Northumbrian Water is taking a plan for bill reduction and environmental improvements to the competition authorities after failing to reach agreement with its industry watchdog.
The region鈥檚 water supplier had laid out a five-year plan at the end of 2018 in which it said it wanted to reduce water bills by around 12%, saving households an average 拢40 a year.聽
But industry watchdog Ofwat rejected the plan last January, asking Northumbrian to to reconsider its plans for affordability, customer service, innovation and resilience.
Northumbrian Water had until Saturday to accept those proposals but has now asked Ofwat to refer its decisions to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to be reviewed. Water firms in Yorkshire, Bristol and East Anglia have also gone to the CMA, though others have accepted the Ofwat rulings.
Northumbrian Water chief executive Heidi Mottram said Ofwat鈥檚 proposals were 鈥渃ontrary to the long term best interests of our customers鈥 and would threaten investment in the North East鈥檚 water systems.
It is understood that Ofwat wants Northumbrian Water to reduce its bills further, though the company has increased its original plan to a 14% reduction.
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The North East firm also wants to do more work to reduce potential the impact of climate change on the region, and feels Ofwat鈥檚 proposals do not go far enough in that area.
The row comes after Ofwat set the water industry a number of major challenges, with suppliers asked to bring down bills but also cut leaks and make other environmental improvements.
Ms Mottram said: 鈥淣WL is a high performing and efficient company with a long track record of delivering for our customers and protecting the environment.
鈥淲e have listened carefully to our customers in the development of our business plan. Our assessment of the PR19 Final Determination is that it is contrary to the long term best interests of our customers and doesn鈥檛 provide for sustainable investment going forward, to the detriment of all our stakeholders.
鈥淲e have therefore asked Ofwat to refer the PR19 Final Determination to the CMA for review.鈥
Ofwat鈥檚 original review of Northumbrian Water鈥檚 plan praised it for 鈥渟ector-leading bill reductions鈥 but said the company had 鈥減roposed financial incentives are too low to drive the performance that customers expect鈥 and highlighted 鈥渁 lack of evidence in some areas on long-term resilience.鈥
The water company had submitted plan after talking to thousands of its customers, and says that more than 90% of those questioned wanted a balance between bringing down bills and environmental improvements.
