CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This prospectus and the documents we incorporate by reference herein and therein contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical fact included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s plans, objectives, goals, intentions, projections, strategies, future events or performance, negotiations, and underlying assumptions. The words “may,” “if,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “continue,” “forecast,” “intend,” “promote,” “seek,” and similar words and expressions are generally used and intended to identify forward-looking statements. For example, statements regarding operating margin patterns, customer growth, the composition of our customer base, price volatility, seasonal patterns, payment of debt, interest savings, replacement market and new construction market, bonus depreciation tax deductions and future changes not yet enacted, amount and timing for completion of estimated future construction expenditures, including the cost of any new facilities and the cost of any expansion plans, forecasted operating cash flows and results of operations, net earnings impacts from gas infrastructure replacement surcharges, funding sources of cash requirements, amounts generally expected to be reflected in current or future period revenues from regulatory rate proceedings, approval of our general rate case settlements and effective dates of new general rates, post-test year rate adjustments and the extension requests, ARA rates and other surcharges, Nevada Conservation and Energy Efficiency programs, purchased gas adjustment clauses, and other rate adjustments, sufficiency of working capital and current credit facilities, bank lending practices, the Company’s views regarding its liquidity position, ability to raise funds and receive external financing capacity, future dividend increases and the board’s current target dividend payout ratio, earnings trends, pension and post-retirement benefits, certain benefits of tax acts, the effect of any rate changes or regulatory proceedings, contract or construction change order negotiations, impacts of accounting standard updates, effective dates of pipeline regulations, infrastructure replacement mechanisms and Customer-Owned Yard Line programs, statements regarding future gas prices, gas purchase contracts and derivative financial instruments, recoverability of regulatory assets, the impact of certain legal proceedings, and the timing and results of future rate hearings and approvals are forward-looking statements.
A number of important factors affecting the business and financial results could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, customer growth rates, conditions in the housing market, the ability to recover costs through the PGA mechanisms or other regulatory assets, the effects of regulation/deregulation, the timing and amount of rate relief, changes in rate design, variability in volume of gas or transportation service sold to customers, changes in gas procurement practices, changes in capital requirements and funding, the impact of conditions in the capital markets on financing costs, changes in construction expenditures and financing, changes in operations and maintenance expenses, effects of pension expense forecasts, accounting changes and regulatory treatment related thereto, future liability claims, changes in pipeline capacity for the transportation of gas and related costs, results of Centuri Construction Group, Inc.’s (“Centuri”) bid work, Centuri construction expenses, differences between actual and originally expected outcomes of Centuri bid or other fixed-price construction agreements, outcomes from contract and change order negotiations, and ability to successfully procure new work, impacts from work awarded or failing to be awarded from significant customers, the mix of work awarded, the amount of work awarded to Centuri following the lifting of the recent work stoppage, acquisitions and management’s plans related thereto, competition, our ability to raise capital in external financings, our ability to continue to remain within the ratios and other limits subject to our debt covenants, and ongoing evaluations in regard to goodwill and other intangible assets. In addition, management can provide no assurance that its discussions regarding certain trends relating to its financing and operating expenses will continue in future periods. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ and that you should consider prior to investing in our securities are discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” and in other sections of this prospectus and our current and periodic reports, and other filings, filed from time to time with the SEC that are incorporated by reference into this prospectus. See “Incorporation by Reference” and “Where You Can Find More Information” below and for information about how to obtain copies of those documents. All forward-looking statements in this prospectus
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