On Tuesday 21 October, Thames Water announced that it had agreed with Ofwat to defer an appeal with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over demands to increase customer’s water bills.
The news comes as the Environment Agency gives the flailing polluter the lowest one-star rating after repeated sewage spills.
Thames Water: off the hook again
Water companies are legally obligated to submit investment plans to Ofwat every five years for approval. Final Determinations are the result of this process – and set binding price limits that companies can charge during this period. It also sets out targets for environmental performance, infrastructural investments, and goals to improve their service.
Thames, alongside five other water companies, had previously appealed to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in February to increase customer’s bills.
But in March, Thames and Ofwat agreed to defer this for up to 18 weeks. And on 18 July 2025, Ofwat extended this deferral still yet further until 22 October 2025.
Now, Ofwat has agreed to delay this appeal once again. The regulator has not set a deadline for the end of this deferral.
Thames Water has said the latest deferral allows continued discussions between its senior creditors, the London and Valley Water Consortium (L&VW), Ofwat, and other relevant regulators to salvage the flailing water company.
However, as the Canary previously reported, its creditors plan involves flouting pollution rules for another 15 years.
And, nationalisation campaign group We Own It noted, Thames Waters creditors:
have stated that – according to the terms of the deal – a ‘full return to legal, regulatory and environmental compliance’ would not take place until at least 2035-2040. Instead, they have put forward their own ‘improvement accountability framework’. Thames Water creditors want to set their own rules.
Specifically, under its plan, Thames would only have to cut sewage pollution by 30% by 2050. But as We Own It has pointed out, this flies in the face of the Labour Party government’s own pledge to halve sewage pollution by 2030.
Over 20,000 people have signed the group’s petition telling Ofwat the deal with Thames is unacceptable.
In the ‘long-term interests of customers’? Give over
Moreover, Thames Water went to pains to emphasise that the deferral does not mean it’s withdrawing its appeal to ratchet up customers bills.
It’s doing so, supposedly, in the corporate-capitalist magnanimity of serving the:
long-term interests of its customers, communities or the environment.
Of course, this all looks a tad laughable next to the Environment Agency’s latest announcement. On Thursday 23 October, it gave the water company a one star rating over its appalling environmental performance for 2024.
To make matters worse, the regulator noted that:
Serious incidents—those causing significant environmental harm—have increased by 60% compared with 2023. Thames Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water were responsible for 81% of these serious incidents
Responding to the CMA deferral announcement, an Ofwat spokesperson said:
Thames Water has requested a further deferral of its 2024 Price Review final determination reference to the Competition and Markets Authority.
Given the ongoing discussions with the company’s creditors, Ofwat has agreed to this request and informed the CMA.
Thames Water and Ofwat agree that at this point in the review process there is no benefit in setting a definitive expected end date for the deferral decision.
Translation: Ofwat has once again let Thames Water off the hook. Because in deferring the appeal, it has effectively delayed final decisions over the debt-laden water company’s investment plans for the next five years as well. And as it stands, Thames’ CMA appeal now has an indefinite deadline.
So as it continues to pump pollution into UK waterways, there’s every chance somewhere down the line the CMA and Ofwat may very well greenlight the corrupt firm hiking customer’s bills. And given how easily the toothless regulators have rolled over for other water companies this month, this wouldn’t come as any surprise.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.