EDMONTON, AB, May 1, 2024 /CNW/ - EPCOR Utilities Inc. (EPCOR) today filed its quarterly results for the period ended March 31, 2024. "First quarter financial performance was strong, with continued growth in EPCOR's geographies and ongoing execution of the company's commercial projects," said John Elford, EPCOR President & CEO. "Progress continued on the construction of two commercial water projects in Texas and we funded $120 million of our long-term investment in the groundwater supply system." "EPCOR's operations had solid reliability performance in the first quarter, however our Alberta customers were impacted by two unusual supply interruptions," said Mr. Elford. "An electrical infrastructure failure at one of EPCOR's Edmonton water treatment plants led to water demand management measures being implemented for four days. These measures restricted non-essential water use, while maintaining essential water supplies throughout the event – and had no impact on water quality. In addition, on January 13, 2024, all Alberta electricity users were impacted by a shortage in power generation supplies, leading the Province to make an emergency appeal for power conservation. Subsequently, on April 5, 2024 another shortage in power generation supplies led the Alberta Electric System Operator to order power distribution utilities to implement rotating power outages for about 30 minutes, in order to maintain the integrity of the provincial electricity grid. These incidents underline the importance of ongoing investment in utility systems and energy supplies, in order to maintain and improve reliability for customers." "Today marks the release of EPCOR's 2023 Sustainability Report," added Mr. Elford. "This year begins a new three-year cycle for sustainability target setting and performance reporting, informed by our latest materiality assessment and the company's business strategy. We've refreshed our Sustainability Scorecard to reflect the progress we've made over the several years, and ensure we're focused on achieving the governance, environmental, and social performance that's needed for our long-term success. Reliability and affordability remain important components of our Sustainability Scorecard, and a focus for management across all our utilities." Highlights of EPCOR's financial performance are as follows: Net income was $104 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared with net income of $46 million for the comparative period in 2023. The increase of $58 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 was primarily due to fair value adjustments related to financial electricity purchase contracts and higher Adjusted EBITDA1, ...