The nine shareholders in Thames Water, which supplies water and wastewater services to 15 million people in London and the southeast of England, said in a statement Thursday that they were “not in a position” to provide an extra £3.25 billion because UK water regulator Ofwat was insisting on conditions they could not accept.
“Based on the feedback provided by Ofwat to Thames Water to date, the regulatory arrangements that would be expected to apply to Thames Water… make the uninvestible,” the utility said in a statement Thursday. Chris Weston, chief executive of Thames Water, added in the statement: “I’d like to reassure our customers that, despite this announcement, it is business as usual for Thames Water.” A spokesperson for Ofwat said “safeguards” were in place to protect customers from Thames Water’s troubles.