Good morning. My name is Jennifer Parker, Director of Corporate Communications at Emera. Thank you for joining us for Emera's annual meeting of shareholders. Please note certain statements made in today's presentation and during the question and answer session afterward may be forward-looking statements or may use non-GAAP financial measures and should be received with caution. Thank you. I will now turn the meeting over to Jackie Sheppard, Chair of the Emera Board of Directors.
Thank you, Jennifer. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Emera's 2021 annual meeting of shareholders. With the ongoing pandemic, the health and safety of our people, customers, communities, and shareholders continues to be our number one priority. This commitment to safety is exactly why we are holding our meeting virtually again this year. Joining me on the call today are Scott Balfour, our President and Executive Officer, Greg Blunden, Emera's Chief Financial Officer, and Stephen Aftanas, Emera's Corporate Secretary. At this time, I'd like to introduce our director nominees in addition to Scott and myself. They are also attending virtually today. Biographies of each nominee can be found in the information circular.
The director nominees are Jim Bertram, Calgary, Alberta, Henry Demone, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Kent Harvey, New York, New York, Lynn Loewen, Westmount, Quebec, John Ramil, Tampa, Florida, Andrea Rosen, Toronto, Ontario, Rick Sergel, Boston, Massachusetts, Karen Sheriff, Toronto, Ontario, and Nilka Till, Toronto, Ontario. Thank you to all the director nominees for your ongoing contribution and commitment to Emera. At this time, I would like to acknowledge Sylvia Chrominska, who is stepping down from the board this year. Since joining the Emera board in 2010, Sylvia has been a driving force behind Emera's human resource strategies and executive compensation practices. A member of the Management Resources and Compensation Committee and serving as Chair of that committee since 2016, Sylvia's oversight has been invaluable to the board and company. On behalf of the entire team, thank you, Sylvia, for your tremendous contributions to Emera.
Before we begin the formal portion of the meeting, I'd like to take a moment to thank the entire Emera team for effectively navigating the challenges of the pandemic in what was an extraordinary year. Scott will highlight the company's progress later in the call, but it's impressive that notwithstanding the transitional impacts of asset sales and the broader challenges of the pandemic, that Emera delivered growth in earnings per share. Emera's regulated operations delivered year-over-year earnings growth of 13%. This demonstrates the strong underlying performance of the company's ongoing utility operations. Emera continues to create long-term value for shareholders, delivering 10% returns over the past three, five, and 10 years. The team is also making significant progress on our environmental, social, and governance commitments.
Building on the strong progress towards a lower carbon future, Emera announced its climate commitment earlier this year, a set of clear carbon reduction goals and a vision to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Emera also made good progress on advancing its social commitment, supporting employees throughout the pandemic, donating to community organizations, and advancing its inclusion and diversity strategy. Scott will share more on Emera's ESG progress and financial performance during his remarks. I'm very proud of what the team accomplished in 2020. I'd like to thank my board colleagues, the leadership team, and all employees across the company for your continued hard work and commitment to Emera's success and future growth. I can't be present at the meeting in Halifax as required by Nova Scotia corporate law and Emera's articles, I have asked Scott Balfour to chair the formal business of the meeting.
Scott, over to you.
Thank you, Jackie. I will now call the meeting to order. Stephen Aftanas will act as Secretary for today's meeting. Representatives of AST Trust, the company's registrar and transfer agent, will act as scrutineers, reporting on shareholder participation and counting the votes. The scrutineers have reported that a quorum is present at this meeting. The Secretary has confirmed that proper notice of this meeting has been given and that the materials for the meeting were provided to common shareholders. With that, I now declare the meeting duly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. We have received the scrutineers' report on the number of shares represented at this meeting. Mr. Secretary, could you please read the report?
Mr. Chair, the scrutineers have provided their preliminary report. There are present at the meeting, in person or represented by proxy, more than 117 million shares of the company. This represents over 46% of the outstanding shares. The final report will be kept on file with the record of this meeting.
