The Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (NIAUR) has approved Northern Ireland Water’s proposed charges for the current year and upcoming 12-month period. The report by Utility Regulator covers NI Water’s Scheme of Charges for 2009-10 and 2010-11.
However, as a result of a decision by the NI Executive to suspend domestic charging for 2009-10 and 2010-11, domestic customers will not receive a bill direct from NI Water for the services it provides in 2010-11.
The company is nevertheless required to calculate what the charges would be, so that the Regulator can ensure that those customers who are paying NI Water directly for its services (e.g. business customers), are paying only for the service they receive. The average (notional) cost of providing water and sewerage services to each domestic household in Northern Ireland was £391 in 2009-10 and £395 in 2010-11.
The Regulator said that overall that charges in both the NI Water 2009-10 and 2010-11 Scheme of Charges represented “ a fair apportionment of costs”. However, this conclusion was subject to two caveats:
Trade effluent charges: these charges are not currently fully cost reflective. NI Water has agreed to unwind the existing cross subsidy from non - domestic measured sewerage customers to trade effluent customers by 2012-13. Unmeasured non - domestic charges: currently (and historically) there has been a variance between the estimated average volume of water consumed by unmeasured non - domestics as recorded by NI Water in its water balance and Annual Information Return compared to its tariff model. NI Water has recognised that the variance needs to be closed as soon as possible and not later than the end of the PC10 period.
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