UTILITY WEEK | FEBRUARY 2021 |
5
KNOWLEDGE WORTH KEEPING
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Debt crisis looming
large for utilities
The new year heralded the arrival of yet another new energy minister at BEIS
– an event we've all become accustomed to, but this time there was more than
the usual weary eye-rolling at the prospect of fresh leadership for the energy
brief (see p23).
Anne-Marie Trevelyan's track record of robust opposition to wind power is
a worry to the renewables lobby, which fought long and hard to see onshore
wind readmitted to the contracts for di• erence regime last year. Her history of
voting against increases in funding or powers for local government also feels
out of step with the increasingly common view that the road to net zero will be
characterised by regional di• erentiation in pace and style – devised locally.
In the run-up to COP26 Trevelyan will have to do some leg work to show
she's right for her job and understands the complexities involved in shaping
a net zero energy system. Reassuringly for those with doubts, she'll be under
pressure from the new BEIS secretary Kwasi Kwarteng – the man who ‰ nally
nudged the Energy White Paper into the light of day – and former BEIS
secretary turned COP president Alok Sharma to ensure that, come November,
the UK has a decarbonisation road map it can boast about on an international
stage.
Critical though the climate change agenda is, however, the more pressing
issue in the minds of many leaders as this magazine goes to press is how
the industry should respond to the alarming escalation in debt across both
consumer and B2B markets.
Shocking ‰ gures from the likes of Citizens Advice and the Legatum Institute
show the numbers of people in the UK now considered to be in poverty, and
who are falling behind on their bills, have swelled by many hundreds of
thousands since the start of last year – when the UK's position on household
debt was already far from rosy (see Talking Points, p23).
Technologies like AI and Machine Learning can help companies crunch
through the enormous stacks of data they need to process to manage this
debt crisis e• ectively. But the industry could also be working smarter and
more collaboratively to share information about customers in vulnerable
circumstance (see analysis, p24).
Even assuming there are leaps in the application of technology and
collaboration, the developing landscape for debt in the UK has highlighted
a fundamental inadequacy in existing approaches to handling the cost
of carrying those who cannot a• ord to pay for life's essentials. Back at
BEIS, Trevelyan can be sure she will not be short of submissions when the
department opens its "strategic dialogue" on the future of a• ordability and
fairness this spring.
Jane Gray, content director, janegray@fav-house.com
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Letter from the Editor
Jane Gray
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