Thank you, Stephen. We will now move on to the items requiring shareholder approval, and I will explain the voting procedure. The mail out to shareholders provided notice that five items would be placed before this meeting for approval. Most shareholders took advantage of providing their proxy in advance. To vote today, simply make your selection on the screen and a notice will appear confirming your vote has been counted. Shareholders were invited to submit questions in advance of the meeting by email or regular mail. Questions can also be submitted at any time during the meeting through the website or by email at agm@emera.com. We will address questions that do not pertain to a particular motion during the general question and answer period following the business of the meeting. The five items for approval at today's meeting will now appear on screen.
They are the election of directors, appointment of auditors, authorization for the directors to establish the auditors' fees, an advisory vote on executive compensation, and approval to amend the company's senior management stock option plan to increase by three million the number of common shares of the company that can be issued under the plan from 11,700,000 to 14,700,000. I now declare the polls open on all motions. I will ask the Secretary to make motions regarding these five items. Mr. Secretary.
Mr. Chair, I am a shareholder, and I move that, one, each of the nominees, as set out on pages 12 to 22 of the information circular, be elected as directors of the company until the next annual meeting or until a successor is elected or appointed. Two, Ernst & Young LLP Chartered Accountants be appointed auditors of the company to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are appointed. Three, the directors of the company be authorized to establish the auditors' fee for the current year in such amounts as they may, in their discretion, determine. Four, the resolution as set out on page 10 in the information circular regarding the company's approach to executive compensation is approved.
Five, the resolution set forth in Appendix B of the information circular regarding approval of an increase in the maximum number of common shares reserved for issuance under the company's Senior Management Stock Option Plan is approved.
Thank you, Stephen Aftanas. I would now ask Greg Blunden, our Chief Financial Officer, to second these five motions.
Mr. Chair, I am a shareholder, and I second all five motions.
Thank you. Greg. Have we received any questions from shareholders or proxy holders relating to these motions?
Mr. Chair, there are no questions related to these changes at this time.
Thank you, Jen. Polls will close shortly. If you have not done so, please vote now. Remember to scroll down the page to ensure you vote on all five motions. We will now pause for one minute to allow for the voting to be completed. Thank you. The polls are now closed. While the scrutineers are tabulating the votes, I'd like to say a few words about how we're advancing our strategy at Emera. As Jackie said, 2020 was an extraordinary year for everyone. Like many, the team at Emera moved swiftly to adapt, adding new safety protocols and finding new ways to deliver for our customers and shareholders in the face of the pandemic. Through it all, the team didn't miss a beat. Although it has been challenging, our response to COVID-19 has highlighted the strength and resiliency of our business, our strategy, and the Emera team.
At Emera, we've been focused on safely delivering cleaner, affordable, and reliable energy for more than 15 years. We're driving growth and value for customers and shareholders by investing in renewable and cleaner energy sources, in grid modernization, in reliability and system integrity improvements, and in new and better technology and solutions for customers. In 2020, we also completed our asset sale program and strengthened our balance sheet, important steps that continue to position Emera well for future growth. In line with our expectations, we delivered 3% growth in our annual adjusted earnings per share in 2020, notwithstanding the loss of earnings contributions from assets sold, driven by strong 13% earnings growth from our regulated portfolio. We raised our dividends by 4% in 2020, keeping our commitment to provide our investors with a predictable and growing income stream.
Even with the additional safety protocols required, we executed CAD 2.7 billion worth of capital projects, more than in any other year in our history, advancing our major projects while keeping critical work on time and on budget. This included making excellent progress on our Big Bend modernization project. In addition to reducing the use of coal and being a cost-effective solution for customers, once complete, Big Bend will also use less water, produce less water, and reduce air emissions. The modernized facility will also enable even more solar generation at Tampa Electric. We also completed the construction of the first 600 megawatts of solar generation in Florida, giving Tampa Electric more solar generation per customer than any other utility in the state. We're already working on another 600 megawatts expected to be in service in 2023.
