Mr. Barry Perry reports

FORTIS INC. PROVIDES NEW FIVE-YEAR OUTLOOK AND ANNOUNCES 6.25% QUARTERLY DIVIDEND INCREASE

Fortis Inc. is providing its five-year capital investment plan of approximately $14.5-billion for the period 2018 through 2022, up $1.5-billion from the prior year's plan. The corporation's board of directors also announced a 6.25-per-cent increase in the fourth quarter 2017 common share dividend.

Highlights

• Five-year capital investment plan of approximately $14.5-billion for 2018 through 2022, up $1.5-billion from the prior year's plan;
• Fourth quarter 2017 dividend increase of 6.25 per cent, marking 44 consecutive years of annual common share dividend payment increases;
• Average annual dividend growth target of 6 per cent extended through 2022;
• Capital investment plan mostly comprises a diversified mix of highly executable, low-risk projects.

Fortis president and chief executive officer Barry Perry said: "The corporation is focused on sustainable investment in its utilities. Our high-quality and diverse portfolio of utility businesses are driving low-risk, visible growth.

"We are focused on modernizing our energy networks to handle the changes occurring in our industry while at the same time exceeding the expectations of our customers. Our development projects which are not included in the capital investment plan, and our focus on pursuing additional opportunities in our service territories, would be additive to our five-year outlook providing potentially meaningful upside."

The corporation's capital investment plan comprises mostly a diversified mix of highly executable, low-risk projects and is fully financed through debt raised at the utilities, cash from operations and common equity from the corporation's dividend reinvestment plan. As a result, consolidated rate base is projected to increase from over $25-billion in 2017 to approximately $32-billion in 2022.

Today's utility environment is characterized by a demand for cleaner energy, the need for a more resilient grid and increased use of technology. The five-year capital investment plan is driven by projects that improve the transmission grid, address natural gas system capacity and gas line network integrity, replace aging wooden poles, increase cyber protection, and allow the grid to deliver cleaner energy.

Successful completion of three utility acquisitions in the United States over the past few years, including the purchase of ITC Holdings Corp. in October, 2016, has changed the profile of Fortis dramatically. What used to be a predominantely Canadian-focused company has seen a significant shift with approximately 60 per cent of assets now in the United States. "These acquisitions have allowed us to achieve scale in the utility industry and have further diversified our business both from a geographic and regulatory perspective, providing us with a strong platform to grow organically going forward," said Mr. Perry. "While Fortis was once focused primarily on electric and gas distribution, today with ITC we are also a leader in the electricity transmission segment, positioning us as a leader in the North American utility industry."

With approximately 25,000 circuit kilometres of transmission, ITC is the largest independent electricity transmission company in the United States, serving several states in the U.S. Midwest.

Marking its 44th consecutive year of increased dividend payments, the board declared a common share dividend of 42.5 cents per share on the issued and outstanding fully paid common shares of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the common shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017. In addition, the corporation has targeted average annual dividend per common share growth of approximately 6 per cent through 2022 based on an annual dividend of $1.60.

The continuation of the company's dividend growth guidance takes into account many factors, including the continued good performance of utilities, growth in service territories, the expectation of reasonable outcomes for regulatory proceedings and the successful execution of the corporation's five-year capital investment plan.

The board announced the following dividends on the corporation's first preference shares and common shares:

• 30.63 cents per share on the first preference shares, Series F, of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017;
• 24.27 cents per share on the first preference shares, Series G, of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017;
• 15.625 cents per share on the first preference shares, Series H, of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017;
• 13.6875 cents per share on the first preference shares, Series I, of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017;
• 29.69 cents per share on the first preference shares, Series J, of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017;
• 25 cents per share on the first preference shares, Series K, of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017;
• 25.625 cents per share on the first preference shares, Series M, of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017;
• 42.5 cents per share on the common shares of the corporation, payable on Dec. 1, 2017, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 20, 2017.

The corporation has designated the common share dividend and preference share dividends as eligible dividends for federal and provincial dividend tax credit purposes.

About Fortis Inc.

Fortis is a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with total assets of approximately $48-billion as of June 30, 2017. The corporation's 8,000 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, nine U.S. states and three Caribbean countries.

We seek Safe Harbor.