Ofwat moots January backstop for final determinations

Ofwat has curtailed the consultation period on its draft determinations from nine weeks to seven and is exploring a licence modification that would enable it to issue final determinations as late as 31 January.

The moves follow election-forced changes to its PR24 timetable, which “present challenges to all parties, including ourselves,” the regulator said in an information note.

The seven week consultation will run until 28 August following draft determinations on 11 July. Ofwat said it will aim to publish the final determinations on 19 December. But: “We recognise that the timetable is tight and so we are exploring all available avenues for extending the backstop date that would allow Ofwat to issue PR24 final determinations no later than 31 January 2025, if required. This would involve a modification of existing licences: we are exploring the option of issuing a consultation on a licence modification, in parallel with that on our draft determinations.”

Other updates issued in the information note included: 

• Ofwat plans to calculate average water bills and average wastewater bills for all water and sewerage companies, in response to requests from CCW.

• There will be no company meetings ahead of 11 July. The inbound query process will open on 12 July 2024 and the outbound query process on 29 August. Each company will get a one-hour meeting during weeks commencing 15 and 22 July to provide an early opportunity for discussion. The regulator will also host a series of topic-specific webinars from 15 July, as shown in the table.

• The online 'Your Water, Your Say' meetings for customers and stakeholders will be rescheduled for 2-4pm on 23 July (England) and 2-4pm 24 July (Wales).

• Regarding representations, Ofwat emphasised the importance of companies completing its representation pro forma, given the tight schedule. It also confirmed: “Although other PR24 key dates have changed, we are not currently proposing any change to the dates of the company representation meetings, which all fall in the period immediately after the draft determination consultation closes on 28 August 2024. We have carefully examined options for altering the dates of these meetings and have concluded that this is not feasible.”