We continued to deploy smart meters with over 1.3 million now installed for customers in Nova Scotia, Florida, and Barbados. During this challenging and busy year, we never lost sight of our number one priority, safety. While we improved our occupational health and safety and lost time injury rates in 2020, recent contractor fatalities are tragic reminders that we must stay relentlessly focused on safety every minute of every day. I can tell you that the team is working extremely hard, and that we are more resolved than ever to build an Emera where no one gets hurt. As Jackie said, we also made good progress on our environmental, social, and governance commitments last year. In 2020, we took steps to tell our ESG story better and strengthen our reporting and governance in this important area.
We enhanced our ESG disclosures, and we established a sustainability management committee to oversee ESG initiatives, risks, and opportunities right across the business. The fact is, ESG is core to our strategy and to our culture. Decarbonization has been one of the drivers of our growth, and since 2005, we've reduced CO2 emissions by 39%, and we've reduced our use of coal by nearly 70% over that same period. Building off this strong track record, we announced our climate commitment earlier this year, a set of clear, future-focused decarbonization goals and our vision to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. We made good progress on our inclusion and diversity strategy in 2020. We strengthened our commitment to strong, diverse, and inclusive workplaces and communities. We increased our efforts on education, recruitment, and making sure we have the right data to drive the right strategies.
In support of our commitment to inclusion and diversity, we also established a CAD 5 million inclusion and diversity community fund. Far, we've announced two major contributions from the fund, one to the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia to help youth who are new to Canada prepare to enter the workforce here in Nova Scotia. The second investment was in the Tampa Bay History Center to support their work to better tell the story of Black heritage and culture in the Tampa Bay area. We encourage you to learn more about all of our ESG commitments in our upcoming sustainability report being released next month.
Last week, we released our first quarter results for 2021, announcing adjusted earnings per share of CAD 0.96, an increase of CAD 0.17, principally driven by continued strong earnings growth from our U.S.-based utilities, reduced corporate costs, and improved earnings in our marketing and trading business, partially offset by the impact of the strengthening value of the Canadian dollar. We continued to execute well on all of our capital program and were on track to invest over CAD 2 billion again this year. Our first quarter results signal a solid start to 2021, and they continue to highlight the underlying strength of our business. Once again, thank you to our shareholders for your support and confidence in Emera. Thank you to our Chair, Jackie Sheppard, and the entire Board of Directors for their invaluable guidance and oversight.
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to the entire team across Emera. It's their commitment that allows us to continue to deliver for our customers, our communities, and our shareholders. Thank you. With that, the Secretary advises me that the preliminary voting results have been received. Mr. Secretary?
Mr. Chair, the scrutineers report that all items voted upon at the meeting have received more than the number of votes required. Therefore, all items are passed. The final voting results will be posted online at sedar.com.
Thank you, Mr. Secretary. With these voting results, I now declare all five motions approved. With the business of the meeting now complete, and with the consent of the meeting, I now declare the meeting terminated. I'll hand it back over to our Board Chair, Jackie Sheppard, for the general question-and-answer period. Jackie?
Okay. Thank you, Scott. Do we have any questions from shareholders or proxy holders at this time?
Madam Chair, we have received the following question from Dr. David W. Peters. What was the logic of selling Emera Maine?
Okay. Thank you for your question there, Dr. David W. Peters. Scott, will you take that question?
Certainly. Thank you for the question, Dr. Peters. The sale of Emera Maine for Emera was really part of a portfolio optimization strategy that we looked to undertake in order to ensure that we're allocating capital in the very best places that we can. The sale of Emera Maine has allowed us to continue to invest in the rate-based growth that we have in other parts of our business and also allowed us to improve our balance sheet. Both steps that I think have positioned Emera really well for continuing its path to future growth.
Thank you, Scott. Are there other questions?
Madam Chair, we have received the following question from Gretchen Fitzgerald. Will Emera commit to a firm timeline to shut down coal in Nova Scotia, getting off forest biomass and getting off fossil fuels by 2030 across its operations?
