Water bills will be cut by SA Water in plan to reduce its running costs

THE independent umpire has won concessions from SA Water, with it agreeing to cut costs so that household and business bills can also be cut.

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SA Water has agreed to further bill reductions in coming years to be delivered by cutting its running costs.

The commitment is contained in an agreement with the independent umpire, the Essential Services Commission of South Australia, about how SA Water will charge customers between 2020 and 2024.

In November last year, ESCOSA challenged SA Water to cut bills, stating: “Customers should receive the benefits of that improved efficiency through the prices they pay.’’

In a response released yesterday, SA Water accepted the plan but without saying how much bills would be cut by.

“We aim to deliver these in the most efficient and innovative ways, ensuring those savings are passed on to customers,’’ chief executive Roch Cheroux stated.

SA Water Chief Executive Roch Cheroux. Picture: Mike Burton

But critics of SA Water say the reductions will have to be significant to make up for huge increases over the past decade.

Australian Conservatives yesterday launched a key plank of their March 17 election strategy, lobbying to reduce common household bills in SA, and with tough powers for a new parliamentary committee to inquire into all household cost-of- living increases.

MLC Robert Brokenshire said for small household customers, the bill for 1000 litres of SA Water had been 38c when Labor came to power in 2002 and was now $3.31, a 771 per cent increase, and for large households, 94c increasing to $3.58 per 1000 litres. He said one of the largest fee increases was annual car registration, excluding insurance, which for a small car had gone up from $75 in 2002 to $376 today.

“Some of these increases are horrific, more than 1000 per cent in some cases,’’ he said.

“This is making it uncompetitive for business but it is also costing too much for people to live in SA.

“Our proposal is that there must be much more scrutiny by Parliament, abolishing the current committee with a standing committee which has the power to force ministers and departments to answer questions.’’

Australian Conservatives MLC Robert Brokenshire. Picture: Kelly Barnes/The Australian.

The ESCOSA plan for future water bills shows SA Water revenue has dropped $110 million since 2012-13 through lower water prices, paid for by cost cutting within the organisation.

But in his submission also released yesterday, Business SA executive director Anthony Penney was scathing of the costs of water to businesses.

“While water price rises have moderated somewhat in recent years, their absolute level still results in SA businesses paying one of the highest water usage rates in Australia,’’ he said.

“For the top rate of water usage for commercial customers, prices have still risen 185 per cent over the past decade, or nearly triple, which is actually higher than the extent of electricity price rises,’’ he stated.