SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 31, 2016) - California Water Service Group (Cal Water) (NYSE: CWT) today announced that
24 students in its service areas were awarded a total of $60,000 in college scholarships for the 2016-2017 academic year. The
winners, recognized for their outstanding academic achievement and community service, included two grand-prize recipients each
receiving $10,000, along with 10 students who are first-generation college students.
Grand-prize winner Shannon Chen, valedictorian of her Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. high school, is now a freshman studying
civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University. While in high school, Shannon was also the winner of the Earthwatch
Student Field Research Award, participated in Arctic's Edge climate change research, and traveled to Bolivia to study the water
supply and offer medical assistance.
Jacob Ngo, grand-prize winner and valedictorian of his Salinas, Calif. high school, is a freshman studying immunology and
pathogenesis at the University of California, Berkeley. Jacob was a volunteer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as part of its Teen
Conservation Leaders Program and was awarded the Key to the Math Department while in high school.
In addition to the top two scholarships, Cal Water awarded 22 scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,500 to students
throughout the Group's California, Hawaii, and Washington service areas.
The scholarship program is administered by Scholarship Management Services, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Scholarships
are funded by Cal Water's shareholders, not ratepayers, as part of the Group's philanthropic giving program.
"The drive and dedication of these young adults in our service areas continues to amaze and inspire me year after year,"
President and CEO Martin A. Kropelnicki said. "We're committed to improving the quality of life in the communities we serve, and
I'm so proud to be able to help some of our future's finest achieve their dreams of higher education. I am particularly pleased
that so many of these students are trailblazers as the first in their families to pursue higher education."
To be eligible for a scholarship, students must live in a Cal Water service area, plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate
study at an accredited two- or four-year college or vocational-technical school, and not already possess a degree or diploma from
an accredited two- or four-year college or vocational-technical school.
The next scholarship cycle will open in spring 2017 for students pursuing higher education in the fall of 2017. To learn more
about the scholarship program, visit www.calwater.com/community/scholarship.
California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service, Washington Water Service, New Mexico Water
Service, Hawaii Water Service, CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services, LLC. Together, these companies provide regulated
and non-regulated water service to approximately 2 million people in more than 100 California, Washington, New Mexico and Hawaii
communities. California Water Service was ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Water Utilities in the West" in 2016 by
J.D. Power in its inaugural Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. Group's common stock trades on the New York
Stock Exchange under the symbol "CWT." Additional information is available online at www.calwatergroup.com.