Okay, Scott, again, I think over to you.
Yes. Thank you for the question, Gretchen. Look, there's no question that our interests are aligned with the continuing reduction of carbon emissions in Nova Scotia and, in particular, the closure of coal under federal and provincial agreements now. We will have an end date closure for coal not later than 2040. I'm sure that you've read some of the media coverage as to our efforts, which are also aligned with the ambition of the provincial government here in Nova Scotia to accelerate the retirement of coal, provided we can do that on a basis that continues to be affordable for customers.
That's very much the focus of Nova Scotia Power, looking to see as to whether we can affordably accelerate the retirement of those coal plants from 2040 to 2030, all in line with Emera's broad strategy of continuing to reduce the carbon intensity of the energy we deliver to our customers. Thank you for your question.
Thank you, Scott. Other questions?
Madam Chair, we have received the following question from Susanna Randolph. Why is Emera's subsidiary, TECO, planning to continue coal burning until 2045 at its Big Bend Unit 4, despite not needing that unit for reliability? Emera continues to tout its commitment to clean, renewable energy, but continues to heavily rely on fracked gas in Florida, despite the fact that methane from gas is a huge contributor to climate change. Can you explain why TECO continues to double down on gas and drag its feet on making major investments in solar and battery storage in a state with abundant solar resources?
Okay, Scott, I think over to you again.
Yeah, Susanna, thank you for the question. Yes, I think from our perspective, there's no question that natural gas has been an important fuel source for Tampa Electric as it decarbonizes. You will perhaps know that it's not that long ago that 90% of the energy that Tampa Electric generated was from coal. In 1998, I believe 90% of the energy electric generated was from coal. By 2024, 2023, it will be less than 5% of the energy that Tampa Electric is expected to generate will be from coal. Might even be closer to zero than that 5%. The ability to do that and the ability to build more solar in Tampa, and it's not that long ago, Tampa Electric had no solar generation in its mix. Today, it has 655 megawatts of solar generation.
As you heard in my remarks, we're looking to add another 600 megawatts. The fact is, of course, that our customers need energy when the sun's not shining, too. The natural gas generation is an enabler in order to support more intermittent wind. The fact is that battery technology today doesn't support the intermittency of renewable resources like solar and like wind. Batteries work really well for short durations, for four hours of duration, but they don't work well through the whole evening, or they certainly don't work well through two or three days without sunshine. That investment in natural gas, which is notably significantly cleaner than the coal generation that it's been replacing is enabling more and more renewables.
That's very much the path we're on, aligned with your ambition to continue to reduce the carbon emission profile of the generation fleet in Tampa Electric. That's what the team there is doing. Thank you again for the question.
Okay. Other questions?
Madam Chair, we have received the following question from Joseph W. Jordan Robinson Jr. Emera and its subsidiary, TECO, are continuing to burn fossil fuels despite an urgent global call to stop by the Florida Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. TECO's plans to continue burning coal after 2030 and its obsession with burning fracked gas will not only leave the company financially underwater but will cause us all to be underwater when Florida's coastal areas succumb to sea level rise. This is a serious issue in Florida coastal communities. Please consider their request. I attended the Emera stockholders meeting two years ago and requested that a Black person be put on Emera's board as well as on Tampa Electric's, sorry, Tampa Electric Company TECO local board. Mr. Balfour said they would seriously look into doing so. I met with Mrs. Nancy Tower and discussed as well.
It has been two years. When is Emera going to put Blacks on these boards? Black people are customers and stockholders as well. Thanks.
Okay. Thank you, Joe. Good to hear from you again. I think you have two points there, one on climate, and Scott has already answered several questions on that. I'll turn it over to Scott in a few minutes to see if he has anything else he'd like to add to that. On your diversity point, I'll also ask Scott to make a few remarks, but before then, I just want to say that the Emera board is committed to building a strong, diverse board at the Emera level and through our operating subsidiaries. Indeed, diversity is a goal throughout the entire organization. We believe it's right, and it makes us stronger. As you already probably know, I think Emera, I cannot think of a public company that set gender targets prior to Emera. It's been in place for a very long time and recently was increased.
