Regulation

Looking back to the future

Thames top team denies bills will rise

The newly-installed leadership team at Thames Water has promised a parliamentary committee that customers will not face higher bills due to the company's financial troubles. The interim CEOs and new chair Sir Adrian Montague spoke out on nationalisation, the revolving door between regulator and regulated and the reasons for Sarah Bentley’s departure.

Yorkshire Water pays out £235k over pollution incident

Unlimited fines for CSO spills confirmed

SSEN: 50GW offshore wind target difficult without ASTI

The government pledge to develop 50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 would be very difficult under the Large Onshore Transmission Investment regime, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has said. The network operator said it strongly supported the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework as an alternative because it enables a tranche of transmission projects to be fast-tracked.

Steering Ofgem

Weekend press: Ofwat faces criticism as water sector crisis deepens

Renationalisation of water not the answer, says Conservative MP

Conservative MP John Penrose has warned that the water sector “would be worse had politicians been in charge”. Instead of renationalisation, Penrose told Utility Week that a “cheaper, quicker, tougher” regulatory regime was required.

Octopus: Customers suffer every time MHHS is delayed

Ofwat: We should have stepped in sooner to tackle debt

Ofwat’s chief executive has admitted that the regulator should have intervened in 2006 to prevent water companies becoming loaded with debt. David Black told a House of Lords inquiry that light touch approaches to regulation in the early 2000s had given private equity a route into the sector, but that Ofwat was now using “every tool” to bring high gearing levels down.

Removing price cap creates ‘fear factor’ for consumers

Performance woes hamper Thames’ equity hopes

Ofgem explores price cap alternative

Energy customer debt more than doubles in five years

O’Shea: Scrap standing charge to make bills fairer