PR24: Shaping and preparing for the price control

28 February 2022

PR24: Shaping and preparing for the price control

As water companies begin the long process of drawing up their business plans for 2025 to 2030, this major new report examines how different the PR24 price control will be. Where are the points of tension likely to arise between regulator and regulated, and where will companies struggle within their own organisations to raise the bar?

Water companies’ business plans for the years between 2025 and 2030 cover one of the most critical periods since privatisation.

Firms face the twin challenges of reducing their carbon footprint and setting a course to improve resilience against the inevitable consequences of climate change.

They face these huge undertakings amid a backdrop of rising consumer expectations of the sector, both in the level of service it provides and its guardianship of the environment.

Achieving these feats will require ambition and innovative thinking from water companies but will also need a step-change in the regulatory regime to ensure it reflects the evolving demands on the sector.

In this major new report, in association with PA Consulting, Utility Week speaks to senior figures across the water industry about their hopes and fears for PR24.

Among the topics discussed in this report are:

  • The level of investment required to support resilience against climate change and further net-zero ambitions
  • The need to think differently on performance commitments
  • Affordability – the merits of a national social tariff and of a move to new ways of paying for water, based on universal monitoring and differentiated tariffs
  • How digitalisation and a greater focus on innovation can be embedded within the price control

As water companies begin the long process of drawing up their business plans, this in-depth report examines how different PR24 will be. Where are the points of tension likely to arise between regulator and regulated, and where will companies struggle within their own organisations to raise the bar?

To find out, download this report for free by filling out the form on the side of this page.