8-K

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): April 26, 2023

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 8.01. Other Events

On April 26, 2023, California Water Service Group issued a press release (a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference) announcing the declaration of a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per common share will be payable on May 19, 2023 to stockholders of record on May 8, 2023.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

We hereby furnish the following exhibit with this report:

Exhibit No.	Description
99.1	Press Release issued April 26, 2023
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: April 26, 2023	By:	/s/ Thomas F. Smegal
	Name:	Thomas F. Smegal
	Title:	Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

 

April 26, 2023

For immediate release

CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP BOARD OF DIRECTORS DECLARES

313TH CONSECUTIVE QUARTERLY DIVIDEND

SAN JOSE, Calif. – At its meeting today, the California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) Board of Directors declared the company's 313^th consecutive quarterly dividend in the amount of $0.26 per common share. It will be payable on May 19, 2023 to stockholders of record on May 8, 2023.

California Water Service Group is the parent company of regulated utilities California Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, and Washington Water Service, as well as Texas Water Service, a utility holding company. Together, these companies provide regulated and non-regulated water and wastewater service to more than 2.1 million people in California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Washington, and Texas. 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 ("PSLRA"). The forward-looking statements are intended to qualify under provisions of the federal securities laws for "safe harbor" treatment established by the PSLRA. 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 the Company, the water utility industry and general economic conditions. These statements are not statements of historical fact. When used in our documents, statements that are not historical in nature, including words like will, would, expects, intends, plans, believes, may, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects, progress, predicts, hopes, targets, forecasts or variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They are based on numerous assumptions that we believe are reasonable, but they are open to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks. Consequently, 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: the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures; our ability to invest or apply the proceeds from the issuance of common stock in an accretive manner; 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, such as the CPUC’s decision in 2020 to preclude companies from proposing fully decoupled WRAMs in their next GRC filing (which impacted our 2021 GRC filing related to our operations commencing in 2023); the outcome and timeliness of regulatory commissions' actions concerning rate relief and other matters, including with respect to our 2021 GRC filing and our Cost of Capital filing; increased risk of inverse condemnation losses as a result of climate change and drought; our ability to renew leases to operate water systems owned by others on beneficial terms; changes in California State Water Resources Control Board water quality standards; changes in environmental compliance and water quality requirements; electric power interruptions, especially as a result of Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) programs ; housing and customer growth; 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 the unions; changes in customer water use patterns and the effects of conservation, including as a result of drought conditions; our ability to complete, in a timely manner or at all, successfully integrate and achieve anticipated benefits from announced acquisitions; the impact of weather, climate change, natural disasters, and actual or threatened public health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, on our operations, water quality, water availability, water sales and operating results and the adequacy of our emergency preparedness; restrictive covenants in or changes to the credit ratings on our current or future debt that could increase our financing costs or affect our ability to borrow, make payments on debt or pay dividends; risks associated with expanding our business and operations geographically; the impact of stagnating or worsening business and economic conditions, including inflationary pressures, general economic slowdown or a recession, increasing interest rates, and changes in monetary policy; the impact of market conditions and volatility on unrealized gains or losses on our non-qualified benefit plan investments and our operating results; the impact of weather and timing of meter reads on our accrued unbilled revenue; and other risks and unforeseen events described in our SEC filings. 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). We are not under any obligation, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

# # #

Contact

Tom Smegal

408-367-8200 (analysts)

Shannon Dean

408-367-8243 (media)

XML

Cover	Apr. 26, 2023
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Apr. 26, 2023
Entity File Number	1-13883
Entity Registrant Name	CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP
Entity Central Index Key	0001035201
Entity Tax Identification Number	77-0448994
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity Address, Address Line One	1720 North First Street
Entity Address, City or Town	San Jose
Entity Address, State or Province	CA
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	95112
City Area Code	408
Local Phone Number	367-8200
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Shares, par value $0.01
Trading Symbol	CWT
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false