Thames Water has escalated its row with regulator Ofwat over the bills it can charge customers over the next five years by launching an appeal to the competition watchdog.
Britain’s biggest water supplier said it has asked Ofwat to refer its decision on bill increases to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Thames has asked Ofwat for the right to put up bills by up to 53% in today’s money by 2030. But the regulator knocked that back and put on a cap of 35%.
Consumer groups said Thames Water customers will be “incensed” that the company is looking to hike bills further than Ofwat has allowed.
The decision comes as Thames waits for a court ruling on its plans for financial restructuring that will release £3 billion of emergency funding from its lenders. The heavily indebted utility says that with this approval it will be effectively bust by 24 March.
The company said its board “made this unanimous decision after concluding that the Final Determination for the regulatory period 2025 to 2030 does not appropriately support the investment and improvement that is required for Thames Water to deliver for its customers, communities and the environment for the next five years.”
A timetable for the referral has not yet been made public but it is thought the process will take a minimum of six months and could be as long as a year.
Chairman Sir Adrian Montague said: “We have taken the decision to refer our Final Determination to the Competition and Markets Authority in the interests of our customers and the environment.
“We are focused on putting the business on a long-term stable footing so we can succeed in our turnaround, and build and maintain an infrastructure that supports growth and can withstand the effects of climate change.
“We put forward a realistic business plan for 2025-2030 that addressed our customers’ and stakeholders’ priorities such as providing safe and resilient water supplies and improving performance.
“After careful consideration, our analysis shows that our Final Determination for the next regulatory period will continue to impact our ability to fund the improvements our customers and the environment so rightly want and deserve.”
The company said that that “while there has been progress, after a thorough review, it is clear that there remain significant gaps between the Final Determination and what it needs to deliver for customers and the environment.”
Thames said the appeal will not result in a delay to its investment plans for the first year of the new regulatory period and there will be no impact on bills.
Mike Keil, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), said: “Customers of Thames Water are already facing steep bill rises and they will be incensed the company now has the temerity to pursue an even larger increase.
“This is a company which has a poor track record on service delivery and customer complaints, so people will rightly question why it should be trusted with even more of bill-payers’ money.
“People want investment to improve services but they also expect value for money and to be treated fairly. CCW will do everything in its power to ensure the views and concerns of customers are heard loudly and clearly during this appeal.”
