and mid to higher teens outside of the U.S. Those are our hurdle rates, and we feel very good about that. It's important to note that there is a lag between signing a PPA and commissioning the project. This year, we plan to commission over 1.5 gigawatts, potentially reaching up to 2 gigawatts. Next year, we expect to be between 3.5 and 4 gigawatts. This momentum will persist. It's not just about the number of megawatts; we must ensure that we are earning the right returns on average.

Perfect. Thanks for the time, guys.

Thank you. Our next question comes from David Peters. Please, David, go ahead.

Hey, good morning, guys.

Good morning.

Back to the different accounting treatment for the equity units, you guys made the point to mention that it was consistent with other peers and the auditors had signed off. I'm wondering what specifically changed that you are now subject to this new interpretation?

Yes, this is Steve. I'm glad to provide more details. We issued the $1 billion equity units in March. The treatment we applied was thoroughly vetted by our accountants, external auditors, and advisors. At that time, we used a treasury stock method for the treatment, which meant it didn't appear in the share count. Several companies have utilized similar instruments, and after consulting with our auditors, the SEC reviewed the treatment of these types of instruments and indicated a different interpretation. While we haven't communicated directly with the SEC, we thought it was wise to update the interpretation. We're simply taking a cautious approach here. This conversion was already factored into the 2024 share count, so it poses only a temporary impact on the calculation. There is no new transaction; it’s merely a recalculation of the shares. Ultimately, that’s the crux of the matter, and we’re trying to be as prudent as possible regarding this treatment.

I appreciate the detail you've provided. I have another question as we switch topics. I liked the slide in the presentation that highlights the value created through Fluence and Uplight. Now that Fluence is public, I'm curious about Uplight. How do you assess the value of that company today compared to when you initially evaluated it, and what do you see for its future? I also noticed that Uplight has recently completed an acquisition.

Thank you for the question. We view Uplight's maturity as being two to three years behind Fluence. However, we are pleased with Uplight's progress and our advancements with AES Next. Considering our capital contribution and the current valuation, that translates to a 20-fold return. Although we have been working on batteries for quite some time, establishing a business has primarily been underway for about three to four years. This has significantly created value for our shareholders. Interestingly, there are two aspects to the business. AES Next is a value play, particularly in this rapid growth phase, as substantial expenses are necessary for investments. Simultaneously, they contribute to our growth. The structured products we offer to corporations benefit greatly from the expertise provided by AES Next. Stay tuned, as we have more developments in the pipeline. The most developed project is likely 5B, which we believe holds considerable potential due to its advantages. It allows for quicker construction, requires less land, and offers hurricane resistance, which is crucial. We are very satisfied with our progress and the synergy between the AES core business and AES Next.

Great. And then just last one quickly, just a point of clarification. You said AES Next was roughly at the $0.06 drag today. But as we get out into the outer years of your plan, I guess '24 and '25, are you expecting it to be contributing at that point, or would it still be a drag?

Yeah. No. No, we are. So I mean, I think there's a near-term dilution around of a similar level, say for 2022 and then that gradually reduces. And so by 2024, '25, we're expecting positive contributions and then significant acceleration in the positive contribution from that point.

Good morning, team. Congratulations on everything. Well done. Regarding AES Next, great job there. As you consider the drag, you mentioned a $0.06 drag in 2021. How do you see that drag evolving through 2025? By that time, what are your expectations? Additionally, I have another question about EPS. When thinking about the converts, you managed to offset that and reached the top end in 2021. What does this imply for 2025, considering the converts will be fully diluted by then? Please share a backdrop of your successes, whether related to origination or other areas.

Sure. Steve and I will address this. I will take the second part. It is definitely included in our 2025 numbers because it was assumed that they would convert until the share count became the focus. The main difference is that we have a higher share count for 2021, 2022, and 2023. This is the only factor affecting these calculations regarding AES Next. The largest drag is coming from Fluence, which is currently maturing. It has made significant investments in new designs to ensure a stable supply of batteries worldwide. As sales grow, this will gradually shift to a positive outcome. Steve, do you want to add anything?

Obviously, as Andres said, I lead Fluence for its first 2.5 years, so I'm very familiar with the Company and its trajectory. And look, the opportunity for Fluence has gotten massive, more massive than even we predicted when I started there. Going out and raising this capital was clearly targeted to go big and go much bigger. In some ways, what it does is it increases the near-term dilution deliberately because we're investing to accelerate the scale of the Company. We know that it can be successful if we accelerate. But it's also then significantly increasing the upside when you get out into '24-'25 period. Putting this capital to work is going to be near-term dilutive, but it's tremendously value accretive. We've already seen some recognition of that in where it is today. We think it's only going to go significantly upward from here. In our numbers, it turns positive, and it turns significantly positive by 2025.

And that significantly positive aspect is reflected in the 2025 figure today. I want to understand how much of the earnings.

Yes, it is reflected, and I would say that based on the current level of dilution, it is going to shift to being at least that level positive by that point.

And we say at least that level positive that is AES Next in entirety, right? Not just look.

Yeah, I think Fluence will be at that point. Uplight will have grown too, but I would expect Fluence would likely be a few ahead be the largest driver, but I would say at least $0.06 positive from Next by 2025.

