SA Water Regulatory Determination 2020: framework and approach - Archived

02 Jul 2018

icon

The Commission has developed, through a public consultation process, the framework and approach for the next economic regulatory determination to apply to SA Water from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2024 (SAW RD20).
This next determination will challenge SA Water to:

  • provide water and sewerage services at the lowest sustainable price for the quality and reliability levels valued by customers, and
  • have in place sound long-term asset management, operating and financing strategies, which support the provision of those services for customers of today and tomorrow. 

Those intended outcomes are consistent with the Commission’s primary objective of protecting the long-term interests of consumers with respect to the price, quality and reliability of essential services.

Submissions to the Commission’s draft SAW RD20 Framework and Approach paper focused on the role of customers in the determination process and the need for information to be made transparent to stakeholders, to better inform the input that stakeholders provide to the determination. The Commission has addressed those submissions by designing a framework for SAW RD20 that will:

  • Put customers’ interests and the consumer voice at the centre of the regulatory process.
  • Provide opportunities for the early identification and resolution of issues and provide up-front clarity on regulatory issues.
  • Obtain an earlier and wider range of evidence on matters relevant to the determination – particularly customer views – and to maximise the potential of existing bodies and knowledge bases (including other regulators and the Commission’s and SA Water’s consumer advisory committees).
  • Embed SA Water’s focus on ownership of its performance, the customer relationship and engagement and obtain a wider range of views to deliver a regulatory business plan to apply from 1 July 2020 (business plan) that meets customers’ expectations.
  • Introduce direct customer challenge and negotiation into the preparation of SA Water’s draft business plan, in a constructive and non-adversarial approach, including through the use of a negotiation forum.
The Commission will continue to engage with stakeholders as it develops its regulatory determination over the next two years. Further details on the opportunities to be involved are available on the SA Water regulatory determination 2020 page.

 

Read more