Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 15TH - 21ST FEBRUARY 2019 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Claire Miles, managing director, Connected Home, Centrica 10 | Campaign Week fi ve of our New Deal for Utilities campaign, tackling sharing rewards with customers 14 Policy & Regulation 14 | News Clark 'must intervene on network charging' 11 | Chief executive's view Angus Flett, DCC 12 | Analysis The Swansea Bay tidal project resurfaces 17 Finance & Investment 17 | News Uncertain future for SSE Energy Services 18 | Analysis Consolidation in the water market 20 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz Tidal barrier to protect Ipswich 21 | Market view A fl exible energy system that is fi t for purpose 22 | Market view Remember security and privacy when dealing with data 23 | Market view Smart meters for the water sector 25 | Market view Grid modernisation is the foundation of the smart world 26 Customers 26 | News Ofgem adds £117 to default cap on SVTs 28 | Event A report from our 2019 customer energy conference 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 6 | Interview Claire Miles, managing director, Connected Home, Centrica 22 | Market view Security and privacy when dealing with data WATER 17 | News Castle agrees £100m in fi nancing facilities 18 | Analysis Consolidation in the water market 20 | High viz Tidal barrier protects Ipswich 23 | Market view Smart meters for the water sector 26 | News Water bills to rise by 2% for second year ELECTRICITY 12 | Analysis The Swansea Bay tidal project resurfaces 17 | News Clark open to CGN taking on Moorside ENERGY 14 | News Zero Carbon Homes could have cut bills 15 | Chief executive's view Angus Flett, DCC 21 | Market view A fl exible energy system that is fi t for purpose 25 | Market view Grid modernisation for a smart world 26 | News Customers 'slipped through Ofgem's safety net' DOWNLOAD: How to beat the digital disruptors at their own game https://bit.ly/2MfKXA8 See the Community section, page 30 Leader Suzanne Heneghan When the cap doesn't fi t Even energy retailers would admit it must be pretty bewildering being one of their customers. No sooner had the public grown used to the idea of a price cap – and what it would mean for an average dual-fuel standard variable tari (SVT) customer – than a few weeks later they hear it's set to jump again, by £117. And when that liƒ from £1,137 to £1,254 kicks in on April 1, despite the regulator's assurances that it has nothing to do with suppliers proˆ teering, it's only natural that most people will feel short-changed when bills arrive. It will certainly seem a far cry from Theresa May's election pledge to slash £100 o the average SVT bill. Meanwhile, amid the now almost weekly PR fallout for energy companies, retailers can only look on – and vehemently disagree among themselves. Some say the cap has saved money for millions of households, stopped legacy companies raising charges even further and decry those suppliers treating the cap as a target. Others argue it was always inevitable ˆ rms would congregate around the cap. And the heated war of words shows no sign of cooling, with one "modern" retailer this week berating "dinosaur" companies for failing to deliver below the limit, while a big six spokesman ˆ ercely condemned those o ering unsustainable tari s that have leƒ others picking up the tab. For increasingly ba– ed customers, perhaps the word itself was always destined to confuse. "Cap" to most will have suggested an ultimate ceiling, certainly something that would endure for longer than three months. Yet it was never going to be a price freeze – how could it be, with the ongoing unpredictability of the wholesale price and another review due later this year? No-one expected the price cap to end the debate about the cost of retail energy, far from it – though whether anyone expected one en- ergy giant to mount a legal challenge about how it is set is another matter. Certainly, those sector voices I speak to who warned against market intervention but resigned themselves to capping are ˆ nding it increasingly hard not to say: "We told them so." For an industry that openly acknowledges it needs to be more consumer-centric, to share rewards and rebuild trust (a theme explored in more detail as part of our latest New Deal for Utilities campaign report on pages 6 to 9), the cap really hasn't done energy companies any favours so far. Suzanne Heneghan, acting editor, suzannehennighan@fav-house.com If you are responsible for your company's outsourced or internal customer service centre we can deliver compelling cost savings to your business, with a typical rate for an FTE of just £10 per hour. Synergy operates an established Contact Centre in a modern and thriving part of Durban, South Africa employing experienced and highly educated staff. We already successfully work with a number of UK utilities across a range of services: If you would like to see our operation for yourself we can fly you, at our cost, to South Africa. Here we will give you a full tour of our facilities, a presentation on how we work and access to our professional teams. For further information please contact steve.cripwell@synergyoutsourcingltd.co.uk / 020 7932 4171 or toby.selves@synergyoutsourcingltd.co.uk / 020 7932 4116 Double your successful meter installation rate and halve your costs with MATS - the new Universal SMETS2 Commissioning Mobile App from Cloud KB. It works with all DCC 53 Million Smart Meters by 2020? YOU MUST BE QUACKERS! AN APPSOLUTE MUST

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