California Water Service (Cal Water), which has provided water
utility service to the majority of Willows, Calif. since 1927,
recently acquired the municipal water system assets of the City of
Willows (Willows or City), which served the remainder of the city.
The purchase, completed in late December 2023, was aided by
California Assembly Bills 2339 and 850.
In 2018, the state enacted AB 2339, authored by Assemblymember
Mike Gipson (D-Carson); it enabled select cities, including
Willows, to more easily sell their municipal water systems when
owning and operating the system was not economical or in the public
interest. AB 850, authored by Assemblymember James Gallagher
(R-Yuba City) and enacted in 2021, extended the sunset date set in
AB 2339 through the end of 2023. The legislation allowed the City
of Willows to sell its municipal water system without incurring
substantial costs that would have otherwise been required and
burdened this small community in northern California.
Ahead of the sale, a new water main was installed to extend Cal
Water’s existing service area to the City’s customers. Cal Water
then installed individual service lines to connect its new
customers to the new main. While the municipal water system served
a small number of customers, the sale is significant because the
legislation and cooperation between partners facilitated this
mutually beneficial outcome for the City, customers, and Cal Water,
according to Cal Water Chairman and CEO Martin A. Kropelnicki.
“At Cal Water, we are focused on providing a reliable supply of
safe, clean water to our customers, and this transition enables the
City to focus on its core responsibilities as well,” said
Kropelnicki. “With the City and Cal Water serving Willows in our
respective areas of expertise, local residents and businesses reap
the benefit of high-quality service from both of us, and we look
forward to serving our new City of Willows customers.”
“The consolidation of these water systems is a major milestone
in the effort to ensure the entire Willows community has access to
safe, clean water. I am proud of the collaboration between the
state, City of Willows, California Water Service, and the community
to make this deal happen,” said Gallagher. “Providing enough time
to complete the process through AB 850 was a critical part of this
process and I am honored to have been part of the effort.”
“I am pleased and excited of the news that the City of Willows
has been able to complete the sale of their water system to
California Water Service, with the help of my bill, AB 2339,” said
Gipson. “When I authored AB 2339, I saw the need for small
municipal public water systems to have the ability to consolidate
these systems, to ease the burden of maintenance, treatment, and
energy on these communities. This deal will help ensure that clean,
safe drinking water is available to more California communities,
especially in rural areas like the City of Willows. These small
communities are absolutely essential to the success of this state,
and I applaud the cooperation and collaboration of all parties in
getting this deal done.”
“The project and acquisition will enhance future development in
the area and relieves the City of Willows from the liabilities and
costs of operating a small municipal system. At the same time, it
allows our outstanding partner, Cal Water, to become the sole
purveyor of water within the City and do what they do so very well:
provide safe, reliable water to all of the residents and visitors
to our City,” said Gary Hansen, City of Willows Mayor. “On behalf
of the City of Willows, I would like to take this opportunity to
publicly thank Cal Water for their collaboration and willingness to
effectively work together to better our community.”
About California Water Service and California Water
Service GroupCalifornia Water Service provides
high-quality, reliable water and/or wastewater services to about 2
million people statewide through 496,400 service connections. It is
the biggest subsidiary of California Water Service Group (Group)
(NYSE: CWT), the largest regulated water utility in the western
United States. In total, Group serves more than 2 million people in
California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Washington, and Texas through its
regulated subsidiaries, California Water Service, Hawaii Water
Service, New Mexico Water Service, and Washington Water Service,
and its utility holding company, Texas Water Service.
What sets Cal Water and Group apart is their commitment to
enhancing the quality of life for their customers, communities,
employees, and stockholders. Guided daily by their promise to
provide quality, service, and value, the company’s employees lead
the way in working to protect the planet, care for people, and
operate with the utmost integrity. Integral to Cal Water and
Group’s strategy is investing responsibly in water and wastewater
infrastructure, sustainability initiatives, and community
well-being. The company has been named one of “America’s Most
Responsible Companies” and the “World’s Most Trustworthy Companies”
by Newsweek and a Great Place to Work®, and Cal Water is No. 1 in
Customer Satisfaction Among Large Water Utilities in the West
Region* by J.D. Power. More information is available
at www.calwater.com and www.calwatergroup.com.
*California Water Service received the highest score in the West
Large segment of the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Water Utility Residential
Customer Satisfaction Study of customers’ satisfaction nationally
among water customers in the US. Visit jdpower.com/awards for more
details.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 ("Act"). The forward-looking statements are intended to
qualify under provisions of the federal securities laws for "safe
harbor" treatment established by the Act. Forward-looking
statements in this news release are based on currently available
information, expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections,
and management's beliefs, assumptions, judgments, and expectations
about Group and its subsidiaries, the water utility industry
and general economic conditions. These statements are not
statements of historical fact. When used in our document,
statements that are not historical in nature, including words like
promise, commitment, strategy, would, expects, intends, plans,
believes, may, could, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects,
predicts, forecasts, targets, seeks, should, or variations of such
words or similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance. They are based on numerous
assumptions that Group believes are reasonable but are subject to
uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary
materially from what is contained in a forward-looking statement.
Factors that may cause actual results to be different than those
expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to:
ability to integrate the business and operate the City
of Willows water system in an effective and
accretive manner; natural disasters, public health crises,
pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks of a contagious disease, such as
the outbreak of coronavirus (or COVID‐19); governmental and
regulatory commissions' decisions, including decisions on proper
disposition of property; consequences of eminent domain actions
relating to our water systems; changes in regulatory commissions'
policies and procedures; the timeliness of regulatory commissions'
actions concerning rate relief and other actions; changes in water
quality standards; changes in environmental compliance and water
quality requirements; electric power interruptions; housing and
customer growth trends; the impact of opposition to rate increases;
our ability to recover costs; availability of water supplies;
issues with the implementation, maintenance or security of our
information technology systems; civil disturbances or terrorist
threats or acts; the adequacy of our efforts to mitigate physical
and cyber security risks and threats; the ability of our enterprise
risk management processes to identify or address risks adequately;
labor relations matters as we negotiate with unions; changes in
customer water use patterns and the effects of conservation; the
impact of weather, climate, natural disasters, and diseases on
water quality, water availability, water sales and operating
results, and the adequacy of our emergency preparedness;
and other risks and unforeseen events. When considering
forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary
statements included in this paragraph, as well as the Annual 10-K,
Quarterly 10-Q, and other reports filed by Group from
time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). Group is under no obligation, and assumes no
obligation, to provide public updates of forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise.
Contact: Yvonne Kingman, 310-257-1434
California Water Service (NYSE:CWT)
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