California Water Service Group Names New Vice President, Engineering

SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/06/15 -- California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) today announced the selection of Robert J. Kuta, 50, as Vice President, Engineering, effective on April 20, 2015.

Kuta has more than 31 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry, serving most recently as Senior Vice President, Operations Management Services -- Water, Environmental & Nuclear, at CH2M Hill, a global leader in full-service consulting, design, design-build, operations, and program management. In this capacity, Kuta led a team of 1,400 employees responsible for capital improvement and project management services for alternative-delivery water and wastewater projects for public and private clients.

"We believe that Rob will play a critical role in ensuring that we execute our capital improvement program, completing projects on time and on budget, in order to provide our customers with reliable, high-quality water and wastewater services," said President and Chief Executive Officer Martin A. Kropelnicki.

Before beginning his career at CH2M Hill in 2006, Kuta served as President of Arizona American Water Company, where he was responsible for water and wastewater service delivery to 2 million people. Prior to that, he held management positions at Citizens Water Resource Company and Chaparral City Water Company/Spring Creek Utilities.

In 2014, he and his team were recognized by the Design-Build Institute of America with two National Awards of Merit in 2014.

Kuta holds a Master of Business Administration from University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Central Michigan University.

"After conducting an extensive, nation-wide search, we selected Rob because of his expertise and experience in leading a large team of water professionals and overseeing large water and wastewater capital and maintenance projects," Kropelnicki said.

Kuta will relocate from his current home of Scottsdale, Arizona to the San Jose area.

California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service Company, Washington Water Service Company, New Mexico Water Service Company, Hawaii Water Service Company, Inc., CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services, LLC. Together these companies provide regulated and non-regulated water service to approximately 2 million people in more than 100 California, Washington, New Mexico and Hawaii communities. Group's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CWT."

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Act"). The forward-looking statements are intended to qualify under provisions of the federal securities laws for "safe harbor" treatment established by the Act. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections, and management's judgment about the Company, the water utility industry and general economic conditions. Such words as would, expects, intends, plans, believes, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects, predicts, forecasts or variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from what is contained in a forward-looking statement. Factors that may cause a result different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to: governmental and regulatory commissions' decisions; changes in regulatory commissions' policies and procedures; the timeliness of regulatory commissions' actions concerning rate relief; new legislation; changes in accounting valuations and estimates; changes in accounting treatment for regulated companies, including adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, if required; electric power interruptions; increases in suppliers' prices and the availability of supplies including water and power; fluctuations in interest rates; changes in environmental compliance and water quality requirements; litigation that may result in damages or costs not recoverable from third parties; acquisitions and our ability to successfully integrate acquired companies; the ability to successfully implement business plans; changes in customer water use patterns; the impact of weather and climate on water sales and operating results; access to sufficient capital on satisfactory terms; civil disturbances or terrorist threats or acts, or apprehension about the possible future occurrences of acts of this type; the involvement of the United States in war or other hostilities; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees; labor relations matters as we negotiate with the unions; federal health care law changes that could result in increases to Company health care costs and additional income tax expenses in future years; changes in federal and state income tax regulations and treatment of such by regulatory commissions; implementation of new information technology systems; changes in operations that result in an impairment to acquisition goodwill; 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; general economic conditions, including changes in customer growth patterns and our ability to collect billed revenue from customers; and, other risks and unforeseen events. 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). The Company assumes no obligation to provide public updates of forward-looking statements.