Exhibit 99.1


[Logo]                    RWE Acquisition Update #30

December 12, 2002

This is an update on the RWE/Thames transaction for American Water associates.
Future updates will be distributed in the coming weeks via email. They are
then archived, along with other important materials, in the "RWE Acquisition
Update" database on Lotus Notes. The information contained in this Update will
also be filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and can be viewed
by accessing the commission's EDGAR database at
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

On November 21, 2002 American Water Works announced that regulatory approvals
for the Company's acquisition by RWE AG were received by subsidiaries in
Illinois, New Jersey and New York. Since that announcement, additional
progress in the process of obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals has
occurred in the following states:

Arizona - On December 9, 2002, the commission approved the Administrative Law
Judge's (ALJ's) recommended approval after modifying a condition in that
recommendation regarding the future cost of debt for ratemaking purposes and
revising another condition to establish a three-year period before a rate
increase request can be filed after the acquisition is completed.

California - The California Public Utilities Commission has included
consideration of the ALJ's recommended approval on the agenda for its December
17, 2002 meeting.

West Virginia - On December 6, 2002, the commission issued an order
reaffirming their approval of the transaction with additional conditions and
some revisions of some of the conditions in their October 23, 2002 order. The
company must accept the conditions in both orders on or before December 16,
2002 for the approval to become effective.

At the present time, no closing date has been set and closing is still
anticipated during the first quarter of 2003.