Utility Week

6 | DECEMBER 2021 | UTILITY WEEK The Month in Review "There is a growing call to take action to reduce the frequency and impact of storm overflows. That is a task of scale and complexity and needs multi-sector collaboration and a join up of policy to make it happen, which of course appears difficult today." Ian McAulay, chief executive of Southern Water, pledges to reduce discharges from combined sewer overflows by 80% by 2030. There is a "very real" risk that the UK will not achieve its 2050 net-zero emissions goal if the government cannot decide within the next five years on hydrogen's role in home heat- ing, the National Infrastruc- ture Commission has warned. The statutory infrastruc- ture adviser kicked off its next National Infrastructure Assessment in November by publishing a baseline study outlining a series of planned projects. The report highlighted a "lack of progress" on efforts to decarbonise heating in homes and buildings, meaning the challenges the UK faces in this area are "now urgent". It said there are "still major questions" to be answered about heat decarbonisation, even following last month's publication of the govern- ment's Heat and Buildings Strategy. These include the level of insulation needed in different homes to efficiently operate heat pumps, whether hydro- gen will be available as a source of heat for all homes, and what this means for the continuing use of the gas network. Noting the government's commitment to a decision on the role of hydrogen for heat- ing by 2026, the report warned that "if this does not happen, the risk of not achieving net zero is very real". See hydrogen analyses, p38 and p40 Net zero at 'very real' risk without heating decision T he collapse of Bulb into special administration came amid a flurry of energy retailers exiting the mar- ket in November. As Utility Week went to press the tally of failed suppliers for the month stood at 11, including Bulb, which served 1.7 million customers. The other retailers, all dealt with via the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process, were: • Orbit – 65,000 domestic customers; • CNG – 41,000 business customers; • Neon Reef – 30,000 domestic customers; • Zebra – 14,800 domestic customers; • Omni – 6,000 domestic customers; • Bluegreen – 5,900 domestic and a small number of non- domestic; • Social Energy Supply – 5,500 domestic customers; • Entice – 5,400 domestic customers; • Ampower – 600 domestic customers; • MA Energy – 300 domestic customers. Bulb is the first energy company to go into the special administration process, which allows a retailer deemed too big to enter the SoLR process to be run temporarily by a special administrator, ensuring an unin- terrupted supply for customers. In a memorandum of under- Bulb administration caps month of woe for retail special administration, we can- not rule out well run, financially responsible companies exiting the market – in addition to those that have already le¥. "The first use of the special administration regime also shows that, in the current circumstances, suppliers are in no position to take on large numbers of new customers." Meanwhile, Ecotricity chief executive Dale Vince told Utility Week: "It is ironic and I am really glad that the government is now in the energy market because they made this mess and now they have to live with it. "While it was all very well them being hard-faced towards energy companies from the side- lines about the price cap and the guaranteed loss-making, now they are having to endure that themselves and I think that is a very good thing. Reality will help them understand quite what it is they are doing, maybe." See Energy Reset and interview, p16 and p19 standing published by Ofgem in 2017, the regulator explained that the special administrator, unlike an ordinary administra- tor, has an obligation to consider consumers' interests as well as those of creditors. Bulb's demise means that in total more than 4.2 million cus- tomers have seen their supplier fail due to the continuing energy crisis in 2021. This includes 26 suppliers exiting the market via the SoLR process, leaving more than 2.5 million domestic customers to be picked up elsewhere. Responding to the news, Energy UK chief executive Emma Pinchbeck warned there could be similar exits ahead for the sector. She said: "The news underlines the huge difficul- ties facing energy retailers at present. "Record wholesale prices mean suppliers are losing mil- lions of pounds serving their customers right now and so, as well as Bulb planning to enter Bulb is the largest supplier yet to go bust

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