NI Water announces 1.6% increase in charges to business customers
The company said that the average increase of 1.65% means customers will still be paying 12% less, in real terms, for their water and sewerage services than they did five years ago.
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, and indeed we could have increased tariffs by up to 2.56%, on average, in 2017/18. However, we believe our decision strikes a balance between generating sufficient income to allow us to continue delivering what matters for everyone who uses our services and minimising impact on non-domestic and business customers.
“NI Water was able to hold water and sewerage tariffs with no increase in the last financial year; however since then inflation has risen steadily, creating pressure on our operating cost base. We have however been able to ensure that not all of this inflationary pressure has been passed on to our customers.
“We have worked closely with the Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland (UREGNI) and with the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (CCNI) to ensure that any increase remains as low as possible, and continues to represent good value for money for our customers – on average, non-domestic customers will still be paying 12% less for water and sewerage services than they were in 2012/13, when inflation is taken into account.
“This announcement will hopefully be welcome news for local businesses. This means, taking into account inflation, our non-domestic customers are paying 12% less, on average, for their water and sewerage services than they did five years ago.”
Leaflets will be mailed to non-domestic customers to notify them of the forthcoming pricing changes and specifically, how they will be applied. Anyone with questions about the Scheme of Charges can phone our Billing Enquiries Team on 03458 770030.
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.