Melbourne Water price review 2021

We're reviewing Melbourne Water's pricing process for the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2026.

Melbourne Water supplies water to three major metropolitan businesses

Melbourne Water provides wholesale water supply and sewage management services to retail water corporations that we also regulate. City West Water, South East Water and Yarra Valley Water deliver water sourced from Melbourne Water to the community, and collect their sewage before transferring the majority of it into Melbourne Water's sewerage system for treatment.

We review water prices in line with key requirements

As part of the water price review process, Melbourne Water can send us submissions on their proposed prices and key outcomes. Once we make a determination on these proposals, we create an annual tariff schedule for Melbourne Water. The schedule outlines the maximum prices Melbourne Water can charge its customers (Yarra Valley Water, South East Water, and City West Water) for specific services, such as water delivery and sewage processing.

We review the price submissions against the Water Industry Regulatory Order (2014), the Essential Services Commission Act 2001, and the guidance we provided water businesses in November 2016.

Our Melbourne Water guidance paper sets out how we plan to approach the price review, and the information we expect Melbourne Water to supply as part of this work.

How we're reviewing Melbourne Water prices under our new pricing framework

We're undertaking this review under our new water pricing approach (PREMO), which includes new incentives for water businesses to deliver outcomes most valued by customers. PREMO also enables us to fast-track submissions where we are able to quickly assess compliance with our guidance and the regulatory order.

Our guidance for Melbourne Water's review is similar to the guidance we used in our 2018 water price review (under PREMO) of 17 water businesses. We have made modifications to the guidance to reflect Melbourne Water's role as a bulk water and sewerage supplier, and its waterways and drainage functions.

Learn more about water price regulation 

Read about how water bills are calculated and how we regulate the water sector.