Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | OCTOBER 2021 | 9 Companies themselves must also pledge to drive behaviours of the past out of the industry of the future and sign up to sector- wide commitments on both hedging and eradicating loyalty penalties These are just a few suggestions to kick- start a wider conversation. Far greater minds than mine have put forward detailed models for a future energy market design, which government has paid little more than lip ser- vice to. The Energy Reset campaign will track every aspect of this unfolding drama, ask difficult questions of government, regulators and the industry and seek opportunities to deliver long-promised change. Utility Week members will be invited to bespoke events to share insight and bold visions for the future. The eyes of the country are on the utilities sector. Let's harness the opportunity to work together towards reshaping the market to drive real value for consumers and accelerate net zero. James Wallin, editor Follow the campaign on utilityweek.co.uk We must ensure that the energy market does not pay the price for the poor practices of a minority of companies, and that the market still maintains the competition that is a feature of today's current system. We must not see a return to, I quote, the 'cosy oligopoly' of years past, where a few large suppliers simply dictated to customers conditions and pricing." Kwasi Kwarteng, BEIS secretary of state This crisis may be sudden, but the causes are long standing: dependence on imports; a lack of energy security; inadequate emphasis on storage; a decade of decisions deferred and dodged. This is a crisis made in Downing Street that was caused by a decade of complacency. Gas stockpiles are at their lowest level for 10 years." Bridget Phillipson, Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury I do think this is a different kind of change. The sector has faced shocks. But when you see that change it really is something we don't think we've seen before at this pace." Jonathan Brearley, chief executive, Ofgem A lot of suppliers spent a long time ignoring the spot market because it was relatively benign, ignoring intraday and the advanced market. It has usually just been treated as a manageable cost item. It is no longer manageable unless you actively trade it. A lot of small suppliers are overwhelmed with the job of just being a supplier – billing customers, handling complaints, managing meter operations, data aggregators. They just don't have the bandwidth to manage the front office risk. They are the ones who are likely to get into real trouble." Phil Hewitt, director, EnAppSys The sector is so fragile that people who might be expected to pick up customers are worried about doing so because of the cost: there is no cash down the back of the sofa." Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive, Energy UK

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