Essential Utilities, Inc. operates through two primary segments: Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas. The company's water business, operating under the Aqua brand, provides drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure to millions of customers across multiple states, with its largest service territory in suburban Philadelphia. Its natural gas subsidiary, Peoples, distributes natural gas to hundreds of thousands of customers in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. In addition to its core utility operations, Essential Utilities offers utility service line protection solutions and repair services to residential households. The company has historically grown through a strategy of acquiring municipal and private water and wastewater systems, alongside its major acquisition of Peoples Natural Gas in 2020. In late 2025, Essential Utilities agreed to an all-stock merger with American Water Works, which is expected to close in 2027 and create the largest investor-owned water utility in the United States.
