Three of the UK’s largest water companies have appealed to the watchdog to allow them to charge their customers more money.
Ofwat said in December they will allow water companies to raise bills by an average of £157 or 36% over the next five years.
On Tuesday the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was asked to reconsider the increase in bills by South East Water, Anglian Water and Southern Water.
Ofwat ruled in December that Anglian Water was allowed to raise bills by 29%, South East by 24% and Southern Water by a staggering 53%.
Mark Thurston, chief executive of Anglian, said: “Ofwat’s stated aims for this settlement were to align the interests of companies and investors to those of customers, by setting the appropriate balance of risk and return.
“Unfortunately, after extremely careful consideration, the Anglian Water board has concluded that Ofwat’s final determination falls short of its own stated aims, and having already factored in nearly £1 billion of efficiency savings, it means that additional pressures in the regulatory settlement are unacceptable.”
Chris Train, chairman of South East Water, added: “We have scrutinised the final determination and agree unanimously that in its current format, it presents a risk to water security for our customers in the region.”
On Tuesday, Southern Water chief executive Lawrence Gosden said the settlement “would not enable us to deliver the environmental and performance improvements and new infrastructure that our customers and communities rightly expect”.
