SJW Group CEO Among Private Sector Leaders Invited to Biden-led Cybersecurity Summit

SJW Group CEO Eric Thornburg attends White House meeting to discuss ways to enhance cyber protections for utility providers.

SJW Group (NYSE: SJW) CEO Eric Thornburg today shared his perspective on how to collectively improve the nation’s cybersecurity and critical infrastructure resilience in a meeting with President Biden, members of his cabinet and national security team, and private sector and education leaders from across the country. Mr. Thornburg was honored by the invitation and eager to engage in discussions on how best to safeguard the nation’s public drinking water from cyber threats. Safe drinking water is essential to support public health, safety and economic development across the country. Other notable attendees included executives from Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, IBM, and JPMorgan.

The meeting is part of ongoing efforts by both the Biden Administration and private sector leaders to address the increasingly sophisticated malicious cyber activity that has played out on a national scale over the past year. In addition to bolstering the nation’s largest institutions and infrastructure against ransomware and online attacks, the ongoing collaboration will focus efforts on building out the skilled cybersecurity workforce needed to meet this increased challenge.

“Our company provides vital water and wastewater services across the country, serving large metropolitan areas like Silicon Valley, rapidly growing areas such as Comal, County Texas, and 81 established local communities across Connecticut and Maine. While our operations and service areas vary widely, we all share a very real concern about cybersecurity. Addressing cyber concerns in a robust and holistic way is critical to our mission of providing safe, reliable water to our customers,” states SJW Group CEO Eric Thornburg.

“SJW Group is eager to collaborate across the public and private sectors to help protect our nation’s infrastructure against cybersecurity threats, and we are grateful to the Biden Administration for including us in today’s discussions. Delivering clean, safe drinking water may look remarkably different in 2021 than it did over a century ago when our first water utility was founded, but our commitment to that goal will never waver.” Thornburg further noted, “It has been my experience that the best way to meet challenges that have faced the water sector through the years, whether water quality, operations, treatment or service – and now cybersecurity — is through collaboration and sharing of best practices with other business and industry leaders, and partnering with state and local government agencies.”

Thornburg was appointed president and CEO of SJW Group in 2017 after previously serving as CEO of SJW Group subsidiary Connecticut Water Service, Inc., and has over 35 years of water industry experience in total. He is based out of San Jose, California, where the Group is headquartered.

About SJW Group

SJW Group is the second-largest investor-owned pure-play water and wastewater utility, based on estimated rate base, in the United States, providing lifesaving and high-quality water service to nearly 1.5 million people. SJW Group’s locally led and operated water utilities - San Jose Water Company in California, The Connecticut Water Company in Connecticut, The Maine Water Company in Maine, and SJWTX, Inc. (dba Canyon Lake Water Service Company) in Texas - possess the financial strength, operational expertise, and technological innovation to safeguard the environment, deliver outstanding service to customers, and provide opportunities to employees. SJW Group remains focused on investing in its operations, remaining actively engaged in its local communities, and delivering continued sustainable value to its shareholders. For more information about SJW Group, please visit www.sjwgroup.com.

About Eric Thornburg

Eric W. Thornburg is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of SJW Group. Prior to joining SJW Group in 2017, Mr. Thornburg served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Connecticut Water Service, Inc. since 2006, and as Chairman since 2007. He served as President of Missouri-American Water, a subsidiary of American Water Works Corporation from 2000 to 2004, and as Central Region Vice President-External Affairs for American Water Works Corporation from July 2004 to January 2006. His career as a water professional began in 1982.

He is a past-president of the National Association of Water Companies, an industry association representing the interest of private water companies and the customers and communities that they serve. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Water Research Foundation (WRF) and the California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber).

Mr. Thornburg holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Society from Cornell University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forwarding-looking words such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “strategy,” or “anticipates,” or the negative of those words or other comparable terminology.

These forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. The accuracy of such statements is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, but not limited to, the following factors: (1) the effect of water, utility, environmental and other governmental policies and regulations, including actions concerning rates, authorized return on equity, authorized capital structures, capital expenditures and other decisions; (2) changes in demand for water and other services; (3) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business operation and financial results; (4) unanticipated weather conditions and changes in seasonality; (5) climate change and the effects thereof; (6) unexpected costs, charges or expenses; (7) our ability to successfully evaluate investments in new business and growth initiatives; (8) the risk of work stoppages, strikes and other labor-related actions; (9) catastrophic events such as fires, earthquakes, explosions, floods, ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, terrorist acts, physical attacks, cyber-attacks, or other similar occurrences; (10) changes in general economic, political, business and financial market conditions; (11) the ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, which can be affected by various factors, including credit ratings, changes in interest rates, compliance with regulatory requirements, compliance with the terms and conditions of our outstanding indebtedness, and general stock and debt market conditions; and (12) legislative and general market and economic developments.

In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and uncertainties that relate more broadly to our overall business, including those more fully described in SJW Group’s filings with the SEC, including the most recent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

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