Utility Week

Customers UTILITY WEEK | 4TH - 10TH OCTOBER 2019 | 29 People concerned about climate change are willing to pay £38 a month towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050, research by Uswitch.com has found. The figures published on 25 September show only 31 per cent of households concerned about climate change say they would be happy to pay for the decarbonisation infrastructure. Those who said they would ENVIRONMENT Engaged customers would pay £38/month to tackle climate change be willing to make monthly contributions to pay for the infrastructure were asked by Uswitch.com how much they would be willing to do so. The mean amount was £37.80. The mean amount for 18- to 34-year-olds, however, was £61.40. Yet 53 per cent of households said they were unwilling to contribute directly and believed the responsibility for paying for the technology to reduce emissions should sit with energy companies (31 per cent) or the government (22 per cent). Respondents to the Uswitch survey however do seem prepared to pay for an electric vehicle (EV), with 44 per cent of those who do not currently own an EV considering buying one in the next five years. This week Disengaged customer database abandoned Critics said central database of disengaged customers would create a 'spammer's charter' Ofgem has ended its develop- ment of a central database of disengaged customers – a scheme dubbed a "spammer's charter" by critics. The database was one of the main remedies recommended by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2016 follow- ing a two-year investigation into the energy retail market. The aim was to enable rival suppliers to contact disengaged customers to offer them better deals than their current supplier. The database was to be populated by customers who had remained on a standard variable tariff for at least three years. The initiative was met with widespread opposition, due to fears that customers would be flooded with mar- keting, further eroding trust in the industry. Concerns were also raised over compliance with data protection laws and suppliers cherry-picking valuable customers. Following a series of delays, Ofgem put the project on hold in April while it undertook a review. The regulator has now completed its assessment and decided to shelve the programme indefinitely. In an open letter to stakeholders, Anna Rossington, Ofgem deputy director for consumers and markets, wrote: "We stated that we wanted to use the opportunity to step back and review the programme, testing whether it was on the right track to deliver the best outcomes for disengaged consumers in the most appropriate way. "We have now completed the review and we consider there may be more effective ways of enabling the neces- sary data to be shared, aligning with our open data and data mobility initiatives. "As a result, we have decided not to build a database of disengaged consumers at this time." TG ELECTRICITY EV smart charging providers pledge to open their networks A group of electric vehicle (EV) smart charging solutions provid- ers have pledged to open their networks for UK drivers through a "roaming partnership" by the end of this year. The letter of intent was signed on 25 September by Allego, EVBox, NewMotion, Chargemap, ChargePoint, Charge4Europe, Engenie, Franklin Energy and Travelcard. The agreement will mean UK EV drivers will require only one subscription to access public charging stations operated by any of the signatories. In addition, the operators will share charging station infor- mation so data can be used to improve the customer charging experience. At present, EV drivers in the UK need memberships with multiple operators to be able to fully access every available public charge point. This, the signatories say, has created an "inconsistent experience" for customers. They say a more joined-up, consumer-friendly public charging network could make EVs more desirable. Interoperability agreements in the Netherlands, France and Germany have been credited with driving the switch to EVs. Welcoming the letter of intent, Daniel Brown, policy manager and EV lead at the REA, said: "Too many apps, cards and membership accounts are in our view hindering the net use of the public charging network. It's clear that all that is changing with announcements such as this." ENERGY Nabuh at bottom of star ratings table Challenger energy supplier Nabuh Energy has come bottom of Citizens Advice's star ratings table for Q2 2019, with a score of 1.9. Fellow challenger brand Breeze Energy topped the list, with a score of 4.8. The table ranks suppliers' levels of customer service out of five on issues such as accuracy of bills, call waiting times, and complaint handling. In response to the rating, a spokesperson for Nabuh Energy said the supplier welcomed the Citizens Advice ratings but it did not reflect its performance over- all. They said: "We have invested and implemented numerous measures to ensure customers are receiving the quality they expect and will continue to do so. "It is important to note that our performance in areas such as billing, switching and call wait-times has vastly improved but have much less of an effect on the current supplier ratings matrix." SSE came second and is the best rated of the big six energy suppliers, with 4.6; Scottish Power was the worst ranked big six provider, with a rating of 3.2. The database idea emerged from a CMA probe Yet there are still concerns about EVs: 35 per cent said the cost of EVs is a barrier to buying one, 33 per cent had concerns over battery life and 31 per cent lacked confidence in the UK's charging infrastructure. This is despite the govern- ment's recent pledge to con- tribute an extra £2.5 million for charging points on residential streets.

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