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- Sewage powered car hits streets of Bristol
- Competition Commission allows Bristol Water to increase bills by 15 per cent over five years
- Scottish regulator seeks views on customer participation
- Competition Commission ruling on Bristol 'will encourage companies to gear up'
- Ofwat considers bulk water sales at unregulated prices
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Bristol Water rejects Ofwat's price decision - update
Bristol Water today said it cannot accept the regulator Ofwat's determination of price limits for the next five years and has no alternative but to appeal to the Competition Commission.
Bristol Water said that with Ofwat's determination it will: not be able to carry out enough maintenance and replacement of assets, not be able to supply enough water to meet rising demand from population growth and not be able to provide proper security of supply for over 450,000 people
"Ofwat's decision does not allow us to do all this, " said managing director Alan Parsons. "In our judgement, Ofwat has proposed a determination that is not in the best interests of current and future customers. What we must deliver will cost much more than Ofwat has allowed."
He continued: "We are aware that our proposals mean increasing customer bills. We have worked very hard to find ways to minimise the increase."
"Our customers have benefited from a long period when we have been able to minimise bills by stretching our assets' working lives. Unfortunately, there are now a number of factors coming together that mean increased levels of investment cannot be deferred any longer. This inevitably means costs, and bills, increasing. We do not agree with Ofwat about the scope of necessary work and cost of dealing with these issues and so must ask the Competition Commission to review the matter."
An Ofwat spokesperson said: "The option for companies to refer our decision is a crucial part of ensuring a fair, transparent price review process. We look forward to working with the Competition Commission over the coming months as they determine Bristol's price limit."
United Utilities announced today it will not refer Ofwat's final determination to the Competition Commition, bringing the total of companies accepting the decision to nine.
Philip Green, chief executive, said: "This is a challenging price review which sees our customers benefiting from a combination of lower bills and a major investment programme. The review requires us to invest £3.6 billion in our infrastructure over the next five years, an increase of some £400 million in real terms compared with the 2005-10 period."
However, the company said: "We believe that, on balance, it is not in the best interests of our shareholders and customers to seek a referral to the Competition Commission".
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