Utility Week

Customers UTILITY WEEK | 7TH - 13TH DECEMBER 2018 | 25 South West Water has agreed to take responsibility for water services on the Isles of Scilly, a group of islands off the west coast of Cornwall. Services on the five islands are currently provided by a combination of the Council of the Isles of Scilly, the Duchy of Cornwall and the Tresco Estate. Over the summer the council admitted that "water usage is now at a level that we can't WATER South West Water to incorporate Isles of Scilly in its licence area sustain" and called on islanders to reduce consumption. Transferring ownership of the water network would require changes to be made to South West Water's licence. The licence expansion is subject to an amendment to the Water Act, which the Department for Envi- ronment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will need to put forward. Ofwat has received an appli- cation from South West Water to expand its licence area, which the regulator will consider as part of the water's company's PR19 submission. The transfer would be "zero cost" but South West has put forward plans to invest £40 mil- lion in the islands' infrastruc- ture by 2030 as part of its PR19 business plan. Chris Loughlin, chief execu- tive of South West Water's parent company Pennon, told Utility This week Some tariffs will 'rise to level of price cap' Some tariffs that are currently cheaper than the proposed price cap could rise on its introduction Some of the most vulnerable customers, including those on Ofgem's safeguard tariff, may experience price increases as companies align their unit prices with the incoming price cap. Suppliers have been writing to customers ahead of the imple- mentation of the cap, due to come into effect on 1 January. Both Npower and SSE have confirmed that some cus- tomers may see their prices rise. SSE made the announcement in its latest financial report published on Tuesday (27 November). It said: "Due to the way the cap is calculated, there will be a comparatively small number of customers that will see an increase in their overall energy costs. "Customers currently on the Energy Assist Tariff, cus- tomers with very low usage or unusual metering types are the most likely to be affected. "SSE has worked hard to keep the number of custom- ers affected by this to a minimum and keep any potential increases as small as possible." Npower has also confirmed that prices will increase for some of its customers. An Npower spokesperson told Utility Week: "Unfortunately as a result of Npower aligning its unit price and standing charge with Ofgem's price cap, some customers – such as people with com- plex meters, on the safeguard tariff or those with very low usage – may see an increase in their current prices [although their charges will not exceed the cap level]." An Ofgem spokesperson conceded that a "small number" of tariffs set "even below the level of our cap" could be affected, most of them applicable to single fuel electricity tariffs. AJ WATER SMETS1 meters 'will be fully functional' First-generation smart meters will be fully functional regard- less of supplier once a soware upgrade of the central network operated by the Data Com- munications Company (DCC) is completed in 2020, the organisa- tion has said. SMETS1 devices have been plagued by interoperability problems in the smart meter rollout, with some devices losing their smart capabilities when switched to another supplier. However, tests by the DCC have confirmed that once the soware upgrade is complete, customers with SMETS1 meters will see smart capabilities restored automatically. Angus Flett, chief execu- tive of the DCC, said: "This is a significant milestone in our work to migrate millions of SMETS1 meters on to the DCC's secure network. "Coupled with the rising numbers of second generation meters being installed each day, real momentum is building behind this major transforma- tion of Britain's energy system." Suppliers had up until 5 December to stop installing SMETS1 devices, with the lat- est figures showing more than 12 million smart and advanced meters have been installed. Over seven million more SMETS1 devices have been installed than was planned, presenting the rollout with significant challenges. According to a report by the National Audit Office the government's original ambition of offering a smart meter to every home by 2020 will not be met, while the cost of the rollout will likely "escalate beyond initial expectations". ELECTRICITY WPD customer engagement chair Western Power Distribution (WPD) has appointed the chief executive of Yes Energy Solu- tions, Duncan McCombie, as chair of its customers engage- ment group (CEG). McCombie's first task will be to recruit independent stakeholders to serve as CEG members, including consumer representatives and regional interest groups, as well as topic experts spanning areas as varied as non-traditional busi- ness models, innovation, fuel poverty, community energy and consumer research. The CEG will meet for the first time early next year. McCombie, who has "vast experience" as an independ- ent consumer expert, was most recently a member of Welsh Water's customer challenge group for PR19. He has previously been a member of the Climate Change Commission for Wales and the Welsh transport minister's low carbon vehicle steering group. Single fuel electricity tariffs in firing line Week he hopes the change to the Water Act will happen shortly. He said there has been "envi- ronmental anxiety" concerning the Isles of Scilly's water supply. A spokesperson for Ofwat said: "South West Water has been working with a Defra- led working group including regulators and stakeholders on the islands to ensure consumers on the isles receive high quality services."

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