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The water market must be “fit and ready” to allow multi-site customers to switch to a single supply from day one or face consumer disengagement, the Major Energy User’s Council (MEUC) has warned.
A total of 71 per cent of the MEUC’s members surveyed for its water competition manifesto said it is important that the market opens up on time, and that it functions properly as soon as it opens.
Almost half said that any failures in the market which allow things to “go wrong” would deter them from switching supplier or looking for a better deal.
A quarter said they had concerns that any problems could lead to supply or administration problems, and 17 per cent doubted whether any good deals would emerge.
The MEUC said: “We need assurance that switching will be smooth and the market will work.”
The organisation’s members also raised concerns over retail exit provisions, with 25 per cent saying their supply terms need to be protected if the incumbent supplier exits the market.
There was also a strong call from 88 per cent of those surveyed saying business customers should be “actively involved” in the designing of the market.
Ofwat appointed a new director for market opening in February as it overhauled its market delivery plans for a second time, abandoning a scheme to appoint the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, led by Alan Sutherland, to oversee the programme, after it was voted down by the Scottish regulator’s board.
When asked by Utility Week whether the market would still open on time in 2017 the regulator’s chief executive Cathryn Ross said: “I think so. It’s tight – there’s no room for any further slippage, there’s not any contingency in the timescale.”
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