Thames Water made an appeal in October against Ofwat’s decision to reject Thames request to an interim increase of £29, or an 8% increase in customers bills.
But Ofwat again stated last month that the evidence supplied by the company did not warrant the proposed hikes.
Thames Water still has the option to appeal to the Competition Commission but stated today that was willing to accept the regulators decision, although they are still looking to increase bills from 2015.
In its business plan submitted to Ofwat at the beginning of the month, the water company applied for an increase in bills £8 above inflation for each of the five years from 2015 in order to fund the £2.8 billion Thames Tideway Tunnel.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We believe we had a strong case but have accepted the decision is in the best interests of our customers. We are now focusing on the future, including our recently submitted business plan, covering the period 2015-2020.”
Ofwat is also considering whether to deduct additional gains from Thames due to “formula effects which could have resulted in significant net financial benefit … not arisen as a result of management action”.
If the regulator goes ahead with its plans to “claw back gains”, Thames Water will again have the option to appeal to the Competition Commission.