Thames Water to pay £18m penalty after breaking dividend rules
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Regulator Ofwat penalises struggling utilities firm and announces bills can rise by more than third over five years. Water bills for households in England and Wales to rise by £31 a year. Thames Water will have to pay an £18.2m penalty after the water industry regulator confirmed the troubled utilities company had breached dividend rules.
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that Thames would be penalised over two dividend payments, made in 2023 and 2024, and that it would allow the water company to increase bills by just over a third. The industry watchdog Ofwat confirmed the penalty and bills rise on Thursday.
Ofwat said water bills for millions of customers in London and south-east England would increase by £152 on average over the next five years. It said on Thursday that Thames would be allowed to increase bills by 35% by 2030 in the regulator’s much-anticipated “final determination” on the business plans of water companies in England and Wales.
Thames will receive an £18m penalty for payments including a £37.5m dividend it paid last year and a £158.3m this year, as first revealed by the Guardian. The decision is seen as crucial in determining the future of the debt-laden company, which is trying to secure £3bn emergency in funding and a further £3.25bn equity investment to prevent its collapse.
