Sewage pollution controversies and contentious shareholder payouts have not stopped privatised water companies across England and Wales from lobbying for sweeping bill increases in the coming years.
According to the BBC, Southern Water is asking the Consumer Council for Water (CCW, which is a sub-department of Defra) to allow a 91% increase in bills over the next five years.
Southern Water was fined a record £90 million in 2021 for deliberately dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea.
Thames Water, which is battling a £16 billion debt crisis and could soon face renationalisation, wants to hike bills by 59% over five years.
Severn Trent and Wessex Water are seeking a 50% increase.
Severn Trent’s boss recently defended her £3.2 million salary despite the Midlands water supplier being fined £2 million for spilling 240 million litres of raw sewage into the River Trent near Stoke.
Pennon, which operates South West Water, is seeking a 31% bill hike. Pennon was recently forced into apologising for an outbreak of diarrhoea in Brixham, which has affected at least 22 people.
Pennon chief executive Susan Davy said the company had “fallen significantly short”.
United Utilities wants to increase bills by 38%. The FTSE 100-listed supplier recently increased its dividend by 9.4% despite reports that it failed to prevent millions of litres of raw sewage from pumping into Windermere in the Lake District.
Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water and Essex & Suffolk Water, Affinity Water and South Staffs & Cambridge Water are asking for bill increases of less than 30% over the coming five years.
Despite the controversies engulfing Britain’s water providers, they have argued that more money is needed to modernise the country’s ageing infrastructure.
Industry regulator Ofwat will publish its final decision on bill rises on 12 June.
"Ofwat is currently scrutinising these plans and will only allow investment that is new, necessary and value for money. It will not allow water companies to spend money on anything for which they have already received funding," said industry body Water UK.