General	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
GENERAL	General In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods. The unaudited interim financial information has been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and in accordance with the instructions for Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in SJW Group’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read with the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09, “Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.” This ASU affects entities that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. ASU 2016-09 identifies areas for simplification involving several aspects of accounting for share-based payment transactions, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, classifications on the statement of cash flows and forfeiture rate calculations. SJW Group adopted this standard as of the first quarter of 2017. ASU 2016-09 requires recognition of excess tax benefits and deficiencies in the income statement, which resulted in the recognition of $500 in income tax benefit for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Prior to adoption, these amounts were recognized as additional paid-in capital. SJW Group did not have any unrecognized excess tax benefits to reclassify upon adoption of this standard. The ASU also requires excess tax benefits and deficiencies to be prospectively excluded from assumed future proceeds in the calculation of diluted shares when calculating diluted earnings per shares using the treasury stock method. The effect of this change on diluted earnings per share was immaterial. In addition, excess income tax benefits from share-based compensation are now classified as cash flows from operating activities on the consolidated statements of cash flows, prospectively. Further, ASU 2016-09 requires, on a retrospective basis, that employee taxes paid for withheld shares be classified as cash flows from financing activities rather than cash flows from operating activities. As such, the consolidated statements of cash flows for SJW Group for the periods presented have been reclassified to reflect this change. This change resulted in an increase to cash flows from operating activities and a decrease to cash flows from financing activities of $818 and $500 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. SJW Group has elected to account for actual forfeitures as they occur upon adoption of the new guidance. Management determined that the cumulative effect adjustment required under the new guidance was immaterial and therefore SJW Group did not record an adjustment. Water sales are seasonal in nature and influenced by weather conditions. The timing of precipitation and climatic conditions can cause seasonal water consumption by customers to vary significantly. Due to the seasonal nature of the water business, the operating results for interim periods are not indicative of the operating results for a 12-month period. Revenue is generally higher in the warm, dry summer months when water usage and sales are greater, and lower in the winter months when cooler temperatures and increased rainfall curtail water usage and sales. On May 9, 2016, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-37-16 to build on existing temporary statewide emergency water restrictions and to establish longer term water conservation measures, including permanent monthly water use reporting, new permanent water use standards in California communities and bans on wasteful water use practices. On May 18, 2016, the State Water Board adopted a new approach to water conservation regulation and replaced its prior percentage reduction-based water conservation standard with a new approach designed to ensure at least a three year supply of available water based on local conditions. On June 14, 2016, the Santa Clara Valley Water District (“SCVWD”) reduced its conservation target from 30% to 20% and also increased the number of allowable outdoor watering days from two to three effective July 1, 2016 through January 31, 2017. On January 24, 2017, and again on June 13, 2017, the SCVWD reaffirmed its call for 20% conservation and restrictions on outdoor watering for ornamental landscapes to no more than three days a week. On April 7, 2017, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-40-17 which lifted the drought emergency in all California counties except Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Tuolumne while maintaining water reporting requirements and prohibitions on wasteful practices. Executive Order B-40-17 also rescinded two emergency proclamations from January and April 2014 and four drought-related executive orders issued in 2014 and 2015. Conservation and restrictions imposed by SCVWD on June 13, 2017 still remain in effect. Effective June 15, 2015, San Jose Water Company was authorized by the CPUC to activate Stage 3 of Tariff Rule 14.1 which is a water shortage contingency plan with mandatory water usage reductions and drought surcharges resulting from usage above customer allocations. Tariff Rule 14.1 focuses primarily on restrictions of outdoor watering which accounts for 50% of a typical customer’s water usage. On June 24, 2016, San Jose Water Company filed with the CPUC to amend its water shortage contingency plan with mandatory water usage reductions and drought surcharges to reflect the SCVWD’s call for 20% conservation. This request was approved by the CPUC with an effective date of July 1, 2016. The drought surcharges were not recorded as revenue. Rather, they were recorded in a regulatory liability account authorized by the CPUC to track lost revenues resulting from conservation. The amount recorded in the surcharge account was being used to offset future rate increases that would otherwise be necessary to recover lost revenue due to drought conservation efforts. San Jose Water Company suspended its allocation and drought surcharge program provided for in Schedule 14.1, Water Shortage Contingency Plan with Staged Mandatory Reductions and Drought Surcharges on February 1, 2017. At the end of the second quarter of 2017, San Jose Water Company had no balance remaining in the drought surcharge account to offset future rate increases related to drought conservation efforts. The remaining balance as of September 30, 2017 in San Jose Water Company’s balancing and memorandum accounts are related to drought surcharges collected outside of the California regulated entity. On June 13, 2017, the SCVWD adopted Resolution 17-43 to encourage making conservation a way of life in California through recommendations on watering schedules and a call for customers to achieve a 20% reduction in water use as compared to 2013. In addition to the SCVWD’s resolution, the mandatory water use restrictions set forth by the State Water Resources Control Board’s Emergency Regulations remain in effect. San Jose Water Company is continually working to maintain compliance with the various drought rules and regulations and is also working with local governments as well as the SCVWD to communicate consistent messages to the public about use restrictions and related matters associated with the recent drought. Effective March 31, 2014, San Jose Water Company received approval from the CPUC to institute a Mandatory Conservation Revenue Adjustment Memorandum Account. This account was subsequently replaced with a Water Conservation Memorandum Account (“WCMA”). The WCMA allows San Jose Water Company to track lost revenue associated with reduced sales due to drought related water conservation and the associated calls for water use reduction from the SCVWD. San Jose Water Company records the lost revenue captured in the WCMA regulatory accounts once the revenue recognition requirements of FASB ASU Topic 980 - “Regulated Operations,” subtopic 605-25 are met. For further discussion, please see Note 8 and Note 9. Basic earnings per share is calculated using income available to common stockholders, divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share is calculated using income available to common stockholders divided by the weighted average number of shares of common stock including both shares outstanding and shares potentially issuable in connection with deferred restricted common stock awards under SJW Group’s Long-Term Incentive Plan (as amended, the “Incentive Plan”) and shares potentially issuable under the 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”). For the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, 683 and 714 anti-dilutive restricted common stock units were excluded from the dilutive earnings per share calculation, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, 3,670 and 4,801 anti-dilutive restricted common stock units were excluded from the dilutive earnings per share calculation, respectively. A portion of depreciation expense is allocated to administrative and general expense. For the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, the amounts allocated to administrative and general expense were $551 and $416, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, the amounts allocated to administrative and general expense were $1,660 and $1,251, respectively. On September 28, 2017, SJW Group announced that its Board of Directors appointed Eric W. Thornburg to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of SJW Group, effective as of November 6, 2017 (the “Effective Date”). Also on September 28, 2017, SJW Group announced that W. Richard Roth will retire as President and Chief Executive Officer of SJW Group effective as of November 5, 2017. Mr. Roth will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board until the next annual meeting of stockholders. From the Effective Date to December 31, 2017, Mr. Roth will serve as Chief Executive Emeritus of SJW Group and San Jose Water Company. Mr. Thornburg will also serve as the Chief Executive Officer of San Jose Water Company effective as of the Effective Date. For a more detailed discussion of the CEO transition, see SJW Group’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 29, 2017.

