Wessex Water has sought £3.5 billion of capital expenditure over AMP8 – more than double the “traditional” level of £1.5 billion over the five-year period.
The company said this increased expenditure would contribute to an average bill increase of 29% – or at least £150 per year – before inflation. Elsewhere, the firm said nominal average annual bills would jump from £402 over PR19 to £631 over PR24.
Wessex said no households should be spending more than 5% of their disposable income on water bills and it therefore plans to increase the number receiving financial assistance from more than 55,000 currently to around 140,000.
The proposed capital expenditure of £3.5 billion includes around £900 million to reduce nutrients in treated wastewater discharges and £400 million to reduce spills from storm overflows by 80.
The company said it would also spend £1.1 billion maintaining asset resilience to “make up for previous under-funding” by the regulator and £100 million increasing wastewater treatment capacity.
Furthermore, the company said it would spend £150 million on WINEP improvements and investigations and £120 million on tackling pollution and sewer flooding. It said it would also spend £120 million rolling out smart meters to 40% of all customers, reducing average daily per capita consumption from 145 to 135 litres, and cutting leakage by 5% when compared to current levels.