According to Bristol Water, the price limit Ofwat has proposed will not provide enough money to carry out adequate maintenance and replacement of Bristol Water’s pipes, pumping stations and treatment works, nor will the company be able to supply enough water to meet rising demand from population growth or provide proper security of supply for over 450,000 people in the Bristol area.
 

Alan Parsons, managing director of Bristol Water said: “Ofwat’s decision does not allow us to do all this. In our judgement, Ofwat has proposed a determination that is not in the best interests of current and future customers. What we must deliver will cost much more than Ofwat has allowed.”
 

Bristol Water is the only company to challenge the fourth Ofwat price determination to take place in the twenty years since price controls were introduced. The company has recently retained law firm Greenberg Traurig Maher to present Bristol Water’s case to the Competition Commission. Bristol Water has said it needed to invest £319 million in next five years, a proposal which would mean the average household bill rising by 87 pence a week by 2015.
 

Parsons continued: “We are aware that our proposals mean increasing customer bills. We have worked very hard to find ways to minimise the increase. What we propose would still represent great value for money – but we have also put in place extra help for customers who struggle to pay their water bills.
 

“Our customers have benefited from a long period when we have been able to minimise bills by stretching our assets’ working lives. Unfortunately, there are now a number of factors coming together that mean increased levels of investment cannot be deferred any longer. This inevitably means costs, and bills, increasing. We do not agree with Ofwat about the scope of necessary work and cost of dealing with these issues and so must ask the Competition Commission to review the matter.”