Water firm’s new plans

THAMES Water could be raising household bills further to cover “environmental” projects following the defaulting of its parent company.

Earlier in April, Kemble

Water, which took on Thames Water in 2006, failed to meet a deadline to pay interest on a number of debts, totalling around £400 million.

On Tuesday, April 2, the firm announced that it was unable to make the payment, and asked for further extension on a payment of £19 million due by the end of the month.

It followed the witholding of critical funding by shareholders at the end of March after Ofwat, the water regulator, described Thames Water’s plans as “uninvestable.”

Plans for the largest ever investment program by a UK water company, equal to the

£18 billion of debt faced, were drawn up, and shareholders pledged to “take no cash out” of the business until further improvements were made to its finances.

Since Ofwat has been unprepared to provide “necessary regulatory support” for the business plan, however, they subsequently withheld the funding.

Ofwat rejected proposals for £18.7 billion of investment by Thames Water before 2030, which also included a 40% increase to customer’s bills on top of inflation.

This means the heavily indebted water firm is now seeking