Environment

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Thames: Our assets need £20bn upgrade

The cost of upgrading and future-proofing Thames Water’s ageing assets would be almost £20 billion, the company has revealed. To tackle the most pressing issues, Thames has proposed spending £4.7 billion on its assets in the five years to 2030. The figures are revealed within Thames’ PR24 business plan which it made public on 5 October, three days later than Ofwat’s submission deadline.

2 years ago

Water-only complaints jump 66% after extreme weather

The number of complaints about water-only companies rose 66% year-on-year following supply interruptions during extreme weather. Although billing disputes dominated the causes of grievances, water watchdog CCW said environmental factors such as the hot, dry summer and freeze-thaw in 2022 triggered an influx of customer complaints when water supplies were affected. South East was named as the most complained about water-only company with disputes related to the freeze thaw, and how subsequent compensation claims were dealt, leading to a surge in customer contacts.

2 years ago

PR24: Smart metering hits mainstream

2 years ago

PR24: SES to ‘fall short’ on net zero

2 years ago

SVT ‘really confident’ Ofwat will approve £13bn spend

Severn Trent has told investors it is confident the "vast majority" of its spending plans for 2025-2030 will be approved, after asking for a doubling in total expenditure compared to the current price control. Meanwhile chief executive Liz Garfield promised growth in regulatory capital value “beyond anything people might have been expecting” for PR24.

2 years ago

Coffey summons ‘extremely disappointing’ water bosses

2 years ago

Water companies owe billpayers £236 million for underperformance

2 years ago

Final hosepipe ban ends

South West Water has ended the final hosepipe ban, which had been in place for residents of north Devon and Cornwall since last year. Reservoir levels are now up to 28% higher than this time last year.

2 years ago

Cost of tackling storm overflow spills rises to £60bn

2 years ago

Duty to upgrade sewage treatments should be expanded

2 years ago

MP: ‘South West Water is like Russell Brand, not to be trusted’

2 years ago

Rebuilding trust in water

2 years ago

Lords block ‘unconservative’ bid to relax water pollution rules

The House of Lords has blocked the government’s attempts to relax rules around the pollution of waterways. In a fiery debate on the proposed amendment to the Energy Bill, former Climate Change Committee chair Lord Deben labelled the move as “entirely unconservative” and added that it was “one of the worst pieces of legislation” he has ever seen. The proposed amendment on scrapping nutrient neutrality measures was introduced by Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove last month. He claimed it would free up developers to build thousands of homes.

2 years ago

Water companies urged to ditch ‘impenetrable’ reports

2 years ago

Ofwat and government may have broken law over sewage spills

2 years ago

Weekend press: SSE rules out new onshore wind farms in England and Wales

In this weekend’s papers, the boss of SSE rules out building new onshore wind farms in England and Wales, saying the company is focusing on offshore wind despite the relaxation of planning rules and the absence of the latter from last week’s CfD auctions. There is also continued reaction to the “disastrous” auctions and a survey finds more than half of voters will be influenced by the government’s handling of sewage spills at the next election.

2 years ago

Ofwat seeks net zero innovations

2 years ago

Armitt: Water sector has a lot of catching up to do

2 years ago

Tideway boss pockets £1.7m bonus

2 years ago

Helm: Breaking up Thames would be a good start

Economist Dieter Helm has proposed dividing beleaguered Thames into two public limited companies with simplified ownership to improve management and prevent financial engineering. The sector's long-term critic also took Ofwat to task for not taking steps to strip poorly-performing companies of their licences and proposed reverting to the single-company structures of the original privatised companies.

2 years ago