Thames Water plans 11 per cent price hike as it submits business plan
Thames Water wants a real terms price hike of 11 per cent between 2015 and 2020 according the company's business plan submitted to Ofwat on Monday. Thames Water cited the need for £8bn of investment in the Thames Tideway Tunnel and the wider network as reasons for the price increase. Under the proposed plans the average annual bill for a Thames water customer would increase from £358 to £398 plus inflation.
The company said:
This exceptional project, six times larger than anything previously delivered by the UK’s privatised water industry, will provide urgently needed additional capacity to a Victorian sewer network that London has comprehensively outgrown.
Other water companies have also submitted their plans to the water regulator. Severn Trent has announced its average prices will be £12 lower in real terms by 2020. The company submitted its business plan to Ofwat on Monday confirming that price rises would be frozen in year one with rises of 1.2 per cent below inflation to the year 2020.
Tony Wray, chief executive, commenting on the plan said:
We have an established track record of real price reductions over the last five years and for sharing the benefits of outperformance with our customers. We will maintain this record over the next five years and deliver better value, better services and a healthier environment.
Welsh Water plans price changes of one per cent below inflation for each year between 2015 and 2020. The not-for-profit company expects bills to be £20 lower in real terms by 2019/2020 compared to 2014/2015.