Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | MAY 2021 | 27 Customers Talking Points… FOCUS Study suggests £720m cost of plugging water poverty gap The cost to plug the "water poverty gap" could be up to £720 million, according to a report commissioned by Water UK. The report by Cepa showed the num- ber of people living in water poverty in England and Wales is greater than previously calculated as of 2019/20, with more than four million households struggling to pay their bills. The report said around 11.5 per cent of households across England and Wales fall between the 3 and 5 per cent bill to income ratio thresholds used to de„ ne water poverty. This study compared water poverty rates at bill to income ratios of 3 per cent and 5 per cent of households' income. It found nearly three times as many homes were de„ ned as poor at the 3 per cent threshold than at the 5 per cent. There has not previously been a common de„ nition of water poverty or a metric to measure the number of water poor households in di‡ erent regions. The breakdown between billpayers in England and Wales showed 27 per cent of customers struggled to pay in Wales compared with 17 per cent in England at the lower 3 per cent thresh- old. At the higher threshold, 9 per cent of consumers in Wales and 6 per cent in England faced di‹ culty paying bills. This variation between thresholds suggests a signi„ cant number of homes that would be most sensitive to changes in charges. To see a regional breakdown, go to https://utilityweek.co.uk/study-sug- gests-720m-cost-to-plug-water-poverty- gap/ Lessons to learn from fan fury B y the time this magazine hits your desk/doormat the failed experiment of football's European super league will probably be a faded memory. But it is worth considering the lessons that can be learnt from how this ill-conceived and badly communi- cated proposal was comprehensively trounced by public opinion, and how we can relate that to the energy transition. If Ed Woodward and Andrea Agnelli's fantastical sheme had any- thing going for it, it was at least a topic that „ nally united all corners of society. I genuinely can't remember a topic where there simply was no opposing view. Creeds, colours and classes were in agreement – this is not on. So they said that, with one voice, and with 48 hours the super league was e‡ ectively gone. This episode has reminded us all of the sheer power of public will and how much stronger it is united than divided. To turn it back to climate change, this is an area where scepticism still persists but with every public survey it is diminishing. There is a groundswell of concern and a real appetite to act that can be harnessed. The climate assembly has shown that people with no previous interest or par- ticular education about the energy system can be inspired to become active par- ticipants in the transition. Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion have also shown the impact of public protest but there is still huge untapped potential. Utilities have a unique opportunity to take this work forward and commu- nicate the ways in which every customer has a voice and a part to play in the climate change „ ght. National Grid's introduction of its Green Light Signal – a smart bulb that changes colour when the electricity supply is at its cleanest – is a great example of how to push this message into the nation's living rooms. Boris Johnson's sudden interest in football in the midst of widespread public uproar over the super league shows how powerful a clear message from the populace can be. Utilities can play a vital part in inspiring their customers to make those calls. James Wallin, digital editor Comment: The fi asco of the European super league demonstrates that when motivated, public opinion wields real power. Total number of switches – broken down between domestic and non-domestic 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 Mar-19 Jun-19 Sep-19 Dec-19 Mar-20 Jun-20 Sep-20 Dec-20 Mar-21 Domes�c Non-domes�c Switching hits two-year high March saw the second highest number of cus- tomers switching electricity supplier since Energy UK began recording the gures. A total of 650,000 swapped supplier that month – the highest total since April 2019. This represented a 42 per cent increase on February 2021 and a 10 per cent year-on-year hike. It took the number of customers that have switched supplier in the rst quarter of 2021 to 1.5 million, which is 7 per cent lower than at the same time last year.

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