Ofwat closes Thames smart meter competition case as company pledges to remove digital charges

Ofwat has closed its investigation into whether Thames Water breached competition law in its approach to smart meter installation, following its acceptance (with minor adjustments) of commitments pledged by Thames and consulted on in February.

Among other things, Thames pledged earlier this year to remove ongoing charges for its digital data service, compensate customers for lost or damaged logging equipment, and detail its plans to offer loggable smart meters as a choice. The new adjustments concerned two minor changes to improve clarity, and a request from Thames (which Ofwat accepted) to amend the expected delivery dates for five individual commitments because of delays caused by contractual discussions with some of its suppliers.

Thames was not found to have breached competition law, because it sufficiently addressed all of Ofwat’s original concerns. These related to abuse of a dominant position under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998, for installing smart meters that cannot be logged and related issues.

Ofwat’s senior director of markets and enforcement Emma Kelso said: “Smart meters can provide many benefits and as other companies start to roll out smart metering programmes there will be some helpful lessons to draw from this investigation.”