Essential Utilities is a holding company that operates regulated water, wastewater, and natural gas utility systems serving millions of customers across nine states through its Aqua and Peoples brands. The company generates revenue from three primary segments: regulated water and wastewater utilities serving approximately 1.3 million customers, regulated natural gas utilities serving approximately 747,000 customers (primarily in Pennsylvania and Kentucky), and non-regulated activities including service line protection and infrastructure investments. Essential Utilities makes money through regulated utility rates set by state commissions, which recover costs for operations, maintenance, and capital investments in aging infrastructure replacement, environmental compliance including PFAS remediation, and system upgrades, with opportunities for revenue growth through acquisitions in the highly fragmented water and wastewater utility markets.