(by Karma Loveday) The UK Regulators Network (UKRN) is consulting until 19 August on revised guidance for setting the methodology on cost of capital. This updates its March 2023 guidance to reflect new developments such as higher interest rates and recent Competition and Markets Authority decisions, and to identify areas where further cross-sector alignment can be achieved. The UKRN said most original recommendations remain appropriate, but there is scope to align further on

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat has awarded seven projects a share of £5.2m as the winners of the inaugural Water Efficiency Lab competition. The winners are detailed below. Round one targeted solutions that provide tailored, data-led and actionable insights to customers, to help them take control of their water use. Four more rounds will follow over the rest of AMP8, with £25m in total available in the pot. The news came ahead of the public launch tomorrow of a new £75m Water Effic

(by Karma Loveday) Southern Water has secured a further £300m of equity investment, delivering in full the £1.2bn equity support package announced in July 2025. The new investment comes from a consortium led by Macquarie Asset Management, alongside new investor Asterion Industrial Partners (AIP), an independent European infrastructure investment manager headquartered in Madrid with approximately $10bn of assets under management. AIP will provide the majority of the new capita

(by Karma Loveday) South East Water has appointed John Halsall as chief executive designate, to take over from David Hinton after a handover period, following Hinton’s resignation last month. Halsall is a chartered engineer and brings over 35 years of operational and executive leadership experience, including delivering transformation programmes. He specialises in operational turnarounds within heavily-regulated industries. His infrastructure experience includes: South West W

(by Karma Loveday) Utility Regulator (UR) is consulting until 24 July on Northern Ireland (NI) Water’s 2027/28 allowed revenue and price limits. This is an extension year to the original price control (PC21) timetable of 2021-2027, to allow more time to prepare the next full review. UR said its proposals were “primarily based on a roll-forward of the allowance set for the original final year of PC21 (2026/2027)” to keep things as simple as possible. However, it has agreed NI

(by Karma Loveday) Businesses are leaving themselves exposed to risk by concentrating their water resilience activities on long-term stewardship, but neglecting to put equal emphasis on how to maintain continuity in the short term during a supply disruption. That’s according to a new paper from alternative water provider Water Direct and facilities management giant Mitie. From stewardship to continuity: reframing water resilience for business leaders champions a “dual water r

(by Karma Loveday) Hazardous and persistent chemical flame retardants (CFRs) were found in most English rivers, and at unsafe levels in all wildlife samples scrutinised, in new analysis of Environment Agency and water industry data by The Rivers Trust and Wildlife and Countryside Link. The findings included: PBDE (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers) flame retardants were banned in 2004 but were found at unsafe levels in freshwater and marine fish at every site tested. They were a

(by Verity Mitchell) Broker Bernstein recommended two UK companies – United Utilities and Severn Trent – as 'top picks’ given the UK’s 'major capex super cycle’. Bernstein gave both Severn Trent and United Utilities an ‘outperform’ rating - Severn Trent with a target of 3,370p (current 2,894p) and United Utilities at 1,420p (1,305p). It rated Pennon Group at 600p (463p), “market-perform”. The AMP8 programme is worth £104bn, and Bernstein reminded investors that the National A

(by Karma Loveday) With a heatwave set to return to many parts of the country this week, the National Drought Group has cautioned that the risk of drought this year has risen after a dry spring in southern England. Thanks to an exceptionally wet winter, water resources overall remain in a relatively healthy position – but some areas are already feeling the impact of drier conditions. Reservoir storage is currently 88.6%, with chalk groundwater levels generally normal. River f

(by Karma Loveday) Unison’s Water, Environment and Transport (WET) service group conference in Brighton last week passed a number of motions to oppose the Government’s White Paper on water sector reform. A key one was to oppose any proposals to “fragment, dismantle or carve up the EA.” The union said there was no clarity whether the proposed changes “will affect 400 or 4,000 jobs” as these are prised out of the Agency and subsumed into a new water regulator. “This is the bigg