Ofwat rejects Thames Water bill rise
12/11/2013
Water industry regulator, Ofwat, has rejected a planned increase in the in water prices by Thames Water, stating that it is ‘not convinced an extra bill increase is justified’.
Thames Water wanted to add £29 to the annual bill of all of its customers in London and the south of England, of which there an estimated 14 million. The reason for this increased bill was the planned development of the Thames tideway sewer as well as increases in costs from the Environment Agency and unpaid bills from customers.
Thames Water has however been give more time to submit new evidence to back the case for an increase in prices. The company is allowed annual bill rises of 1.4pc over the level of inflation for all customers, but any farther increases are subject to agreement from Ofwat, who has so far rejected to notion.
On top of this, all water companies recently received a letter from Ofwat’s chairman, Jonson Cox, asking whether they needed to increases bill for 2014-2015 by the full planned amount, bearing in mind the tough time consumers are having at the moment.
Thames Water is able to appeal the decision via the competition commission, and the company has said it will “review the decision carefully before deciding on next steps”.
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