In the letter, Giles Stevens, Ofwat’s PR14 portfolio director, said: “In our view, full transparency with companies and our broader stakeholders significantly facilitates the performance of our functions, in particular as regards acting in the interests of consumers, and need.”
The water regulator has agreed one area where commercially sensitive information in the 2015-2020 investment programmes will be redacted.
Requests to have information from the draft determinations redacted may be accepted by Ofwat if the water companies can prove: a link between the publication of the information and consumer harm; what that harm is likely to be; and the scale of the harm.
The regulator stated it would balance these requests “against the benefits to consumers that we consider to arise from being fully transparent” and then make a decision on whether to publish the information.
The deadline for the water companies to submit requests to have information redacted from their draft determinations closed yesterday (Tuesday 26 August).
Once the draft determinations have been published, the water companies have until 3 October to make representations to Ofwat, and these will be placed in the public domain alongside any other representations the regulator receives.