In December 2019 we published our final decisions on the outcomes water companies in England and Wales should deliver for customers and the environment, and the price that customers will pay, during 2020-25.
As part of the price setting process, each company had until 15 February 2020 to decide whether to appeal our decisions to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Four companies out of 17 decided to appeal: Anglian Water, Bristol Water, Northumbrian Water and Yorkshire Water.
The appeal process normally takes six months. However, due to the impact of Covid-19, we agreed to the CMA’s request to extend this to 12 months (notice available in the link).
On 19 March 2020 we announced we had made our submission to the CMA. We set out our submission below.
The four companies then submitted and presented details of their grounds for review in April 2020.
Following this, on 4 May 2020, we set out our detailed submission to the CMA in response.
The CMA released and consulted on their Provisional Findings from their review for the four companies on 29 September 2020. We submitted our response to their consultation 27 October 2020.
On 21 December 2020, we wrote to stakeholders consulting on charges in 2021-22 and CMA redeterminations – see the main letter and supporting letter from Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water and Bristol Water to Ofwat.
On 8 January 2021, we wrote to stakeholders on charges in 2021-22 and the CMA redeterminations, which set out our view on the appropriate approach to making adjustments to normal charging arrangements to support the implementation of the CMA redeterminations for the four disputing companies.
On 9 February 2021, we made our final submission to the CMA, ahead of their final decisions.
CMA final price determination models
The CMA used several Excel models when carrying out their price determinations, which are shown below. These include:
- A PAYG model for each company
- A grants and contributions model for each company
- A financial model excluding PR14 past delivery adjustments for each company
- A financial model including PR14 past delivery adjustments for each company
- An opex – capex split model
The CMA was responsible for the re-modelling of the price determinations and the models we have published below were produced by CMA staff.
Anglian Water
Northumbrian Water
Yorkshire Water
Bristol Water
Cost models
Submission – 9 February 2021
Reference of the PR19 final determinations: Final written submission (non-confidential)
Submission – 18 January 2021
Reference of the PR19 final determinations: Cost of capital – initial response to working papers
Submission – 17 December 2020
| Reference of the PR19 final determinations: Risk and return – Ofwat December response |
| Reference of the PR19 final determinations: Costs and outcomes – Ofwat December response |
Submission – 16 November 2020
Supporting documents
| Europe Economics – Comments on Water Company and Third Party Submissions |
| Europe Economics – Note responding to points from companies |
| Wright and Mason – Comments on ENA and Oxera |
Submission – 27 October 2020
Main documents
Supporting documents
Submission – 17 August 2020
Reference of the PR19 final determinations: Final submission to the CMA
Submission – 22 June 2020
Submission – 5 June 2020
| Issues to consider in price control redeterminations |
| The cost of the base level of service |
| Underspending and efficiency |
Submission – 4 May 2020
Main documents
Supporting documents
Submission – 19 March 2020
Overall
Anglian Water
Northumbrian Water
Yorkshire Water
Bristol Water