Statutory consultation on changing our Wholesale Charging Rules and Charges Scheme Rules to promote greater water efficiency
Overview
In this statutory consultation we are proposing small changes to our Wholesale Charging Rules to promote greater consideration of water scarcity and efficiency when setting wholesale charges. These changes correspond to the conclusions we set out in our May 2026 conclusions on promoting water efficiency in wholesale charges for business users. We are also proposing the same changes to our Charges Scheme Rules, to retain alignment with our Wholesale Charging rules.
We propose the following amendments to our Wholesale Charging Rules and Charges Scheme Rules:
- to clarify that long run costs include those associated with addressing water scarcity, and
- to allow differences in charging to be based on incentives to promote water efficiency and the associated environmental and wider societal benefits.
The amendments would apply from April 2027.
Responding to this consultation
The closing date for this consultation is 30 July 2026. Please email us at charging@ofwat.gov.uk with your response, or if you wish to discuss any aspect of this consultation, or to arrange a conversation on the issues we have raised.
We may publish responses to this consultation on our consultation platform at https://consult.ofwat.gov.uk, unless you indicate that you would like your response to remain unpublished. Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with access to information legislation – primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA), the General Data Protection Regulation 2016, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. For further information on how we process personal data please see our privacy policy.
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