For decades, the water utility industry referred to itself as the “silent service.” We went about our business -- securing water supplies, planning and building infrastructure, treating and testing the water for quality, and delivering it to our customers -- without much fanfare. The result of this low-profile approach is that many of our customers have little idea how valuable our services are. Water costs a fraction of a penny per gallon, a unit price that is considerably lower than those of other necessities, such as food, gasoline, and other utilities, and about one thousand times lower than the cost of bottled water. In fact, water rates in the United States are among the lowest in the world. And yet, what could be more important, more valuable, than water? As reporter Michael Specter wrote in the October 2006 issue of the New Yorker magazine, “It is a fact of the human condition that we can achieve none of our goals without water.” Although water may continue to be a bargain, it need not be under-valued. That is why we have invited you behind the scenes, to see for yourself what it takes to provide high-quality, reliable water service to our customers.
As a stockholder, you play an important role by investing in the infrastructure that is essential to providing life's key ingredient, 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
11:00 a.m. A stockholder retrieves her mail and finds a dividend check from California Water Service Group. At the same time, our team is making strategic decisions to increase the value of that stockholder's investment.