The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is considering extending its timeframe to complete the final determinations for Anglian, Bristol, Northumbrian and Yorkshire in their appeals against Ofwat, Utility Week has learnt.
Appellant companies may have to wait until February for a decision from the CMA on their business plans for 2020-25.
Utility Week understands the CMA is considering extending the timetable to ensure it can conduct as robust a review as possible and taking account of the high levels of interest in the redeterminations.
A provisional deadline of December had been set, which the CMA said it is still aiming for, and the statutory deadline of 12 March 2021 remains unchanged.
Ofwat had criticised the regulatory body for hurrying the process to complete by December instead of making full use of the time available.
Following the publication of the CMA’s provisional determinations in late September there has been much speculation about how the decision would affect the price controls for energy companies, which Ofgem is due to publish in December.
The provisional determinations included a higher cost of capital than set by Ofwat, which the CMA said would incentivise much-needed investment but Ofwat argued provided unnecessarily high returns to shareholders.