The contrasting media coverage of Welsh Water and Thames Water is stark. One get the impression that the population of Wales is rather better served than that of London.

Unique not-for-profit model brings additional £32m boost for Welsh Water customers 

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, has today announced that £32 million – the equivalent to dividends paid to shareholders in other companies – will be used to deliver further benefits to customers.

The £32 million is in addition to the previously announced £1 million-a-day capital investment programme (totalling £1.7 billion between 2015 and 2020) and commitment to keep the average household water and sewerage bill below the rate of inflation in every year until 2020.

The company also announced its best overall performance and that it will consult its customers over the summer on how any future financial surpluses could be used.

Welsh Water’s Chief Executive, Chris Jones said:

“Our unique ownership model allows us to use, for the benefit of our customers, money that in other companies would be paid to shareholders. This will help cut our costs – and therefore customers’ bills – by generating more energy on our own sites; by improving the service in areas where we’re having repeat problems; providing additional support for customers struggling to pay; and to help build a new environmental visitor attraction in Pembrokeshire.”

“Customers have indicated that they want to see us strike the right balance between keeping bills low today, improving performance where it isn’t to the standard they expect, and investing now to cut the cost for future customers. The additional £32 million of funding announced today will help us strike that balance and our research shows that customers support this package by four to one.”

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