United Utilities vows to lower water bills
Warrington-based water company United Utilities has stated that household bills will fall in the 2015 – 20 period after negotiation with the industry regulator Ofwat.
As a part of its draft determination covering costs for the next five years, United Utilities has also stated that the overall cost of it infrastructure investment will be lower than anticipated, following discussions of the plans with the regulator.
Earlier in 2014, Ofwat questioned £1.1 billion of infrastructure spending by the water company, which has now announced that it will reduce this expenditure by £370 million, taking the total for 2015 – 20 from £5.89 billion down to £5.52 billion.
United Utilities has further stated that this revised plan will result in the average household bill falling by 4.1% in real terms over the five year period, as compared with a 2.3% reduction promised with an earlier plan issued in June 2014.
Words: Peter Cribley