Utility Week

10 | 11TH - 17TH JANUARY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation "The average customer thinks about their water service for less than ten minutes a year – that's a problem for the world's most-consumed resource." Opinion Tom Kelly, SES Water Our aversion to "subsistence investment" is seen else- where, too. Our 60-year Water Resources Management Plan, submitted last September, forecasts an adequate supply/demand balance without needing to develop new raw water sources over the life of the plan, despite pro- jecting a 40 per cent rise in population. This is achieved by the historic development of a broad range of raw water sources providing choice over which ones we use; new technologies to cut demand by further reducing leakage and increasing efficiency; and being less impacted than other firms by the effects of predicted climate change due to our mix of surface and groundwater abstraction. We need to better understand our current and future customers before we can expect to start influencing their behaviour. However, our long-term commitment to customers doesn't stop with those currently living in our area. For an industry that is largely dependent on the status quo of the British weather, there is more that must be done to try to maintain it. We aren't the first water company to start purchasing all our electricity from renewable sources, but we shouldn't be the last either. The move has helped reduce our carbon emissions by 90 per cent compared with four years ago and they will drop further still as we start to introduce electric vehicles this year. But engaging with our customers may well be our biggest future challenge. We heard recently that research suggests the average customer thinks about their water service for less than ten minutes a year – that's a problem for the world's most-consumed resource. So, we plan to counter this through a multi-stage approach, recognising we need to better understand customers before we can expect to start influencing their behaviour. Through our membership of Business in the Community, we hope to learn from others and build deeper relationships across the areas we serve. Bringing water, energy and the environment together into our education centres will also help, as will greater inter- action with, and insight from, our customers through our new billing and digital systems, going live this year. Vitally, every employee and supply chain partner has played (and continues to play) a role in the progress we have made so far. We will continue with the Round Table discussions this year and the Holy Grail of all our people fully understanding the scale of their contribution and aligning with our long-term plans is, we believe, closer than ever before. Tom Kelly, wholesale services director, SES Water A t a time of industry turbulence that has seen the water sector answering the legitimacy challenges rightfully levelled at it, it's vital that our own staff aren't le out of the debate. So throughout the year we hold a series of "Round Table" discussions between directors, employees and supply chain partners to exchange information, views and ideas on a wide range of issues. The 33rd session of last year was just before Christ- mas and our actions to address the legitimacy chal- lenge, our performance in a year dominated by the last- ing impact of extreme weather, and the next stages in the PR19 business planning process all focused strongly. A recurring theme is the importance of long-term decision-making within a process that is perceived by some to be constrained by its five-year term. In short, how can we ensure that we make the right decisions for the long term? Our response: we have a strong track record in achieving just that and we believe it is already showing real, sustained benefits. A great example is that over the past 30 years since privatisation of the sector, we have invested consistently at comparatively high levels in replacing our network. This – combined with our approach to its operation – served our customers well during the large swings in temperature last year. But this approach is providing longer-term customer benefits: reductions in leakage, burst rates, water quality failures, taste and discolouration contacts and supply interruptions – for all of which we are either the best performer or in the top three of the industry. Naturally, we are very keen to continue this trend over the coming years and alongside the completion of our own water grid, which will enable us to supply every single customer from more than one treatment works (we're currently nine years into the 15-year pro- gramme), we believe we can pre- vent leaving future generations with a disproportionate share of the investment required to deliver the service expected.

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