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South East Water ordered to fund £30.5m improvements after outages
Ofwat said the package includes £5m for free water butts, £5m to accelerate smart metering for businesses, and £5m for on-site storage.
South East Water has been ordered to spend £30.5 million on improvements after repeated supply failures left thousands of customers without water in Kent and Sussex, the UK water regulator Ofwat said.
According to BBC Business, the enforcement follows the conclusion of three investigations into the company’s failures, including an earlier proposed £22 million penalty for outages affecting more than 286,000 people between 2020 and 2023.
Ofwat said the redress will be paid for by South East Water’s shareholders rather than customer bills, and will include £5 million to provide free water butts to households, £5 million to bring forward smart metering for businesses and other non-household customers, and a further £5 million for on-site storage to better manage peak demand.
The regulator also cited communication lapses during the most recent interruptions from November to January, which left up to 70,000 homes without water, and noted an independent monitor will be appointed to review the company’s improvement plan.