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Competition in the domestic water sector is a possibility in the future, according to the environment secretary Owen Paterson.
Speaking at a WWF-UK fringe event at the Conservative Party conference tonight, the environment secretary said domestic competition “can come down the road”.
However, Paterson said that domestic competition will not be introduced in the Water Bill.
“I think you have got to have universal metering and we’re not going to have that,” he said responding to a question from Utility Week.
Despite this, Paterson added commercial competition will help drive down prices: “The first thing is there will be trading of water at the wholesale level.
“That will lead to competition, and that will lead to new entrants coming in providing water.”
For the domestic sector, the environment secretary said domestic customer will benefit from the reforms set out in the Water Bill because “it will deliver a more efficient water industry, and I think it is absolutely right reduced prices will be passed onto consumers.”
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