General

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods.

The unaudited interim financial information has been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and in accordance with the instructions for Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in SJW Group’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read with the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09, “Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.” This ASU affects entities that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. ASU 2016-09 identifies areas for simplification involving several aspects of accounting for share-based payment transactions, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, classifications on the statement of cash flows and forfeiture rate calculations. SJW Group adopted this standard as of the first quarter of 2017. ASU 2016-09 requires recognition of excess tax benefits and deficiencies in the income statement, which resulted in the recognition of $500 in income tax benefit for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Prior to adoption, these amounts were recognized as additional paid-in capital. SJW Group did not have any unrecognized excess tax benefits to reclassify upon adoption of this standard. The ASU also requires excess tax benefits and deficiencies to be prospectively excluded from assumed future proceeds in the calculation of diluted shares when calculating diluted earnings per shares using the treasury stock method. The effect of this change on diluted earnings per share was immaterial. In addition, excess income tax benefits from share-based compensation are now classified as cash flows from operating activities on the consolidated statements of cash flows, prospectively. Further, ASU 2016-09 requires, on a retrospective basis, that employee taxes paid for withheld shares be classified as cash flows from financing activities rather than cash flows from operating activities. As such, the consolidated statements of cash flows for SJW Group for the periods presented have been reclassified to reflect this change. This change resulted in an increase to cash flows from operating activities and a decrease to cash flows from financing activities of $818 and $500 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. SJW Group has elected to account for actual forfeitures as they occur upon adoption of the new guidance. Management determined that the cumulative effect adjustment required under the new guidance was immaterial and therefore SJW Group did not record an adjustment.

Water sales are seasonal in nature and influenced by weather conditions. The timing of precipitation and climatic conditions can cause seasonal water consumption by customers to vary significantly. Due to the seasonal nature of the water business, the operating results for interim periods are not indicative of the operating results for a 12-month period. Revenue is generally higher in the warm, dry summer months when water usage and sales are greater, and lower in the winter months when cooler temperatures and increased rainfall curtail water usage and sales.

