By Tom Kleckner

NextEra Energy touted “one of the best renewable development periods” in its history as it reported third-quarter adjusted earnings on Tuesday, beating analysts’ expectations.

The Florida-based company’s earnings were $1.16 billion ($2.39/share), an increase over 2018’s third-quarter earnings of $1.04 billion ($2.17/share). Zacks Consensus Estimate had projected earnings of $2.27/share.

Speaking with analysts Tuesday, CFO Rebecca Kujawa said NextEra has increased year-to-date adjusted earnings by nearly 12%, compared to the same period in 2018. NextEra Energy Resources drove much of that growth, she said, pointing to a renewables backlog of more than 12.3 GW, more than the operating portfolio it had at the end of 2014, which took 15 years to build.

Energy Resources added 1,375 MW to its backlog in the last three months, Kujawa said. The company added 747 MW of solar and 340 MW of battery storage, all paired with new solar projects, she said, “as we further advance the next phase of renewables deployment that pairs low-cost wind and solar energy with a low-cost battery storage solution.”

Kujawa said NextEra removed 339 MW from MISO’s interconnection queue because of increased transmission upgrades and rising interconnection costs as developers have rushed to get projects approved as tax credits wind down. The “speed bump” only creates opportunities, she said.

“Some of those projects had some obvious customers that wanted to buy some wind and solar projects, which will create opportunities for Energy Resources … It also creates the opportunity or incentive for us to optimize our existing queue positions and existing interconnection rights to maximize all the generation that could be filled for those interconnection requests,” she said.

“Overall, we are pleased with the progress we are making at NextEra Energy,” CEO Jim Robo said in a statement. “I will be disappointed if we are not able to deliver growth at or near the top end of our [$10.00-10.75] adjusted earnings per share expectations range in 2022.”

On a GAAP basis, NextEra’s third-quarter income was $879 million ($1.81/share) compared to $1.01 billion ($2.10/share) a year ago. GAAP earnings considered the effects of the federal corporate tax reduction and non-qualifying hedges.

NextEra’s share price gained $2.87 following the earnings release, closing up 1.2% at $236.24/share.