Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that express our "belief," "anticipation" or "expectation," as well as other statements that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "projects", "forecasts", "may", "should", variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. They include, but are not limited to, the statements below:
| - | general economic, employment and business conditions, including with respect to the potential impact of inflation, tariffs, trade wars and/or recession; |
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| - | material costs and availability; |
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| - | consumer and producer price inflation; |
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| - | the impact of recent acquisitions on our ability to expand and foster relationships; |
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| - | strategic plans for goals, priorities, growth and expansion; |
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| - | expectations for our water and wastewater subsidiaries and non-utility subsidiaries; |
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| - | customer base growth opportunities in Delaware and Cecil County, Maryland; |
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| - | our belief regarding the timing and results of our rate requests; |
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| - | our belief regarding our capacity to provide water services for the foreseeable future to our customers; |
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| - | our belief relating to our compliance and the cost to achieve compliance with relevant governmental regulations, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) regulations and the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements; |
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| - | our expectation of the timing of decisions by regulatory authorities; |
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| - | our belief regarding the success of any future rate increase request; |
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| - | the impact of weather and climate change on our operations; |
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| - | the execution of our strategic initiatives; |
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| - | regulatory delays or uncertainty; |
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| - | our expectation regarding the timing for construction on new projects; |
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| - | our expectation relating to the adoption of recent accounting pronouncements; |
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| - | contract operations opportunities; |
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| - | the adequacy of our available sources of financing; |
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| - | the expected recovery of expenses related to our long-term debt; |
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| - | our expectation to be in compliance with financial covenants in our debt instruments; |
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| - | our ability to refinance our debt as it comes due; |
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| - | our ability to adjust our debt level, interest rate, maturity schedule and structure; |
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| - | the timing and terms of renewals of our lines of credit; |
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| - | changes in interest rates; |
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| - | plans to increase our wastewater treatment operations, engineering services and other revenue streams less affected by weather; |
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| - | anticipated growth in our non-utility subsidiaries; |
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| - | anticipated investments in certain of our facilities and systems and the sources of funding for such investments; |
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| - | sufficiency of internally generated funds and credit facilities to provide working capital and our liquidity needs; and |
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| - | the specific and overall impacts of global pandemics on our financial condition and results of operations. |
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Certain factors, as discussed under Item 1A - Risk Factors, that could cause results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
| - | changes in weather and climate; |
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| - | changes in our contractual obligations; |
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| - | ability to sufficiently control certain operating expenses which are necessary to provide public utility services; |
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| - | changes in government policies; |
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| - | costs and timely availability of materials and supplies for essential infrastructure projects and operations; |
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| - | the timing and results of our rate requests; |
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| - | delays in or failure to receive regulatory approvals; |
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| - | government or regulatory shutdowns or defunding; |
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| - | changes in economic and market conditions generally; |
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| - | effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting; |
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| - | unexpected events, restrictions and policies related to a public health crisis; and |
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While the Company may elect to update forward-looking statements, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, except as may be required under applicable securities laws, and you should not rely on any forward-looking statement as a representation of the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