On May 9, 2016, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-37-16 to build on existing temporary statewide emergency water restrictions and to establish longer term water conservation measures, including permanent monthly water use reporting, new permanent water use standards in California communities and bans on wasteful water use practices. On May 18, 2016, the State Water Board adopted a new approach to water conservation regulation and replaced its prior percentage reduction-based water conservation standard with a new approach designed to ensure at least a three year supply of available water based on local conditions. On June 14, 2016, the Santa Clara Valley Water District (“SCVWD”) reduced its conservation target from 30% to 20% and also increased the number of allowable outdoor watering days from two to three effective July 1, 2016 through January 31, 2017. On January 24, 2017, and again on June 13, 2017, the SCVWD reaffirmed its call for 20% conservation and restrictions on outdoor watering for ornamental landscapes to no more than three days a week. On April 7, 2017, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-40-17 which lifted the drought emergency in all California counties except Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Tuolumne while maintaining water reporting requirements and prohibitions on wasteful practices. Executive Order B-40-17 also rescinded two emergency proclamations from January and April 2014 and four drought-related executive orders issued in 2014 and 2015. Conservation and restrictions imposed by SCVWD on June 13, 2017 still remain in effect.

Effective June 15, 2015, San Jose Water Company was authorized by the CPUC to activate Stage 3 of Tariff Rule 14.1 which is a water shortage contingency plan with mandatory water usage reductions and drought surcharges resulting from usage above customer allocations. Tariff Rule 14.1 focuses primarily on restrictions of outdoor watering which accounts for 50% of a typical customer’s water usage. On June 24, 2016, San Jose Water Company filed with the CPUC to amend its water shortage contingency plan with mandatory water usage reductions and drought surcharges to reflect the SCVWD’s call for 20% conservation. This request was approved by the CPUC with an effective date of July 1, 2016. The drought surcharges were not recorded as revenue. Rather, they were recorded in a regulatory liability account authorized by the CPUC to track lost revenues resulting from conservation. The amount recorded in the surcharge account was being used to offset future rate increases that would otherwise be necessary to recover lost revenue due to drought conservation efforts. San Jose Water Company suspended its allocation and drought surcharge program provided for in Schedule 14.1, Water Shortage Contingency Plan with Staged Mandatory Reductions and Drought Surcharges on February 1, 2017. At the end of the second quarter of 2017, San Jose Water Company had no balance remaining in the drought surcharge account to offset future rate increases related to drought conservation efforts. The remaining balance as of September 30, 2017 in San Jose Water Company’s balancing and memorandum accounts are related to drought surcharges collected outside of the California regulated entity. On June 13, 2017, the SCVWD adopted Resolution 17-43 to encourage making conservation a way of life in California through recommendations on watering schedules and a call for customers to achieve a 20% reduction in water use as compared to 2013. In addition to the SCVWD’s resolution, the mandatory water use restrictions set forth by the State Water Resources Control Board’s Emergency Regulations remain in effect. San Jose Water Company is continually working to maintain compliance with the various drought rules and regulations and is also working with local governments as well as the SCVWD to communicate consistent messages to the public about use restrictions and related matters associated with the recent drought.

Effective March 31, 2014, San Jose Water Company received approval from the CPUC to institute a Mandatory Conservation Revenue Adjustment Memorandum Account. This account was subsequently replaced with a Water Conservation Memorandum Account (“WCMA”). The WCMA allows San Jose Water Company to track lost revenue associated with reduced sales due to drought related water conservation and the associated calls for water use reduction from the SCVWD. San Jose Water Company records the lost revenue captured in the WCMA regulatory accounts once the revenue recognition requirements of FASB ASU Topic 980 - “Regulated Operations,” subtopic 605-25 are met. For further discussion, please see Note 8 and Note 9.

Basic earnings per share is calculated using income available to common stockholders, divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share is calculated using income available to common stockholders divided by the weighted average number of shares of common stock including both shares outstanding and shares potentially issuable in connection with deferred restricted common stock awards under SJW Group’s Long-Term Incentive Plan (as amended, the “Incentive Plan”) and shares potentially issuable under the 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”). For the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, 683 and 714 anti-dilutive restricted common stock units were excluded from the dilutive earnings per share calculation, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, 3,670 and 4,801 anti-dilutive restricted common stock units were excluded from the dilutive earnings per share calculation, respectively.

A portion of depreciation expense is allocated to administrative and general expense. For the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, the amounts allocated to administrative and general expense were $551 and $416, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, the amounts allocated to administrative and general expense were $1,660 and $1,251, respectively.

On September 28, 2017, SJW Group announced that its Board of Directors appointed Eric W. Thornburg to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of SJW Group, effective as of November 6, 2017 (the “Effective Date”). Also on September 28, 2017, SJW Group announced that W. Richard Roth will retire as President and Chief Executive Officer of SJW Group effective as of November 5, 2017. Mr. Roth will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board until the next annual meeting of stockholders. From the Effective Date to December 31, 2017, Mr. Roth will serve as Chief Executive Emeritus of SJW Group and San Jose Water Company. Mr. Thornburg will also serve as the Chief Executive Officer of San Jose Water Company effective as of the Effective Date. For a more detailed discussion of the CEO transition, see SJW Group’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 29, 2017.