AMERICAN STATES WATER CO

A discussion on various regulatory matters is included in the section titled“Overview”in this Form 10-K’s“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”The discussion below focuses on other regulatory matters and developments.

Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity

GSWC and BVES hold Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (“CPCN”) granted by the CPUC in each of the ratemaking areas they serve. ASUS subsidiaries are regulated, if applicable, by the state in which it primarily conducts water and/or wastewater operations. FBWS holds a CPCN from the Public Utilities Commission of Texas. The Virginia State Corporation Commission exercises jurisdiction over ODUS as a public service company. The Maryland Public Service Commission approved the right of TUS to operate as a water and wastewater utility at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, and may exercise its jurisdiction over the water and wastewater utility operation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The South Carolina Public Service Commission exercises jurisdiction over PSUS as a public service company. ONUS is regulated by the North Carolina Public Service Commission. ECUS, FRUS and BSUS are not subject to regulation by their respective states’ utility commissions.

GSWC and BVES are subject to regulation by the CPUC which has broad authority over service and facilities, rates, classification of accounts, valuation of properties, the purchase, disposition and mortgaging of properties necessary or useful in rendering public utility service, the issuance of securities, the granting of certificates of public convenience and necessity as to the extension of services and facilities and various other matters.

Rates that GSWC and BVES are authorized to charge are determined by the CPUC in general rate cases and are derived using rate base, cost of service and cost of capital, as projected for a future test year. Rates charged to customers vary according to customer class and rate jurisdiction and are generally set at levels allowing for recovery of prudently incurred costs, including a fair return on rate base. Rate base generally consists of the original cost of utility plant in service, plus certain other assets, such as working capital and inventory, less accumulated depreciation on utility plant in service, deferred income tax liabilities and certain other deductions.

GSWC is required to file a water general rate case application every three years according to a schedule established by the CPUC. General rate cases typically include an increase in the test year with inflation-rate adjustments for expenses in the second and third years of the rate case cycle. For capital projects, there are two test years. Rates are based on a forecast of expenses and capital costs for each test year. GSWC’s cost of capital is determined in a separate proceeding. Investor-owned water utilities serving California are required to file their cost of capital applications on a triennial basis. BVES’s general rate cases are typically filed every four years, which also includes a determination of BVES’s cost of capital. Rates may also be increased by offsets for certain expense increases, including, but not limited to, supply-cost offset and balancing-account amortization, advice letter filings related to certain plant additions and other operating cost increases.

Neither the operations of AWR nor the operations and rates of ASUS are directly regulated by the CPUC. The CPUC does, however, regulate certain transactions between GSWC, BVES and ASUS and between GSWC and BVES and AWR.

General Rate Cases and Other Regulatory Matters

Water Segment

Recent Changes in Rates:

Rates that GSWC is authorized to charge are determined by the CPUC in general rate cases. In January 2025, the CPUC issued a final decision in GSWC’s latest general rate case proceeding that will set new rates for the years 2025 - 2027. Accordingly, new water rates for 2025 have been implemented and reflected in GSWC’s results for the year ended December 31, 2025.

In December 2025, GSWC received approval from the CPUC to implement its full second-year rate increases, effective January 1, 2026, that will result in higher adopted operating revenues less water supply cost for 2026 of approximately $32.0 million compared to 2025’s adopted operating revenues less water supply cost. Included in the 2026 increase is nearly $11 million related to advice letter capital projects. The assets from the advice letter projects and the related amounts in the memorandum account were added to the adopted rate base for inclusion in the revenue requirement effective January 1, 2026.

Expansion of GSWC’s Water Operations:

In 2014, the CPUC issued a final decision granting GSWC the authority to provide water utility service to a new area to be developed near Sacramento called Sutter Pointe, in Sutter County, California. Specific plans for the new development have been approved by Sutter County that will allow for the construction of 17,500 total dwelling units at full buildout, which is currently expected to occur over the next 20 or more years. Among other things, the final decision in 2014 ordered GSWC to file a separate application before the commencement of any construction in order to establish initial water service rates. The first phase of the new development has begun and is expected to occur over the next five years, and will serve up to 3,800 customer connections. Accordingly, in August 2024, GSWC filed an application prior to the start of construction. In October

2025, the CPUC issued a final decision authorizing initial water service rates covering the new development for the years 2026 through 2028.

On January 27, 2026, GSWC filed an application with the CPUC to acquire the water system assets from a city located within Los Angeles County. The application requested the expansion of GSWC’s CPCN to incorporate the new service area into one of GSWC’s existing ratemaking areas, and to include the $5.25 million purchase price in rate base. The acquisition is forecasted to increase revenues by approximately $1.0 million, if approved as filed. The city's service area serves almost 900 primarily residential customers.

Electric Segment

Recent Changes in Rates:

Rates that BVES is authorized to charge are determined by the CPUC in general rate cases. In January 2025, the CPUC issued a final decision in BVES’s general rate case proceeding that set new rates for the years 2023 - 2026, retroactive to January 1, 2023. Accordingly, new electric rates for 2025, which is the third year in the rate cycle, have been implemented and reflected in BVES results for the year ended December 31, 2025. As a result of receiving the final decision, the impact from retroactive rates for the full year of 2023 and from the second-year rate increases for the full year of 2024 were reflected in BVES’s 2024 fourth quarter results.

Among other things, the final decision also approved for recovery the requested capital expenditures and other incremental operating costs already incurred prior to 2023 in connection with BVES’s wildfire mitigation plans (“WMP”s) that were not included in customer rates prior to receiving a CPUC final decision on its latest general rate case. The decision approved BVES’s recovery of incremental vegetation management costs and other wildfire mitigation and prevention costs incurred prior to 2023 that were being tracked in memorandum accounts for future recovery and were recorded as regulatory assets. As of December 31, 2025, BVES has a total of approximately $11.3 million in regulatory assets related to these memorandum accounts. During the first quarter of 2025, BVES filed an advice letter to recover all pre-2023 costs included in the vegetation management and other WMP memorandum accounts, which will be recovered over a period of 24 to 36 months through surcharges that were implemented on March 1, 2025 and April 1, 2025.

General Rate Case for Years 2027–2030:

On January 30, 2026, BVES filed a general rate case application that will determine new electric rates for the years 2027 through 2030. Among other things, BVES requested (i) capital budgets of approximately $133 million for the four-year rate cycle, and another approximately $17 million, plus AFUDC, for capital projects to be filed for revenue recovery through advice letters when the projects are completed, and (ii) a capital structure for BVES of 60% equity and 40% debt, a return on equity of 11.30%, an embedded cost of debt of 5.92%, and a return on rate base of 9.15%.

BVES Solar Energy and Battery Storage Projects:

In May 2024, BVES filed an application with the CPUC for approval to construct the solar energy and battery storage projects that will provide BVES with its first solar power generation facility and battery energy storage system. In July 2025, BVES and the Public Advocates Office filed a joint motion with the CPUC to adopt a settlement agreement resolving all issues in the proceeding. Among other things, the settlement agreement authorizes BVES to construct the solar energy and battery storage facility and system for a total combined cost of approximately $28.0 million, plus additional funds used during construction. In December 2025, BVES received a final decision approving the settlement agreement and authorizing construction of the solar and battery projects. The costs associated with the projects are recoverable in customer rates at the time the projects are completed and in service.

For more information regarding significant regulatory matters, see Note 3 of “Notes to Financial Statements” included in Part II, Item 8, in Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.