Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 27TH MARCH - 2ND APRIL 2020 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Steve Fraser, chief executive, Cadent 9 Policy & Regulation 9 | News Coronavirus: regulators say they will take a 'pragmatic view' on rule bending 9 | Political Agenda The week's political highlights, by David Blackman 10 | Analysis Coronavirus: 50 days that shook the country 15 Finance & Investment 15 | News Pennon Group agrees £4.2bn Viridor sale 16 | Event Climate change and legitimacy top the agenda at Utility Week's Investor Summit 22 Operations & Assets 22 | High viz NI Water's Maghaberry treatment works 23 | Market view Five tips to ensure consistent messaging across the latest digital channels 25 Customers 25 | News Customers 'must not pay for ineffi ciencies' 26 | Utility of the Future Is regulation and consolidation on the cards for autoswitching sites? 30 Community 31 | Disconnector KNOWLEDGE WORTH KEEPING Subscribers to Utility Week can access premium content and exclusive research, available to read online or as downloadable documents. http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ Leader Suzanne Heneghan Are utilities pressing reset? It's been a week when we all, quite literally, watched history being made, as the prime minister addressed the nation and ordered Britons to stay at home. Nothing feels too surreal or surprising any more for a coun- try that has helplessly witnessed an outbreak of coronavirus completely transform the way we all live and work. One of many other strange sights this week was that of legions of City executives spilling out of their o• ces with computer monitors tucked under their arms. In just days, the UK has been forced to learn to work remotely. And those parts of the workforce that can't – including key workers in utilities – are fast adapting. It is impossible to predict what is going to happen even in the short term. But what we do know is this has already thrown up some big questions around companies' change agendas, opera- tional resilience and management models. Within the energy and water sector there will always be some organisations that are slower-moving than others, both operation- ally and culturally. Some will be more agile and con„ dent with technology and remote, … exible working. For those less adept, there will be di• cult days ahead. What is certain is that we are all unlikely to act as we did before Covid-19 e‰ ectively pressed reset on the working lives of the nation. One Utility Week industry source has spoken of how, despite the unwelcome hurdle of adapting to social distancing, their company's „ rst week of operating in this remote new world – including adopting virtual management meetings – had seen a leap in both business productivity and e• ciency. So, should we be asking if pre-coronavirus working patterns are already gone forever? And whether companies may, in many respects, emerge from this enforced restructuring stronger and more resilient? It already feels like a given. Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. And the need for innovation to create solutions to huge challenges is, fortunately, a mindset utilities already embrace. At a time like this, when it's hard to see many positives amid the relentless tide of worrying news, this could at least be one of them. Suzanne Heneghan, editor, suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com • Utility Week today launches its new online webinar series, 'Ask Us Anything' featuring your questions and industry experts as we look at how coronavirus could change the utilities sector. See p5 for more details. COVER STORY 10 | Analysis 50 Days Later EVENT 16 | What are investors looking for? ANALYSIS 26 | Auto switching: your helpful friend? Advanced: Be utterly predictable. Because letting people down isn't an option https://bit.ly/2wnAxKU See the Community section, page 30 HIGH VIZ 22 | Big investment in Northern Ireland

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