SJW Group

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the SJW Group Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all 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 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Andrew Walters, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Welcome to our third quarter 2024 financial results conference call for SJW Group. I will be presenting today with Eric Thornburg, Chair of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer. For those who would like to follow along, slides accompanying our remarks are available on our website at sjwgroup.com. Before we begin today, I would like to remind you that this presentation and related materials posted on our website 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 results, 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 an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. This webcast is being recorded and an archive of the webcast will be available until January 20th, 2025. You can access the press release in the webcast at SJW Group's website. In addition, some of the information discussed today includes the non-GAAP financial measures of adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share. that have not been calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States or GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to the financial information prepared on a GAAP basis rather than an alternative to respective GAAP. Financial measures, reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are presented in the table in the appendix of our presentation. I will now turn the call over to Eric.

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us. My name is Eric Thornburg and it is my honor to serve as chair, president, and CEO of SJW Group. I'm pleased to share that in the third quarter of 2024, we continued to meet drinking water and environmental regulations, deliver on our public health and environmental stewardship commitments, and provide high-quality water and service to customers. We also delivered strong financial results, including a 7% increase in net income from this time last year. Our performance reflects our continued execution of our successful growth strategy, which is focused on investments in our infrastructure and water systems across our national footprint and constructive engagement and consensus building with key local stakeholders. For example, in California, we filed a settlement agreement with the California Public Utilities Commission for San Jose Waters 2025 through 2027 general rate case that we constructively negotiated with the Public Advocates Office, resolving all but two issues together. We also filed our second system improvement charge in Texas and received approval for infrastructure recovery mechanism filings in both Connecticut and Maine that together covered almost 18 miles of pipe replacement in New England. Year to date, we have invested $252 million or approximately 76% of our $332 million capital expenditure plan for 2024 in water and wastewater utility infrastructure across all four states. and we're steadily advancing our five-year plan of investing $1.6 billion. Also, our California operation anticipates receiving a grant of approximately $8 million through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, or GRIP, for advancing clean energy infrastructure. We anticipate matching that amount for a total $16 million investment to increase operational resilience and reduce energy costs. Additionally, SJW Group was one of two water utilities recognized by Newsweek in its list of America's Greenest Companies 2025, and our Connecticut operations received a Top Workplace Award from the Hartford Courant for the fourth consecutive year. Importantly, we delivered earnings per diluted share of $1.17 and adjusted non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $1.18 in the third quarter. Now, while I'm proud of our accomplishments, our culture is not one of complacency. Our industry is facing significant challenges with the need to meet new water quality standards and replace aging infrastructure. while also maintaining affordability for our customers. We know that regulators, legislators, and other policymakers are looking to us to be leaders, to find creative, resourceful, and efficient solutions to balance these, at times, competing needs. And we are up for that challenge. We are focused on forward-thinking solutions that prioritize public health and safety while optimizing operational efficiency, whether through the use of AI technology, economies of scale, or other continual improvement exercises. Our industry-leading scientists and engineers are busy designing PFAS treatment facilities that meet the highest regulatory expectations while also tackling emerging contaminants such as microplastics through groundbreaking research. In parallel, We're diligently evaluating our pioneering income assistance programs in California and Connecticut to see how we can do more for a greater number of customers across our national footprint. We also continue to be dedicated to constructive engagement and partnership with our local stakeholders to ensure that we are all well positioned to achieve our shared mission of serving our communities effectively. That is our culture, and it's also our competitive advantage. With that, I will pass it over to Andrew to review our detailed financial results and regulatory updates in our state operations. Andrew?