2025 Essential Annual Report

ESSENTIAL UTILITIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) (In thousands of dollars, except per share amounts)

through the respective vesting periods, which is generally three years. Each grantee is granted a target award of PSUs and may earn between 0% and 200% of the target amount depending on the Company’s performance against the performance goals.

The performance goals of the 2025, 2024, and 2023 PSU grants consisted of the following metrics:

2025

2024 and 2023

Metric 1 – Company’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) compared to the TSR for a specific peer group of investor-owned utilities (a market-based condition) Metric 2 – Achievement of a three-year average return on equity target (a performance-based condition) Metric 3 – Achievement of a consolidated operations and maintenance expense target over a three-year measurement period (a performance-based condition)

40.00%

38.46%

30.00%

30.77%

30.00%

30.77%

The following table provides the compensation expense and income tax benefit for PSUs:

Years ended December 31, 2025 2024 2023 5,189 $ 5,787 $ 6,942 1,311 $ 1,450 $ 1,741

Stock-based compensation within operations and maintenance expense

$ $

Income tax benefit

The following table summarizes nonvested PSU transactions for the year ended December 31, 2025:

Weighted Average Fair Value

Number of Share Units

Nonvested share units at beginning of period

563,656 $

38.61 34.25 39.78 37.96 42.77 35.85

Granted

195,301

Performance criteria adjustment

(123,895) (18,833) (103,775)

Forfeited

Share units issued

Nonvested share units at end of period

512,454 $

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