UTILITY WEEK | JANUARY 2022 |
5
KNOWLEDGE WORTH KEEPING
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Resilience under siege
During COP26 the emphasis was understandably on the need to limit emissions
rises. As a result, utilities leaders sometimes struggled to make their voices
heard when they issued warnings that we must also build resilience for the
inevitable impacts of climate change.
Just weeks later, the UK had a rude awakening to this sad reality as Storm
Arwen ripped through the country, resulting in devastating damage particularly
in the north of England and Scotland.
Until that point, the name Arwen was probably only in regular parlance
for Lord of the Rings fans, but for utilities there is little doubt it will become a
reference point for years to come, alongside the Beast from the East and the
Christmas storms of 2013. Both of these sparked calls for lessons to be learnt and
we now … nd ourselves in a similar position.
Before we turn to the questions that will be posed by any review, the hard
work and dedication of sta‡ across the networks should be recognised. This
goes too for their colleagues in water and gas who have also seen heavy work-
loads resulting from the storm.
The sheer scale of the damage caused by Arwen, knocking out the power to
almost one million homes and businesses, highlights the massive job facing the
networks.
However, clearly there are lessons to be learnt, and not just for networks, as
our analysis on p10-11 makes clear.
Communication will clearly be the main area of focus, as was the case in
2013. It is obviously unacceptable that customers were waiting in some cases up
to two hours to get through to their network.
Even when they did get through, some billpayers complained that the infor-
mation they were given turned out to bear no relation to reality. These may well
be isolated cases, and of course this was a rapidly changing picture, but there
should be reŽ ection as to whether call centre sta‡ are well-enough informed of
estimates coming back from the frontline.
The review will no doubt uncover processes that could be improved and safe-
guards that should be implemented. But it is also an opportunity for networks
to emphasise the need to invest in resilience. That is a message that's hard to
disagree with but is there a genuine understanding in Whitehall of what this
actually means? The government has proved it can be ambitious on seeking to
limit climate change but it needs to show similar vision in preparing to adapt to
its already apparent consequences.
James Wallin, editor, jameswallin@fav-house.com
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Drax
Expert View: More cost
transparency needed for
generators selling via PPAs
https://bit.ly/3r88JVe
DTN
Explore your expected winter risks
with an outlook from DTN
https://bit.ly/30W7kGk
SIMOCO
Re-imagine Your Mission Critical
Communications with Velocity
https://bit.ly/3l6IbQe
Letter from the Editor
James Wallin
