Ofwat is consulting on a proposal to grant a new appointment to Icosa Water Ltd, which has not previously operated as a water or sewerage company.
The regulator said it is "currently minded" to appoint Icosa as a water and sewerage company and vary the appointment of Anglian Water as the water and sewerage company.
Icosa Water has applied to be the water and sewerage company to 172 existing household customers and 7 existing non-household customers that are currently served by a private supplier at a site called West Raynham which sits within the water and sewerage services supply area of Anglian Water.
Icosa Water will supply the site with water using a bulk supply from Anglian Water and provide sewerage services to the site itself – the company is proposing to use and maintain existing sewerage infrastructure and to install a new connection between the site and Anglian Water’s water supply network in order to receive a bulk supply from Anglian Water to serve the site.
Ofwat is now proposing to grant a new appointment to Icosa Water enabling it to become the water and sewerage services supplier for the site and exclude the site from Anglian Water’s water and sewerage supply areas.
The Site is currently served by a private supplier - Icosa Water has provided Ofwat with confirmation from the owner of the site that it is not currently being served by Anglian Water.
Icosa Water proposes to charge customers at the site based on Anglian Water’s charges scheme for both water and sewerage services, but Icosa Water will offer an initial £5 discount on the sewerage charges for each customer.
Ofwat has assessed Icosa Water’s proposed Codes of Practice and Customer Code, and its current view is that these are of an appropriate standard for Ofwat to approve them.
The regulator said it is “currently minded” to grant the proposed new appointment and variation under the unserved criterion. Deadline for submission of responses to the consultation is 16th September 2016 – click here to access the consultation document.
Icosa Water’s website describes the company as an independent new entrant regulated water and wastewater business which has been established to offer new developments with water and sewerage services. The company says it works with developers and house builders to provide water and wastewater services, including s104 Adoption of sewers.
“We are an independent water and waste water company funded by private finance, operating across England and Wales. We provide traditional water and wastewater services as an alternative to incumbents in the growing competitive water asset sector.” the website states.
Icosa is targeting residential and commercial developments across England and Wales, saying “no site is too small or too large.” Commenting on waste water services, Icosa says:
“The advantage our package provides over traditional monopoly incumbents is our flexibility and that we want to adopt and control your waste water networks. “
Icosa says it will also adopt all SUDS and drainage facilities on site and manage them with an onsite integrated water team.
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