Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 18TH - 24TH OCTOBER 2019 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Utility of the future The second pillar of our campaign starts in this issue, examining regulation 12 Policy & Regulation 12 | News Ofwat calls for a campaign to cut water use 14 | Event The hot topics animating utility leaders at UW Congress 2019 19 | Analysis Will the 2023 'sunset clause' on the energy price cap ever be triggered? 20 Finance & Investment 20 | News Ovo Group surpasses £1bn in revenue 21 | Analysis A mixture of politics and regulatory reviews leave utility investors guessing 22 Operations & Assets 22 | High viz Kielder observatory 23 | Expert view Carl Haigney, Global Vice President and Head Of Retail Utilities, Capgemini UK 25 | Market view How to navigate the regulatory complexity of generation 26 Customers 26 | News Council's £18m nets it 50% stake in Together 27 | Market view To understand service pain points, talk to your customers 30 Community 31 | Disconnector 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 IFS: Sponsored report: Getting Ahead in the Diversifying Energy Market https://bit.ly/2MXkFkI Leader Suzanne Heneghan Certain change Industry has long been anticipating the National Infrastructure Commission's report on regulation, but is the reality a "missed opportunity", as some are claiming? While deeming it "relatively harmless", one disappointed sector player protested that the two big issues in regulation today – data and governance – had been "entirely ducked". They felt it would have been far better if the review into whether utility regulation is fit for the future had been carried out by the National Audit Office (which has previously questioned the effective- ness of regulators). Alternatively, they argued, government could have dra†ed in the Information Commissioner's Office, as a champion of the openness of public bodies and one "critical to future national infrastructure design". Despite the historic operational challenges ahead, the NIC advises against scrapping systems in place since privatisation. Albeit it calls for some he†y "tweaks", including giving regulators powers to ensure utilities invest in sustainable infrastructure, and a tougher price control regime for monopoly companies. If adopted, as expected, there's no mistaking that the recommen- dations could mean some hard yards ahead for many in the sector, even though most saw the cost of capital, leveraging and executive salaries battles coming a long way off. Yet the calls in the Strategic Investment and Public Confidence report for a move away from a "short-termism" culture must be wel- come news for firms balancing business-as-usual with big picture demands. The findings will certainly have gone down well with regulators, who want more options in their regulatory toolkits to tackle trans- forming markets and the uncertainty around net zero. This was a key issue at Utility Week Congress last week (see p14), and explored in more detail in our UOTF report (p6). It seems it never rains but it pours for utilities, with the report coming at the same time as a ra† of other future policy road maps in recent days – from the government's landmark environment bill, to its response to the Committee on Climate Change (p4). Unsurprisingly, much media focus has concentrated on the CCC document and the environment bill's plan to bring in new powers to force water companies to work together more closely on shortages, as well as new measures to improve air and water quality. But many within the sector will have been poring just as closely over the NIC's vision for regulation. Well, we did all ask for more certainty... Suzanne Heneghan, editor, suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com EXPERT VIEW 23 | Capgemini UK COVER STORY 6 | Utility of the future The regulators respond to climate change EVENT 14 | All the highlights from Utility Week Congress 2019 HIGH VIZ 22 | Seeing stars in the Kielder forest

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