Business
United Utilities Business Plan 2015-20
United Utilities Business Plan 2015-20.
About this update from United Utilities Group Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nUnited Utilities Group PLC\n\n2 December 2013\n\n UNITED UTILITIES BUSINESS PLAN 2015-20 \n\nUnited Utilities Water PLC has today submitted to Ofwat its business plan\ncovering the 2015-20 period.\n\nBalanced plan\n\nOur business plan for the next five-year period means that customers would\nbenefit from below inflation average household bills for the decade to 2020. We\nhave sought the views of over 27,000 customers, as well as consulting with our\nregulators, to deliver a plan which we believe strikes the right balance for\nall our stakeholders. This includes a substantial capital investment programme\nto meet our environmental obligations and which will provide a significant\ncontribution to the North West economy. Our plan reflects the views of\ncustomers on service and affordability, it delivers a paced environmental\nprogramme and it provides an appropriate return for investors.\n\nCustomer bills\n\nExtensive stakeholder engagement has highlighted that the principal concern for\ncustomers is affordability. Customers are generally satisfied with the current\nhigh levels of water and wastewater services being provided and are only\nprepared to pay for specific targeted areas of improvement, with 86% of\nhousehold customers supportive of bill rises no higher than inflation. This has\nbeen a key driver in the formulation of our plan and we are proposing an\naverage real terms bill decrease of 1.7% for household customers across the\nfive-year period (excluding the impact of the previously announced special\ncustomer discount of c£20 million to be applied to 2014/15 bills).\n\nFor non-household customers, we are proposing an average real terms bill\ndecrease of 0.5% in 2015/16 with a total real terms increase of 2.5% by 2019/\n20. We have tested this proposal with non-household customers and 76% are\nsupportive and we will work hard to help them reduce their overall spend.\n\nTotal expenditure\n\nOur plan includes total expenditure of £6.6 billion (2012/13 prices). This\ncomprises capital investment (capex), including infrastructure renewals\nexpenditure, of £3.8 billion and operating expenditure (opex) of £2.8 billion.\nThis mix of opex and capex has been derived from the optimal cost assessment\nover the life of our assets. We have reflected this mix in setting the\nwholesale business `pay as you go'1 ratio of 50%, w...