Hunter Water users can expect to cop a hefty increase, at least 20%, to their statements over the next five years.
Starting on 1 July, bills for a typical household customer – who utilises the state-owned corporation’s services – will rise by an average of $86 (or 6.9%) including inflation until 30 June 2026.
Charges are then expected to escalate by an average of $53 (or 3.8%) annually, plus inflation, in each of the following four financial years until 30 June 2030.
“This would see typical household bills increase from $1,241 in 2024/25 to $1,540 by 2029/30, plus inflation,” managing director Darren Cleary said.
And, while he acknowledged current economic pressures were affecting families across the Hunter, he added it was essential to maintain a “secure water future”.
“We’ve been very conscious of keeping customers at the heart of our decision-making as we focused our efforts on balancing the need to invest in critical infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for customers,” Mr Cleary said.
“Cost-of-living and its impact on our users has been front of mind for us in ensuring we invest prudently and efficiently.
“This has included setting ourselves an ambitious cost efficiency target and extensively prioritising our investment program by focusing on the outcomes that matter most to our customers.
“While no price increases are desirable, this approach provides the best opportunity for our customers to influence their bill by managing water use around their homes.”
The organisation also announced it would invest $1.6 billion in capital works, with a large portion of funding dedicated to the Belmont Desalination Plant.
They intend to upgrade existing infrastructure to ensure future growth and demand is supplied for, too.
“In addition to the desalination plant and servicing growth, we will invest in improving service reliability for localised areas, carbon emissions reduction and water conservation, because our customers have told us these are important to them,” Mr Cleary said.
In order to ease the pinch of the increase, Hunter Water has strengthened its customer support programs making it easier for people to manage their bill, including flexible payment options and providing extra time.
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