Ofwat is consulting on a proposal to grant SSE Water a variation to its appointment to enable it to provide sewerage services to a site called Hunter Avenue, in Ashford.
The proposal would allow SSE Water to supply sewerage services to a development of 350 household properties. Water would be supplied by South East Water.
New appointments and variations include one company replacing another as the statutory supplier for a specific geographic area. SSE Water will serve its customers by making a bulk connection to Southern Water’s sewers.
SSE Water proposes to offer household customers at Hunter Avenue a five per cent discount on the fixed element of Southern Water’s sewerage charge. We are satisfied that SSE Water will offer customers on the site at least equivalent levels of service to Southern Water.
SSE Water was granted its new appointment in October 2007 for a housing development near Salisbury, and it was granted further variations to this appointment at Llanilid Park in Wales, Hale Village in north London, Kennet Island in Reading, Bromley Common in Bromley and Park Views in Epsom.
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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:
- For an area in which each of the premises of one or more customers is supplied (or is likely to be supplied) with not less than 50 megalitres of water in England (250 megalitres of water in Wales) in any period of 12 months.
- For an area which is not served by an existing appointed company – an ‘unserved site’. This includes an area that may be currently supplied by unregulated or ‘private’ supplies with its own source of water. SSE Water has applied under this criterion.
- For an area where the existing appointed company consents to transfer that area to the new appointee.
Media enquiries to the Ofwat Press Office: 0121 644 7642 / 7821 / 7616 [email protected]