David Black to lead Ofwat as Rachel Fletcher joins energy disruptor, Octopus

Ofwat’s chief regulation officer and PR19 lead, David Black, is to step up as interim chief executive from 1 April after Ofwat announced last week that chief executive Rachel Fletcher is rejoining the energy market.

Chair, Jonson Cox, said Black (pictured), who has been at Ofwat since 2012 and a key figure in both the PR14 and PR19 price reviews, would see Ofwat through “the coming business year”, but obviously could become the permanent chief executive following a recruitment process.

Fletcher, in post since January 2018, will become director of regulation and economics at Octopus Energy, a disruptor brand which has grown rapidly since in launch in 2016 to now serve almost 2m UK customers.

Octopus said Fletcher “will help Octopus define, and campaign for, the lowest cost path to a green energy system. With renewables increasingly cheaper than fossil fuels, the key issue is finding ways for consumers to benefit from cheap green power, rather than paying more through an outdated energy system”.