Water companies have started to publish details of the green recovery proposals they had until the end of January to put forward for consideration by government and regulators, following an invitation from policymakers to do so last year. The schemes seek to boost jobs, prosperity and the health of the environment as part of the bid for recovery from Covid-19.
United Utilities, South West Water and Severnt Trent Water published their plans last week.
United Utilities said it could fast-track £600m in investment already agreed for AMP7, and has sought regulatory approval for an extra £135m. Of the £135m, £120m comprises enhancement expenditure that would be brought forward from AMP8.
The remaining £15m is for “innovative schemes which invest in partnerships to deliver better outcomes on a catchment scale. This work will protect habitats, combat invasive non-native species, enhance water quality, better manage drainage and reduce phosphorus pollution. It will involve UU working with over 30 external organisations to deliver through partnerships.
The company said it did not plan to recover any additional costs from customers until after 2025, and was “targeting achieving over £10m of external funding to contribute towards the [innovative] schemes from partners and agencies who share a strong interest in delivering resilience in the catchments from nature based solutions.”
South West Water said it could create around 500 jobs, by increasing its environmental investment to 2025 by £92 million – an increase of about 10% on the existing £1bn investment programme.
This would fund six projects focused on improving public health, protecting the environment and addressing climate change. The company said: “Whilst we need to raise finance for the investment to 2025, importantly we are proposing no increase to customers’ bills over that period, with the impact post 2025 equating to around 1p a day.” It added: “To further minimise any impact on future customer bills we continue to explore and assess the eligibility to obtain green recovery funding from other sources.”
Severn Trent Water has put forward a 3,000-job creating package valued at £730m. This included to transform stretches of the River Avon and River Teme into bathing rivers; developing net zero carbon water supplies; trialling a large scale nature-based flood scheme in Nottinghamshire; and replacing lead pipes in 30,000 homes.
The company said 15% of the cost would go directly onto bills, with the remaining 85% funded through new finance. There would be no bill increases next year, but then £6 a year average increases after that.
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