August 1 - 31, 2025: Issue 645

 

IPART Draft Report on the review of Water prices for Greater Sydney from 1 October 2025: Have your say

On Thursday July 31 IPART has released draft prices for WaterNSW bulk water services in the Greater Sydney region, from 1 October 2025 to 30 June 2028.

Tribunal Chair Carmel Donnelly said WaterNSW is responsible for owning, operating and maintaining dams in NSW, and capturing, storing and supplying bulk water to Sydney Water, a small number of local councils and about 60 business customers in the Greater Sydney region.

“Bulk water customers such as Sydney Water then treat and distribute that water to residential and business customers in Greater Sydney,” Ms Donnelly said.

“Bulk water pricing can therefore affect the price residential and business customers pay for the water they buy from Sydney Water and Wingecarribee, Shoalhaven and Goulburn Mulwaree councils.”

Under IPART’s draft decisions, over the 3 years to 2027-28, WaterNSW’s Greater Sydney bulk water prices would increase by around 10.4% per year before inflation. For a typical Sydney Water residential customer, IPART states this would add about $7 to bills in 2025-26, $20 to bills in 2026-27 and $31 to bills in 2027-28 before inflation.

Ms Donnelly said the Tribunal’s draft decisions are based on careful consideration of a range of factors including the need to support safe, reliable and efficient water catchment, storage and supply services in the Greater Sydney region.

“The Tribunal also considered stakeholder submissions received during a public hearing and in response to a November 2024 Issues Paper and a May 2025 Information Paper,” Ms Donnelly said.

“Our aim is to set prices that mean customers of WaterNSW only pay what is required to efficiently deliver bulk water services.”

“The draft prices we have set in this report are lower than WaterNSW’s September 2024 proposal to increase prices by around 14% per year. However, some increases in prices are necessary to allow WaterNSW to maintain its assets and continue to deliver reliable services that the community expects.”

Stakeholders can download a copy of the report from IPART’s website and provide feedback on the proposed prices for WaterNSW until Monday 25 August 2025.

Chapter 9 (Draft Prices) of the IPART Draft Report states:

Fixed charges are increasing for all customers under our draft decisions

Over the 3-year determination period, under our draft decisions:

• Sydney Water’s fixed charges would increase to around $203.7 million in 2025-26, which is a 11.6% nominal increase. The fixed charge in 2027-28 would be around $248.7 million ($2025-26), which is around a 36.2% increase from current prices.

For other customers the fixed charge would increase by around 13.1% in nominal terms to 2025-26, then increase by around 10.4% plus inflation each year.

• Wingecarribee Shire, Shoalhaven City and Goulburn-Mulwaree councils’ fixed charges would increase by around 13.1% in 2025-26 and by 37.8% to 2027-28. The dollar increases are different for each council.

• Fixed charges for unfiltered water customers would increase to around $131 in 2025-26 which is a 13.1% increase. The fixed charge would be approximately $160 ($2025-26) in 2027-28, which is around a 37.8% increase from current prices.

Usage charges are increasing for all customers under our draft decisions

Over the 3-year determination period, under our draft decisions:

• Sydney Water’s non-drought usage charge would increase to $100.50/ML in 2025-26, which is a 19.6% nominal increase. The same usage charge in 2027-28 would be $121.70/ML ($2025-26), which is around a 44.8% increase from current prices.

For other customers the non-drought usage charge would generally increase by around 13.1% in nominal terms to 2025-26, then generally increase by 10.4% plus inflation each year.

• Wingecarribee Shire, Shoalhaven City and Goulburn-Mulwaree councils’ non-drought usage charges would increase by 13.1% in 2025-26 and by 37.8% to 2027-28. The dollar increases are different for each council.

• Non-drought usage charges for raw water customers would increase to $0.86/kL in 2025-26 which is around a 13.2% increase. The same charge would be $1.05/kL ($2025-26) in 2027-28, which is around a 38.2% increase from current prices.

• Non-drought usage charges for unfiltered water customers would increase to $1.49/kL in 2025-26 which is around a 12.9% increase. The same charge would be $1.82/kL ($2025-26) in 2027-28, which is around a 37.9% increase from current prices.

 Overall, when comparing current prices (2024-25) to 2027-28 prices, our draft decisions for Sydney Water are that the:

• Fixed charge would be approximately 11.6% higher in 2025-26 from 1 October, including inflation. This is then followed by increases of around 10.4% plus inflation on 1 July 2026 then by around 10.6% plus inflation on 1 July 2027. In 2027-28 the fixed charge would be $248.70 million. The average price per annum from 2025-26 to 2027-28 would be around $225.76 million per year. 

''Your feedback will help us make our final decisions for the maximum prices WaterNSW can charge for its services in Greater Sydney. We will release our final decisions in September 2025 with prices to take effect from 1 October 2025.'' IPART states

Sydney Water has proposed the increase in water charges, now drafted in the latest IPART Draft Report, to fund infrastructure upgrades to address the city's growing population. 

IPART states in its report that the proposed bill increases under its draft decisions are lower than the 14% real increase per year put forward by WaterNSW in its June 2025 submission to our Information Paper (its alternative revenue request). 

''Our proposed prices are lower because our review of efficient expenditure has indicated that not all of the increases in expenditure that WaterNSW proposed are necessary or efficient for this next 3-year period.

We propose to set WaterNSW’s notional revenue requirement (NRR) for Greater Sydney to $824.8 million for the 3-year determination period.''

Read the Draft Report

Make a Submission

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