Water Industry Alliance members attended a workshop with the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) on Tuesday 1st May to provide input into the economic regulation review of SA Water.

ESCOSA is undertaking a review of its approach to economic regulation of SA Water to apply from 1 July 2020. The review will examine ESCOSA’s approach for setting SA Water’s maximum drinking water and sewerage revenues and its existing principles-based approach for regulating the price of SA Water’s recycled water, connections charges and other, minor, retail services.

In sharing their experiences and thoughts on the regulation of recycled water prices, Alliance members were able to consult with ESCOSA around the challenges of creating a ‘fair playing field’ between SA Water and other suppliers of water products.

“The smaller players, such as local councils and some private firms, play a crucial role in protecting our local and coastal environments by redirecting what was waste into a useful product, however their ability to compete with SA Water prices is difficult due to scale,” Water Industry Alliance CEO Rachel Barratt said. “We don’t want to see a situation where these smaller players will choose not to participate because it  is to too costly.”

ESCOSA is still consulting widely on the review and would like to hear from Water Industry Alliance members about their experiences under the regime of economic regulation of SA Water. In particular, it would like to hear any suggestions for improvements in the approach that it takes to regulating recycled water prices. Further information about that approach is available here (see section 5.5). Please visit the ESCOSA website to have your say and be involved.

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