Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 5TH - 11TH JULY 2019 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Steven Day, Co-founder, Pure Planet 10 Policy & Regulation 10 | News UK signs target of net zero by 2050 into law 11 | Letter from the regulator Rachel Fletcher addresses the water sector 12 | Analysis A dark week for the water sector 14 | Analysis The new regime for rewarding small-scale renewables 15 | Voices Stephen Littlechild 19 Finance & Investment 19 | News Thames reports 62% fall in pre-tax profi ts 20 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz Hinkley Point C landmark 21 | Market view Is planning fi t for energy storage? 22 | Roundtable Artifi cial intelligence and the data-driven utility 24 | Market view It's the age of the machines 25 | Market view Smart technology will revolutionise the energy sector 27 Customers 27 | News Energy consumers facing price hikes 28 | Market view Contact centres can drive loyalty 29 | Opinion Edward Williams, head of digital transformation, Gemserv 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 22 | Roundtable AI and the data- driven utility 28 | Market view Contact centres can drive loyalty WATER 11 | Letter Rachel Fletcher addresses the water sector 12 | Analysis A dark week for the water sector 19 | News Thames reports 62% fall in pre-tax profi ts ELECTRICITY 14 | Analysis The new regime for rewarding small- scale renewables 20 | High viz Hinkley Point C landmark 21 | Market view Is planning fi t for energy storage? ENERGY 6 | Interview Steven Day, co-founder, Pure Planet 10 | News UK signs target of net zero by 2050 into law 15 | Voices Stephen Littlechild 24 | Market view It's the age of the machines 25 | Market view Smart technology will revolutionise the energy sector 27 | News Energy consumers facing price hikes 29 | Opinion Edward Williams, head of digital transformation, Gemserv DOWNLOAD: How to beat the digital disruptors at their own game https://bit.ly/2MfKXA8 See the Community section, page 30 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 Leader Suzanne Heneghan Southern betrayal is a gift to Labour It's hard to imagine a worse story surfacing as water privatisation reaches 30 years and calls for renationalisation grow ever louder. If you were looking for the sector's nest hour, then Southern Water's underhand dealings and betrayal of public trust between 2010 and 2017, as revealed by Ofwat's recent issuing of a record £126-million penalty package, is not it. Instead, the shocking report reads as the absolute antithesis of how a monopoly asset's social contract with its customers should be run – and it is timely ammunition for Labour's vociferous campaign to return water to public ownership. Ofwat's 72-page penalty notice lists a catalogue of data manipula- tion, misreporting, under-investment and failures in management that allowed a sustained seven-year cover-up of wastewater treat- ment performance, including a potential 162,298 wastewater spills. It seems more than likely that the Environment Agency will add to Southern's punishment, as it pursues criminal investigations for non-compliance with environmental permits. While the malpractice at Southern took place under old man- agement – barely a month into his tenure, new chief executive Ian McAulay launched a new whistleblowing policy, suggesting his own immediate concerns – some say the penalty doesn't go far enough. Yes, the new regime has been co-operative during an exhaustive two-year probe that li‹ ed the drains on the company's operations and waded through reams of data. And McAulay has pursued wide- ranging reform, including separating the water and wastewater businesses to improve accountability and transparency. But as one "frankly amazed" source told Utility Week, such earl- ier actions "undermine the whole basis of regulation", which relies on accurate data, and create a hugely unfair re" ection on the entire sector and those rms working hard to grow public trust. So, has Ofwat been too so‹ on this private company, with penal- ties that may rebate customers but impose a relatively low £3 million compliance ne? In other parts of the economy, a change of CEO would not be enough to get a business o– the hook, with a clawing back of bonuses, for instance, another enforcement avenue. To its credit, Ofwat has done its best to crank up the regulatory pressure on companies. But are we there yet? A‹ er two rigorous price reviews, perhaps the bigger question is why some businesses – such as the now "fast track" United Utilities – are responding, while others continue to fall woefully short. Suzanne Heneghan, editor, suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com See Letter from the regulator, p11

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