Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 28TH JUNE - 4TH JULY 2019 | 9 Policy & Regulation This week Call for smart meter deadline to be moved Change of prime minister claimed to be a perfect time for a revised strategy on the issue The government has been urged to "embrace reality" over the smart meter rollout plan and set a new date for its target of reaching 50 million homes across the UK. This week saw Ofgem admit for the first time that smart meters will continue to be installed beyond 2020. It follows statistics released last month showing that installation rates have continued to fall and that in total only 14.3 million smart and advanced meters were in operation in British homes at the end of March. Now the Department for Business, Energy and Indus- trial Strategy (BEIS) has been urged to outline a revised strategy that acknowledges the slow pace of installation and set a new deadline. There have also been calls for action on the continued installation of first-generation (SMETS1) smart meters, months a‹er a supposed deadline for the practice. Mike Foster, chief executive of the Energy & Utilities Alliance, said a change of PM was a perfect time for a revised strategy. "We have been warning for 18 months or more that the smart meters deadline was not going to be met. It has become an open secret in the industry. "With a new prime minister coming in and presum- ably lots of changes across departments, they can start with a fresh slate. They need to embrace reality and set a new target." A BEIS spokesperson said: "We remain committed to ensuring that everyone will be offered a smart meter by the end of 2020." JW ELECTRICITY Delay to Europe-wide balancing platform National Grid has requested a year-long delay to its implemen- tation of a new pan-European balancing platform. The Trans European Replace- ment Reserves Exchange (Project TERRE) will allow transmission system operators (TSOs) to pro- cure replacement reserves from interconnected neighbours. It was due to launch in December 2019, but the French transmission system operator, RTE, has requested a 12-month derogation because of difficulties in implementing the platform. RTE said it now expects to be ready for go live in June 2020. As France acts as a gateway to the exchange for Great Britain, the electricity system operator (ESO) at National Grid has therefore requested a matching derogation. Nearly all of the TSOs partici- pating in the project have also decided to delay, with the only exception being the TSO in the Czech Republic. ENVIRONMENT Citizens' assembly for net zero pathway Six House of Commons select committees – Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); environmental audit; housing, communities and local govern- ment; science and technology; transport; and Treasury – have banded together to convene a citizens' assembly to thrash out a pathway for achieving a zero carbon Britain by 2050. A citizens' assembly brings together a group of people who reflect the broader population to deliberate on a particularly thorny topic. The net zero citizens' assembly is due to take place in the autumn, and will explore views on how policies to cut emissions can be shared fairly. ENVIRONMENT New permanent secretary for Defra Tamara Finkelstein has been appointed as the new permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Previously the department's director general for EU exit, Finkelstein has most recently been serving as the interim permanent secretary. Environment secretary Michael Gove described her as an "outstanding public servant". Cabinet secretary Mark Sed- will welcomed the move, saying: "This appointment reflects not only the significant contribution she has made to the department to date, but also the knowledge and experience she brings with her from an array of other important roles in government." Slowing pace: 14.3 million smart meters in use Political Agenda David Blackman "The move will trigger profound consequences" The pace is hotting up on efforts to tackle global warming – nearly as fast as the planet itself. The House of Commons this week approved a motion enshrining in legislation the target that the UK should be "net zero" by 2050. The expeditious treatment of the secondary will be welcomed by those who feared the measures would get caught in parliamentary procedure and the Conservative leadership campaign. Last week, the idea was confined to Extinction Rebellion, who are probably more comfort- able protesting on the streets than in the corridors of power. The assembly will pull together a group of people repre- sentative of society to deliberate on the issues. The recommenda- tions that emerge will then be presented to government and parliament, where the buck stops on how we transition to a greener and cleaner future. Expect at that point the debate to really hot up. In a debate lasting just an hour and a half, MPs backed a move that will trigger profound consequences for the economy and society of the UK. Long a‹er we have stopped agonising about Brexit, we will still be working out the conse- quences of this vote. And this will require much greater civic engagement than has been the case so far, given the profound changes it will mean for how we get about and heat our homes. A first step in this bigger public debate was this week's decision by parliament to set up a citizens' assembly this autumn, to thrash out a route map to achieving net zero.

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