Victorians will continue to enjoy the lowest water prices in Australia after a new price review.

The Essential Services Commission has approved water prices across the state, making decisions that will see most Victorian water customers – city and country – benefit from flat or falling water prices.

“These price determinations are the successful outcome of our new pricing framework that has encouraged water businesses to work harder to deliver more for customers. Water businesses have engaged with customers in meaningful ways to deliver real and tangible benefits including saving customers’ money and improving service levels,” commission chair Ron Ben-David said.

The latest price decisions mean many regional customers will also enjoy lower bills for the next five years.

Customers of GWMWater (Horsham) will have the largest decrease in 2018–19 of around $30 for a typical residential customer. Bills will also fall by more than $25 in 2018–19 for customers of City West Water and Coliban water.

Customers of Goulburn Valley Water (Shepparton) will benefit from the largest reduction of around $90 for a typical customer over five years.

Savings identified as a result of community feedback and discussion with the water businesses mean customers of Wannon Water and South Gippsland Water will also see lower prices than what was originally proposed. For these businesses, price changes will be limited to inflation.

Customers of North East Water will see small price increases, of $4 per year for an average customer but will still have some of the lowest water bills in Australia.

Gippsland Water customers would see the biggest bill increase of $20 during 2018–19, but bills will then flatten out, only rising with inflation.