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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): October 15, 2020

 

CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
  1-13883
(Commission file number)
  77-0448994
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

 

1720 North First Street
San Jose, California
(Address of principal executive offices)
  95112
(Zip Code)

 

(408) 367-8200

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

¨Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

¨Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

¨Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

¨Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class   Trading Symbol(s)   Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Shares, par value $0.01   CWT   New York Stock Exchange

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined by Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company ¨

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

 

 

 

 

 

Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

 

On October 15, 2020, California Water Service Group issued the press release attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this current report and incorporated by reference herein.

 

The information furnished pursuant to Item 7.01 of this Current Report shall not be deemed "filed" for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), or incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

 

Item 9.01.       Financial Statements and Exhibits.  

 

We hereby furnish the following exhibit with this report:

 

Exhibit No.   Description
99.1   Press Release issued October 15, 2020
104   Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

  CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP
     
     
Date: October 15, 2020 By: /s/ Thomas F. Smegal
  Name: Thomas F. Smegal
  Title: Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

 

October 15, 2020

For immediate release

 

California Public Utilities Commission Issues Proposed Decision on Cal Water’s 2018 General Rate Case

 

 

SAN JOSE, Calif.—An Administrative Law Judge with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a proposed decision yesterday in the 2018 General Rate Case and Infrastructure Improvement Plan for California Water Service (Cal Water), the largest subsidiary of California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT).

 

The proposed decision is subject to adoption by the CPUC and can be considered no earlier than the CPUC’s Nov. 19, 2020 meeting. If adopted as proposed, the decision would approve the settlement reached in October 2019 by Cal Water and the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office, allow Cal Water to continue its decoupling balancing accounts through 2022, and allow Cal Water to retain its pension and medical cost balancing accounts. The proposed decision further resolves a small number of other issues which were not included in the settlement.

 

Under this proposed decision, Cal Water would be authorized to invest $828 million in its districts throughout California through 2021. This includes $148 million of water system infrastructure upgrades that would be recovered via the CPUC’s advice letter procedure after those projects are completed. The proposed decision authorizes Cal Water to increase total revenue company-wide by approximately $6.6 million in 2020, $20.3 million in 2021, $20.9 million in 2022, and up to $17.3 million when the advice letter projects are completed. Rate changes would vary by service area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We appreciate the administrative law judge’s thorough analysis and proposed decision, which would enable us to fulfill our responsibility of delivering safe, reliable, high-quality water utility services to our customers and firefighters,” said Martin A. Kropelnicki, President and CEO. “At the same time, we will continue working to keep costs as low as possible, in order to fulfill our commitment to provide quality, service, and value to our communities.”

 

 

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service, Washington Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services. Together, these companies provide regulated and non-regulated water service to more than 2 million people in California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii. California Water Service Group’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CWT.” Additional information is available online at www.calwatergroup.com.

 

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 are based on currently available information, expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections, and management's judgment about the Company, the water utility industry and general economic conditions. Such words as would, expects, intends, plans, believes, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects, predicts, forecasts 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 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 a result different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to: the adoption of the proposed decision by the CPUC; natural disasters or calamities, public health crises, pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks of a contagious disease, such as the recent outbreak of Coronavirus (or COVID-19), or any escalation or worsening of the foregoing; 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 and climate 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 from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Company assumes no obligation to provide public updates of forward-looking statements.

 

 

# # #

 

 

 

Media Contact

Yvonne Kingman

ykingman@calwater.com

310-257-1434

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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