The Right Deal for Right Now

South West Water has submitted their latest business plan to Ofwat for the period 2025-2030. It will see a £2.8BN investment in the region and will create 2,000 new jobs as part of the company's commitment to its customers, communities, and the environment. This plan is not just about words; it's about taking actions to meet the needs of the Greater South West region.

Susan Davy, CEO of Pennon Group commented: “We are already tackling challenges head on today, but with more investment in our region we can go further and faster. We recognise that actions speak louder than words. We've listened to our customers, engaged with communities, and are making progress as we put our promises into practice.

This plan will create up to 2000 jobs in our communities, as well as opening the door to 1000 apprenticeships and graduates. At the same time, we will do more with less, as we drive efficiency and innovation, with a nature first principle, keeping unwelcome bill increases as low as possible.

We have tested our plan with thousands of customers, and they are confident this is the right deal for right now.”

Tackling Challenges Head-On

Through comprehensive customer engagement, research and collaboration with over 30,000 customers and 1000+ stakeholders including environmental groups, our four key priorities continue to be:

Water Quality and Water Resilience: We're investing in new treatment works, reservoirs, and addressing lead pipe issues to ensure clean and reliable water for all.

·       Upgrading a third of water treatment works in Devon and Cornwall

·       Reducing leakage on our networks to less than 10% and less than 4% on customer properties

·       Creating a water grid to ensure all our strategic reservoirs are connected

·       Investing in large reservoirs, starting with Cheddar 2 in Bristol

 

Tackling Storm Overflows and Pollution: We pledge that all our bathing waters and shellfish waters overflows will meet new stringent standards by 2030.

·       Tackle every bathing beach by 2030 – 5 years ahead of target

·       Building trust in our bathing water quality with a commitment to a sampling a monitoring programme

·       Taking a ’Green First’ principle for tackling storm overflows

·       Achieve the lowest in sector pollution levels, with zero ‘serious’ pollutions

 

Delivering for Customers and Addressing Affordability: Despite doubling our investment program, we're committed to keeping bills as low as possible and supporting people through the cost of living crisis.

·       Extend our zero-water poverty pledge to 2030

·       Ensure fair charging for all our customers

·       Accelerate smart metering, helping household customers use 5% less water

·       Introducing a £200M affordability package to support our customers

Reaching Net Zero and Enhancing Environmental Gains: We're dedicated to achieving Net Zero by 2030, investing in climate-independent water sources, and strengthening our environmental efforts.

·       Planting 300,000 trees to boost nature recovery, launching our 1,000 ponds initiative and a new £2m Nature Recovery Fund

·       Recycling more waste and generating enough energy to power 20,000 homes

·       Expand our award-winning Upstream Thinking catchment management programme to deliver 146,500 hectares by 2030

South West Water's "The Right Deal for Right Now" plan reflects our commitment to responsible financing, with two-thirds of our investors being customers, charities, employees, and UK pension funds. Our plans will also help create around 2,000 jobs in our region, helping bolster the regional economy, and alleviate the cost of living crisis as well as delivering 1,000 apprenticeships and graduates. This strategy, coupled with responsible investment, dividends, and executive pay, underscores our mission to operate as a socially responsible business.

Further Information:

Tackling the biggest challenges head on includes:

·       Doubling our investment to £2.8billion

·       Quadrupling our Supply Chain

·       Creating 2,000 jobs

·       Delivering 1,000 apprenticeships and graduates

·       90,000 WaterShare+ Customers

·       30,000 Customers Engaged. Average of 90% of customers support the key initiatives in our plan

Impact on bills

·       74% of customers accept that bills should increase as we invest in our region

·       Bill increases starting at £3 and rising to £9 average per month increase for Devon, Cornwall and Isle of Scilly by 2030

·       Bill increases starting at £1 and rising to £3 average per month increase in Bristol and Bournemouth by 2030

Rebuilding trust in a responsible business by:

·       Increasing our Watershare+ shareholders from one in 14 households to one in 10 households in the region

·       Creation of our Independent WaterFit Environment Advisory board to put the environment at the heart of all we do

·       An independent Watershare Advisory Panel to ensure customers’ voices are represented in the business

·       Reporting progress transparently as we tackle the four challenges

Engaging with communities and environmental stakeholder through our "Let's Talk Water" channels