Thames Water plans huge 56 per cent bills hike that could raise charges to £700 trends now
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Beleaguered Thames Water is pushing for the right to increase charges by 56 per cent in a move that would raise customers’ average annual bills to almost £700.
Bosses have put the proposed hike, which would be introduced over a five-year period, to regulators in a bid to stave off the company’s collapse.
Investors in the troubled firm have refused to come up with a cash injection needed to ensure its long-term survival, triggering demands that it should be nationalised. But this could see as much as £15billion of debt effectively being landed on taxpayers.
As an alternative, Thames Water is understood to have submitted a new business plan to the industry regulator Ofwat. Initially, Thames proposed a 40 per cent increase, taking its annual revenues to £2.8billion and lifting average bills to more than £600.
But it has now put out a begging bowl to ask watchdogs to sanction a 56 per cent hike.
Beleaguered Thames Water is pushing for the right to increase charges by 56 per cent
Thames Water Chief Executive Officer Chris Weston was appointed in the role in January 2024
Although Thames Water has built up £18billion in debt, it still has access to £2.5billion in cash and bank credit –
