Tideway request for bills hike to cover Covid costs is in line with regulatory process says bank

A bid by Thames Tideway to up Thames Water bills to cover a £233m hike in its costs attributed to Covid is “consistent with how we would expect the regulation to work” according to the Royal Bank of Canada. (RBC)

Privately financed Thames Tideway has petitioned Ofwat to increase the £18-a-year surcharge on Thames Water’s bills to £20-£25 after Covid restrictions caused it to delay the project by some nine months.

RBC emphasised that the proposed increase in bills had been “well flagged” by infrastructure fund, International Public Partnerships (INPP), which has a 15.99% stake in Thames Tideway, amounting to about 9% of INPP’s portfolio value at its results presentation.