H2O America

Good day, and thank you for standing by. And welcome to SJW Group Q4 2021 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, our participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you'll need to press star 1 on your telephone. Please be advised that this call is being recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star 0. I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Jim Lentz, Chief Accounting Officer. Please begin.

Thank you, Operator. Welcome to the 2021 Fourth Quarter and Annual Financial Results Conference Call for SJW Group. I will be presenting today with Eric Thornburg, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Walters, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. For those who would like to follow along, slides accompanying our remarks are available on our website at www.sjwgroup.org. Before we begin today, I would like to remind you that this presentation and related materials posted on our websites may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by the company in light of its experience, historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the company believes are appropriate under the circumstances. Many factors could cause the company's actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a description of some of the factors that could cause actual results to be different from statements in this presentation, we refer you to the financial results press release and to our most recent forms, 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be obtained on our website. All forward-looking statements are made as of today, and SJW Group disclaims any duty to update or revise such statements. You will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. As a reminder, this webcast is being recorded, and an archive of the webcast will be available until April 25, 2022. You can access the press release and the website at our corporate website. I will now turn the call over to Eric Thornburg. Eric?

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm Eric Thornburg, and it is my honor to serve as Chair, President, and CEO of SJW Group. It is my pleasure to be joined on this call by Jim Lynch, Chief Accounting Officer, and Andrew Walters, Chief Financial Officer. I'm pleased to report that 2021 was a strong year for SJW Group. Our talented and passionate employees and leaders rose to the challenges and positioned us well for 2022 and coming years. We were solid in the key areas of our long-term growth strategy, delivering a reliable supply of high-quality water and world-class service to customers, investing in drinking water and wastewater systems to serve customers and communities, and seeking the return of and on that investment, focusing on drinking water and wastewater, continuing to acquire water and wastewater utilities, maintaining constructive relationships with our stakeholders and adding shareholder value through prudent growth. In 2021, we delivered earnings of $2.03 per share, invested more than $230 million in our water and wastewater systems, successfully processed our general rate case in Connecticut, obtained approval for a step one of a multi-year rate plan for the new water treatment facility in Maine, and grew our customer base in our Texas operation by 20% through acquisitions, and organic growth. In January of 2022, we reached a constructive settlement agreement with the Public Advocates Office in our California general rate case. Our success has its roots in our culture of teamwork and service and a commitment to excellence in environmental, social, and governance strategies. Our teams collaborate across our national footprint and are passionate about serving customers efficiently and sustainably. We view all aspects of our operations, planning, and construction through an ESG lens. In 2021, we had an emphasis on supporting the drive of our people who understand our social and environmental responsibilities and want to be a positive force for good in the communities where we live, work, and serve. We intend to emphasize this even more in 2022. Our accomplishments have been recognized with prime status by ISS ESG. Among our U.S. water utility peers, SJW Group is tied for the lead in overall social score from ISS and tied for second in the overall environmental score. The company has the best overall governance score possible. SJW Group's 2021 Corporate Sustainability Report, which is now available on our website, demonstrates how ESG is reflected throughout our organization. Our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are a good example. SJW Group has signed on to the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion. By signing on to this commitment, SJW Group has pledged to take action to cultivate a workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected and employees feel encouraged to discuss diversity and inclusion. We embrace each person's unique background traits and personality so that they will bring their true selves to our teams. We have a commitment to supplier diversity. Our efforts in California were recognized by the Public Utilities Commission and US Veterans Magazine honored SJW as one of the nation's top supplier diversity programs in 2020. With California as the model, programs have been implemented and supplier diversity goals established for our operations in other states. SJW Group also adopted a vendor code of conduct that applies our values across the supply chain. Likewise, we've been committed to being responsible stewards of the environment by sustainably managing and protecting water resources, which is critical to maintaining adequate supplies of high-quality water. We know that focusing on water resources is no longer enough. That is why we've committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 when compared with a 2019 baseline, a science-based target that aligns with the Paris Agreement to limit the warming of the planet. It's the right thing to do, and we will report on our progress. We're seeing extreme weather across our operations. A year ago, our Texas operation experienced ice and prolonged temperatures below freezing. causing widespread power and water outages. In Connecticut this summer, we saw tropical storms and record rainfall. In California, we experienced extreme dry conditions into last fall and the early part of 2022. Precipitation in California has since seesawed between above average and below average. We plan to issue 2022 guidance after the rainy season has concluded on our first quarter financial results call. There was enough precipitation in late 2021 to bring our Montevina drinking water treatment facility back online in mid-December 2021. We're hopeful that California's reservoirs continue to replenish through the rainy season. Our customers are still under a mandatory conservation order that requires a 15% reduction in water usage compared with 2019. We will continue to promote water conservation aggressively in our California operations as long as necessary. Water conservation memorandum and water conservation expense memorandum accounts have been established that allow for the potential future recovery of the revenue and expense impacts of such water use reductions. We offer and actively promote financial assistance programs to customers in need. Our utilities work with customers experiencing one-time or ongoing financial hardships through bill forgiveness, flexible payment arrangements, and in California and Connecticut through a water rate assistance program that provides a 15% reduction on water bills for income-eligible customers. SJW Group is also committed to ensuring that our customers are aware of state and federal assistance programs, such as the federally funded low-income household water assistance program. In California, we applied for funds on behalf of our customers in need, and received a check for almost $10 million from the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program that will provide immediate relief for our customers who have been in arrears. We believe that customer assistance programs and innovative rate making are at the core of water equity. Artificially keeping rates low by deferring investment is short-sighted and it's unsustainable and does not really serve customers who all deserve quality water and service for the long term. Our subsidiaries will continue to make investments in infrastructure so that customers at all income levels will have access to the high quality and reliable water service they deserve. Through prudent planning and rate making, such as the low income rates, the cost and rate impacts of these investments will be incurred gradually so they can be managed more easily by the utility and customers. Building and retaining our workforce and water professionals is also critical. We invest in the training and development of our people so they can have rewarding careers at SJW Group Utilities. They are the foundation our success is built on. We strive to provide a safe and productive work environment, support the training and development of our teams, and measure employee satisfaction and engagement through independent surveys. Earlier this month, Connecticut Water was recognized as a top workplace in the United States, one of just 1,100 companies across the country to achieve that distinction. I'll now turn the call over to Jim, who will review our financial results. And after Jim's remarks, we will address regulatory and other business matters.