SJW Group said its Texas subsidiary, SJWTX Inc. — doing business as Canyon Lake Water Service Company (CLWSC) — will purchase two more water companies in Comal County.
The pending acquisitions will add more than 550 customers and provide a 50% increase in available water supply for current customer needs and future growth, SJW Group said in a statement Jan. 24.
KT Water Development Ltd. is a privately held, investor-owned water utility serving 560 customers in the southern part of the county. Another 150 connections would be added to the utility.
KT Water Resources, L.P. is a wholesale groundwater resource supplier to KT Water Development. Its acquisition by SJWTX would significantly increase system resiliency and improve SJWTX’s ability to provide ample water for projected customer growth through 2070.
“Not only are we eager to serve the customers of the KT Water Development as part of our CLWSC, but we are also pleased that adding KT Water Resources to our existing water supply portfolio will put our Texas operation in great shape to meet future customer growth and demand,” Eric Thornburg, chairman, president and CEO of SJW Group said.
“If approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, this transaction will benefit our customers through increased scale and greater resources,” he said. “We look forward to delivering exceptional high-quality drinking water service to them in the future.”
In an availability report approved by Comal County commissioners on Dec. 29, 2022, CLWSC described its water supply as diverse and said its water supply exceeds demand over the next 20 years.
“This excess will allow for future growth and provide redundancy and resources to meet the projected demand within its service area over the next 20 years,” CLWSC said.
Acquisitions are expected to be finalized later this year.
On Jan. 23, 2022 SJWTX announced it had closed on the purchase of Texas Country Water Utility (TCW), which owned approximately 100 water service connections serving around 300 people in Texas Country Estates subdivision at FM 306 and Hoffman Lane.
On Aug. 12, 2021, SJWTX announced plans to purchase Texas Country Water, Inc., a privately held Comal County utility providing water to approximately 300 customers through 100 service connections.
In June 2021, SJWTX acquired Kendall West Utility in Kendall County and the Bandera East Utility operating in Bandera and Medina counties. The utilities provided water to approximately 4,000 people through over 1,300 service connections. The companies relied on water from Canyon Lake and the Trinity Aquifer.
SJWTX operates in the “growth pathway” between San Antonio and Austin, where three of the fastest-growing counties in the United States — including Comal County — are located. The company has closed more than 15 acquisitions since 2006, quadrupling the number of customers it serves from 6,500 to 26,000.
The public water utility provides service to 78,000 people through approximately 26,000 waste and wastewater service connections in Comal, Blanco, Kendall, Bandera, Medina, Hays and Travis counties.
Nationwide, the SJW Group is among the largest investor-owned, pure-play water and wastewater utilities, serving 1.5 million people.
