Utility Week

6 | 11TH - 17TH OCTOBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation This week Quality of service in energy is 'declining' Large hike in number of complaints about small suppliers referred to Energy Ombudsman Ofgem has said there are some signs of "declining quality of service" in the energy market. In its third annual State of the Energy Market report, the energy regulator said there were large variations in quality of service among suppliers. Although over- all customer complaint numbers are "relatively stable", there have been big increases in the number of cases referred to the Ombudsman in relation to small suppliers. For example, the report says, in the first quarter of 2019 the Energy Ombudsman accepted more than 100 cases per 100,000 small supplier customer accounts, compared with about 20 cases in the first quarter of 2017. In response to the report, Matthew Vickers, chief executive at the Energy Ombudsman, said: "While there are some examples of smaller suppliers offering excel- lent customer service, it's true that we have seen a sig- nificant increase in complaints about these companies. "What's disturbing is that in general we're also see- ing poorer signposting disciplines at smaller suppliers – signposting being the process by which suppliers should make their customers aware of their right to come to us if they have an unresolved complaint. "Indeed, currently we see evidence of effective sign- posting in only 10 per cent of complaints that reach us from customers of small suppliers. That's compared to around 70 per cent for large suppliers." Vickers said this acts as a barrier to consumers' right to independent redress and skews key industry indica- tors such as the Citizens Advice star ratings. AJ ENERGY Calls for review of load shedding The Energy Emergencies Execu- tive Committee has called for a review of the load-shedding procedure designed to prevent a complete shutdown of the power grid a'er essential services were le' without electricity during August's blackout. In its interim report on the incident, the committee said the Low Frequency Demand Disconnection scheme should be re-examined to identify which services are liable to have their power cut off, why this is the case and whether the scheme could be modified to mini- mise disruption. It said a new mechanism should be created to educate service operators about the procedure. The committee's recom- mendations are broadly similar to those made by the electric- ity system operator (ESO) in its final report to Ofgem. It has also called for reviews of the following: network operators' communications protocols; the timetable for the Acceler- ated Loss of Mains Change Programme, which will reduce the risk of nuisance tripping by distributed generators; and the volume of reserves held by the ESO to contain outages and limit changes in frequency. The Energy Emergencies Executive Committee co-ordi- nates resilience planning across the energy sector, bringing together the government, Ofgem and industry. WATER 'Dismay' over water connection code Changes to water adoption proposals have been criticised as unsatisfactory and lacking clar- ity by self-lay providers (SLPs). Proposed changes are due to be submitted to Ofwat a'er two years of development, but critics argue it remains too vague and, in some places, incomplete. Fair Water Connections, an association that provides sup- port to SLPs, said the proposals fail Ofwat code requirements that call for clarity and to pro- vide guarantees for contractors. Martyn Speight, head of Fair Water Connections, said: "It's an incomplete piece of work. We want local variations minimised, which the Ofwat code called for; and we want to give SLPs much more confidence that vital pieces of work will be delivered in a timely way". Previous codes of practice were not mandatory so Ofwat proposed the code to give SLPs clear guidance on what they need to do to be able to do their work. Currently companies pro- vide information for contractors on their websites, which Speight said was sometimes "patchy or unclear". Vickers: some small firms offer excellent service Political Agenda David Blackman "The white paper will have taken a year to emerge" The Labour Party has firmly attached its colours to the climate emergency mast. Its conference this year passed a motion committing the UK to be carbon neutral by 2030. However, given how badly the party is lagging in the polls, its chances of implementing this bold goal must be rated as poor. The Conservatives' poll lead over a fragmented opposition appears to have been consolidat- ing, and the party is in pole posi- tion to form the next government. This timetable does give the new PM and his ministerial team a chance to digest the feed- back from a blizzard of energy policy consultations. However, it means that the white paper will have taken at least a year to emerge since it was announced. It's the kind of response that is hardly likely to mollify the Extinction Rebellion campaign- ers – who are trying to bring London to a halt this week – that the government are treating the climate issue as an emergency. There were few hints at the Conservatives' conference about its less ambitious but arguably more deliverable zero carbon emissions plans. In next week's Queen's Speech, the government will out- line its legislative plans for the next parliamentary session. But those expecting a steer on how the government plans to get the UK ready for the 2050 net zero target, adopted in July, are likely to be disappointed. Clues are more likely to be found in the delayed energy white paper, due to be published towards the end of this year or early 2020, most likely a'er a general election.

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