What Ofwat’s current review of water company prices means for people and the environment.
Every five years Ofwat, the economic regulator for water and sewerage sets limits on the prices water companies can charge their customers. In 2014 Ofwat will agree the limits for 2015 to 2020 in a process referred to as the price review or PR14. This will determine the investment water companies make in the environment.
Our role in the price review
The Environment Agency works with water companies and others to ensure their investment protects the water environment, increases resilience and secures long-term benefits for society and the economy. We want to see:
- enough water for people and the environment
- no deterioration in the current quality of the environment
- improved bathing and shellfish waters, groundwaters and protected habitats
- a resilient water industry that manages its infrastructure to reduce flood risk and meets the challenges of growth, development and climate change
- more partnership working to achieve the best results.
The last price review secured improvements to more than 3,000km of rivers and 3,800km2 of coastal waters, and protected over 100 wildlife sites over the period 2010-15.
What we want water companies to do
- include key actions set out in our National Environment Programme and additional work to tackle sewer flooding and leakage in their business plans
- consider how they can achieve the best results for people and the environment for example by working in partnership with others and looking at the whole catchment in coming up with the best solution
