Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH FEBRUARY 2019 | 5 "Consumers are feeling let down by delays and technical issues, making it hard for them to get the benefits they deserve" Robert Cheesewright, director of corporate affairs at Smart Energy GB, says the 2020 smart meter rollout deadline may be "impossible to meet". 8% Business water supply points that have now switched retailer. 576 Jobs lost after energy broker Utilitywise went into administration. Scottish Water has embarked on a £15 million scheme in Glasgow to help improve the water quality of the River Kelvin. The project spans 11 sites and is being delivered by alliance partner Amey Black and Veatch. It involves new infrastructure to help prevent items wrongly flushed down the toilet from overflowing into the river during severe storms and to reduce the frequency and volume of wastewater spillages in storm conditions. GAS Cadent CEO Chris Train to retire Chris Train has announced he will retire as chief executive of Cadent this summer. Over the past six months, the company's board has been searching for a successor. Chief financial officer Steve Hurrell will act as interim chief executive with immediate effect. Train was appointed chief executive in October 2016, when the company was still National Grid Gas Distribution. Since then, he has navigated it through the complex and challenging process of separating the business from National Grid and transitioning to a new ownership structure. He was awarded an OBE in 2014 for his services to the gas and electricity industry. WATER SSE sells water arm to Leep SSE has reached an agreement to sell its "non-core" water business SSE Water to Leep NAV Networks for an undisclosed sum. The company described SSE Water as a "good business", but said it does not form part of its main focus on energy networks. SSE Water was set up in 2008 and is a new appointments and variations (NAV) water company. It owns water networks and supplies around 20,000 customers across 28 sites in southern England and Wales. Leep NAV Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leep Utilities The parent company is a joint ven- ture between investment manager Ancala Partners and private real estate investment and infrastruc- ture company Peel Group. The transaction is expected to complete by the end of March 2019, subject to approvals, with "no material loss of earnings or gain on sale", according to SSE. The SSE Water management team of six will transfer and continue to operate the business, so there will be "no impact" on customers. Nathan Sanders, managing director of SSE Enterprise Utilities, said: "Although SSE Water is a good business, the water business is clearly non-core to SSE plc's main focus on energy networks alongside renewable energy, complemented by flexible thermal energy and business sales. There- fore this is the right move for the business and for SSE." 400,000 Number of SMETS2 smart meter devices that are now operational, up from 250,000 at the beginning of the year. Correction Apadmi, the company behind the customer app for United Utilities that won the 2018 Utility Week Customer Engagement Award (featured in Utility Week, 8 Feb ruary), has asked us to update its percentage of active digital customers from 17 per cent to 22 per cent, an increase of 146,000 customers. There has also been a 29 per cent rise in digital channel signups. We're happy to do this, and would like to take the oppor tunity to clarify that 25,000 smart meters were installed.

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