Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 8TH - 14TH FEBRUARY 2019 | 5 "It is clear that not all [suppliers] are performing at the levels they should be" Audrey Gallagher, director of regulation at Energy UK, warns that the industry must avoid any hiatus in the smart meter rollout programme when installation of SMETS1 devices ends in mid-March. 7% The UK low-carbon and renewable energy economy grew by 6.8 per cent to £44.5 billion in 2017, according to final results from the Office for National Statistics survey. £500,000 Automated switching service Switchd has raised more than half a million pounds after completing its second round of funding. NI Water's director of asset delivery, Paul Harper, shows the mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Brenda Chivers around the upgrade work at Caugh Hill water treatment works outside Dungiven. The £4 million improvement scheme, which included the construction of a new sludge press to help improve the efficiency of the water treatment process, was completed ahead of schedule. ENERGY Npower to slash workforce by 900 Npower is cutting around 900 jobs because of the "extremely tough UK retail energy market conditions". the big six supplier has comfirmed. The company said it was intro- ducing a programme to reduce its operating costs, largely because of the price cap and intense competi- tion on fixed price tariffs. It currently employs 6,300 people. Npower predicted that the final number of redundancies would be "considerably lower" because around 900 people leave the company annually through natural wastage. Paul Coffey, Npower's chief executive, said: "The retail energy market is incredibly tough – Ofgem itself forecasts that five of the big six energy companies will make a loss or less than normal profits this year due to the implementation of the price cap, and with several recent failures of new energy sup- pliers, it is clear that many have been pricing at levels that are not sustainable." WATER Thames Water names directors Thames Water has appointed two new non-executive directors – David Waboso and John Morea – as its board restructure nears completion. Waboso is a chartered engineer and experienced project manager who has led major infrastructure programmes in the UK and over- seas, including London's Jubilee Line extension. He retires from Network Rail in March, where he is currently the managing director of Digital Railway, and joins as an inde- pendent non-executive director. Meanwhile, Morea – currently chief executive of gas network com- pany SGN – has more than 30 years' experience in the utility sector. He was until recently a non-executive director of Associated British Ports and was previously a director of the Energy Networks Association. Thames is currently going through a major review of its corpo- rate structure and governance, in an effort to boost transparency. The company has pledged to have a majority of independent non- executive directors on its board by the end of the review. This week's announcement follows the recent appointment of independent non-executive directors Alistair Buchanan, Jill Shedden and Catherine Lynn. As part of the changes, Deirdre Hutton and Guy Lambert left the board in January after eight years and four years, respectively. Switching stable The price cap on default tariffs has had "no significant impact" on switching since it was introduced by Ofgem at the beginning of 2019, new figures from Electralink have revealed. The data shows around 452,000 customers changed supplier in January compared to 431,000 during the same month in 2018. "Interconnectors like Nemo Link are the perfect tool to move renewable energy from where it is produced to where it is needed" National Grid chief executive John Pettigrew as the Nemo Link interconnector between the UK and Belgium enters commercial operation. Switches Six-month average 600k 550k 500k 450k 400k 350k 300k Jan 2015 Jan 2016 Jan 2017 Jan 2018 Jan 2019 371k 431k 452k

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