Water industry regulator has launched a new investigation into an appeal it has received about the terms Bristol Water has sought to include in a self-lay adoption agreement for a specific development site.
The unnamed complainant is objecting to the charge Bristol Water is seeking to recover for each of the service connections the complainant will self-lay on the site.
Ofwat opened the case under Section 51B of the Water Industry Act 1991 after carrying out an initial assessment. The regulator has now written to the company and complainant to tell them the case has been opened and will be gathering further information from them to inform the investigation.
Ofwat will then consider the information provided by the company and the complainant and make a draft determination on the case. Following further consultation with the company and complainant the regulator will make a final decision on the case.
Last month Ofwat published its final decision to accept binding commitments from Bristol Water under the Competition Act 1998 in a case which Ofwat the regulator had raised “issues of strategic significance” for the water sector. The decision followed a formal investigation launched in March 2013 into the price and non-price terms Bristol Water applied when providing services to self-lay organisations in response to two separate complaints.
The commitments are binding and enforceable under the Competition Act - Ofwat closed the investigation with no decision made on whether or not Bristol Water infringed the Competition Act. Commenting on the investigation, Richard Khaldi, Senior Director, Customers and Casework at Ofwat said the case had raised “big issues for the whole sector” which would become even more relevant as competition increases.
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