Utility Week

10 | 27TH SEPTEMBER - 3RD OCTOBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation This week Call for feedback on performance of ESO Ofgem seeks evidence from stakeholders on how the electricity system operator has performed Ofgem has issued a call for evi- dence on the recent performance of the electricity system operator (ESO) as part of a mid-year review. The review by an independ- ent panel of experts will assess how the ESO has performed within a new regulatory and incentive framework introduced in April 2018 that requires the body to develop and enact an annual plan for maximising benefits to consumers. "Stakeholder insights are a key input into the new arrangements and form one of the criteria the panel will use to assess the ESO's performance," Ofgem said in an open letter to stakeholders. "We want to utilise the knowledge and experience of a wide array of industry parties and independent experts in order to gain a com- prehensive picture of the ESO's performance. "This is vital for overcoming the information asym- metries between the ESO and other parties, including Ofgem." The call for evidence comes as the ESO faces intense scrutiny over its role in August's blackout, which cut power supplies to around a million customers. Earlier this month, Ofgem published the ESO's final report on the incident, which recommended a review of security of supply standards to determine whether it is necessary to provide "higher levels of resilience". The government has also commissioned the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee to conduct an inves- tigation into the power cut. Its findings are yet to be released. TG ENERGY BEIS is 'rowing back' on CCUS pledges The chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee has accused the government of "rowing back" on commitments to carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS). Rachel Reeves has written to energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng demanding to know whether the department will pledge to enable CCUS commission by 2023, as recommended by the committee in its April report. The report noted that "although the UK has one of the most favourable envi- ronments globally for CCUS, the technology has suffered 15 years of turbulent policy support, including the cancellation of two major competitions". The government's response "barely engages with the argu- ments", according to Reeves. She also took issue with secre- tary of state Andrea Leadsom's response to Reeves' letter press- ing for action. In answer to the committee's demands to accelerate the deliv- ery of CCUS projects, the govern- ment referred to a consultation launched in July on the potential to reuse existing infrastructure to progress CCUS at lower cost. The committee also recom- mended targets of storing 10 million tonnes of carbon by 2030 and 20 million by 2035. The government responded: "Our ambition for CCUS remains that the UK should have the option to deploy CCUS at scale during the 2030s. The first step to achieving this is through our commitment to deploy the UK's first CCUS facility from the mid-2020s." Reeves said: "The secretary of state is happy to reiterate the government's commitment to net-zero by 2050 but fails to give any sense that her government is dedicated to the urgent actions necessary to achieve it." WATER Praise for Anglian; penalty for Thames Thames Water has been penal- ised £100 million by Ofwat for low customer satisfaction scores, forcing it to shave even more from its PR19 allocation, which it has already called unfinance- able. The regulator said the company must return the money to customers for being the low- est performer in the sector over a four-year period. Thames recorded the lowest overall satisfaction score of 4.11 against an industry average of 4.39 in Ofwat's service incentive mechanism scores. The company implemented service improve- ments across its business and has reported a 10 per cent drop in complaints since April. Anglian achieved the highest overall score of 4.61, followed by Portsmouth and South West, both with a score of 4.56. ESO: facing scrutiny over August power cuts Political Agenda David Blackman "The timing of Long Bailey's announcement was curious" The intense gusts that swept across Brighton seafront on Tuesday were an apt backdrop for Labour's landmark pledge to build a new state-backed fleet of offshore windfarms. The storm on the previous day, by contrast, was inside the conference hall, when Labour's split on Brexit was laid bare. The Labour hierarchy had planned, until the brouhaha triggered by the botched attempt to strip deputy leader Tom Watson of his post, to make climate change the which the private sector is prepared to build windfarms are plunging. Given these attractive economics, there seems little need for state intervention. But Long Bailey is courting Labour members in the run-up to an anticipated leadership contest. Perhaps the pledge was more about courting Labour's increasingly leŸ-wing and cli- mate change-conscious activists, who this week backed bringing forward the net-zero emissions target from 2050 to 2030. big focus of this year's event. The standing-room-only meeting, held by Labour's environment campaign SERA, was a testament to that. Shadow business and energy secretary, Rebecca Long Bailey, sought to harness that zeitgeist by pledg- ing that a Labour government would build state-backed off- shore windfarms. Her announce- ment was swiŸly blown away by the Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday that the suspension of Parliament was unlawful. The timing of the announce- ment was curious, coming so soon aŸer last week's contracts for difference auction results, which showed the costs for

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