Bristol Water customers are being offered money off their bill or the chance to opt into a share scheme amid the cost-of-living crisis. The initiative - called WaterShare+ - is being run by the utility firm’s parent company, Pennon Group, which bought Bristol Water in 2021 for £814m.
The scheme was first launched in 2020 but is now being extended to some 500,000 eligible households in Bristol. Pennon said the initiative would see it sharing a whopping £20m with its customers, who also include South West Water and Bournemouth Water. It also claims it will give customers an opportunity to have a greater say in how the business is run. But how does it work?
According to the utility giant, customers can choose to have money off their bill up to the value of £13 or become shareholders in Pennon. The bill credit will be applied automatically unless the household opts to take up the shares instead.
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For those who select the share option, the £13 will be used to buy Pennon shares listed on the London Stock Exchange. The number of shares will be rounded down to the nearest whole number, which means the household may also receive a credit on their water bill to make up for the difference in share price and the amount they are eligible to receive.
Pennon said if the share price is more than £13 at the relevant time it may, at its discretion, top up the amount the customer is eligible to receive so they still receive a share. Customers who chose to become shareholders will receive dividends and hold voting rights in Pennon Group on the company shares they acquire and will be sent quarterly statements on how those shares are performing.
The share scheme is online only so Pennon has said its customers will need to provide an email address and bank account details. This is so it is able to send reports and dividends electronically, according to the firm.
Susan Davy, chief executive of Pennon Group, said: “We are pleased to be extending our WaterShare+ scheme to new customers across the South West, including Bristol Water customers for the first time.
“At a time when households across the UK are facing rising costs of living, we are proud to be the only water company to be offering such a scheme in which customers not only benefit directly and immediately, but have the opportunity to take a long-term stake and say in their region’s water company and shape how we move forward together.”
Registration for the Pennon shares is open until 5pm on Friday, December 23. Customers who register for shares after that date will not receive them but will get a £13 credit to their water bill instead.
Please note that the value of shares and any income derived from them can either decrease or increase, and you may not get back your original investment. If you are in any doubt as to what action to take, please contact an authorised financial advisor.
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