Pennon Group Plc
WaterShare+ Scheme
On 18 September 2020, Pennon Group Plc announced the launch of South West Water's pioneering customer scheme, the “WaterShare+ Scheme”.
The WaterShare+ Scheme, which has been developed in direct response to feedback from South West Water customers, is an innovative voluntary mechanism for sharing regulatory outperformance, endorsed by Ofwat and approved by Pennon shareholders. Reflecting regulatory outperformance to 2020, £20 million is being given to customers, equating to circa £20 per customer.
As part of this unique scheme certain customers were able to elect to receive £20 in Pennon shares as an alternative to receiving a £20 credit on their bill. As a result, one in 16 households have become Pennon shareholders under the WaterShare+ Scheme, with in excess of 100,000 customer shares purchased via a WaterShare+ dividend of £1,186,973.44[1].
Susan Davy, Pennon Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“This landmark step for a listed utility opens up a new kind of share ownership scheme for customers, connecting them with their water company in a way that has never been done before. If South West Water continues to outperform, we will share further financial benefits with our customers, including the opportunity for them to take a bigger stake in their water company and for more customers to become shareholders.”
“We're very pleased with the positive response we've had to this trailblazing initiative. It's an important milestone on our journey to creating a new kind of water company, closer to the customers and communities we serve.”