Company DescriptionFortis Inc. operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 438,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 100,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,485 megawatts (MW), including 53 MW of solar capacity and 252 MV of wind capacity. The company also sells wholesale electricity to other entities in the western United States; owns gas-fired and hydroelectric generating capacity totaling 65 MW; and distributes natural gas to approximately 1,065,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, it owns and operates the electricity distribution system that serves approximately 577,000 customers in southern and central Alberta; owns 4 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 225 MW; and provides operation, maintenance, and management services to five hydroelectric generating facilities. Further, the company distributes electricity in the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador with an installed generating capacity of 143 MW; and on Prince Edward Island with a generating capacity of 130 MW. Additionally, it provides integrated electric utility service to approximately 68,000 customers in Ontario; approximately 272,000 customers in Newfoundland and Labrador; approximately 32,000 customers on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and approximately 16,000 customers on certain islands in Turks and Caicos. The company also holds long-term contracted generation assets in Belize consisting of 3 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 51 MW; and the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. It also owns and operates approximately 90,200 circuit Kilometers (km) of distribution lines; and approximately 50,500 km of natural gas pipelines. Fortis Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in St. John's, Canada.
How the Company Makes MoneyFortis primarily makes money by earning regulated returns on the utility infrastructure it owns and operates. Most revenue is generated by charging customers (and, in some cases, other market participants) regulated rates for electricity delivery (distribution and transmission) and for natural gas distribution. These rates are set through regulatory processes and are designed to allow recovery of prudently incurred operating costs (e.g., maintenance, labor, fuel/purchased power where applicable, and administrative costs) plus an authorized return on the company’s regulated rate base (its invested capital in utility plant such as lines, substations, meters, pipelines, and related equipment). A key driver of earnings is growth in rate base from capital investment programs—when new infrastructure is placed into service and included in rate base, it can increase the allowed earnings over time, subject to regulatory approval. Fortis also earns revenue from service fees and other regulated charges approved in tariffs (such as connection fees, demand charges, and customer service charges), and may have limited other income depending on individual utility jurisdictions; if specific non-regulated revenue streams or material partnership-driven revenues exist, they are not available here and are therefore null.