Southern Water bills set to rise, leaflets claim
Southern Water serves millions of customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
At a glance
Southern Water could charge its customers an extra £279 a year by 2030, according to leaflets seen by the PA News agency
There is also a "least cost plan" on the table that would save customers money but reduce sewage improvement works
Campaigners are calling the plans "a disgrace"
Southern Water said the options outlined in the leaflet were not confirmed
- Published
Southern Water customers could be charged an extra £279 a year by 2030, it has been claimed.
The plans to increase bills by 73% to £759 a year, which take into account inflation, emerged in leaflets from a focus group that were anonymously disclosed to the PA News agency.
The water company also has a "least cost plan" on the table that would save each household £10 by 2030.
Southern Water said the options outlined in the leaflet were not final, but part of a research programme.
The plans would be submitted to industry regulator Ofwat in October, it said.
The figures did not include discounts of at least 45% to around 125,000 households in financial hardship, the water company added.
The company's "least cost plan" would reduce improvement works on sewage spills, flooding and climate adaption.
In the leaflets, it committed to reducing sewage spills by 25% before 2030 and 75% by 2050. The company has also pledged to invest an extra £50m in the next two years to reduce storm overflows.
Campaigner Katy Colley, from Hastings Boycotts Southern Water, said the plans were "a disgrace".
She said Southern Water has had years to make the necessary investments from the money they collect from bills.
"Instead they paid out millions in dividends, executive salaries and bonuses," she added.
"Now they want us to pay all over again for the works they should have already done."
Protesters in Brighton rallied against sewage pollution in May following Southern Water's £90m fine for spills
Southern Water provides water to 2.6 million customers and wastewater services to 4.6 million customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
In 2021 it was fined £90m for dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea.
Katy Taylor, chief customer officer of Southern Water, said: "We know our communities want to see us investing to improve our environmental outcomes and to do it wisely, but we also recognise the concerns about rising payments in the face of a cost-of-living crisis."
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