United Utilities has reported a 131% increase in profit for the six months ending on 30 September. That follows ‘regulator’ Ofwat approving a five year plan to raise people’s bills in the North West by 32%, starting April 2025.

United Utilities—Profit over investment

Chief executive Louise Beardmore, who is paid £840,000 every year, claimed the bill rise would fund the

largest investment in water and wastewater infrastructure in over 100 years

Yet more than half of the fresh profits are going in dividends to shareholders. This demonstrates that the water company is using its own pollution incidents as a way to increase water exploitation. If the company was in public ownership, the government could use its sovereign currency to invest in sewage infrastructure, removing the need to increase bills or add debt, while offsetting any inflation with wealth taxes.

In 2024 alone, United Utilities spilled untreated sewage into lake Windermere for 6,327 hours—the equivalent of non-stop sewage dumping for 263 days. That means for most of the entire year, the company was polluting the lake because of its lack of infrastructure investment due to a profit-seeking business model.

“Broken”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham condemned the utility system:

Today’s half a billion-pound profits in just six months for privatised water company United Utilities is yet more evidence that our energy and water systems are broken. With overseas shareholders set to receive a record dividend, this is profiteering at the expense of consumers, pure and simple.

Unite will continue its campaign to see water brought back into public ownership so profits can be reinvested in vital infrastructure instead of paying millions to management executives and lining the pockets of American hedge funds.

On the BBC, Green party leader Zack Polanski shared Graham’s sentiment:

We have water companies who are pumping sewage into our rivers and charging us extra for the privilege. They are pumping dividends to their shareholders while their pumping sewage into our water. So the very obvious answer here is to nationalise the water companies.

Instead of increasing consumer bills, let’s decrease shareholder dividends. Indeed, a 2024 YouGov poll found that 82% of the UK public want water in public ownership.

Featured image via the Canary

By James Wright

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