Welcome to the 2018 Q1 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Adrienne, and I'll be your operator for today's call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Later, we'll conduct a question and answer session. Please note this conference is recorded.
I'll now turn the call over to Lauren Pendergraft, Investor Relations Manager. Lauren Pendergraft, you may begin.
Thank you, Adrienne. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Avista's Q1 2018 earnings conference call. Our earnings in our Q1 10 Q were released pre market this morning and they are both available on our website atavistacorp.com. Joining me this morning are Avistacorp Chairman of the Board and CEO, Scott Morris Senior Vice President and CFO, Mark Theiss Avista Corp President, Dennis Vermillion Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, Kevin Christie and Vice President and Controller, Ryan Krasselt. I would like to remind everyone that some of the statements that will be made today are forward looking statements that involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which are subject to change.
For reference to the various factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in today's call, please refer to our 10 ks for 2017 and 10 Q for the Q1 of 2018, which are available on our website. To begin this presentation, I would like to recap the financial results presented in today's press release. Our consolidated earnings for the Q1 of 2018 were $0.83 per diluted share compared to $0.96 for the Q1 of 2017. Now, I'll turn the discussion over to Scott.
Well, thank you, Lauren, and good morning, everyone. We had a good Q1. Avista Utilities earnings benefited from lower resource costs, customer growth and lower than expected operating expenses. The lower natural gas fuel prices were positive as they allowed us to pass on lower natural gas costs to our customers during the winter heating season. With regards to regulatory matters, last week, we received an order from the Washington Commission that concluded our 2017 electric and natural gas general rate cases.
The commission's order allowed us the opportunity to earn a fair return in 2018. We're also pleased to be able to return benefits of about $32,000,000 resulting from federal tax cuts to our customers. In Idaho, we recently filed a settlement agreement related to federal tax cuts, where we agreed to pass back over $16,000,000 to our customers. During 2018, we have made significant progress in Hydro One transaction in the Hydro One transaction and we are continuing to work through the approval processes. We have been able to reach settlement agreements in Washington, Idaho and Alaska, which are now pending before these state commissions.
We believe that we will be able to work with the commissions, their staff and other parties to receive the required approvals and we anticipate the transaction closing during the second half of twenty eighteen. Turning back to earnings, AEL and P had a good first quarter with earnings that were slightly above our expectations. At our other businesses, we had a net loss during the quarter due to an impairment on an investment, unanticipated losses on our equity investments and increased expenses associated with the renovation. We're initiating our 2018 earnings guidance with a consolidated range of $1.90 to $2.10 per diluted share, excluding acquisition costs. Mark will provide further details during his commentary, so I will turn it over to Mark.
Thank you, Scott. Good morning, everyone. With my normal laudatory hockey comment, we are now rooting for Tyler Johnson and the Tampa Bay Lightning as Tyler Johnson is from Spokane. So we are hoping they go. For the Q1 of 2018, Avista Utilities contributed $0.84 per diluted share compared to $0.90 in 2017.
And the decrease in earnings for the quarter was due to increased O and M expenses and depreciation expense. Depreciation expense was largely due to continuing to invest the necessary capital in our utility infrastructure, we continue to expect that Avista Utilities capital expenditures will total about $405,000,000 in 2018. Turning to liquidity. In 2018, we expect to issue $375,000,000 of long term debt and up to $85,000,000 of equity and what we are using those proceeds for are to refinance maturing long term debt, fund planned capital expenditures and maintain an appropriate capital structure. For the $85,000,000 of equity, we expect to get that either through the sale of shares through our sale agency agreement or more likely through an equity contribution from Hydro One upon the consummation of the transaction.
As Scott mentioned earlier, we are initiating our 2018 earnings guidance with a consolidated range of $1.90 to $2.10 per diluted share excluding acquisition costs. We expect acquisition costs to be in a range of $0.80 to $0.85 per diluted share for 2018. We expect Avista Utilities to contribute in the range of $1.89 to $2.03 per diluted share for 2018, again excluding acquisition costs. The midpoint of our Avista Utilities guidance range does not include any expense or benefit under the Energy Recovery Mechanism. Our current expectation for the is a benefit position within the 90% customer, 10% company sharing band, which is expected to add approximately $0.07 per diluted share.
Our outlook for Avista Utilities assumes, among other variables, normal precipitation and temperature, but above normal hydroelectric generation for the remainder of the year. For 2018, we expect AEL and P to contribute in the range of 0 point $0.14 per diluted share and our outlook for AEL and P assumes that among other variables normal precipitation and hydroelectric generation for the remainder of the year. We expect our other businesses to be between a loss of $0.09 and a loss of $0.07 per diluted share, which includes the costs associated with exploring strategic opportunities. This is higher than in the past, but as you saw in the Q1, we did have approximately $0.07 of loss in the Q1 related to an impairment and some other costs in those other businesses. Our guidance generally includes only normal operating conditions and does not include unusual items such as settlement transactions or acquisitions and dispositions until the effects of such are known.
I will now turn the call back to Lauren.
Thank you, Mark. Adrienne, we would like to open up the call for questions now.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. And we have no questions at the present time. I'll now turn the call back over to Lauren for final remarks.
I want to thank everyone for joining us today. We certainly appreciate your interest in our company and hope you have a great day.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect.