Hunter water users are set to be slugged an extra $430 over the next five years, under a plan put forward by the local state-owned corporation.
But, no matter how the proposal is sugar-coated, an additional $86 annually is still a massive hit to residents struggling to make ends meet in a cost-of-living crisis.
Following engagement with almost 9,000 customers and the Lower Hunter community, Hunter Water has submitted its pricing proposal to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for the period of 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2030.
It’s also offering to invest prudently and efficiently, so it can continue its long history of providing high-quality services while protecting the environment.
IPART sets Hunter Water’s prices based on the efficient costs of delivering essential amenities, with adjustments for inflation between reviews.
Managing director Darren Cleary admitted it was a bittersweet situation.
“We know the rising cost-of-living weighs on our customers,” he said.
“So, we don’t take an increase to their bills lightly, though we do need to ensure we can continue to deliver reliable, high-quality services and secure our region’s water future.
“Just as we’ve seen in many other sectors of the economy, persistent cost pressures are contributing to rising prices.
“Importantly, we are investing to improve water security by building the Belmont Desalination Plant.
“In addition to that and servicing growth throughout our region, we’re also investing in improving service reliability, water conservation and reducing our carbon emissions because our customers have told us these outcomes are important to them.
“These investments reflect the views and recommendations of our community, obtained through our engagement program, which has included prioritisation surveys, bill simulations, focus groups and a representative Community Panel.”
Hunter Water believes the typical bill for a household receiving water, wastewater and stormwater services (before inflation) will rise, on average, $86 or 5.7% each year from 2025 until 2030.
“In developing our proposal, we’ve balanced addressing current issues with maintaining affordability and ensuring fairness for future generations,” Mr Cleary said.
“To keep bills as low as possible, we have deferred some projects and prioritised essential investments to comply with regulations that safeguard public health, safety, customers and the environment.
“Our customers have told us they want control over their bills, so we are proposing to recover most of the increases via the variable water usage charge.
“We propose that the charge for 1,000 litres of high-quality drinking water moves from $2.89 in 2024/25 to $4.40 in 2029/30.
“We heard through community engagement that increasing the usage charge is preferable to increasing the fixed service charge as it provides greater ability for customers to reduce their bills by managing their water use.
“To help them minimise their water bill, and to conserve this precious resource, we’ll continue our strong focus on water conservation.
“Since the 2019 drought, we’ve worked with our customers to help them find efficiencies in their use, including developing Water Efficiency Management Plans with businesses, too.
“We will continue to actively engage with large non-residential water users to support them leading up to new prices starting from July next year.
“We’ve also strengthened our overall support for our customers, with a range of assistance programs to help them pay their bill.
“This includes payment extensions and flexible options such as our bill smoothing program, Easy Pay.
“To keep ourselves accountable, we will publish a customer report card each year to show progress against the outcomes agreed by them.”
All Hunter Water customers and residents have an opportunity to submit feedback in response to IPART’s Issues Paper until Monday 9 December.
IPART will host a public hearing online, on Monday 18 November.
To make a submission during the public consultation period, head to IPART’s website. It will also publish a Draft Report in March 2025 seeking further feedback before publishing their Final Report in June 2025, with new prices to start from 1 July 2025.
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