Utility Week

20 | APRIL 2022 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Conference report Building trust in adversity Utility Week's Customer Summit brought together leaders from across the sector to discuss ways of supporting consumers through difficult times. Here are the Utility Week team's key takeaways. View from the chair By James Wallin Taking place in the shadow of a growing cost of living crisis, it was no surprise that Utility Week's Customer Summit provided a number of sobering moments. EDF reported call volumes up 50% since the start of the crisis while Ofgem's retail director admitted it seems "unlikely this painful price cap increase will be the last". There was talk of difficult conversations, with Sir Dieter Helm warning that consum- ers in the UK must be prepared to meet the costs of both reducing carbon emissions and of mitigating the already inevitable conse- quences of climate change. Peter McClenaghan, director of infrastruc- ture & sustainability at Northern Ireland's Consumer Council, gave a glimpse of the future for consumers in the rest of the UK, reshaping the way they work to meet these demands. The net-zero journey and protection of the environment meanwhile present a shared goal between an increasingly alarmed public and a sector long committed to the fight. Sector leaders are under no illusion that building the trust to take consumers on this journey will take time and patience but the summit confirmed that the will to do so remains undimmed. In an inspiring presentation, Andrew McMillan, former head of customer ser- vice, gave some valuable advice on building that necessary loyalty, including the power of employees to personify the values of a company. However, he warned that while trust is hard won, it can be easily lost, quoting the Dutch proverb: "Reputation o"en arrives on foot and leaves on a fast horse." Ofgem facing 'Hobson's choice' over price cap changes Adam John An Ofgem director told the conference the regulator is facing "Hobson's choice" when it comes to deciding how to adapt the price cap in light of the energy crisis. Ofgem has been considering switching to a quarterly price cap to reduce the time lag between market prices and their reflection in the cap. During a Q&A on the first day of the sum- mit, Ofgem's director of retail Neil Lawrence was asked by Utility Week whether even a quarterly price cap would be sufficiently responsive considering how fast prices are changing in the current climate. "It's absolutely clear that the price cap wasn't designed and the mechanisms that we have in place aren't suitable for this level of volatility and we need to work really, really closely with everybody in the supply market to plot a path through that," he said. Lawrence continued: "We don't want to do anything that's going to make the situ- ation worse… That's why we are working very, very closely with suppliers around that discussion and it's not being done in a dark- ened room because for everything we do it appears that we are taking Hobson's choice – taking a decision that appears to actually have negative consequences either way. "I look forward to getting into some of that debate… as we continue to engage with suppliers and the industry." predicting that in the uncapped energy mar- ket across the Irish Sea average annual bills could hit £3,000 as soon as May. While the water sector is far less exposed to price volatility, South East Water's CEO, David Hinton, admitted there are concerns about a rise in bad debt as customers strug- gle to pay bills across the board. Meanwhile, Ofwat senior director Claire Forbes reminded companies that protecting the environment is as big a concern for consumers as afford- ability and that they must show leadership on this issue. Yet despite the challenges facing energy and water companies, the summit also high- lighted a zeal to use the current focus on the sector to build trust with consumers and set the foundations for a deeper relationship. Multiple speakers talked about the work they are doing to better understand the dif- fering needs of customers and how they are

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