The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has launched a new consultation on Government plans to implement new regulations to enable the water companies in England to exit the non-household retail market when competition opens in 2017.
The extension of competition into the retail market for non-household water and sewerage services means that all non-household customers, such as businesses, charities and public sector organisations, will be able to switch from their local monopoly water company to another supplier of retail services when the retail market opens in April 2017.
The Water Act 2014 enables the introduction of regulations that will allow companies that choose to do so to exit the non-household part of the retail market with the permission of the Secretary of State. This means they will be able to stop providing retail services to non-household customers and transfer them to one or more licensees following the opening of the retail market.
The consultation sets out the policy issues arising from retail exits reform and the approach the Government proposes to take to implementing these through the forthcoming retail exits regulations.
Deadline for submission of responses is 18th February 2015. Click here to access the consultation documents online.