Speaking exclusively to Utility Week, Andrew Beasley said that, rather than energy companies eyeing up the water market, it is likely to be the water companies that will seek to join the energy retail sector.
“We may see a new range of large providers coming into this space,” he said. “The big water companies are large businesses in their own right and that will be a challenge for the small suppliers.”
Beasley said the potential for domestic water competition, as outlined by the treasury at the end of last year, would give the water companies a new market to aim for, allowing them to offer “holistic homes sales” of energy and water.
He added that this may also be a pre-emptive move by the water companies in case any of the larger energy suppliers plan to enter the water market.
“I think that is what we have got to watch. Not energy companies rushing to water – the issue is the other way around.
“Never assume the other side is going to lay down and die.”