Thames Water has put forward plans to increase consumer bills by almost 45% as London’s embattled supplier fights for survival.
Average bills would jump from £433 this year to as much as £627 by 2030 under an updated plan, unveiled by the water firm on Monday.
Around £19.8 billion would be invested in infrastructure between 2025 and 2030 under the proposal, an increase from £18.7 billion in an earlier plan.
A further £1.9 billion could be spent under the proposal, Thames said, which would see customer bills increase by 44.8%.
“Our business plan focuses on our customers’ priorities,” chief executive Chris Weston commented.
“As part of the usual ongoing discussions [...] we've now updated it to deliver more projects that will benefit the environment.”
Thames had been given a matter of weeks to submit a plan and effectively convince Ofwat of the bill increases, which come after the water firm has teetered on the edge of collapse due to its mounting £18 billion debt pile.
The new plan follows proposals submitted last October, with shareholders bailing out of a £500 million equity rescue package following disputes with Ofwat over bill increases.
This led to Thames, which supplies water to around 15 million people, saying it would have to default on payments to bondholders later this month
“We will continue to discuss this with our regulators and stakeholders,” Weston added.