Aguas Ter-Llobregat (ATL), the major water wholesaler in Catalonia controlled by the Generalitat, will increase its tariffs by 33% next year due to rising prices and new needs related to the drought. The price at which it sells to private and business suppliers such as Agbar will increase from 0.74 euros per cubic meter to 0.99 euros, so its increase will have an average impact on the tariff of at least one euro per month per person.
It is the first time since 2017 that the ATL, controlled by the Generalitat, has increased the water tariff, a measure it considers necessary “to guarantee the service delivery” and the resulting costs. The listed company argues that CPI increased by 21% compared to 2017, an increase that directly impacted electricity, personnel and utility costs. According to the public company, the tax rate has failed to balance expenses and revenues since 2019, precisely when the autonomous administration regained ownership of the company after the court annulled its privatization.
These costs will rise again this year as the company’s new electricity supply contract for the period 2023-25 provides for a 50% increase in the price per kilowatt hour (KWh) and this was forced to skyrocket due to the increased use of desalination plants . which are running almost at full speed due to the drought and are large energy consumers.
Another novelty in the calculation of the tariff for 2024 could also affect the increase in water prices: it is the so-called regional fixed quota, which takes into account the volumes of water that each municipality purchases from the ATL network and whose target is local Companies improve the efficiency of their networks.
Although ATL is not the final water supplier, it plays an essential role. This is collected in rivers and reservoirs, made drinkable and fed into the municipal collection basins. From there, the supply remains in the hands of the respective municipal provider. Its service covers 90% of the Catalan population and its tariffs ultimately account for a large part of providers’ costs.
Therefore, the decision to increase interest rates will have a direct impact on interest rates. In the coming weeks, the proposal from Aguas de Barcelona, which supplies the majority of the 36 municipalities that make up it, will arrive in the Barcelona metropolitan area to update the tariffs for next year. From there, the supra-communal entity will decide whether to agree to the proposal or the grave, as had happened in previous years, led by the confrontation between the government of Ada Colau and the parastatal, but controlled by Agbar. Last year, the AMB allowed the first increase in seven years of 4.02% of the city tariff, which brought the bill to 0.6 euros per month. This increase already assumed an increase in labor prices, CPI and higher energy prices.
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