Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    The Draft Water Bill—a critique

    10th September 2012

    Such a mix of concerns provides the backdrop to the focus of the Draft Bill, and this critique starts off by considering what the aims and objectives of the proposed legislation are, before turning to its central contention that competition is the primary answer to them. The different kinds of competition will be considered, alongside the merits of the regulated asset base (RAB) model and the critical role of the cost of capital.   It will be argued that the Draft Bill: Does not address...

    Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    A new regulatory model for water: the periodic review, financial regulation and competition

    6th May 2008

    Water regulation has been a rollercoaster ride for both the companies and the regulators.

    Regulation Water

  • Presentations by Dieter Helm

    Water Regulation: Is it Fit for Purpose?

    23rd October 2006

    London

    Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    Water, the Environment and Regulation: Changing Functions, Changing Frameworks

    20th February 2005

    The objectives in privatising the water industry were multiple. The then Conservative government considered that the private sector was inherently more efficient than the public sector, that share ownership could be widened and deepened by selling monopoly utilities, and that the constraints on public sector investment could be relaxed in the private sector.

    Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    Water: The Periodic Review 2004 and the Environmental Programme

    13th February 2004

    Memorandum of Evidence submitted to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee. The periodic review of the water industry sets prices for the next five years. These prices should produce sufficient revenues to finance the functions of the water companies.

    Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    Water Prices: Memorandum to House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

    17th October 2003

    The water periodic review currently under way has raised substantive issues about the nature of the regulatory regime, as well as the appropriateness of proposed price increases, and its impact on current and future customers. This memorandum summarises the causes of the proposed price increases for the period 2005-10, and considers the consequences of the flight from equity which has followed the 2000 periodic-review outcome. A number of recommendations for the conduct of the current review...

    Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    Water, Sustainability and Regulation

    1st August 2003

    Edited by Dieter Helm, published August 2003 by The Oxera Press. This volume, published in the early stages of preparation for the 2004 water periodic review, contains contributions from political and regulatory representatives, industry experts and the companies, exploring the key questions in the debate. Issues covered include debt finance, as balance sheets are increasingly stretched, the implications of the European Directives, benefit assessment, the cost of capital, corporate structure...

    Regulation Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    Whither Water Regulation?

    1st August 2003

    In D.R.Helm (ed.), Water, Sustainability and Regulation, published by The Oxera Press, August 2003, pp. 1-12. As the water industry and its regulators prepare for the next round of price setting, there is an opportunity to set out a stable regulatory regime which will consolidate the achievements since privatisation, and provide for the continuation of a largely equity-based industry. Alternatively, the periodic review may reinforce the trend towards even greater debt, and accelerate the flight...

    Regulation Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee Evidence

    13th January 2001

    Submission to the Environment Sub-committee on the Draft Water Bill.

    Water

  • Publications by Dieter Helm

    Inquiry into Water Price Limits for 1999-2005: Costing the Environment

    25th May 2000

    Memorandum of Evidence submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee. This memorandum focuses on: the institutional context of the water periodic review, the quadripartite process, the role and incentives of the water companies, and the ways in which the final determination incorporated environmental considerations in general and the precautionary principle in particular.

    Regulation Water