NI Water announces non domestic water and sewerage charges for 2019/20
20 March 2019 0:01
NI Water has announced that from 1st April 2019, non-domestic water and sewerage charges will rise by 2.7% on average.
NI Water Director of Finance & Regulation, Ronan Larkin said:
“The amount by which NI Water can increase customer tariffs is determined by the Utility Regulator. NI Water is acutely aware of its responsibility to strike a balance between our need to generate sufficient income to allow us to continue delivering our services and minimising impact on business customers.
“We have, therefore, limited the increase to 2.7% on average. This means non domestic customers will still pay 1.5% less, in real terms, for their water and sewerage services in 2019/20, than they did when the current PC21 price control period began in 2015.
“NI Water, like other businesses, has been impacted by rising inflation which increases the cost of providing water and sewerage services to customers. Whilst the cost of providing services to our customers has risen, we have been able to absorb some of this and minimise the increase in our tariffs.
“We have worked closely with the Utility Regulator and with the Consumer Council to ensure that any increase remains as low as possible, and continues to represent good value for money.”
Customers can access further information about our charges on NI Water’s website at www.niwater.com. Anyone with questions about their bill or our charges can phone our Billing Enquiries Team on 03458 770030.
Advertisements outlining the changes are also being carried in daily newspapers.
ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact NI Water Press Office on 028 90 354710 or email press.office@niwater.com
Notes to editors
- In 2019/20 NI Water is planning to invest between £150-£170m in our water and wastewater infrastructure, ensuring continued improvement in the quality of service we provide to our customers.
- The price limits used by NI Water to set regulated prices exclude inflation. The Utility Regulator, responsible for determining price limits, uses Retail Price Index (RPI) as its main measure of inflation.
- NI Water is required to annually review the charges levied for water and sewerage services and agree them with the Utility Regulator in order that customers pay the fairest rate for the water and sewerage services they receive. The new charges, to be reflected in bills from April, follow the Utility Regulator’s decision on the prices NI Water should charge customers between 2015-21.
- Measured customers are charged for water and sewerage based on a meter reading. Unmeasured customers are charged based on the Net Annual Value of their premises.
- While the value of a customer’s bill will vary depending on the amount of water used or the value(NAV), the following are typical examples of how customers may be impacted by these increases:
Typical measured customer examples
A shop or small office unit, connected to sewer, using 285M³ of water, will pay £392, a rise of £9.
A medium size factory, connected to sewer, using 1,300M³ of water, will pay £3,588, a rise of £96.
Farmer using 400M³ of water, with septic tank, will pay £288, a rise of £6.
Typical unmeasured customer examples
Small to medium shop or office unit, with a NAV of £8,000, connected to sewer, will pay £291, a rise of £9
- Due to the continuing deferment of domestic charges, eligible measured water and sewerage customers will continue to avail of a domestic allowance which will reduce their water and sewerage bill. As it is not possible to offer a volumetric domestic allowance to unmeasured customers, unmeasured water and sewerage charges will continue to be billed at one half of the full charge.
Non-domestic customers include: small, medium and large businesses, farms, industrial users, voluntary organisations and charities, public bodies, churches and non-household use properties.