2025-30 Pricing Proposal
2025-2030 Pricing Proposal
WaterNSW will be submitting its Proposal for customer prices for the period 2025-2030 to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) in September 2024. WaterNSW needs to make strategic and financial investments over this five-year period. This is so we can continue to deliver on our vision and our core business - to support the resilience of NSW communities and provide the right level of water services to our customers.
We will submit one pricing proposal that includes separate price assessments for each regulated river valley in NSW, Greater Sydney, and for the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation (WAMC), where some functions are carried out by WaterNSW.
Throughout 2023-24 we are asking our customers and stakeholders to tell us which WaterNSW services and business areas should be prioritised, to ensure that we respond to the challenges you face when it comes to water.
Who have we engaged with?
We have spoken to, and received feedback from, a range of stakeholders and customer groups including:
- Regulated, unregulated and groundwater customers
- Government agencies
- Recreational water users and community members
- Industry group members
- First Nations and environmental stakeholders
- Community members
- Environmental stakeholders
Our Water Working Groups are online forums that combine the feedback of all stakeholder groups to provide a comprehensive picture of what the needs and priorities of all NSW stakeholders are when it comes to our services.
These groups are the first of their kind and include substantial collaboration amongst the three water agencies – The Department of Planning and Environment - Water (DPE - Water), Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR), and WaterNSW.
The groups comprise all 13 valleys and Greater Sydney, which are split into four regions – Coastal, North-West, Central, and South-West.
Customer Advisory Groups are the primary forum for WaterNSW to regularly consult, on an area basis, with a broad cross-section of its customers on issues relevant to the performance of WaterNSW’s obligations to customers under the WaterNSW Operating Licence or WaterNSW Customer Service Charter.
Membership includes WaterNSW customers from the regulated and unregulated streams, groundwater irrigators, stock and domestic water users, major water utilities, local water utilities, local government, environmental water users and Aboriginal Cultural Heritage water users.
We are now in Phase 3 of our Pricing Engagement for 2025- 2030.
We have finished our last round Water Working Groups and are wrapping up Pricing engagement with our Customer Advisory Groups.
WaterNSW would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the customers and stakeholders who took part in the engagement for our 2025-2030 Pricing Proposal.
Firstly, thank you to participants of our Water Working Groups. Your inputs and feedback were invaluable in building and refining our 2025-2030 Pricing Proposal. This was the largest engagement we have undertaken, we have learned a lot, and hope you have benefitted from the process too.
To our CAG members who have been consistently involved in this and other consultation processes, we also extend our immense appreciation for your commitment to continuing to collaborate with WaterNSW to help shape our business plans.
To everyone who has participated and that we have met along the way, your active engagement and contributions have enabled us to achieve meaningful outcomes for all WaterNSW’s stakeholders in this final proposal.
Since beginning the Pricing Proposal 2025-2030 engagement we have completed the following:
What have we heard?
Read our Engagement reports via the links on our timeline on the top right of the page.
Customer priorities
Each year we engage and listen to our customers through a range of channels. For example, we:
- hold regular meetings with our Customer Advisory Groups (CAGs) for each major valley across NSW
- conduct annual customer surveys
- offer regular meetings with our Water User Groups and larger customers.
We also speak to stakeholders through:
- consultation on major projects
- community forums and events
- communication during events e.g. flooding and drought
- organised dam tours and other engagement.
In our Pricing engagement customers and stakeholders identified their top priorities for us:
- WaterNSW will maintain downward pressure on costs to support customer affordability
- WaterNSW will provide secure and reliable water delivery
- WaterNSW will be open and transparent (about customer charges and WNSW expenditure)
- Sustainable water and land management
- WaterNSW will provide customer and community access to data and information
- WaterNSW will provide good customer experiences (enabling our customers to run their businesses)
These priorities emerged from our face-to-face meetings with CAG’s, at field days, annual general meetings, Water Working Groups and from our online survey, which achieved over 900 responses.
What’s next?
Our face-to-face engagement has largely been completed and our final report will be released soon before we submit to IPART on September 30, 2024.
Once IPART has received all submissions there is further opportunity for your input.
In their process, IPART will:
- Release an issues paper on the proposal - feedback from the wider community and customers is invited.
- Consider whether we have been efficient in planning and costing.
- Decide the cost shares between water users and the NSW Government.
- Consider the customer and price impacts.
- Make a draft determination of price for customers in each valley.
- Invite feedback on the draft prices and hold a public meeting.
- Make its final determination of prices and explain its reasoning.
Engagement
Our engagement timeline
As we prepare our proposal for customer prices for the period 2025-2030 to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) due in September 2024 we are engaging with customers, the community and our stakeholders to find out what matters to them.
Phase 1
Check-in, listen and discover
In Phase 1 of our engagement we asked for big picture thinking to learn what matters to our customers, community and stakeholders.
Engagement schedule:
- 12 – 13 May: Riverina Field Days
- 7 - 8 July: Mudgee Small Farm Field Days
- 10 – 12 July: First Nations Roadshows in Broken Hill, Wilcannia and Menindee
- July – August: Customer Advisory Group meetings
- 7 – 11 August: First Nations Roadshows in Dubbo, Lake Cargelligo, Tamworth and Walgett
- 8 August: Virtual NSW Irrigators Council update meeting
- 10 – 11 August: Australian Rice Growers Conference
- 14 August: Namoi Valley Water AGM
- 21 – 25 August: First Nations Roadshow in Wagga Wagga, Moama and Nowra
- 22 – 24 August: AgQuip Field Day in Gunnedah
- 19 – 21 September: Henty Machinery Field Day in Henty
- 21 September: Yanco Creek and Tributaries Advisory Council Inc. Annual General Meeting
Phase 2
Customers and communities to deliberate on their priorities
In Phase 2 our Water Working Groups met 3 times over the 3 month period (beginning in September 2023 and ending in November 2023).
The Water Working Groups are made up of representatives from water user groups, customers and community members to explore a range of preferences for water planning and delivery.
Engagement schedule:
- September 2023: Round 1 water group meetings
- October 2023: Round 2 water group meetings
- November 2023: Round 3 water group meetings
- February 2024: Round 4 water group meetings
- March 2024: Round 5 water group meetings
Read our Customer and Community Engagement Report – Phase 2 Outcomes.
Phase 3
Confirm and finalise
During Phase 3 our regular Customer Advisory Group (CAG) meetings that have occurred or are scheduled as follows:
- February and March 2024
- July and August 2024.
In this period we will report back the outcomes to customer and community groups and deliberate on price and affordability. A scorecard was be co-developed with industry experts.
Our final report is set to be released soon.
WaterNSW’s submission to IPART is set to be submitted on 30 September 2024.
Submission
Submit Pricing Proposal to IPART
WaterNSW Pricing Proposal 2025-2030 will be submitted on 30 September 2024, informed by our engagement journey.
Closing the loop with customers and stakeholders, confirming outcomes and obtaining further feedback for future engagement.
FAQs
FAQ
- What is WaterNSW's role?
- What is IPART's role?
- How are customer prices set?
- What is a Pricing Proposal?
- How does IPART assess and approve prices?
- Who owns WaterNSW?
- What is the difference between a regulated and unregulated water source?
- Who are WaterNSW’s customers?
- Who else has an interest in water?
- How can I share my feedback?
