Ofwat

Thoughts of the Day 12 May 2025

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Image of British Gas sign.
Image of British Gas sign.

I’ve been helping a disabled friend with her billing troubles with British Gas. I feel a little responsible because I advised her to go with a fixed deal with British Gas.

So for her first week British Gas charged for 4756 kWhs of gas. We complained and asked for a proper review. Their review wasn’t clever enough to realise that Ofwat’s average gas use for 1-2 people in a flat or house is 7500 kWhs a year or that my friend’s only gas appliance – a combination boiler rated at 24 kW max – is simply not capable of using that much gas in a week. There are also mistakes on the bill, in statements of gas used and transactions.

So I rang up to ask about these issue, put on hold many times and disconnected at 27 minutes and 5 seconds. British Gas has a poor reputation for dealing with complaints apparently.

We will be threatening legal action.

So there you go British Gas, my review ;)

13/5/25: I don’t have the figures to hand and think that the 4756 kWhs was instead just short of 5000kWhs for a week, more like 4986.

Continue ReadingThoughts of the Day 12 May 2025

Poor regulator driving soaring water bills, watchdog finds

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/poor-regulator-driving-soaring-water-bills-watchdog-finds

‘A wholesale betrayal of the people and our environment’

 Campaigners say privatised water has failed the public and the environment

REGULATORS have fuelled soaring water bills by not encouraging private companies to spend “what they need to deliver the performance expected,” a damning public spending watchdog report concluded today.

The National Audit Office (NAO) highlighted “inconsistent responsibilities” and gaps in oversight within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the sector’s regulators.

The watchdog examined the effectiveness of sector regulators — Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate — as well as Defra, which sets policies for the sector in England.

It found that complex and lengthy regulatory frameworks have contributed to “worsening investor perception of the sector” which will need to attract “investment and spend at a rate not seen before” to meet its “significant environmental and supply challenges.”

NAO head Gareth Davies said: “Given the unprecedented situation facing the sector, Defra and the regulators need to act urgently to address industry performance and resilience to ensure the sector can meet government targets and achieve value for money over the long term for bill payers.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/poor-regulator-driving-soaring-water-bills-watchdog-finds

Continue ReadingPoor regulator driving soaring water bills, watchdog finds

Campaigners launch legal challenge against Ofwat for making customers pay its failures

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-launch-legal-challenge-against-ofwat-for-making-customers-pay-its-failures

People take part in the Clean Water march in central London, to demand tougher action on keeping Britain’s rivers and seas clean, November 3, 2024

CAMPAIGNERS launched a legal challenge against Ofwat today, accusing the water regulator of unlawfully forcing customers to foot the bill for decades of neglect by the industry.

River Action launched the challenge on the same day water bills per year in England and Wales increased by an average of £123.

The challenge centres on Ofwat’s 2024 price review, which granted “enhanced funding” to United Utilities.

Campaigners say that the regulator failed to ensure the extra funds would be spent on new water and sewage projects instead of fixing historic issues.

River Action argues that such decisions mean that customers could be forced to pay twice for failing infrastructure: once through previous water bills and again through upcoming charges.

Alarmingly, campaigners warned that Ofwat relies on using simulation modelling to forecast sewage infrastructure capacity rather than real-world data when making its funding decisions.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-launch-legal-challenge-against-ofwat-for-making-customers-pay-its-failures

Continue ReadingCampaigners launch legal challenge against Ofwat for making customers pay its failures

Calls mount for public ownership of Thames Water as it launches ‘blatantly greedy’ bid to hike bills

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/calls-mount-public-ownership-thames-water-it-launches-blatantly-greedy-bid-hike-bills

GREED: Thames Water’s chief executive Chris Weston defended bosses getting £770,000 in bonuses

CAMPAIGNERS mounted further calls for Thames Water to be permanently brought into public ownership today [Friday] after the firm launched a “blatantly greedy and desperate bid” to hike bills yet again.

The firm has already been allowed to increase bills by 35 per cent over the next five years by regulator Ofwat.

Thames Water originally lobbied for a 59 per cent increase and is now asking the Competition and Markets Authority to review the decision.

On the verge of financial collapse, Thames Water sits on £19 billion of debts.

Despite this, it paid out £158.3 million in dividends last March, and attempted to award its CEO and CFO £770,000 in bonuses using customer money before being blocked by Ofwat.

Thames Water is currently waiting for a court decision on whether it will be allowed a £3.3bn creditor bailout to avoid falling into special administration at the end of March.

The loan will cost a mammoth £800m in interest and fees alone, which campaign group We Own It argues will add an extra £250 a year to household bills.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/calls-mount-public-ownership-thames-water-it-launches-blatantly-greedy-bid-hike-bills

Continue ReadingCalls mount for public ownership of Thames Water as it launches ‘blatantly greedy’ bid to hike bills

Thames Water launches appeal for permission to raise bills even higher

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Image of a burst water main.
Image of a burst water main.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/14/thames-water-launches-appeal-for-permission-to-raise-bills-even-higher

Struggling firm to appeal to competition watchdog to hike fees by more than Ofwat-approved 35% over next five years

Thames Water is to appeal to the UK’s competition regulator to be allowed to raise customers’ bills over the next five years even higher than previously granted, prompting a furious reaction from campaigners.

The water company, which serves 16 million customers in London and south-east England, will ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for permission to raise bills from 2025 to 2030 by more than the 35% the water regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, approved last year.

Thames Water, which is on the verge of financial collapse, had wanted to raise bills by 59% over the next five years. It said on Friday morning its board had concluded that Ofwat’s final determination would not allow the investment and improvement needed to improve its services.

The move was swiftly criticised by clean water campaigners. Feargal Sharkey, the former lead singer of the Undertones, said Thames was showing “two fingers to customers” by seeking even higher bills, having “dumped billions of litres of sewage into rivers” and extracted too much water from chalk streams.

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/14/thames-water-launches-appeal-for-permission-to-raise-bills-even-higher

Continue ReadingThames Water launches appeal for permission to raise bills even higher