At the launch of its 2011-12 Annual Report, the Utility Regulator said its focus of continually protecting consumers was demonstrated through identifying savings of £250million and facilitating investment in energy and water infrastructure of almost £5billion since 2006.

This is the first time that the Utility Regulator has decided to produce a combined energy and water and sewerage report of its work carried out in the preceding 12 months. 

 Following major water supply disruptions across Northern Ireland in 2010-11, the Regulator undertook a subsequent investigation which established that extreme weather, an unprecedented loss of water through leakage and a failure of leadership by NI Water were main factors behind the water supply disruption. The  investigation report set out a recovery plan for addressing the problems identified, and comprised 56 recommendations. The new Annual Report says that based on the information received, NI Water appears to have made good progress to date. 

Speaking at the launch, Shane Lynch, Utility Regulator chief executive said,

“Our focus is on the twin challenges of protecting consumers and ensuring the necessary investment for the future. Since 2006, we have seen almost £5billion of investment in infrastructure assets. However, the energy and water infrastructures need continual investment, therefore, to protect consumers, we must also ensure there is efficient investment.  We will do this by being objective, and by applying our statutory duties and sound regulatory principles. We aim to set out our stall very clearly to ensure that investment in utilities in Northern Ireland remains an attractive proposition for investors.

“Our ongoing scrutiny has identified £250m of savings for consumers since 2006, which may otherwise have been passed on to consumers in higher bills. 2012-13 will see several other price controls completed, including NIE’s RP5 and NI Water’s PC13.

“During 2011-12, NI Water made good progress to deliver the actions in our Freeze/Thaw Recover Plan. The company has also made steady progress in cost efficiency and service delivery. However, an efficiency gap with comparable water companies in GB still exists. In 2012-13, through our price control (PC13), we will challenge NI Water to continue to close this gap.”

With regard to future investment in the water sector, in September the Regulator published its draft price control determination for NI Water for the period 2013-15 (often referred to as PC13).  The consultation on the proposals is due to close on 8th November and the Regulator will publish its final determination in December.

Separately, the Regulator is currently also progressing a more strategic six-year price control commencing in 2015.