Thames Water barred from billing customers for pension shortfall

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/19/thames-water-barred-from-billing-customers-for-pension-shortfall

68 points · 11 comments · view on lemmy.world

11 Comments

frazorth@feddit.uk · 30 pts · 1y (2 replies)

The water company, which has said it could run out of cash by next June, had asked the regulator for permission to charge customers £156.6m through bills to plug the pension shortfall.

I think the phrase is "fuck you".

Mex@feddit.uk · 15 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Fuck you very much :)

frazorth@feddit.uk · 19 pts · 1y

Its almost like handing out control of something as critical and a natural monopoly as water supplies to the Saudi's is a bad idea.

FYI they also paid their Saudi overlords £37 million earlier this year.

The Aussie owners before them milked it and generated most of this debt.

Buelldozer@lemmy.today · 21 pts · 1y (3 replies)

"In June, the Guardian revealed that Thames’ board approved a £150m dividend ..."

So they approved a 150m dividend while knowing they had a 156m shortfall in their pension system. What the...

frazorth@feddit.uk · 5 pts · 1y

That was after the £37m dividend they paid their owners.

slazer2au@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y

Welcome to capitalism. Where the only people to win are the shareholders.

Streamwave@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 1y

IIRC, since privatisation the total amount of water company debt is roughly equivalent to the total amount paid out in shareholder dividends in the same timeframe

icerunner_origin@startrek.website · 21 pts · 1y (1 reply)

At what point can we start talking about prosecuting current and former company directors?

Streamwave@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 1y

Well, bit of good news for you there – included in Labour's Kings Speech was a bill to make CEOs of water companies individually criminally liable in egregious cases of sewage pollution etc.

casmael@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 1y (1 reply)

(((Nationalise))) (((Water))) (((companies)))

rayquetzalcoatl@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

Not sure about the brackets mate 😬