Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH SEPTEMBER 2019 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 Policy & Regulation 6 | News ESO to be funded under totex model 8 | Analysis Has the smart meter rollout deadline already been missed? 10 | Analysis The search for a new chief executive of Ofgem 14 | Analysis Tough PR19 determinations could mean CMA referrals 17 Finance & Investment 17 | News Council-owned energy company folds 20 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz The Noor Abu Dhabi solar farm 21 | Market view Is energy storage technology mature enough for investors? 22 | Awards case study Supply Chain Excellence 23 | Market view Heat networks have a vital role to play in net zero ambitions 25 | Utility of the Future Green investments can offset carbon emissions 26 | Comment The UK offshore oil and gas industry and net zero 26 | Market view The lessons to be learnt from Whaley Bridge 28 Customers 28 | News Octopus to acquire the 300,000 customers of Co-op Energy 30 Community 31 | Disconnector DOWNLOAD: Reducing bad debt, generating effi ciency and improving the customer journey https://bit.ly/2EbKRH5 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 53 Million Smart Meters by 2020? YOU MUST BE QUACKERS! AN APPSOLUTE MUST Leader Denise Chevin We need a hero If a week is a long time in politics, six years is positively a lifetime. That surely must be what Ofgem chief Dermot Nolan is feeling as he prepares to step down in February. In the spring of 2014 when the career regulator and economist stepped into the role, a Conservative government was all for jet- tisoning rules and regulations, the term Brexit hadn't been coined and the odds of Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader of the Labour party must have been a million to one. Yet during his time in o† ce, there has been a backlash against big business, Brexit is imminent and renationalisation is a distinct possibility. The principles-based regulation on which Nolan said he would guide his tenure gave way to what, six years ago, was another implausible development: the prescriptive rule of the price cap, followed by the regulator's increas- ing shiˆ towards a fairness agenda. The task for Nolan's successor is formidable. Pressure has mounted to keep down costs, while at the same time transforming the energy market into a decentralised and decarbonised one. Strik- ing a balance between the two will be an enormous undertaking for whoever takes over. The growing share of renewable generation has been one of the UK's great success stories, but reaching net zero needs the incoming regulator to quickly get to grips with designing a ' exibility-led market, galvanising e" orts to decentralise at scale and shape regulation at the grid edge as we move into an era of electric vehicles. There are those in the sector who say that whoever lands the £200,000 a year job may struggle to pull o" this feat because Ofgem's remit has not kept pace with the scale of the challenge – and that the regulator needs to have greater legal oversight in the journey to net zero. There is a school of thought, too, that a change at the top a" ords the ideal time to shake up regulation – perhaps with one over-arching body across water, energy and telecoms for consumers, and another for infrastructure. Eyes will be on the National Infrastructure Commission's report into regulation to get a sense of the direction of travel. Signi— cantly, in a departure from past recruitment, Ofgem is looking for someone with strong commercial experience. This would help as it pushes for quicker progress while keeping bills down. All agree the new appointment comes at a critical time for the sector. As one retailer asks: are Superman or Wonder Woman in the market? Denise Chevin, intelligence editor, denisechevin@fav-house.com See analysis, p10 ANALYSIS 14 | Tough PR19 determinations could mean CMA referrals UTILITY OF THE FUTURE 25 | Green investments can offset carbon emissions COVER STORY 10 | The search for a new chief executive of Ofgem ANALYSIS 8 | Smart meter rollout: now comes the hard part

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