Utility Week

Customers UTILITY WEEK | 26TH APRIL - 2ND MAY 2019 | 25 Severn Trent, South West Water and United Utilities are set to benefit from "financial and reputational" benefits aer receiving "limited interventions" to their proposed business plans for 2020-25. Ofwat published its dra determinations for the three fast- track companies on 11 April and praised the firms for setting a "new standard" for the sector. WATER Ofwat publishes draft determinations for three fast-track firms The regulator said the com- panies have set an example to other firms that affordable bills can be delivered for customers while investment is made in service and infrastructure. According to Ofwat, 7.9 mil- lion households in the North West, South West and Midlands could see their water bills fall by as much as £70 before inflation by 2025. The bill reductions in Ofwat's early dra determina- tions are: Severn Trent £16, United Utilities £49, and South West Water £77 – the differences between projected 2019/20 and 2024/25 bills in 2017/18 prices. The dra decisions for Severn Trent, South West Water and United Utilities will also mean the companies will spend £1.2 billion on improving the environment to reduce pollution This week Complaints about switching on the rise First time in more than two years that switching is the biggest cause of non-billing complaints Switching has leapfrogged cus- tomer service as the second most frequent complaint about energy suppliers to the Energy Ombuds- man, second only to billing. Under industry rules, a sup- plier has eight weeks to resolve a complaint before a consumer or small business can take their case to the Energy Ombudsman, which is authorised and appointed by Ofgem. The Ombudsman will then investigate and – if it upholds the complaint – require the supplier to take action such as issuing an apology or offering financial compensation. The figures show that in October, November and December last year, switching was the reason for 1.7 complaints to the Ombudsman per 100,000 customers. This is the first time in more than two years that switching is the biggest cause of non-billing complaints. Customer service complaints lagged just behind at 1.69 complaints per 100,000 customers, while billing com- plaints were by far the most numerous, at 13.21. The Ombudsman received 12,310 complaints in the fourth quarter of 2018, or 24.19 per 100,000 customers, of which 11,566 were resolved. The figures come as the sector prepares for new rules that will require suppliers to automatically compensate customers if there are problems with their switch. Under the automatic switching compensation scheme, which comes into effect on 1 May, consumers will receive at least £30 for each switching problem they experience. The latest switching figures from Energy UK, pub- lished on 18 April, show a total of 625,503 switches took place in March. This represents a 29 per cent increase on March 2018, and a 36 per cent increase from the 452,977 switches made in February this year. GJ ENERGY Verv revealed as buyer of Labrador The mystery buyer of energy auto-switching service Labrador has been revealed as technology company Verv. In a statement, the company said: "Verv shares our vision to make technology work for customers – bringing down bills, making usage and cost more transparent and supporting the industry in its transition to digitalisation and a lower carbon future. "The Labrador service remains the same – there is no require- ment to sign up to anything new. "Our full service remains and will continue to remain live, so you can carry on as normal and continue to benefit from our energy switching service as a new or existing customer." Labrador founder Jane Lucy previously told Utility Week the business would have gone under had it not been acquired. She said it was "business as usual" for customers using the service, which had not gone offline. A statement from admin- istrators Carter Backer Winter LLP said the sale had been completed on 5 April. WATER 'Concreteberg' plugs London sewer Thames Water has launched what it expects to be a lengthy operation to remove a mass of concrete discovered to be plugging three Victorian sewers. Caused by people pouring concrete down the drain, this blockage is expected to be far more difficult to remove than the fatbergs – collections of fat, oil and wet-wipes – more commonly seen. In November 2017, Thames Water took nine weeks to clear the infamous Whitechapel fatberg and commemorated the event last year with a "special edition" manhole cover. Work to remove the concrete- berg began this week at the junction of Gosling Road and Hall Street in Islington, London, and is expected to last for at least two months. The blockage is the biggest of its kind Thames has seen, estimated to be at least 100m long and weigh 105 tonnes. The operation will utilise a range of cutting tools to chip away the set concrete from the Victorian brickwork. Tankers will pump out waste to protect the environment as well as nearby properties from flooding. It is expected to cost at least sev- eral hundred thousand pounds. Every year Thames Water, with a customer base of 15 mil- lion, spends £18 million clearing blockages from its sewers. Operations manager Alex Saunders said: "This is not the first time damage has been caused by people pouring concrete into our sewers, but it's certainly the worst we've seen." An investigation into the source of the concrete is under way; Thames hopes to recover some costs from the culprits. Complaints: Ombudsman received 12,310 and clean 4,500km of rivers. Ofwat also highlighted invest- ment in infrastructure, such as £80 million to start improving the Haweswater aqueduct serving Manchester and the Pennines. The fast-track firms will make representations on their dra determinations by 24 May. Ofgem will publish dra determinations for the other 14 water companies on 18 July.

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