This marks a milestone in a process that has involved our broadest, most diverse and most detailed customer research undertaken to date, including the creation of a 15,000 strong online consumer panel, directly engaging with almost 32,000 customers and analysing 1.9 million customer interactions.
As a result, we have been able to submit plans that truly reflect what customers have told us they want. For Severn Trent Water Customers this includes a real bill reduction of 5%1 — the largest in two decades, and a commitment to triple the number of customers we help through our social tariff schemes. To support this bill reduction, we will use our innovation and commercial pipelines to deliver a 13% efficiency in spending, with total expenditure of £6.6 billion over the 5 years.
Our plan shows our continuing ambition to improve the service we provide our customers, with stretching performance commitments and a RORE range for ODIs of -3.0% to +2.6%. We will invest in our assets to protect water supplies for generations to come, contributing to double-digit growth2in our RCV over the 5-year period, financing the business responsibly with average gearing of 63.6%.
Additionally, we are proposing for a new community dividend of 1% of profits3 each year, to support communities in the Severn Trent region.
Hafren Dyfrdwy customers can expect average combined bills to continue to be the lowest in Wales, whilst we target our most ambitious improvements in the areas customers have told us matter most, helping twice as many people who struggle with their bills in the process. We will invest in our critical infrastructure and undertake our largest programme of environmental investment in 20 years, for the benefit of our Welsh communities and the environment for generations to come.
Ofwat will publish initial feedback of business plans in late January 2019.