We also want to diversify beyond gender, and that is, we have made progress and we continue to make progress there. Scott, I know you're passionate about both topics, and can I ask you if you'd like to make a few more remarks on climate and also, whether you want to talk about diversity at our subsidiaries?
Sure. Thank you, Jackie, and Joe. Look, thank you for your question and for the care and the interest that you continue to have in our progress in carbon reduction and diversity. Look, we're fully aligned. We care deeply about these things, too. I also, I respect and value the fact that you want to hold us accountable to the progress that we promised, that you heard in my remarks previously. The focus that I told you we had on these issues in response to your question two years ago. I'm happy to say we've made really good progress on both those accounts. I won't repeat all my remarks about climate and climate commitment that we've recently made in terms of focus reduction in carbon emissions and more specifically, in response to Susanna's question.
Obviously, I gave some measure of the progress at Tampa Electric that I was looking up my notes as her question was being read, and we've reduced the amount of coal at Tampa Electric by 92% over the last 20 years and cut its carbon footprint in half. Again, really good progress. As I said, by 2024, we'll see less than 5% of Tampa Electric's generation from coal. Probably more like less than 2% from coal. I know you specifically asked about natural gas, as did Susanna. Look, just the pure simple fact is today that we can't be investing in renewables. The intermittency of renewables simply isn't possible to make that transition from coal to renewables without the support of natural gas.
It's an important part of the transition as we continue to drive carbon out of the emission profile, and we're pleased with our progress. In terms of your question about board diversity, as Jackie said, diversity is important to all of us. It's important at all levels, certainly across all our boards. Of the 20 external directors that serve on the boards of our four largest operating companies, Nova Scotia Power, Tampa Electric, Peoples Gas, and New Mexico Gas, today 45% are female and 30% are Black, Hispanic, or Indigenous. Joe, I know that diversity on the Florida board is an important issue for you, obviously, just as it is for us. We've made good progress here, too. Today, 50% of our external directors on our board in Florida are female, and 37.5% are ethnically diverse.
To your more specific question, interesting as you may not have seen our appointment of Jackie Bradley to the Tampa Electric Board last May. Jackie's a very active member of the Tampa community and brings a deep financial and business experience to the table. She's been a great addition to the Board over the last year, and you can see Jackie's and all the director bios on the Tampa Electric website. We'll continue our commitment to building strong and diverse boards, of course. Again, Joe, thank you for the question.
Thank you, Scott. Do we have other questions?
Madam Chair, we have received the following question from Michelle Collis Abram. The share price of Emera has remained relatively stable throughout the pandemic. As a longtime shareholder, what is the board doing to promote further growth of its share price and encourage investor interest? Thank you.
Well, Scott, I think you have a really good answer to that. Can I hand it over to you?
Sure. Michelle, thank you for your question. Look, there's no doubt that our focus continues to be on creating shareholder value over time. Part of the way in which shareholder value is created is both through the payment of dividends and the growth of dividends over time, as well as obviously the growth in our share price. Look, I think if you look at our share price performance and our dividend combined, that dividend payment combined, that's what we refer to as total shareholder return. The value that gets created for a shareholder from the appreciation of share price and the collection of dividends. What's interesting is, if we look at that over the last three, five, and 10-year periods, we've been delivering 10% total shareholder return over each of those periods.
Look, as a management team, obviously, we want our share price to go up every year. We want it to go up every day, of course. Markets don't work that way. Our focus, of course, continues to be on growing and controlling the things that we can. Growing our earnings per share, growing our cash flow, growing our dividend, and making sure that we're talking to shareholders regularly so that they can understand what we're doing, our strategy, and the areas in which we're trying to create value, so that they can look at Emera, obviously relative to other investment choices that they have. Overall, I think as we look at 2020, we performed well across the peer set. If you think of North American utilities of our scale, we were in the top quartile of share price performance across that sector in 2020.
