The March session of Vallorii’s roundtable series focused on the core question confronting regulators, investors, and consumers alike: how to allocate the rising costs of infrastructure while maintaining affordability and ensuring sufficient private investment. Against the backdrop of a £70bn/year investment requirement through 2030, the session examined trade-offs between consumer bills and investor returns.

Case studies—such as Sizewell C and Thames Water—demonstrated how different cost-of-capital assumptions and risk allocations can materially affect equity requirements and asset valuations. Vallorii’s analysis shows, for example, that default risk can raise Thames Water’s cost of equity to 13.7%, leading to a 21–25% discount to its regulated capital value (RCV).

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