BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2025

BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION [Abstract]

BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

NOTE 16 – 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 condensed consolidated amounts as of March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024.

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2025					2024
in thousands	Regulated Utility		Total			Regulated Utility		Total
Regulated Utility Revenues	$	24,045	$	24,045		$	22,840	$	22,840
Reconciliation of revenue
Other revenues				1,905	(a)				1,763	(a)
Inter-segment elimination				(64	)				(59	)
Consolidated revenues				25,886					24,544
Less: (b)
Payroll and Benefits (c)		6,210					6,358
Supply and Delivery (d)		3,452					3,363
Administrative (e)		2,725					2,295
Depreciation and Amortization		3,344					3,451
Income Taxes		1,584					1,425
Property and other taxes		1,668					1,591
Regulated Utility Operating Income	$	5,062	$	5,062		$	4,357	$	4,357
Reconciliation of operating income
Other profit				484	(a)				362	(a)
Consolidated operating income			$	5,546				$	4,719

	March 31, 2025				March 31, 2024
	Regulated Utility		Total		Regulated Utility		Total
Assets
Regulated Utility Assets	$	801,517	$	801,517	$	793,118	$	793,118
Reconciliation of assets
Other assets				7,335				5,505
Consolidated assets			$	808,852			$	798,623

(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 Condensed 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