Ofwat has varied the appointment of Albion Water to enable it to supply water to a site in Gloucestershire called ‘additional land at Rissington’. The reasons for our decision are set out in our decision document.
New appointments and variations include one company replacing another as the appointee for a specific geographic area. Albion Water will replace Thames Water as the statutory water supplier at Rissington.
In August 2013, Ofwat granted a variation to Albion Water enabling it to supply water and sewerage services to 368 new household properties and sewerage services only to 370 existing household properties. This variation enables Albion Water to supply water to 340 of the existing household properties. The remaining 30 existing household properties will continue to receive water from Thames Water.
Albion Water will match both the fixed and volumetric potable water charges. Ofwat is satisfied that Albion Water will offer customers on the site at least equivalent levels of service to Thames Water.
In May 1999, Albion Water obtained a new appointment as a water undertaker for the Shotton Paper Mill in Dŵr Cymru’s area. Since then Ofwat has granted a further appointment for Albion Water to provide sewerage services only to household customers at the Knowle Village site in Southern Water’s area, and a variation enabling it to provide water and sewerage to part of the Rissington site.
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Notes to Editors:
- Ofwat (The Water Services Regulation Authority) is the economic regulator of water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. It exercises its powers in a way that it judges will protect the interests of consumers, promote value and safeguard future water and sewerage services by allowing efficient companies to carry out their functions properly, and finance them.
- New appointments and variations are the route by which one company replaces another as the appointed water and/or sewerage company for a specified area. The replacement water and sewerage company will have all of the same duties and responsibilities as the previous statutory water and sewerage company for the specified area.
- There are three qualifying criteria for seeking a new appointment or variation:
- an area does not contain any premises that receive services from an appointed water or sewerage company (it is ‘unserved’);
- a customer uses (or is likely to use) at least 50 million litres of water a year (in England) or 250 million litres of water a year (in Wales) at each of its premises and wants to change its supplier (a ‘large user’); or
- the existing appointed company agrees to transfer part of its area to a different company (a transfer by ‘consent’).
- Media enquiries to the Ofwat Press Office: 0121 644 7642 / 7616 / 7696 / [email protected]