We expect to grow our earnings per share by 6.5% per year through at least 2026, supported by our updated $37 billion five-year growth capital program, resulting in an approximately 10% total return.
We now expect to invest $37 billion on behalf of our customers.
The investment programs are highlighted on Slide 5, with over 85% focus on decarbonization.
We now project $73 billion of green investment opportunity through 2035, nearly all of which will qualify for regulated cost of service recovery.
Our fourth quarter 2021 operating earnings, as shown on Slide 7, were $0.90 per share, which included a $0.03 hurt from worse-than-normal weather in our utility service territories for the quarter.
Full year 2021 operating earnings per share were $3.86 above the midpoint of our guidance range even in the face of a $0.05 from weather for the year.
We're initiating 2022 operating earnings per share guidance of $3.95 to $4.25 per share.
The midpoint of this range is in line with prior annual earnings per share growth guidance of 6.5% in 2022, when measured midpoint to midpoint.
We now expect operating earnings per share to grow at 6.5% per year through at least 2026.
Finally, we expect first quarter 2022 operating earnings per share to be between $1.10 and $1.25.
We expect our 2020 full year dividend to be $2.67, reflecting our target payout ratio of approximately 65%.
We're also extending the long-term dividend per share growth rate of 6% per year through 2026.
We continue to forecast a total five-year rate base CAGR 9% broken out here by segment, a major driver; and over 75% of its planned growth capex is eligible for rider recovery.
Our plan assumes we issue programmatic equity of just 1% to 1.5% of our current market cap annually through our existing DRIP and ATM equity programs in line with prior guidance.
The transaction value achieved through a competitive sale process represents approximately 26 times 2021 net income and two times rate based.
As a reminder, Hope Gas operates only in West Virginia and serves about 110,000 customers.
Turning now to electric sales trends, fourth quarter weather-normalized sales increased 1.4% year over year in Virginia and 2.3% in South Carolina.
Full year 2021 weather-normalized sales increased 1.4% year over year in Virginia and 1.6% year over year in South Carolina.
Looking ahead, we expect electric sales growth in our Virginia and South Carolina service territories to continue at a run rate of 1% to 1.5% per year.
As was disclosed at that time in November, we've entered into five major fixed cost agreements, which collectively represent around $7 billion of the total capital budget.
Within those contracts, only about $800 million remain subject to commodity indexing, most of it steel.
We initiated 2022 full year operating earnings per share guidance that represents a 6.5% annual increase midpoint to midpoint.
We affirmed the same 6.5% operating earnings per share growth guidance through 2026.
We introduced a $37 billion high quality decarbonization-focused, five-year growth capex plan that drives an approximately 9% rate based growth.
In the past year, our customers in our electric service areas in Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina had power 99.9% of the time, excluding major storms.
As we did for the first winter storm of 2022, the damp, wet, heavy snow on most of the northern, central and western regions of Virginia, interrupting service to over 400,000 customers.
Over 87% of those customers had service restored after two days of restoration and 96% within four days.
Based on these trends, the Virginia-based investment balance as a percentage of total Dominion Energy declined to about 13% by 2026 and is expected to continue to decline as a percentage in the future.
Second, unlike any other such project in North America, this investment is 100% regulated and eligible for rider recovery in Virginia.
The project is currently about 43% complete.
Final orders are expected later this year, as outlined on Page 18.
Through 2020, we have successfully reduced our enterprisewide CO2 equivalent emissions by 42%.
By 2035, we expect to improve that reduction to between 70% and 80% versus baseline on our way to meet net zero by 2050.
Back in 2005, more than half of our company's power production was from coal-fired generation.
By 2035, we project that to be less than 1%.
You'll also note that zero carbon generation grows significantly, such that by 2026, over 65% of our investment base will consist of electric wires and zero carbon generation.
In North Carolina, the commission approved a comprehensive settlement last month for our gas operations with rates based on a 9.6% ROE.
As part of that report, we also published our EEO 1 data.
This enhanced external reporting builds upon our commitment to increase our total workforce diversity by 1% each year with the goal of reaching at least 40% by year end 2026.
In addition to our current commitment to achieve enterprisewide net zero scope one carbon and methane emissions by 2050, we now aim to achieve net zero by 2050 for all Scope 2 emissions and for Scope 3 emissions associated with three major sources, LDC customer end-use emissions, upstream fuel, and purchase power.
That's why the company continues to take meaningful steps to address Scope 3 emissions.
For downstream emissions, we expect to increase our annual spend on energy efficiency over the next five years at our LDCs by nearly 50%, and to provide our customers with access to a carbon calculator and carbon offsets.
And finally, we continue to pursue innovative hydrogen use cases, including our blending pilot in Utah, which based on early assessment, confirms the ability to blend at least 5% and potentially up to 10% without adverse impacts to appliance performance, leak survey, system safety, or secondary emissions.
We affirm the same 6.5% operating earnings per share growth guidance through 2026 and affirmed our existing dividend growth guidance through 2026.

Summary:
Our fourth quarter 2021 operating earnings, as shown on Slide 7, were $0.90 per share, which included a $0.03 hurt from worse-than-normal weather in our utility service territories for the quarter.
We're initiating 2022 operating earnings per share guidance of $3.95 to $4.25 per share.
Finally, we expect first quarter 2022 operating earnings per share to be between $1.10 and $1.25.