BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION [Abstract]

BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

NOTE 17 –  BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

The Company’s operating segments are comprised of its businesses which generate revenues and incur expenses, for which separate operational financial information is available and is regularly evaluated by management for the purpose of making operating decisions, assessing performance, and allocating resources.  The Company operates its businesses primarily through one reportable segment, the Regulated Utility segment.  The Regulated Utility segment is the largest component of the Company’s business and includes an aggregation of our five regulated utility subsidiaries that are in the business of providing regulated water and wastewater services on the Delmarva Peninsula.  Our regulated water utility services include treating, distributing, and selling water to residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, municipal and utility customers throughout the State of Delaware and in Cecil County, Maryland and to a residential community in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  Our regulated wastewater utility services include the treatment and disposal of wastewater for customers in Sussex County, Delaware.  The Company is subject to regulations as to its rates, services, and other matters by the states of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania with respect to utility service within these states.

The Chief Operating Decision Maker, or CODM, is the Executive Committee led by the Chief Executive Officer and includes the Chief Financial Officer.  The CODM uses operating income as its measure of profit to assess the performance of each segment. This profit measure excludes the financing component and allows management to focus on controllable expenses, to allocate resources during the annual budgeting process and to monitor budget versus actual results on a monthly basis.

The accounting policies of the operating segments are the same as those described in Note 2 – Basis of Presentation.  The measurement of depreciation, interest, and capital expenditures are predominately related to our Regulated Utility segment.  These amounts in our non-utility business are negligible and account for approximately less than 1% of consolidated amounts as of December 31, 2024, December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

	Years Ended December 31,
	2024						2023						2022
in thousands	Regulated Utility		Total				Regulated Utility		Total				Regulated Utility		Total
Regulated Utility Revenues	$	101,210	$	101,210			$	92,228	$	92,228			$	89,818	$	89,818
Reconciliation of revenue
Other revenues				7,014		(a)				6,877		(a)				9,248		(a)
Inter-segment elimination				(272	)					(244	)					(169	)
Consolidated revenues				107,952						98,861						98,897
Less: (b)
Payroll and Benefits (c)		25,975						25,031						24,018
Supply and Delivery (d)		14,704						12,595						11,936
Administrative (e)		9,389						8,823						7,987
Depreciation and Amortization		13,578						13,281						12,563
Income Taxes		6,552						5,216						5,091
Property and other taxes		6,255						6,036						5,812
Regulated Utility Operating Income	$	24,757	$	24,757			$	21,246	$	21,246			$	22,411	$	22,411
Reconciliation of operating income
Other profit				1,394		(a)				1,200		(a)				1,495		(a)
Consolidated operating income			$	26,151					$	22,446					$	23,906

	December 31, 2024				December 31, 2023
	Regulated Utility		Total		Regulated Utility		Total
Assets
Regulated Utility Assets	$	793,118	$	793,118	$	760,339	$	760,339
Reconciliation of assets
Other assets				5,505				6,493
Consolidated assets			$	798,623			$	766,832

(a) Other revenues and other profit: 

– Revenue and profit from segments below the quantitative thresholds are attributable to four non-utility businesses of the Company

– These businesses are primarily comprised of: Service Line Protection Plan services for water, sewer and internal plumbing; design, construction and engineering services; contract services for the operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems in Delaware and Maryland; and leased space to the Regulated Utility Segment

– These non-utility businesses do not individually or in the aggregate meet the quantitative thresholds for determining reportable segments

– Certain corporate costs have been allocated from the regulated utility segment to the non-utility businesses and are included in the other profit amounts shown

(b) Significant expense categories: 

– The significant expense categories and amounts align with the segment-level information that is regularly provided to the CODM

– Inter-segment expenses related to leased space provided by one non-utility business, calculated on the lower of cost or market method, are included in the amounts shown

(c) Payroll and benefits:

– This category does not include amounts capitalized on the Consolidated Balance Sheet  

(d) Supply and Delivery:

– This category includes purchased power, purchased water, chemicals, infrastructure maintenance and repair costs, and wastewater disposal fees

(e) Administration expense:

– This category includes computer systems maintenance and subscription fees, audit and legal fees, insurance, customer billing, and other general and administrative expenses