Household water bills to increase after IPART determination

HUNTER Water bills for a typical household customer will increase by 6.9 percent next financial year including inflation and then by 3.8 percent each year plus yearly inflation in subsequent years.

The rise comes after a pricing determination by the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).

Tribunal Chair Carmel Donnelly said IPART reviewed costs and prices for water and water-related services provided by Hunter Water as part of setting maximum prices from 2025-26 to 2029-30.

“The decisions released today by the Tribunal will allow Hunter Water to make important investments to continue delivering high-quality and reliable services, without raising bills more than they need to,” Ms Donnelly said.

“The increases in maximum prices and bills are mainly driven by the efficient costs of new infrastructure, including the proposed Belmont desalination plant.”

Under IPART’s decisions, bills for a typical household customer receiving water and wastewater services will increase:

● In 2025-26 by $54 (or 4.4 percent), before inflation is added. After adding inflation, these bills will increase by around $86 (or 6.9 percent). This would see typical bills increasing from $1,241 in 2024-25 to $1,326 in 2025-26.

● In the subsequent four years, typical bills will increase on average by $53 (or 3.8 percent) each year, before adding inflation. This would see typical bills increasing to $1,540, plus inflation, in 2029-30.

“The Tribunal’s decision will mean the typical household bill in 2029-30 will be 5.9 percent lower than Hunter Water proposed at the beginning of this process,” Ms Donnelly said.

“Under these prices, Hunter Water customers will continue to pay around the median of water bills when compared with other major water businesses around Australia.”

The prices set in this review will apply to customers from 1 July 2025.

Hunter Water Managing Director Darren Cleary said the costs of providing water and wastewater services are rising.

“Prices will increase over the next five years to ensure we can continue to deliver reliable, high-quality services and secure our region’s water future,” he said.

“During extensive community consultation with over 9,000 customers, the views and needs of our customers and community have helped to shape our new prices.

“We will recover most of the cost increases through our variable water charge.

“While no price increases are desirable, this approach provides the best opportunity for our customers to influence their bill by managing water use around their homes.”

New prices come into effect on 1 July 2025.