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The Latest Breaking News from Ofwat

Billpayers in England and Wales tricked into ‘stealth bailout’ of water companies

Campaign group challenges industry regulator over price rises for customers that will pay to upgrade infrastructure

The Guardian - UK

Remainder of year’s water bills will pay dividends and service debts, say campaigners

We Own It says 31% of water bills went on shareholder payouts and company debts in last financial year, while the same percentage of 2024 remains

The Guardian - UK

Elliott, unlike Thames Water’s board, sees the inevitability of debt writedowns

Hedge fund’s reported purchase of £1bn of bonds at a big discount suggests growing realism about company’s future

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian view on the regulatory state: Labour must put people before profit

Grenfell showed what can happen when human needs are disregarded. Tougher laws governing business are one answer

The Guardian - UK

Water bosses could be jailed if they cover up sewage dumping under new law

CEOs in England and Wales could face two years in prison under proposals to force firms to supply data quickly

The Guardian - UK

Water bosses could face prison time over dumping sewage into Britain’s rivers and lakes

Environment secretary Steve Reed is to tell an invited audience of water company executives that they will lose their bonuses and face prison if they continue pumping filth into rivers and lakes

The Independent UK

Thames Water Wants To Hike Prices By Up To 59% In 2025: 'After Keeping Bills Low, Now Is The Time For Difficult Choices'

Thames Water proposes a controversial 59% hike in customer bills by 2025 to fund essential infrastructure upgrades, sparking concerns amid financial pressures on households and regulatory scrutiny.

International Business Times UK

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Thames Water lobbied Whitehall to press Ofwat on allowing higher bills

Exclusive: Debt-ridden company also warned officials of ‘chilling effect’ of any renationalisation

The Guardian - UK

Thames Water’s ‘difficult choices’ must include pain for bondholders

Customers know bills have to rise, but shareholders should also pay, as they would at a conventional company that overextended itself

The Guardian - UK

Thames Water says without steep bill increase it’s ‘neither financeable nor investible’

Debt-laden company tells Ofwat if it cannot charge customers 59% more, it ‘would prevent company turnaround and recovery’

The Guardian - UK

Thames Water proposes huge new bills hike

The average bill over the five-year period from 2025 to 2030 would be £638 under the proposal

The Independent UK

Water bills must rise if Labour is to hit housebuilding target, industry claims

Companies need regulator go-ahead on significant increases or they will not be able to aid plan, says Water UK

The Guardian - UK

UK water companies to warn bill cap will drive away investors for overhaul

Ofwat’s tighter spending targets would ‘hamper sector’s ability to deliver improvements’, study will say

The Guardian - UK

Couple billed £12,000 by water companies for non-existent leak describe four-year ‘torture’

‘It was like torture – like water torture – like a steady drip’

The Independent UK

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The Guardian - UK

Federal Reserve’s Jerome Powell says ‘the time has come’ for US interest rate cuts – as it happened

Live coverage as investors wait for signs at Jackson Hole summit of how fast US central bank will cut interest rates starting in September

The Guardian - UK

Water campaigners are right about enforcement. Labour’s plans are still too vague

Without regulatory reforms and proper funding, the country will lack a muscular enforcer to strike fear among polluters

The Guardian - UK

Privatised water firms are imperilling our health and poisoning our rivers. Act now: flood the streets with rage

It is time to say this privatisation zealotry has been a disaster. March with us and let ministers know – enough is enough, says campaigner Feargal Sharkey

The Guardian - UK

Thames Water barred from billing customers for pension shortfall

Company faces scramble for funds after Ofwat says deficit is for managers and shareholders alone to deal with

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The Guardian - UK

Activists warn of ‘extreme anger’ if ministers fail to reform water regulator

Sources say government has dismissed some of the more ambitious ideas for fixing sewage crisis

The Conversation

Three water companies face big fines for sewage spills – it won’t do any good unless our whole approach to waste changes

The recent announcement of £168 million in sewage pollution fines issued to three water companies has renewed hope that the regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, is finally taking action in line with public opinion.

The Independent UK

Water customers to receive up to £2,000 compensation for serious service failures

Government to double rates of compensation for service failings by water companies

The Guardian - UK

Thames Water’s turnaround plan to be supervised by independent monitor

Ofwat says monitor will have access to company’s financial information and report back to regulator

The Independent UK

Mapped: Sewage in English rivers as water companies face £168m in combined fines

Campaigners have welcomed the proposed fines but warned the penalties highlight the ‘sheer state of disrepair’ of the water and sewage industry

The Guardian - UK

Thames Water’s assets are looking worse and worse. Bondholders must pay

Damning Ofwat report underlines multiple operational failings at the beleaguered company

The Guardian - UK

UK rivers and beaches have been heaped with pollution for years – when will we talk about restoration?

The penalties reflect the failings of the Environment Agency and Ofwat as much as the water companies

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