Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JANUARY 2021 | 7 The Month in Review Call for a water sector 'environmental contract' Water companies should make environmental commitments that mirror social contracts, the All Party Parliamentary (APPG) Water Group heard as part of discussions on the sector's role in reach- ing net zero. Ian Barker, a director at the Institute of Water and the founder and managing director of Water Policy International, told the APPG Water Group that an "explicit commitment and environmental contract" would send a strong positive message to customers and communities. He said culture, mindset and reputation may be helped by such a pledge to complement the public interest commitments and social contracts companies have made. Water UK's roadmap to net zero was shared as part of the meeting and household water con- sumption was noted as a significant contributor to energy and carbon usage. Barker highlighted the limited understanding billpayers have of water usage and its connection to energy consumption. He said achieving net zero carbon required a cultural change from within water companies to constantly work to reduce emissions and make the targets integral to everything they do. "Net zero is a tremendous ambition but it doesn't exist in isolation. It needs to be embed- ded in everything a company does, and to act as a catalyst to drive other improvements for the benefits for customers and the environment," Barker said. He said ambitions to lower consumption and leakage should be revisited in the context of reaching net zero and the wider benefits that can be gained by reducing demand. Wessex pays tribute to those killed in Avonmouth explosion Wessex Water has paid tribute to the four people killed in the explosion at Avonmouth treat- ment works on 3 December. The company described 16-year-old apprentice Luke Wheaton as hard working, very committed and conscientious. It said he was "everything we wanted in an apprentice and future employee". Two long-serving members of staff also lost their lives in the incident. Brian Vickery, who had been with Wessex for more than 42 years, was nearing retirement. Vickery was described as "one of our most loyal, dedicated and very hard-working employ- ees – a Wessex Water man through and through". Ray White, who had worked at the water company for 19 years, was described as a "true old-school engineer" and men- tor to many. The fourth person to lose their life was Mike James, the owner of Bath-based Beau- fort Maintenance, which had a long-standing relationship with the water company. Wessex said his dedication and experi- ence would be missed. To honour the memory of those lost and support their families and colleagues, Wessex Water has launched an online condolences book and a memo- rial fund. For details visit: www. wessexwater.co.uk/bookofcon- dolence and www.justgiving. com/wessexwatermemorial contained in its EU counterpart, while allowing UK businesses to continue to trade emissions. According to the government, it will be the world's first "net zero carbon cap and trade market". The prime minister had already set out ambitious goals on the decarboni- sation of heat and transport. By 2028 the government expects 600,000 heat pumps a year to be installed (up from 30,000 at present) and it has brought forward the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars to 2030. To enable the rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) the government has committed £1.3 billion to accelerate the rollout of chargepoints in homes, workplaces, streets and on motorways. The white paper made clear that it expects Ofgem to facilitate these ambitions in the price controls for distribution network operators, which will run from 2023-28. It stressed the "importance of appropriate invest- ment to enable timely connection of new low-carbon technologies". Alongside its proposal in the NIS to provide the UK's regulators with a net zero duty, the government pledged through the white paper to consult on a strategy and policy statement for Ofgem in 2021. On new nuclear, the government said it would consider the "potential role" of government finance during construction, given the scale of the financing such projects require. It said BEIS will also continue to explore a range of financing options for new nuclear with developers, including the regulated asset base funding model, which provides devel- opers with revenues while projects are being built, thus reducing borrowing costs. Alongside the white paper, the government confirmed it was enter- ing into negotiations with EDF on its Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk with a view to enabling investment in the project by the end of the current parliament. The white paper also outlined moves to make it easier for customers to switch to cheaper energy tariffs. This will include a pilot for auto- matically switching consumers to tackle the so-called loyalty penalties that result in long-term customers pay- ing higher bills than those who have signed up more recently. The government has said it will launch a series of consultations in spring 2021 on a new framework to introduce opt-in switching, reforms to the current rollover tariff arrangements, and kick-start a "strategic dialogue" between government, consumers and industry on "affordability and fairness" in energy. In addition, the white paper con- firmed that all newly installed heating systems will be expected to be low- carbon or be able to be converted to a clean fuel supply by the mid-2030s. In a bid to ensure cross-govern- ment coordination on net zero polices, a Ministerial Delivery Group will be established, which will work to align planning guidelines and environ- mental regulations with the decar- bonisation roadmap and oversee the "development of appropriate network infrastructure to support future renew- ables deployment". Utility Week will be focusing on different aspects of the white paper throughout December and into the new year. To see the latest, go to www. utilityweek.co.uk

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