Water industry regulator Ofwat has launched a new consultation on a proposal to vary the appointments of SSE Water, Bristol Water and Wessex Water as water and sewerage companies.

SSE Water has applied to be the water and sewerage services company for a development consisting of 325 household properties at the Emerson’s Green Gateway site, in South Gloucestershire.

The site, which is at present within the water supply area of Bristol Water and the sewerage services area of Wessex Water, is an extension to an existing development of 2,012 household properties at Emerson’s Green. Ofwat granted a variation in September 2013 so that SSE Water could serve Emerson’s Green. SSE Water expects the 325 properties at Emerson’s Green Gateway to be fully built by 2017.

Ofwat now proposes to:

(i) vary the appointment of SSE Water as a water and sewerage company by adding the site to its water supply and sewerage services areas;

and

(ii) vary the appointment of Bristol Water as a water company by excluding the site from its water supply area; and

(iii) vary the appointment of wessex water as a water and sewerage company by excluding the site from its sewerage services area.

SSE Water has applied to be the water and sewerage company for the site under the unserved criterion set out in the Water Industry Act 1991. To qualify under the unserved criterion, an applicant must show that at the time the appointment is made, none of the premises in the proposed area of appointment is served by the existing appointee.

SSE Water has provided Ofwat with confirmation from both Bristol Water and Wessex Water that they consider the site to be a greenfield site, and that it is unserved.

Ofwat’s assessment of SSE’s proposals includes an analysis of its plans to ensure customers will be at least no worse off in terms of their annual bills and levels of service than if they had been supplied by the existing appointee.

SSE Water is proposing to take a bulk supply of water from Bristol Water to supply the site, and will discharge from the site into Wessex Water’s sewers.

While SSE Water will match the existing metered water and sewerage household tariffs, SSE Water is not offering a discount on the tariffs. The WaterSure tariff will be available to those customers that apply and qualify for it. Under the tariff, households on meters who receive certain means tested benefits or tax credits, and are either responsible for three or more children under the age of 19, or have a medical condition which requires significant additional use of water, can apply to pay no more than the average household bill for their region.

In addition, SSE Water does not currently have an assistance scheme, whilst Wessex Water does (Restart and Restart Plus schemes) and Bristol Water and Wessex Water also have an affordability tariff (Assist tariff). The Ofwat paper points out that several other incumbents also do not offer assistance schemes or affordability tariffs.

SSE Water is offering some levels of improved customer service compared with Bristol Water and Wessex Water - examples include:

• SSE will allow 28 days for customers to pay their bills before pursuing payment whilst Bristol Water and Wessex Water will usually wait 14 days
• SSE Water offers 0800 freephone numbers for all customer contacts, while Bristol Water’s and Wessex Water’s are 0345 (local rate) numbers.
• SSE Water’s call centre opening hours are longer than Bristol Water’s and Wessex Water’s. Wessex Water and Bristol Water offer 8am-6pm Monday to Friday for billing and operational enquiries; whereas SSE Water offers 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and 8am-2pm on Saturday.
• SSE Water have a more generous free leak repair scheme than Bristol Water; they will repair an unlimited number of supply pipe leaks compared to Bristol Water who will only make one free repair per owner per property

However, SSE Water does not propose to match Bristol Water and Wessex Water in some ways, for example:

SSE Water does not currently offer such an extensive range of services as Bristol Water and Wessex Water for customers with special needs. For example Bristol Water and Wessex Water offer an interpreter service, offer leaflets/bills on audio tape or CD and home visits.

SSE Water does not offer as extensive a range of payment options as Bristol Water and Wessex Water, although the range it does offer is adequate. SSE Water has signalled its intention to expand this range in future.

While the areas in which SSE Water does not propose to match Bristol Water and Wessex Water are not statutory or appointment requirements, Ofwat said it has explained to SSE Water that these areas must be kept under review as its customer base expands. Ofwat has also said that as SSE Water extends into different existing appointees' areas, it will request improvements the regulator judges are required as its customer base grows.

Ofwat said it is satisfied that customers will be at least no worse off in terms of their annual bills than if they had been served by Bristol Water and Wessex Water and that it is minded to grant the appointment under the unserved criterion.

Any comments on Ofwat's proposal should be sent in a single written submission to Richard Field, Senior Associate, Ofwat, Centre City Tower, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA.Deadline for responses is 27 March 2015. Submissions can also be emailed to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Click here to access the consultation document