Essential Utilities Announces Appointment of Edwina Kelly to Board of Directors

BRYN MAWR, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essential Utilities (NYSE: WTRG) today announced the appointment of Edwina Kelly to the Essential Board of Directors. Kelly will serve as a member of the audit committee and the risk mitigation and investment policy committee of the board.

Kelly is a senior principal at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) where she is responsible for originating new investments, transaction management and asset management for investments in the organization’s global Sustainable Energy Group. CPP Investments invested $750 million in Essential Utilities as part of the equity raised for the purchase of Peoples Natural Gas in 2020. Kelly is replacing former director Wendy Franks as a board representative for CPP Investments.

“I look forward to working with Edwina on Essential’s Board of Directors. Her expertise and experience with renewable energy will be valuable as we strive to meet the emissions reduction targets announced earlier this year,” said Essential Chairman and CEO Christopher Franklin.

In January 2021, less than one year since the closing of the Peoples Gas acquisition, Essential announced a commitment to substantially reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. By 2035, Essential will reduce its emissions by 60% from its 2019 baseline. This reduction is roughly equivalent to the emissions from 76,000 cars on the road over the course of the year. This will be achieved by extensive gas pipeline replacement, renewable energy purchasing, accelerated methane leak detection and repair, and various other currently planned initiatives that are highly feasible with proven technology. This science-based commitment is consistent with the rate of reduction necessary over the next 15 years to keep on track with the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Prior to joining CPP Investments, Kelly was a director at EFG Hermes UAE where she helped manage the renewable energy platform and led solar portfolio acquisitions and equity restructurings of wind farm investments. She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics from the University of Oxford and is an associated chartered accountant member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

About Essential

Essential is one of the largest publicly traded water, wastewater and natural gas providers in the U.S., serving approximately 5 million people across 10 states under the Aqua and Peoples brands. Essential is committed to excellence in proactive infrastructure investment, regulatory expertise, operational efficiency and environmental stewardship. The company recognizes the importance water and natural gas play in everyday life and is proud to deliver safe, reliable services that contribute to the quality of life in the communities it serves. For more information, visit http://www.essential.co.

Forward-looking statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among others: the company’s role in the United States’ infrastructure investments; its ability to be an industry leader in protecting the environment; the guidance range of adjusted income per diluted common share for the fiscal year ending in 2021; the 3-year earnings growth from 2021 to 2023; the projected total regulated water segment customer growth for 2021; the anticipated amount of capital investment in 2021; the anticipated amount of capital investment from 2021 through 2023; and the company’s anticipated rate base growth from 2021 through 2023. There are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including: disruptions in the global economy; financial and workforce impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic; the continuation of the company's growth-through-acquisition program; the company’s continued ability to adapt itself for the future and build value by fully optimizing company assets; general economic business conditions; the company’s ability to fund needed infrastructure; housing and customer growth trends; unfavorable weather conditions; the success of certain cost-containment initiatives; changes in regulations or regulatory treatment; availability and access to capital; the cost of capital; disruptions in the credit markets; the success of growth initiatives; the company’s ability to successfully close municipally owned systems presently under agreement; the company’s ability to continue to deliver strong results; the company’s ability to continue to pay its dividend, add shareholder value and grow earnings; municipalities’ willingness to privatize their water and/or wastewater utilities; the company’s ability to control expenses and create and maintain efficiencies; the company’s ability to acquire municipally owned water and wastewater systems listed in its “pipeline”; and other factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Essential's business, please refer to Essential's annual, quarterly and other SEC filings. Essential is not under any obligation - and expressly disclaims any such obligation - to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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