Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | MARCH 2021 | 7 The Month in Review Seven more regions 'water stressed' The Environment Agency has proposed moving seven more water companies' regions to water stressed status, meaning they must evaluate introducing compulsory metering. As part of a consultation on water stress it suggests moving the following areas from "not serious" to "seriously" water stressed: Severn Trent; South Staffs; Wessex; Portsmouth; Cam- bridge; Bournemouth; and The Isles of Scilly. They would join Anglian, Affinity, Essex and Suffolk, South East, SES, Southern and Thames on a list that will have enhanced protections for environment and to safeguard supplies. The consultation, which runs to March, will provide evidence on resources and allow areas under greatest pressure to adopt more stringent efficiency measures to manage supplies and protect waterways. WPD proposes £6bn spend over ED2 Western Power Distribution (WPD) has announced its intention to spend nearly £6 billion across its licence areas in the Midlands, the South West and South Wales as part of the first dra• of its business plan for the RIIO-ED2 price control starting in April 2023. The proposed total expenditure (totex) of £5,993 million equates to an average annual figure of £1,199 million over the five-year period. This is an increase of almost 15 per cent on its forecast average annual totex of £1,046 million for the cur- rent eight-year price control. WPD said the extra spending would be used to decarbonise and digitalise its net- works but would have a limited impact on its contribution to the typical customer's energy bill, which is expected to remain "largely unchanged" at £96 per year. The network operator said the publica- tion of its dra• business plan follows two years of engagement with more than 4,500 stakeholders, including customers, local authorities, charities and other energy companies. The plan contains 67 "core commit- ments" to customers. £1bn Proposed value of the Energy Company Obligation from 2022 – up from £640 million at present. £4m Fine for National Grid for passing on incomplete records to Cadent when it spun off and sold its gas distribution networks in 2016. It followed an investigation by the HSE. O'Shea: Law needs to be clarified around 'fire and rehire' notices More clarity is needed on the law governing when employers can and should issue fire and rehire notices to their employees, Centrica chief executive Chris O'Shea has said. The comments came as part of the ongoing dispute between the British Gas owner and the GMB Union over the former's plans to reissue contracts to some of its employees as part of its major restructure. Centrica issued HR1 and S.188 notices in July last year which allow it, in a "last resort", to terminate workers' contracts and issue new ones with updated terms and conditions. Giving evidence to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee on 2 February, O'Shea said he "regretted" the company's interpretation of the law, which is that S.188 notices have to be issued as soon as the employer believes there is no possibil- ity of a negotiated settlement. He said: "I don't think the way the law is dra–ed just now helps with negotiations. I understand why… the GMB feel that it contaminates negotiations. I would feel similar to that. But I think what we can't have is companies not being able to make changes to terms and conditions at all, but we can and I hope we do change where in the process that has to be notified because I don't think the law as it's currently dra–ed helps us in these conversations." When asked why he did not think there would be a negotiated settlement, O'Shea responded that a–er the first meetings the company had with trade unions in July last year, a joint statement was issued by GMB and Unison which said the unions would not accept the terms. In response, GMB national officer Justin Bowden said he had never been involved in a situation where a company threatened to fire and rehire employees if they did not agree to new terms before formal negotiations had begun. He accused Centrica of having "poisoned the well" and of creating a situation of conflict from the beginning. During the hearing, O'Shea also said police were investigating a–er his wife and teenage son had been the recipients of excre- ment sent to them with a note referring to the fire and rehire proposals. "On a windy day, Britain has too much electricity – it is being put into the grid for free… You have carbon-free, guilt-free electricity that is being taxed at more than the unit cost of gas, which is bonkers." Greg Jackson, CEO, Octopus Energy 2.4GW Target volume for the upcoming year-ahead (T-1) capacity market auction, up from previous target of 400MW. Centrica CEO Chris O'Shea 65% Rise in the UK's number of ultra-rapid EV chargers in 2020 – to 788 – according to Zap Map.

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