Owl has been looking into the incentive scheme Ofwat has devised for water companies, or “Outcome Delivery Incentives”, as it’s called. This is a scheme whereby water companies are fined or paid a bonus for meeting targets.
It leaves Owl worrying about the prospect of the triple whammy as water companies charge us more to meet the targets and “guess who” underwrites Ofwat’s handouts for meeting them; justifying even greater Bosses’ Bonuses to boot.
It will need careful adjustment of the scheme to avoid this. But in a monopoly market you have to ask whether such schemes are ever likely to work to the consumers’ advantage.
The latest figures show Ofwat “in profit” to the tune of £67m to be applied during 2022 – 2023. This covers the 17 water and waste companies in England and Wales.
The biggest bonus payment is to United Utilities (operating in the North West) £20.5m, followed by Anglian Water £11.7m. The three biggest losers are: Thames Water -£53.2m, Southern Water -£46.0m and South West Water -£15.4m
Details of the scheme can be found here In-period ODI determinations.
East Devon Watch 
If you get a water meter you can reduce your bill. Imagine everyone had a meter fitted and reduced their bill. The cost of water would have to rise to keep profits up and we all know who will pay.
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