On other lenses, you can look and the share price performance was not as strong. Again, our focus, creating shareholder value over the longer term, that 10% that we've been able to deliver over the last three, five and 10-year cycle, that continues to be our focus moving forward as well.
Okay. Thank you, Scott. Are there other questions?
Madam Chair, we have received the following question from Christopher McNeely. What measures are being implemented at Emera in order to protect both its customer data from theft and its own IT infrastructure from disruption?
Okay. Thank you for that question. Obviously, a very topical, important one. Scott, can I ask you to respond to that one?
Certainly. Look, Christopher, there's probably very few other topics of such great interest and attention these days than cybersecurity. I can assure you that this is an area that has intense focus within and across Emera as well. We have teams across the business that are centered and focused on ensuring the protection of data and technology of all sorts within the business. It's an area that the board has obviously engaged in and has oversight in as well. We provide regular updates to our directors. It's an ever-changing area. The vulnerabilities within the market, the bad actors continue to get more and more sophisticated. Companies like Emera, including Emera, we continue to work very hard to ensure that we are staying current. We continue to invest significantly in this area.
I'm pleased with our progress, but it is certainly an area that we all have to stay very vigilant and diligent about because it is changing quickly and an area that we've seen very sophisticated, very public, very large organizations, not just commercial organizations succumb to some of these attacks. These are things that have certainly caught our attention and has caused us, of course, to ensure that we're doing everything possible to maintain that diligence around this area as well. Thank you for the question.
Yes. Thank you. I can tell you it definitely is a board focus as well. It's really at the top of our enterprise risk with a lot of resources managed. Are there other questions?
Yes. Madam Chair, we have received the following question from Nina Tatlock. As a resident of Apollo Beach, where the TECO Big Bend power plant is located, a town that sits next to Tampa Bay, I continue to be concerned with rising sea levels of seawater and the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes. TECO has plans to build a 20-foot seawall for protection, but the town of Apollo Beach doesn't have the capacity to build a 20-foot seawall. The TECO Big Bend power plant also has produced a dangerous coal ash pit, and when a hurricane comes through that area, the whole town of Apollo Beach and the surrounding area will be overwhelmed by coal ash. What plans do you have to clean up this coal ash pit?
Thank you for your question, Nina. Scott, do you want to respond?
Yes. Thank you, Nina, for the question. More broadly, obviously tying into the questions and answers given to some of the previous shareholder questions. Obviously, continuing to do our part to manage the impact of climate change is a core strategy and focus area for Emera. I have to admit, Nina, I don't specifically know exactly what the plans are as it relates to coal ash in Tampa Electric at the Big Bend station. I can commit to speak with the team and ensure that there's a connection to provide some clarity on that. I can assure you, though, of course, that it's an area of diligence and vigilance as it relates to ensure we're not just meeting but exceeding the standards that are imposed upon us in terms of the management of those resources.
The team at Tampa Electric takes those obligations as they do all of its climate-related obligations and safety obligations for the community extraordinarily seriously. As to the specific plans, unfortunately, I'll have to get back to you. I'm just not familiar enough with them at this moment in order to respond.
Thanks, Scott. yeah, we'll get back to you on that, Nina. Other questions, please.
Madam Chair, we have no further questions, but we have received one comment from Jeff Carlson. Good job to your CEO, Scott Balfour, in answering the questions related to greenhouse gas emissions. It seems to me that unless customers and the public are prepared to roast in the heat or freeze in the dark and/or be able to afford not to do so, we still require fossil fuels and will likely always require them. Thank you for pointing out this physical reality.
Well, thank you for that comment. Appreciate all the questions that have been asked today and for your concern at Emera. Scott, thank you for thoroughly answering those questions. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation in today's meeting and for your continued support of Emera. If there are other and follow-up questions or comments, we do encourage you to reach out to us by email, phone, or mail. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day.