South East Water Must Pay £30.5 Million for Repeated Supply Failures Affecting 70,000 Homes
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 14
South East Water Must Pay £30.5 Million for Repeated Supply Failures Affecting 70,000 Homes
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 14
Summary
Ofwat ordered South East Water to fund a £30.5 million redress package after three investigations found repeated supply failures across Kent and Sussex, with shareholders — not customers — footing the bill.
Up to 70,000 homes lost water between November and January, while an earlier period from 2020 to 2023 affected more than 286,000 people; Ofwat said the company communicated too slowly and failed to provide enough bottled water.
£15 million of the package will go to resilience measures including free water butts, faster smart metering for businesses and other non-household users, and on-site storage to manage peak demand.
A separate independent monitor, also paid for by the company, will review South East Water's improvement plan after a Moody's downgrade in May left it in breach of a licence condition.