Ofwat pressuring British water companies

Britain is possibly the only country that privatized its water supply monopoly and did not nationalize them back - yet. The regulator applies pressure to make the companies more efficient, employing the bureaucrat best-loved weapon: demanding more and more reports. As part of Ofwat’s 2019 price review, water companies have been required to outline a detailed business plan, detailing how they will charge customers between 2020 and 2025. In February, the environment minister, Michael Gove, warned water companies over their “concerning” behaviour.

Eight of 18 water firms fail to meet targets on tackling leaks

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Thames Water, which supplies more than 15 million people across the south-east, said it will spend £11.7bn on upgrades, including £2.1bn to reduce leaks. The company, which was ordered in June to pay a total of £120m to compensate customers over leakage failures, has asked to keep bills flat until 2025.

I think the British system is problematic. The Israeli method to combat our Mekorot monopoly is to allow private water enterprises to outcompete the old monster. Seems to me better. Only that Mekorot keeps losing hundreds of million dollars in failed projects.