Southern Water today announced the release of its Draft Price and Service Plan summary for the three year period commencing 1 July 2012.

Southern Water CEO, Mr Mike Paine, said the Draft Plan summary was being released to give customers the opportunity to provide feedback prior to the finalisation of the Plan and its lodgement with the Tasmanian Economic Regulator.

“The current pricing system inherited by Southern Water directly reflects the water and sewerage charges applied previously by the 12 councils in southern Tasmania,” he said.

“With the councils applying differing approaches, residential customers are paying in the range of a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars for the same services.

“The underlying principle established by the Tasmanian Parliament is that of equitable pricing. We are proposing that all customers will pay the same price for the same service.

“Further, we are required to implement two-part pricing from 1 July 2012, where all customers will pay a combination of fixed and variable (volumetric) charges.”

The Tasmanian Economic Regulator will undertake an independent review of Southern Water’s Price and Service Plan and may request it be amended prior to approval.

“The draft reflects both the need to remove the current pricing inequities and also the need for increased revenues to enable Southern Water to both improve water quality and overcome the environmental damage caused by ageing wastewater treatment plants,” Mr Paine said.

“We believe that our Draft Price and Service Plan achieves an appropriate balance between securing the transition to fairer pricing while providing for the additional revenues needed to fund service improvements.”

Southern Water expects a typical bill for a standard customer in 2012/13 to be $942.

This will be made up of a proposed fixed charge for water services of $273, a fixed charge for sewerage services of $489 and a volumetric charge, which is based on an average annual usage of 200kl (200,000 litres), charged at 90 cents per kilolitre, of $180.

An expected typical bill for a standard customer for 2013/14 will be $992 and for 2014/15 will be $1046.

“Those standard customers currently paying below the target tariff will have their fixed charges progressively increased by no more than $50 per water and $50 per sewerage service, or 10% per annum, until they are paying the target tariff. Similarly, the volumetric charge will be increased by 10% per annum until the target tariff is reached.

“Those customers paying more than the target tariff will not receive any increase and in 2014-15 these customers will see a decrease of 5% per annum towards the target tariff. This methodology is identical to Southern Water’s proposal that was accepted by the State Government as being applicable to tariffs in the 2011/12 financial year.

Mr Paine said the transition to a fairer basis of charging would take many years, but the extended transition period was necessary to ensure that the price adjustment for a standard customer was kept at around $2 per week.

“Target tariffs have also been established for customers with greater service requirements than the standard customer and the same transition process will apply.

Customers paying below the target tariff will have their fixed service charges increased by a maximum of $50 or 10 per cent, whichever is the greater, while volumetric charges will be increased by 10 per cent. Customers paying more than the target tariff will not receive any increase and will see a decrease of 5% per annum starting in 2014-15.

“Southern Water welcomes feedback from our customers on the Draft Price and Service Plan summary,” Mr Paine said.

How to give your feedback

The Draft Price and Service Plan Summary can be downloaded from the Southern Water website at: www.southernwatertas.com.au

Comments should be forwarded by mail to:

Feedback, Draft Price and Service Plan Summary Southern Water PO Box 1060 Glenorchy TAS 7010
or by email to [email protected]

Southern Water’s initial consultation period will close on Tuesday 16 August.

Download:

QandA_Price_and_Services_Plan.pdf
Southern Water