Key facts
- South East Water ordered to pay £30.5 million redress package for supply failures.
- The package includes funds for infrastructure repair, smart meters, and community support.
- The money will come from shareholders' profits, not customer bills.
- Failures between 2020 and 2023 affected over 286,000 customers in Kent and Sussex.
- Recent storm-related outages impacted an additional 70,000 homes.
- Ofwat cited communication failures and inadequate provision of bottled water during outages.
South East Water has been ordered to pay a £30.5 million redress package and implement an improvement plan following multiple investigations by the industry regulator, Ofwat. The company, which supplies drinking water to 2.3 million customers across Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, will use the funds to compensate its service area and fix its operational systems. The redress package includes approximately £13 million for infrastructure repairs, £11.5 million for smart meters and localized storage facilities to manage demand during peak periods, and £5 million for free water butts to households to reduce overall demand. An additional £1.5 million will be allocated to a community fund supporting local charities and groups in the most affected areas of Kent and Sussex. Ofwat's investigations revealed that between 2020 and 2023, over 286,000 customers in Kent and Sussex experienced water loss due to the company's failure to maintain its network. More recently, approximately 70,000 homes lost water during Storm Goretti. Ofwat criticized South East Water for its communication failures and insufficient provision of bottled water during these incidents. Furthermore, South East Water's financial rating was recently downgraded by Moody's, breaching its operating license rules. Helen Campbell, executive director of delivery at Ofwat, stated that these failures caused significant disruption and hardship, and the package represents a step towards accountability and improved performance. South East Water has committed to developing and publishing a performance improvement plan, which Ofwat will monitor. The company has apologized for the historical supply disruptions and accepted the identified failures.