Every five years, Victorian water corporations must submit a pricing proposal to the state's independent economic regulator, the Essential Services Commission (ESC). This outlines our customer prices, our service standards and our planned capital investments.

Guidance and preparation

The state's independent economic regulator, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) provides us with detailed guidelines outlining the requirements for our price submission. This includes the regulatory framework we must adhere to and the expectations for our proposed prices and services.

Customer engagement

We will actively engage with our customers to understand their needs, preferences and priorities. This feedback will be instrumental in shaping our price submission.

Developing our proposal

Using the guidance from the ESC and the feedback from our customers, we will develop a comprehensive price submission. This will detail our proposed prices, planned investments and the service standards we aim to achieve over the next five years.

Submission to the ESC

Once our proposal is ready, we will submit it to the ESC for review. The ESC will assess our submission to ensure it meets regulatory requirements and provides value for money.

A price submission details the investments needed to maintain high-quality water services and community value. It factors in:

• Growth and statutory obligations
• Asset maintenance and replacement
• Operating and capital costs
• Customer feedback, inflation, regional growth, cost of living pressures, and future challenges

We engage with a diverse range of customers and stakeholders, including First Nations people, those in difficult circumstances, homeowners, renters, businesses and developers. A draft is then shared with the community for feedback before finalisation and submission to the Essential Services Commission (ESC).

The state's independent economic regulator, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) regulates essential service providers like North East Water to ensure fair and reasonable pricing. The ESC reviews price submissions from all Victorian water corporations, assessing and approving prices, developing customer codes and guidelines, and monitoring performance.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) will review our submission and conduct consultations, making a draft decision in early 2026. The final determination will be made before the next regulatory period starting on 1 July 2026.

Yes, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) has the final authority on water pricing for all Victorian water corporations like North East Water. This ensures pricing certainty for customers over a 5 year period and also benchmarks service levels for the future.

The new prices will take effect from July 1, 2026.

The 2018 Price Submission is available to view online at www.newater.com.au/about-us/fees-charges/w...

We’re engaging with a broad range of stakeholders, including:

• Customers
• Communities
• Local councils
• Traditional Owners and First Nations people
• Consumer advocacy groups
• The development and planning sector
• Government and its agencies

Your feedback helps inform the level of service we deliver, your willingness to pay for those services, and how we measure our performance throughout the pricing period.

Customers and community members have had many opportunities to influence the price submission. Feedback has been provided through online surveys, workshops, kiosks and a deliberative forum. You can find more detail on these opportunities on the main Price Submission page.

Growth in our region is shaped by things outside North East Water’s control — like government planning, new housing developments, and more people moving here. Our job isn’t to control growth, but to support it in a responsible way.

Here’s what that means for us:

• Local and state governments decide where and how communities grow.
• People are choosing to live in our region for lifestyle, affordability and job opportunities.
• Infrastructure needs to keep up with growth to protect public health, the environment, and service reliability.

We plan ahead, invest wisely, and work closely with councils and developers to make sure our water and sewerage services are ready when and where they’re needed.