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...The criticism comes as payouts by water companies have become a politically controversial issue amid public outcry over sewage pollution into coastal waters, rivers and lakes....
...The prospect that Thames Water may face temporary renationalisation has put the utilities in the public and political spotlight....
...The National Infrastructure Commission, which advises the government on infrastructure, said in 2018 that the UK would need between 2.5bn and 4bn litres of additional water capacity in England per day by...
...change — could have dented public trust in the sector and triggered fewer donations....
...A period of temporary public stewardship is generally framed as a worst-case scenario in discussions about the future of Britain’s biggest privatised water utility....
...There are good reasons for the world-beating performance of some public sector utilities....
...Once Thames Water is in administration, the government can then do a public share offering to Thames Water customers, inviting them to subscribe for shares, to own their own utility....
...“Water giants have failed in their responsibilities to the public while lining their own pockets. Now they are asking for bill payers to take the hit for their failings.”...
...They mooted that the £15bn of top-ranking bonds could face losses of 5-10 per cent in the event that the utility has to come back under public control....
...That faced public opprobrium over safety issues and was eventually taken into special administration in 2002....
...The PNM deal had been approved by five federal agencies and Texas’s public utility commission, the other regulators with a say on the transaction....
...“One read of [Buffett’s] letter is they’re not going to put money into utilities besides the ones they own and potentially cause [PacifiCorp] be turned over to the public or be put into bankruptcy,” one...
...Shouting matches between utility companies and regulators are common in the UK....
...In a 2022 podcast, its energy and climate director Michael Terrell said the company had engaged regulators at local public utilities commissions, showing up to the scantily-attended meetings where crucial...
...Now the question is whether Thames, with its labyrinthine structure and debt load of £18.3bn, can avoid collapsing into public hands....
...By 2006, when the Australian asset management firm Macquarie bought Thames Water from the Germany utility group RWE, the water company had £3.4bn in debt....
...It faces a public outcry over sewage....
...Investors have demanded scope to increase bills and loosen rules over paying dividends, despite public anger over sewage discharges and the service record of the privatised utility....
...Further reading:— Seven common misconceptions about the Thames Water crisis (FTAV)— Fix your UK water utility with this one simple trick (FTAV)— Let Thames Water die to teach everyone a lesson, says Citi...
...He added there were lessons to be learnt from the travails of public sector monopolies such as water companies....
...The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to convene an urgent meeting to assess the impact of water effluent on public health....
...of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission....
...This contributed to the decision of US utilities not to order new nuclear units for several decades....
...Get Thames Water right and the case for private ownership of utilities will be enhanced....
...And then there is the public relations problem....
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