Solo Water pricing
We regularly hear complaints from residents about the ongoing high cost and price increases for water and sewer services within the Moonee estate.
We recently spoke with IPART, the state regulatory agency for water services, and with Solo Water. The following information may be of interest to local residents.
The Catherine Hill Bay development is provided with drinking water, recycled water and sewerage services under a network operator’s licence held by Catherine Hill Bay Water Pty Ltd and a retail supplier licence held by Solo Water Pty Ltd issued under the Water Industry Competition Act 2006 (WIC Act). Solo Water is a private water utility under the WIC Act and is regulated by IPART.
IPART does not generally regulate water prices for private water utilities. IPART's role is to assess applications for licences and approvals to operate water utilities or supply services under the WIC Act and to monitor compliance of operators and retail suppliers. IPART renewed Solo Water's WIC licence in 2022: https://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/documents/final-report-minister/report-minister-solo-waters-retail-suppliers-licence-february-2022.
It is important to recognise that public utilities serving urban and metropolitan services like Hunter Water and Sydney Water have a very large number of customers per length of pipe, whereas regional and small private utilities often have more infrastructure to pay for with a lower customer base. This typically leads to higher prices, both on a fixed/connection and usage basis, for regional suppliers and smaller private operators.
According to Solo Water, service pricing for Catherine Hill Bay is comparable to other regional areas such as Tweed Shire. Recent price increases reflect their increasing operating expenses, such as for energy. They generally apply the increase in Sydney CPI to water bills, which is standard practice in the water industry and is the maximum allowable under the WIC regulations.
Solo Water's submission to IPART water pricing review in 2018 explains more detail about the pricing structure, noting that Solo Water has to purchase water from Central Coast Council and then add its own cost of operations.
Although IPART does not set water prices for private operators, there are provisions in the WIC Act for IPART to determine a pricing methodology for a WIC Act scheme where the Minister has declared it to be providing a monopoly service. However, this process is unlikely to result in a cap on prices, due to the higher cost of operating a small water and sewage service and to ensure that it remains financially viable into the future. Recent legislative changes will also require a 'last resort provider' to be designated for each WIC operator, to ensure operations can continue if the company fails.
The new Middle Camp development will be serviced directly by Hunter Water for water and sewer but there are as far as we know no plans to extend this service further into the suburb. However, there are no regulatory restriction on competing water services being provided for residents in Moonee.
Questions have also arisen about provision of water services during power outages. Solo Water has confirmed that they have a back-up generator to accommodate these events and can continue to provide water service even during an Ausgrid outage. There are also hydrants available throughout the estate for fire trucks to access.
Residents who wish to can make complaints regarding services or pricing to Solo Water, or to the ombudsman NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman (EWON).