Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 28TH JUNE - 4TH JULY 2019 | 7 Interview T he smart meter rollout hasn't exactly been problem-free, but the chief executive of the com- pany responsible for the data communications system behind the mammoth task remains upbeat. "We're digitising a nation here – the last analogue technology – and we are digitising a nation in a way that will have as profound an effect as smart phones." So maintains Angus Flett when Utility Week meets him at the Data Communications Company (DCC) headquarters in London. "It's very rare in your career that you get the chance to be part of something so profound," he says. Having started his working life in the army, Flett is used to throwing himself into challenging environments. He went on to make a name for himself in the world of technology in a range of roles from sales and operations to commercial products. Flett moved to DCC from Vodafone, where he spent four years as senior vice president for global business products and service. "I was very happy in Vodafone. I got a knock on the door and someone said do you want to come and run DCC and do smart metering," Flett explains. He describes it as an epiphany-like moment. "I remember asking in the interview – 'so, let me get this right, the DCC is a licensed monopoly and we will be at the centre of roll- ing out and operating smart meters, and we're allowed to innovate and reuse?'" The answer was yes, and that settled it: "I thought that's great, what's not to like?" Intent on focusing on the positives, Flett is a firm believer that smart meters are an "essential ingredient in delivering the low-carbon economy that everyone wants". And, he suggests, as a "platform for innovation", the network supporting smart meters will help transform the way we consume energy and how we look at energy. "When you start to think about reuse and applica- tions the opportunities are endless," Flett ponders as he highlights a visit from NHS researchers looking at energy usage trials for suffers of dementia and Alzheimer's as just one of the suggestions he has received. "What I'm so passionate about is we all want to live greener, healthier lives and that's really part of our 'why statement'. We want Britain to be more connected – have a smarter grid. Smart metering and smart technology will deliver this and that's why I'm really excited." Flett's CV also includes Mercury – a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless and "the first competitor to BT" – and eight years in BT wholesale, where he learnt "how to work as a regulated monopoly". His experience at BT taught him that if you are the "only shop in town" you need to focus on how you deliver satisfaction for your customers. "As only BT could do, they said have you ever run a big operation role and I said no, so they said off you go and run customer service," he laughs. Flett worked on the rollout of first-generation broad- band and got to a point where he "really understood big customer operations", but he admits "when it goes wrong, boy does it go wrong". The national smart meter rollout has been a bumpy ride too, with missed deadlines, interoperability issues and a deceleration of installations just as the 2020 dead- line draws ever closer. But Flett is undeterred. "When you do things on a big, national scale there are challenges – if you digitise a whole nation you have got to get this right. It's criti- cal national infrastructure and we spend an inordinate amount of time – quite rightly – testing, testing and test- ing again. "Power is a commodity and you expect it to be there, so it has to work."

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