Three of the UK’s largest water firms have urged regulators to allow them to charge customers even more than previously granted. In December, sector regulator Ofwat said it would allow water firms to raise bills by an average of £157, or 36%, over the next five years to help finance investment into crumbling infrastructure. On Tuesday, Southern Water, Anglian Water and South East Water asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to reconsider bill increase plans.
Southern Water had already been allowed a 53% increase to average bills over the next five years through the December ruling. Anglian Water had been allowed 29% and South East Water had been granted 24%. But the firms have all argued that they need to lift bills by more than this in order to fund improvements and to meet environmental commitments. It comes after troubled rival Thames Water, the UK’s largest water supplier, last week called on regulators to allow it to push bills higher than the 35% rise it was allowed.
On Tuesday, Southern Water chief executive Lawrence Gosden said the settlement “would not enable us to deliver the environmental and performance improvements and new infrastructure that our customers and communities rightly expect”. Mark Thurston, chief executive of Anglian, said: “Ofwat’s stated aims for this settlement were to align the interests of companies and investors to those of customers, by setting the appropriate balance of risk and return.
“Unfortunately, after extremely careful consideration, the Anglian Water board has concluded that Ofwat’s final determination falls short of its own stated aims, and having already factored in nearly £1 billion of efficiency savings, it means that additional pressures in the regulatory settlement are unacceptable.”. Chris Train, chairman of South East Water, added: “We have scrutinised the final determination and agree unanimously that in its current format, it presents a risk to water security for our customers in the region.”.
