Apr. 22, 2009 -- American Water Works Company Inc., the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company, announced that Robert MacLean will assume the role of president of California American Water.
In this role, MacLean will lead the company's dedicated employees to serve customers throughout California. He will be the principal external contact for American Water in California and will dedicate significant time and energy to building and maintaining relationships with state and local officials, regulators and customers. MacLean will also work closely with the local operating staff to continue to enhance performance.
"Our service area in California spreads from the top to the bottom of the state," said Walter Lynch, president of regulated operations at American Water. "Rob's expertise and experience in both operations and in the industry make him well-suited to address the varying customer needs as well as to ensure we have a strong local presence in every community we serve."
MacLean has been with American Water since 2001. Prior to his new position, he was the director of Field Operations for New Jersey American Water, the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater to approximately 2.5 million people. In this role, MacLean was responsible for all customer field service operations including transmission and distribution activities and field construction in northern New Jersey. He oversaw 280 employees in various locations across the state.
MacLean also served as the director of Network for New Jersey American Water, where he was responsible for the management of the transmission and distribution and sewer collection systems for the company. This included over 8,000 miles of watermain, over 40,000 fire hydrants and 170,000 system valves. In this role, he led the effort to achieve regulatory compliance with preventative maintenance activities in the distribution system and improve customer service.
Prior to joining New Jersey American Water, Mr. MacLean served in various other roles within the American Water organization. He worked for the Non-regulated business of American Water, serving as vice president of Contract Operations. In this role, Mr. MacLean was responsible for managing more than thirty large contract operations ranging in value from $30,000 to $13 million per year and directed approximately 750 employees in both the United States and Canada. He was responsible for drinking water production to over 4 million people through several of the company's largest and most sophisticated treatment facilities and for wastewater services to 1.8 million people.
MacLean earned his master's in Applied Science in Civil Engineering from Polytechnique University in Montreal and his bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from McGill University in Montreal.
MacLean is replacing Kent Turner, who served as president of California American Water since 2006.
California American Water is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Water, the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company.
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