Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH MARCH 2019 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Rachel Fletcher, chief executive, Ofwat 10 | Campaign In week seven of our New Deal for Utilities campaign, we look at the different business models for water companies 13 Policy & Regulation 13 | News Firms engaging with water licence change 15 Finance & Investment 15 | News Energy price cap 'to hit' profi t at Centrica 16 Operations & Assets 16 | High viz The European Marine Energy Centre's Orkney test site 17 | Market view New powers for Ofwat over licences 18 | Event National Grid roundtable 20 | Case study Capital Project Management Award 22 Customers 22 | News Solarplicity given ban on new customers 23 | Chief executive's view Juliet Davenport, Good Energy 24 | Utility Week Live Technology for change 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 24 | Utility Week Live Technology for change WATER 6 | Interview Rachel Fletcher, chief executive, Ofwat 10 | Campaign In week seven of our New Deal for Utilities campaign, we look at the different business models for water companies 13 | News Firms engaging with water licence change 17 | Market view New powers for Ofwat over licences 20 | Case study Capital Project Management Award ELECTRICITY 16 | High viz The European Marine Energy Centre's Orkney test site 18 | Event National Grid roundtable 23 | Chief executive's view Juliet Davenport, Good Energy ENERGY 15 | News Energy price cap 'to hit' profi t at Centrica 22 | News Solarplicity given ban on new customers DOWNLOAD: How to beat the digital disruptors at their own game https://bit.ly/2MfKXA8 See the Community section, page 30 Leader Suzanne Heneghan Water must get ready to go with the fl ow As a great man once said: "There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction." This week an industry source – while no Winston Churchill – was making a similar point about the water sector, albeit on a far less grandiose scale. Seemingly trapped in perennial political cross• re, and with alternative ownership models now surfacing, water executives know they will simply have to go with the • ow when decisions are made and the time for change comes. E- ectively hostages to fortune and political mantra, they can only hope those in charge of their fate choose the right course. Yet it's a complex scene. Within a couple of years, renationalisa- tion under a Labour government driving a vast social transforma- tion programme has become a very real prospect. Meanwhile, some savvier water companies have already acted to adapt their privatised models and public images with strategic corporate moves around fairness and transparency. And in recent months a not-for-pro• t mutual ownership model has also joined the running, favoured by, among others, Labour MP Gareth Thomas. The vociferous campaigner for water suppliers' boards to be appointed by trusts made up of consumers and employ- ees is also demanding the regulator toughens up and cuts English customers' bills a‰ er "30 years of being used as cash cows by the owners of water companies". All this leaves one wondering what the shape of our water sector will end up looking like. It's a theme we explore in more detail on pages 10 to 12, as part of our New Deal for Utilities campaign. Of course, di- erent models are nothing new to the UK water sector, which already has not-for-pro• t operator Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, and publicly owned Scottish Water and NI Water, among its ranks. But exceptions aside, it has been a relatively quiet landscape until recently. Increasingly there are those, my source included, who wonder about the sanity of all this – and whether it would be better to wait to see if PR19 comes through. If a signi• cantly tougher price review and regulatory approach with a focus on fairness can deliver the reasonable returns, lower prices and better service that are the main things customers want, then what's not to like? Spending taxpayers' money on shiny new models that could go horribly wrong might not just be political ideology, it could prove to be political madness. Suzanne Heneghan, acting editor, suzanneheneghan@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 Adapters, supplier interfaces, workflow and job scheduling systems. MATS' purpose-built 53 Million Smart Meters by 2020? YOU MUST BE QUACKERS! AN APPSOLUTE MUST IFS: Sponsored report: Getting Ahead in the Diversifying Energy Market https://bit.ly/2MXkFkI

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