Company: AWK
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001410636-25-000022
Chunk: 83

Company: American Water Works Company, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 83
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 to facilitate the management of our business as well as our customer and supplier relationships, and a failure or disruption of implemented technology could materially and adversely affect our business.

Technology is an integral part of our business and operations, and any failure or disruption of the technology or related systems we implement, including as a result of a cyber incident, could significantly limit our ability to manage and operate our business effectively and efficiently, which, in turn, could cause our business and competitive position to suffer and adversely affect our results of operations. We use technology systems to, among other things, obtain meter readings, bill customers, process orders, provide customer service, and manage certain plant operations and construction projects, including systems to support environmental compliance, provide for the safety of the water distributed to customers, create and manage our financial records and other operational data, track assets, remotely monitor our plants and facilities, and manage human resources, supply chain, inventory, and accounts receivable collections. In addition, we have invested resources to develop and adopt new technologies, including cloud-based systems, which rely on the security of our infrastructure, including hardware and other components provided by third parties, to support the reliability of our services and protect our data. While any failures that we have experienced have not to date had a material adverse effect on our operations, there can be no assurance that efforts to address performance failures or other issues we may experience with implemented technology will be successful in the future and that these or future failures of water meters or other technological issues will not have a material adverse effect on us.

Although we do not believe that the technology we have implemented or may in the future implement is at a materially greater risk of failure than that used by other similar organizations, our technology and operations that use or rely on technology, including cloud-based systems, remain vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among other things: failure or interruption of the technology or its related systems; loss or failure of power, internet, telecommunications or data network systems; and operator error or improper operation by, the negligent or improper supervision of, or the intentional acts of, employees, contractors and other third parties. Any or all of these events could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

An inability to successfully develop and implement new technologies poses substantial risks to our business and operational excellence strategies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

A significant part of our long-term strategic plan focuses on safety, operational excellence, cost and expense efficiency (including O&M expense efficiency),