IPART has released its Final Report on the prices Essential Water can charge for water and wastewater services in Broken Hill and the surrounding areas of Menindee, Sunset Strip and Silverton from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2026.
We have also released the Final Report for the prices WaterNSW can charge for water transportation services provided by the Murray River to Broken Hill Pipeline.
Under IPART’s decisions, prices for water and wastewater services would remain stable for most customers, before inflation. This means a typical household would continue to pay a total annual bill of $1,453, before inflation.
Our decisions on prices aim to minimise customer bill impacts while still providing Essential Water with enough funding to maintain good quality services in Broken Hill and the surrounding areas. While the quality and security of water has improved since the WaterNSW Pipeline became operational in 2019, Essential Water’s infrastructure is ageing and needs to be upgraded.
We recognise that affordability of water services is a key concern for Broken Hill customers. We found opportunities to reduce Essential Water’s proposed costs and hold most prices constant, before inflation. Under our prices, water bills would continue to be a small portion of median household income and would be comparable with what similar households pay in other regional areas in NSW.
We are grateful to everyone who attended our public hearing on 6 September 2022 and shared their input with the Tribunal. We also thank everyone who made a submission on the Draft Reports. We listened to the community’s views and considered all feedback when making our decisions and recommendations.
The media release is available here.
Media
For media enquiries, please contact Adrian Flood by email to media@ipart.nsw.gov.au or by phone on 0427 105 865.