The allegation is that Anglian abused its dominant market position in its pricing of services to “Fairfields” development sites in Milton Keynes.
Commercial negotiations over provision of water and sewerage services to the sites took place in 2007/2008, at which time Jonson Cox was the chief executive of Anglian Water Group. Cox was recently appointed chair of Ofwat.
Ofwat served Anglian with a Statement of Objections in December 2011 after being contacted by a potential alternative to the site, Independent Water Networks. Ofwat expressed the view that an equally efficient competitor to Anglian could not have matched the company’s offer to the developer and covered its costs.
Anglian denied acting in an anti-competitive manner. Ofwat is to consider representations from the water company before coming to a decision.
If that decision goes against Anglian, the company could face significant fines.