5 January 2009

JERSEY WATER ANNOUNCES 2009 TARIFFS

Jersey Water has today announced its tariffs for 2009. With effect from 1 April 2009, the price of water will increase by approximately 2.5%. Standing charges will not be increased. This is the seventh consecutive year in which price increases for water have remained at or below inflation
Managing Director & Engineer of Jersey Water, Howard Snowden, commented: “As a result of the wet weather in 2008 we made some savings which have enabled us to keep the price increase for the coming year below inflation, despite the fact that in 2009 Jersey Water is facing significant increases in energy costs as well as the introduction of the Water Resources (Jersey) Law 2007 which will require the Company to pay for the abstraction of water for the first time.”

“Customers are reminded of the introduction of the Company’s policy of metering on change of account holder which is effective from 1st January 2009.” (The policy, which was announced in the Spring of 2008, requires that where there is a change of water account holder on any property, a meter will be installed by the Company and water charges will be based on the volume of water consumed).

“Despite above average rainfall in 2008, Jersey only has limited water resources and it is important that as an Island we use those resources wisely. Water metering is known to reduce household demand for water by an average of 10% and also helps to identify leakage from customer pipes. Introducing metering on change of account holder will help to increase the number of customers using meters in Jersey, where 29% of customers currently pay for water by meter.”

Customers interested in finding out more about water metering can log on to the website (click here) or request further information from the Customer Accounts Department at Jersey Water.