20 Feb 2025

Thames Water is among several water companies to ask the economic regulator, Ofwat, to refer its Final Determination to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a redetermination. Others include Anglian Water and Southern Water. The Board of the UK’s largest water and wastewater services company made the unanimous decision after concluding that the Final […]

23 Oct 2024

As part of its response to Ofwat’s Draft Determinations, Water UK commissioned Oxera, an economics and finance consultancy, to engage with 30 major investors in the England and Wales water sector to understand their views on the sector and its regulatory framework. This report summarises the views expressed by these investors. Among the key findings […]

11 Jul 2024

Ofwat has published its draft determinations for English and Welsh water companies, allowing a spending package of £88bn over the next 5 years, £16bn less than proposed by companies in their business plans. Ofwat’s headlines Investment of £10bn to tackle storm overflows with a target to reduce spills from storm overflows by 44% from levels […]

29 May 2024

Following the government’s decision to call a general election for 4 July, Ofwat has delayed its draft determinations, due to be published on 12 June, until 11 July. Read Ofwat’s Information Notice Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Ofwat is poised to refuse most water companies’ requests to ratchet up consumer bills, with some getting as […]

10 May 2023

Ofwat chief executive David Black has provided a check list for water companies hoping to make the case for bill increases to fund a step-up in investment at PR24 amidst a cost-of-living crisis and falling public trust. Speaking at a British Water event, Black identified a number of priorities Focus on what matters to customers […]

15 Feb 2023

Among a swathe of Ofwat PR24 publications last week, the regulator is consulting on regulatory reporting for 2022-23, and on operational greenhouse gas emissions performance commitments definitions for PR24. Regulatory reporting This consultation sets out proposed changes to the reporting requirements for the annual performance report (APR) for 2022-23 onwards. The reporting requirements for the […]

18 May 2022

From Defra In 2020, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and Ofwat led a review of the water industry national environment programme (WINEP) ahead of the next price review (PR24). They wanted to ensure the next round of WINEP actions achieves greater environmental benefits for every pound invested by water companies […]

03 Jan 2018

Ofwat: ‘We have published our final methodology for the 2019 price review (PR19) for the water and wastewater monopoly service providers in England and Wales. The methodology sets out: our expectations and requirements for companies preparing their business plans to meet the needs of their customers from 2020 to 2025 and beyond; how these expectations form […]