Essential Utilities, Inc. (WTRG)
Water, wastewater and gas utilities. Read November 8, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 26, 2026. Ranked 13 of the 42 Utilities companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
35%
projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index
End of 2028
42%
Employees, annual report
3,303
Leading staffing pattern
Water, Sewage and Other Systems
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- Now35%
- End of 202741%
- End of 202842%
- End of 203042%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 52%
- Becomes checking a model's work 39%
- Handed over with lighter checks 8%
A regulated utility with 3,303 full-time employees split by description between its water and wastewater systems and its gas distribution business, half of them union.
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 35% now, 41% at the end of 2027, 42% at the end of 2028, 42% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 42% desk work, 15% people work and 42% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 52% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 39% becomes checking a model's work and 8% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
3,303 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). A regulated water and gas utility serving U.S. states only, so the U.S. share is recorded as 1 by territory, flagged.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, we employed a total of 3,303 full-time employees.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Water, Sewage and Other Systems | 55% | By description (c): the water and wastewater utilities, 53% of revenue (water 44%, wastewater 9%), with more people per dollar than gas distribution, so a share above the revenue line; the filing counts no employees by segment. |
| Natural Gas Distribution | 45% | By description (c): the natural gas distribution business (Peoples), 45% of revenue, read at gas distribution; the corporate staff stay inside under rule 6. |
What the filing says about the workforce: 3,303 full-time employees; 23 labor agreements covering 1,709 employees, expiring at various times to 2029; voluntary attrition 6.3% in 2025.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Water, Sewage and Other Systems, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK, 7,000 employees)36% now, 40% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
2 sentences in the filing name AI. Two sentences: the company positions its water, wastewater and gas expertise for AI-driven data infrastructure needs, and may adopt generative AI in certain processes as it replaces legacy systems.
- “This investment underscores the Company's commitment to innovation, sustainability, and regional economic development, while positioning its water, wastewater, and gas expertise as critical components of the expanding artificial intelligence-driven data infrastructure needs.”
- “These investments may involve replacing existing systems, some of which are older, legacy systems, the potential adoption of generative artificial intelligence ("AI") in certain processes, migration of applications to the cloud, and maintaining or enhancing legacy systems, among others.”
Its annual reports, year by year
Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector
- Fiscal 20210median 0
- Fiscal 20220median 0
- Fiscal 20230median 1
- Fiscal 20240median 4
- Fiscal 20252median 10
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 3,303 | 2026-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 3,291 | 2025-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 3,258 | 2024-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 3,187 | 2023-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 3,211 | 2022-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 3,180 | 2021-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 1,583 | 2020-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 1,570 | 2019-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 1,530 | 2018-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 1,551 | 2017-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 1,617 | 2016-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 1,617 | 2015-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 1,553 | 2014-03-03 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 1,619 | 2013-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 1,615 | 2012-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 1,632 | 2011-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 1,632 | 2010-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 1,638 | 2009-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 1,585 | 2008-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 1,540 | 2007-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 1,489 | 2006-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 1,442 | 2005-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 1,260 | 2004-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 971 | 2003-03-27 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 951 | 2002-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 943 | 2001-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 945 | 2000-03-29 | 10-K |
| 1998-12-31 | 542 | 1999-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 531 | 1998-03-23 | 10-K |
| 1997-03-19 | 540 | 1997-03-25 | 10-K |
| 1995-12-31 | 535 | 1996-03-26 | 10-K |
| 1994-12-31 | 525 | 1995-03-15 | 10-K |
| 1993-12-31 | 523 | 1994-03-30 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The water and gas split is by description from revenue; the filing counts no employees by segment.
- The U.S. share is by territory, not stated.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000078128-26-000050, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
The report on Essential Utilities, Inc., $29
This page as a document to keep, with what it does not show: the share within reach at every date on three paces and two reliabilities, a typical workforce of this shape at the stated headcount role by role and task by task (the industries' staffing, never the company's roster), where to start, what changes for the people and what they would learn, every sentence in the filing that names AI, the headcount by year, the companies read with the same leading pattern, the method and a citation line. To print or save as a PDF, open again in your browser for a year.
See the report, $29See the sample first: Walmart's report is free
Questions about this company
- How much of Essential Utilities, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 35% now and 42% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Essential Utilities, Inc.'s own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does Essential Utilities, Inc. employ?
- 3,303 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 100% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Essential Utilities, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Water, Sewage and Other Systems; by those patterns the work is about 42% desk work, 15% people work and 42% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Essential Utilities, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 2 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 0, 0 and 2 sentences, year by year. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on November 8, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.