SAN JOSE, Calif.– SJW Group (NYSE: SJW) today announced that its board of directors has appointed Bruce A. Hauk as chief operating officer, effective January 1, 2023. Hauk will lead regulated water and wastewater utility operations across SJW Group’s geographically diverse footprint. The company’s local operations now serve more than 1.5 million people in California, Connecticut, Maine and Texas. Hauk joined SJW Group in August 2022 as its chief corporate development and strategy officer.
“Bruce has been a great addition to SJW Group and the executive leadership team. Since coming on board, he has immersed himself in our state operations and been a key contributor to our 2023 financial plan and long-term growth strategy,” stated Eric W. Thornburg, chair, president and CEO of SJW Group. Thornburg added, “Bruce is ideally suited to his new role, having led teams and driven results at both the state and national levels in all areas of water utilities, including regulatory, customer service and operations. Bruce embodies our core values of service, and I am confident that under his leadership, our state presidents will further harness the national scale of SJW Group to serve local customers, communities and employees while being good stewards of the environment.”
Hauk will continue to lead the company’s acquisition and growth initiatives, building on SJW’s strong record of acquisitions, with over 60% customer growth and a more than doubling of utility plant in the past five years.
Prior to joining SJW Group, Hauk was president of NextEra Water and served in many leadership roles at American Water, including deputy chief operating officer. He is a director of the National Utilities Diversity Council and was the recipient of the 2019 Inclusion & Diversity Award presented by the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Also, while he was president of Illinois American Water, his company won the 2018 Outstanding Corporate Leadership Award from the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce.
Hauk has a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and life sciences from Indiana State University, a Master of Public Administration from Indiana University-Purdue University, and a Master of Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. He is a licensed operator in water and wastewater treatment.
