Utility Week

22 | 7TH - 13TH FEBRUARY 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Customer research by water companies must be clearly applied in price reviews and car- ried out on a continuous basis if long-term service improvements are going to be achieved. That was the message from Ofwat and the Consumer Coun- cil for Water (CCWater) on how to improve research and get the maximum value from data. Speaking at CCWater's WATER CCWater chief: 'customers are for life, not just for a price review' inaugural research conference, Anita Payne, director of cus- tomer research at Ofwat, said the regulator saw huge amounts of engagement for PR19, but "it was not always clear how that engagement was used in plans". Water companies engaged with around five million people while preparing their business plans for PR19, a steep rise from 250,000 for the previous price review in 2014. This increase was encouraged by both CCWater and Ofwat, but the two bodies feel there is further work to be done. Tony Smith, chief executive of CCWater, said some companies used the insight to justify their plans rather than to understand customers better. "Some compa- nies only do research because Ofwat tells them to. There needs to be more insight and to do the This week Utility Warehouse to pay £650k after error 3,430 customers paid above the correct default tariff cap between January and November 2019 Utility Warehouse will refund and compensate more than 3,400 Warm Home Discount (WHD) customers a'er over- charging them due to a system error when the price cap was applied. In December 2019, the sup- plier found that 3,430 customers who receive the WHD but pay for their energy when they receive a bill had been paying above the correct default tariff cap between the previous January and November. Ofgem said Utility Warehouse "quickly self-reported" the issue to the regulator and confirmed that it had overcharged by £150,000. Following this, the supplier's systems were quickly updated to correct the issue. Utility Warehouse is now in the process of issuing full refunds to all affected customers and will pay an extra £300,000 of goodwill payments. Furthermore, it has agreed to pay £200,000 into Ofgem's voluntary redress fund. The regulator said the total redress package it secured from Utility Warehouse reflected the seriousness of the breach, its commitment to protecting the needs of customers in vulnerable circumstances, and its zero- tolerance approach to compliance with the price cap requirements. Ofgem added that due to the steps taken by the sup- plier, it decided not to take formal enforcement action and did not require a larger payment on this occasion. In a statement, the energy regulator added: "Ofgem closely monitors all suppliers' conduct, including their approach to the implementation of the cap, and will continue to hold suppliers to account if they do not meet their obligations." AJ WATER Retailers approve MOSL business plan Water retailers have given their approval to market operator MOSL's business plan for 2020/21, which will see a budget increase of 4.7 per cent. Chief executive Sarah McMath said she had strived to be "honest in my reflection of what is needed to make this market work for customers" and to tackle various legacy chal- lenges within the £11.2 million budget programme for the year. The plan commits to a review of metering and to build bridges between retailers and wholesalers. It reiterates support for the bilateral transactions project but acknowledges a strong challenge from members that the business case needs to be clearer before solution costs can be committed to. As a result, these have been removed from the current budget. McMath said: "Since joining MOSL in June last year, it has been clear to me, from the conversations I've had with members and various stakehold- ers, that there are still a number of well-known challenges facing the non-household market. "I have been honest in my reflection of what is needed to make this market work for customers, and I am delighted that we received broad support for our 2020/21 business plan to drive this work forward. "Significant improvement in these priority areas cannot be achieved by MOSL alone and I look forward to working with our members and stakeholders throughout the course of 2020/21 and beyond." ENERGY SMS hits 1.2 million meter installations Smart Metering Systems (SMS) says the proposed introduction of compulsory annual installa- tion targets for energy suppliers will help more "evenly spread" the smart meter rollout. In a trading update released on 31 January, the smart meter installer and manager revealed its portfolio of meters grew by 44 per cent to 1.2 million in 2019. The company referenced plans that were put to consulta- tion towards the end of 2019 that included an extension of the rollout to 2024 and the introduc- tion of installation milestones for each energy supplier. At the end of the framework period, 85 per cent coverage would be achieved. "The BEIS consultation provides a stricter regulatory regime, albeit over an extended time period, for energy suppli- ers. The extension has provided energy suppliers with greater timing flexibility than before, and SMS now expects the instal- lation profile to be more evenly spread until 2024 as a result," the update said. SMS's financial performance for 2019 was in line with market expectations, with rental pay- ments for meters rising by 23 per cent to £77.8 million. Vulnerable customers were affected by the error research on a continuous basis, not just for a price review. "Customers are for life, not just for a price review," said Smith, who is stepping down from the watchdog in June. Payne suggested that includ- ing comparative information within a survey would add value, and encouraged compa- nies to use a variety of tools and methods to gather research.

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