Southern Water responds to media reports about future bill rises

We are aware of media reports stating that Southern Water is asking Ofwat to approve a 91% increase in bills between now and 2030, we are concerned this risks creating confusion among our customers and communities about the future direction of bills.
 
Katy Taylor, Chief Customer Officer, said:
 
“The figures being reported are loosely based on the bill rise proposals we put to Ofwat during the development of our draft business plan for 2025–30. Ofwat decides the charges our customers should pay, based on what we’ve proposed to deliver in our plan to meet regulatory requirements.
 
“While we await confirmation from Ofwat on our plan and the correspondent increase in bills, the numbers quoted have been increased by a third party to take into account estimated inflation levels over the next six years. 
 
“We share everyone’s concerns about rising payments in the face of a cost-of-living crisis. We have been able to keep bills low, with the average combined water and wastewater bill increasing by only £2 in the past 10 years in nominal terms. We agree with our customers that we must now charge more so we can bring our bills in line with inflation, rising costs and, more importantly, so we can invest more to meet the expectations of our customers, and protect and enhance our environment.

For those that need support, we already provide a 45% bill discount to over 120,00 customers today and estimate that number will rise to around 200,000 by 2030.