Utility Week

The Month in Review UTILITY WEEK | JUNE 2022 | 7 WPD pays out £14.9m for PSR failures power cuts for the majority of its newly added PSR customers, with some waiting up to a year aer they signed up for the infor- mation to be provided. WPD has since acted to address these areas of concern and has changed its policies and procedures. Following the investigation, Ofgem said it intends to impose a nominal £1 financial penalty on each of WPD's four licence areas. WPD will also pay £3.7 million across each of the areas, total- ling £14.9 million, into Ofgem's voluntary redress fund. Responding to the outcome, a WPD spokesperson said the company was "disappointed" that following initial engage- ment Ofgem chose to pursue enforcement action and not ena- ble the issues to be addressed via "constructive engagement". Western Power Distribution (WPD) has agreed to pay £14.9 million into Ofgem's voluntary redress fund following a series of failings regarding its Priority Ser- vices Register (PSR). Network companies are required to provide additional services to registered custom- ers such as prompt information and advice during unplanned power cuts, as well as alterna- tive accommodation should they need it. A two-year investigation into the network operator found it failed to promptly notify and update some of its 1.7 million PSR customers who were affected by power cuts about when sup- plies would be restored and what assistance was available. Furthermore, WPD failed to promptly provide specific infor- mation on how to prepare for They added: "The health and safety of our customers is of paramount importance and WPD offers a huge programme of sup- port for its customers in vulner- able situations. "We were therefore shocked when we discovered Ofgem con- sidered there were shortcom- ings with our service and we have engaged thoroughly and promptly at all times with Ofgem to resolve those concerns. "We are very sorry for any occasions when our services fell below Ofgem's requirements. While the investigation only cov- ered WPD, we believe that at the core of Ofgem's concerns were licence interpretation issues that impacted the whole sector. As soon as we became aware of Ofgem's requirements we took decisive action to address the issues." Gender equality initiatives failing to deliver in the energy sector Commitments made by energy companies to improve gender equality are failing to consistently deliver, in part due to unsupportive company cultures, a new report has revealed. The report from the Powerful Women group highlighted the barriers that still exist in middle management in the UK energy sector and suggested how to resolve these. Elizabeth Baxter, Powerful Women board member and co-author of the report, said: "We wanted to understand why women continue to be under- represented in the UK energy industry, including in the pipeline to executive roles. The sector faces immense challenges as it transforms and upskills for the energy transition and responds to evolving customer demands. It is essential that companies secure and cultivate the best and most diverse talent for success." The latest statistics from Energy & Utilities Skills showed the female percentage of the workforce last year was 18.3% – compared with a UK-wide proportion of 47.3%. Despite making commitments to boost diversity and be more inclusive, the report suggested this was not effectively cascaded down to all levels of organisations because policies were not backed up through company culture. Most companies were found to have a keen interest in redressing gender inequality and had inclusion policies in place but these were not being used and company culture did not support the initiatives. The report highlighted that mentoring and coaching programmes were of inconsistent quality and accessible for many women. Likewise where flexible working policies that support a home/work balance did exist, women reported fears of being overlooked for career opportunities if they used them and reported "benevolent sexism" towards those who did use them. A lack of role models was also cited as a hindrance to aspiration and career progress. Last year women occupied just 14% of executive director roles in the industry and 62 of the 80 largest employers had no women on their boards. To close the gap, the report called on senior leaders to take ownership of closing the middle management gender gap by offering solutions that are appropriate to the needs of their organisation. Managers should be empowered and equipped with the skills and confidence to have constructive conversations about issues that could close the delivery gap such as about flexible working and development options. See analysis on diversity in utilities p30-31 The Month in Review 37% Month-on-month fall in energy supply switches in April. 53% Of those polled in an Ofwat- commissioned survey said they expect to struggle to pay a utility bill in the coming year. Steve Mogford is to retire as chief execu- tive of United Utilities (UU) early next year aœer 12 years leading the company. He will be succeeded by Louise Beardmore, currently director of customer service and people. Beardmore will lead the design of the company's PR24 business plan and support Mogford until his retirement as part of the transition. Ian Smyth has been named as the succes- sor to Electricity North West chief executive Peter Emery, who is due to retire later this year. Smyth is currently director of UK Power Networks' (UKPN) Services and has more than 25 years' experience working within UK and international utilities. UKPN Services is responsible for delivering critical services to large national infrastructure projects and UK organisations including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead airports, High Speed 1, Canary Wharf and London Underground. Prior to joining UKPN in 2016, Smyth was managing director at Navigant, a partner with LCP and a consultant with Ernst & Young. ON THE MOVE £20m Amount of excess interconnector revenues that National Grid has agreed to repay in a bid to bring down energy bills. Baxter: diversity is essential for success

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