| AMP | Asset Management Plan period – the five-year regulatory price control periods since privatisation. AMP6 was the sixth AMP since privatisation and ran from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2020. AMP7 is the seventh AMP since privatisation and will run from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2025. AMP 8 will run from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030. |
| C-MeX | Customer measure of experience. This measure of customer satisfaction for AMP7 replaces SIM as a measure of the service customers receive from their water company |
| CBP | Company Business Plan |
| CCW | Consumer Council for Water, an independent body that represents customers’ interests relating to price, service and value for money as well as conducting independent research and investigating customers’ complaints relating to water quality |
| COG | Independent challenge group chairs meeting with Ofwat and CCW |
| CTS | Cost To Serve – how much it costs a water company to provide its services |
| D-MeX | Developer measure of experience – new measure of developer satisfaction for AMP7 |
| Defra | Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, a UK government department responsible for setting policies and regulations on environmental, food and rural issues. Defra sets the overall water and sewerage policy framework in England, including setting standards and drafting legislation |
| DMZ | District Metering Zone |
| DWI | Drinking Water Inspectorate. The DWI regulates the quality of the drinking water that water companies supply and ensures its safety and compliance with Water Quality Regulations |
| DWRMP | Drainage and wastewater management plan |
| EA | Environment Agency. The EA is the principal adviser to the UK Government and main body set up to protect and improve the environment in England and Wales. It works in collaboration with other organisations to reduce flood risk, promote sustainable development, and secure environmental and social benefits |
| ESG | Environmental, social and governance – the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and societal impact of an investment in a company |
| Fast-track status | A status granted by Ofwat to a water company’s business plan, if the regulator judges it to be high quality, allowing companies earlier clarity on its plan |
| FBP | Final Business Plan |
| FD | Final determination – the regulatory settlement Ofwat gives each company to deliver for each five-year regulatory price control period |
| ICC | Integrated Control Centre – from which United Utilities plans, monitors and controls its operations, processing real-time data from across its network |
| Integrated Resource Zone | Description of water resource areas in the North West of England that are linked together to provide a single continuous supply (includes Lancashire, Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire and parts of Cumbria) |
| IR | Impounding reservoirs |
| KPIs | Key performance indicators. The company measures its performance against a range of operational and financial KPIs plus a variety of other metrics |
| LDTM | Large Diameter Trunk Mains |
| ODIs | Outcome delivery incentives – the outperformance payments and penalties associated with operational performance against agreed regulatory target |
| Ofwat | Independent economic regulator for the water and wastewater sector in England and Wales, responsible for protecting customers’ interests while ensuring water companies finance and conduct their functions effectively |
| Outperformance | When a company beats its performance targets |
| PPE | Personal Protective Equipment |
| PR19 | The Price Review process for AMP7, concluded in December 2019 |
| PR24 | Planning is now underway for PR24, the Price Review process for AMP8 |
| Price Review | The process through which each water and wastewater company submits a business plan for the next five-year period, and Ofwat sets the price and service package it must deliver |
| Priority Services | A scheme aimed at customers who may need additional support with their water and wastewater services due to age, disability, illness, or other vulnerable circumstances |
| QA | Quality Assurance |
| SIM | Service Incentive Mechanism – a measure of satisfaction with the service provided to customers by water companies, which operated from 2010 to 2019. Replaced by C-MeX and D-MeX from 2020 |
| Systems Thinking | United Utilities’ approach to the way it operates its network and assets, which is a key value driver |
| Totex | Total expenditure – this comprises operating costs (opex), infrastructure renewals expenditure (IRE) and capital expenditure (capex) |
| UID | Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharge |
| UKWIR | United Kingdom Water Industry Research |
| Underperformance | When a company fails to meet its performance commitment targets |
| Upper-quartile | Performance levels demonstrated by the top 25% of water companies |
| UUG | United Utilities Group PLC, the listed group company |
| UUW | United Utilities Water Limited, the regulated entity |
| WACC | Weighted Average Cost of Capital |
| WRW | Water Resources West, a group looking at supply and demand in western England |
| WINEP | Water Industry National Environment Programme |
| WRc | Water Research Council |
| WRMP | Water Resources Management Plan |
| WTW | Water Treatment Works |
| Ww | Wastewater |
| WwTW | Wastewater Treatment Works |
| YourVoice | The independent customer challenge group whose aim is to ensure customers are at the heart of company business planning . Also known as the ICG or independent challenge group |
