American Water is the largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility in the U.S., serving roughly 14 million people across 14 states. The company collects, treats, and delivers drinking water, and collects and treats wastewater, through infrastructure it owns and operates — pipes, treatment plants, pumping stations, storage tanks, and sewer networks. Customers within American Water's franchised service territories have no choice of provider. The regulated utility business makes up about 92% of revenue, with New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, and California together accounting for roughly 79% of regulated revenues. The remaining revenue comes primarily from the Military Services Group, which operates water and wastewater systems on 18 U.S. military installations under 50-year federal contracts with a backlog of roughly $7.4B. American Water's business model is straightforward: invest capital in regulated infrastructure, file rate cases with state public utility commissions every couple of years to recover that investment in customer rates, and earn a PUC-authorized return on rate base. The key earnings driver is rate base growth, which the company targets at 8%-9% annually, translating into 7%-9% EPS and dividend growth. American Water plans to invest $46B-$48B over the next decade, the bulk of it in pipe replacement, plus compliance spending on PFAS treatment (~$2B) and lead service line replacement (~$1.5B through 2030). The company also targets ~$300M-$400M per year in acquisitions of smaller municipal systems to add roughly 2% in customers annually, and recently agreed to merge with Essential Utilities in a stock-for-stock deal expected to close by end of Q1 2027.