Foreign lenders key as Thames Water owner seeks more time to pay debts
www.theguardian.com
ING, Allied Irish Banks and two Chinese banks are expected to agree extension on £190m loan

The group of lenders to Kemble Water Finance include ING, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and the Chinese state-owned Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the Financial Times and Sky News reported.

China’s role in UK infrastructure has been under the spotlight since telecoms groups were forced to strip out Huawei equipment from the UK network and Chinese backers of the Sizewell C nuclear power project were eased out amid security fears.

The announcement raised the prospect of Thames, which has 16 million customers, being temporarily nationalised if it slips into a government-handled administration. Rishi Sunak appears reluctant to pursue this route, although a government project team is examining contingency plans for Thames’s collapse.

  • @talEnglish
    3•3 months ago

    Ahead of the meeting, the GMB national officer Gary Carter said he would “demand there are no cuts to work force numbers – or terms and conditions”. He said: “Any cost-cutting measures being considered by Thames will only be a sticking plaster and will not address the root cause of the company’s problems – a lack of investment by shareholders stretching back decades.”

    Well, if the shareholders are going to do that, it’s going to have to ultimately come out of higher water fees. What is Thames Water charging today?

    googles

    https://www.thameswater.co.uk/media-library/home/help/billing-and-account/understand-your-bill/charges-2021/charges-scheme-2021-22.pdf

    It looks like there’s a small (~20 pound) fixed annual fee per household to pay for infrastructure. The variable cost appears to be 149.62 pence per cubic meter.

    I wonder how that compares to over here in the States?

    The exchange rate is about 1.26 USD = 1 GBP. A cubic meter of water is 264 gallons. So that’s about $0.00714/gal in variable costs.

    googles

    https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/water-prices-by-state

    The water portion of a utility bill is typically smaller than electricity, gas, cable, and internet, with exceptions. Using about 100 gallons per person per day, an average U.S. family of four paid about $72.93 for water every month in 2019.

    According to data, the least expensive cost of water in any state is in Wisconsin and Vermont, with average water costs at $18. West Virginia has the most expensive water costs of any state at $91 per month, followed by California at $77.

    Okay, so 30 days in a month, 400 gallons, 12,000 gallons/month/household…so even discounting their small fixed fee, Thames Water customers are paying the equivalent of about $85/month, which is higher than 49 out of 50 US states, albeit not radically so.

    • @EinfachUnersetzlich@lemm.eeEnglish
      1•3 months ago

      A quick Google suggests the average Brit uses about 145 litres of water per day (various studies suggesting between 135 and 150), or 39 US gallons.