Yorkshire Water has set out details of its new charges coming into effect on 1st April, which will help fund its £318 million investment plan for the next 12 months.
The new water and sewerage charges will be the second cheapest in England - average bills for Yorkshire Water customers will rise broadly in line with inflation (RPI) by an average of just over one per cent or £5, to £366 per year.
According to the utility, compared to other water companies this represents the second cheapest bills in England and Wales and is £33 cheaper than the national average.
Annual water and sewerage bills will also continue to remain significantly below the cost of gas and electricity bills that stand at a combined cost of around £1,098, according to Ofgem.
The announcement of new customer charges comes as Yorkshire Water enters the second year of its biggest ever AMP6 investment programme which will total £3.8 billion between 2015 - 2020.
Over the next 12 months this will equate to around £318m spent on improving water and sewerage services, including drinking water quality and waste water treatment. Investment will also be made to conserve moorland, protect the environment from flooding and improve rivers.
Richard Flint, Chief Executive, said:
"It is of paramount importance for us to keep our customers’ bills fair and affordable and that’s why we are the second cheapest water firm in England and Wales.
"The slight increase this year has been agreed with Ofwat and is largely due to inflation and the simple fact that the price of many of the products and services we use as a company has risen.
"Along with income from customer bills, strategic borrowing will also provide a vital revenue stream to enable us to invest £318m. This investment will help us continue to maintain, manage and improve crucial water and sewerage services that the public rely on.”
"It is never an easy decision to increase bills but we have committed with Ofwat to keep our prices lower or approximately at the rate of inflation."
Key schemes and projects Yorkshire Water is investing in over the next five years include:
- Hull - £30m at Hull Waste Water Treatment Works to reduce odours. This will include installing new aeration systems in each of its eight tanks to improve oxygen levels in waste water to help reduce odour.
- Sheffield - £24m at Rivelin Water Treatment Works near Sheffield to enhance drinking water quality for thousands of residents in Sheffield.
- North Yorkshire - £4.8m at West Stonesdale Water Treatment Works to provide water from a more reliable source, reducing the risk of bursts, water supply interruptions and leakage.
- Whitby – around £10m to improve Whitby Waste Water Treatment Works including the sludge plant, tanks and washwater system.
- Flood resistance - £14m in storm tanks to upgrade the sewer network to help protect homes from flooding.
- Water pipe upgrade - £13 million to replace old Victorian lead water pipes with modern plastic equivalents that will benefits 20,000 homes across the region and help reduce leakage.
- River improvements - restoring 379km of the region’s river environment to good ecological status in parts of the rivers Aire, Swale, Derwent, Don and Rother.
- Fish passes - £6m to open up the region's rivers to more fish at more than 20 sites across Yorkshire so fish, including salmon, can more easily travel up them to breed.
Richard Flint added that the major investment planned over the next five years will have a positive ripple effect on the regional economy, benefitting over 1,000 suppliers and helping the firm to continue to be one of the largest employers in the region with 2,500 staff.
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