Thank you for the clarification. I have a more strategic question regarding your projections for 2025. The California extension reflects new numbers, but you haven't incorporated this into your 2025 figures. This seems like it could present additional upside, whether it involves Redondo or the entire Legacy portfolio. As you consider the portfolio during this potential transition, I commend you on the progress made. How are you evaluating some of the lingering assets, particularly with the renewed interest in markets such as LNG?

I will address the Southland question and then pass it over to Andres. That is correct, Julien. The Southland extension, along with the Redondo extension, offers some potential upside. We had the Alamitos Huntington Beach through 2023, and the recent decision has now created upside for Redondo Beach. However, at this moment, everything is just projected through 2023 and not beyond that. If there are opportunities beyond this period, it would represent upside to our guidance. Additionally, in the third quarter this year, we have observed favorable margins from the hedges in the numbers. Those legacy assets hold significant value, and we anticipate further recognition of Q3 value in our assets, which would also contribute positively to our guidance moving forward.

Julien, regarding the LNG. We have a very strong position in the Gulf of Mexico, between the Dominican Republic and Panama. We have basically been contracting much more in terms of the Dominican Republic filling up the second tank, and the Panama filling up the first tank. So we see LNG as a necessary transition fuel. I think what we're seeing a little bit in Europe and a little bit in China. It's essential to manage this transition. While we are coming up with new technologies, making it possible to put more renewables on the grid, make renewables cheaper, make them more efficient, and satisfy more of what customers want. We see that in many places, LNG natural gas is the necessary transition fuel. These two will work together. And as we said, we are on our way to filling up our full capacity of the two locations of the three tanks.

Got it. So it sounds like literally and perhaps figuratively, you haven't quite filled the tank on the incremental contribution from LNG or California when it comes to '25 yet, but there's more to go.

Yes, that's right. There's still more potential. Quite frankly, that's the most profitable thing we can do, is to fill up an existing tank.

Thanks very much and congrats on a very constructive update here.

Thank you, Steve, please continue.

Yes, Sir. I wanted to explore the Google Nest agreement and talk a little bit more about the magnitude if you could, and repeatability of that approach? It looks like a great solution where you can bring a lot of your skills to bear, to provide some value, but I'm struggling thinking about how to try to assess the magnitude of the opportunity here.

Well, this is through Uplight. Uplight has been, I believe, the biggest seller of Nest in the U.S. because it reaches around 100 million final consumers in the U.S. The idea is to continue to add on that platform more things, and improve customers' experience and customers' capabilities of improving their energy efficiency use. Now, of course, Uplight works through large utilities. That's really how it goes. I think there is a lot of opportunity there. I agree with that. What Uplight has been doing is acquiring additional capabilities through some of these acquisitions, adding onto that platform. It's really using that platform, using that entry into final consumers to provide additional value-add services.

Understood. And is there a way to think about that value in terms of the per customer value, or some other metric, in terms of the benefit that utilities would receive from the kinds of services you provide here?

I don't have that available right now. I think the way to think about it, is this is the value of the total Uplight platform. As you know, we partnered with Schneider Electric to have more capabilities with more acquisitions and we're working very closely with our utility customers. I think the way this value will be reflected and captured is through the value of Uplight. As I said, I think it's 2-3 years behind Fluence in terms of its evolution.

Operator Instructions. And our next question comes from Stephen Byrd from Morgan Stanley. Please, Stephen, your line is now open.

Thanks very much and congrats on a very constructive update here.

Thank you, Steve, please continue.

Yes, Sir. I wanted to explore the Google Nest agreement and talk a little bit more about the magnitude if you could, and repeatability of that approach? It looks like a great solution where you can bring a lot of your skills to bear, to provide some value, but I'm struggling thinking about how to try to assess the magnitude of the opportunity here.

Well, this is through Uplight. Uplight has been, I believe, the biggest seller of Nest in the U.S. because it reaches around 100 million final consumers in the U.S. The idea is to continue to add on that platform more things, and improve customers' experience and customers' capabilities of improving their energy efficiency use. Now, of course, Uplight works through large utilities. That's really how it goes. I think there is a lot of opportunity there. I agree with that. What Uplight has been doing is acquiring additional capabilities through some of these acquisitions, adding onto that platform. It's really using that platform, using that entry into final consumers to provide additional value-add services.

Understood. And is there a way to think about that value in terms of the per customer value, or some other metric, in terms of the benefit that utilities would receive from the kinds of services you provide here?

I don't have that available right now. I think the way to think about it, is this is the value of the total Uplight platform. As you know, we partnered with Schneider Electric to have more capabilities with more acquisitions and we're working very closely with our utility customers. I think the way this value will be reflected and captured is through the value of Uplight. As I said, I think it's 2-3 years behind Fluence in terms of its evolution.

Thank you. Thanks everybody for joining us on today's call. As always, the IR team will be available to answer any follow-up questions you may have. Next week, we look forward to seeing many of you at the EEI Conference. Thanks again. And have a nice day.

This concludes today's call. Thank you so much for joining. You may now disconnect your lines and have a great rest of your day.