Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JULY 2022 | 41 Customer service staff need standard technical training E DF Energy has raised the possibility of introducing a common set of standards for customer service sta , the compa- ny's customer service director revealed. Speaking during a panel session at Util- ity Week Live, Barry Adley gave a presenta- tion in which he outlined the support EDF was giving to its customer service teams, who have faced unprecedented challenges as a result of the pandemic and subsequent energy crisis. During a Q&A, Adley was asked how the role of customer service agent has evolved since March 2020. He said: "More oˆ en we are ‰ nding our advisers are becoming councillors… we do hear regularly that customers are threaten- ing suicide or something like that. "It's an increasingly challenging role, it's not a highly paid role. There's a conversation we are having internally about whether there should be common standards across the industry in terms of payment for advisors. "Because at the moment it's a non- technical role and everybody trains their advisers as much or as little as they like. But actually, if the energy industry is going to change and change in this direction for good, perhaps there should be some com- Firms must be strategic about EV infrastructure C ompanies should be more strategic in looking at charging options for their own electric vehicle ' eets and identify where charging is most likely to take place, according to Matt Dale, head of ' eet consult- ing at property management company Mitie, who was speaking on the Challenge Pro- gramme theme of Customer Service at Utility Week Live. During a panel session Dale discussed Mitie's own journey in decarbonising its ' eet, which it began in 2018 with a view to transition 5,300 vehicles by 2025. The company began with the low-hang- ing fruit of decarbonising cars, paying for its drivers to have home charging installed and also installing chargepoints at its o˜ ces and depots. As of the end of April, the company has decarbonised more than 2,200 vehicles. During the session, which was sponsored by Driivz, Dale revealed how his company had converted 30% of its ' eet so far, and was on a "journey". He spoke about the need to think about where charging is most likely to take place and consider developing infrastructure to support this at the most rel- evant locations. Mitie, along with analytics company DNV, developed soˆ ware to better under- stand how and where to charge vehicles. He said: "It's not all about the charg- ing in your depot either. It's also about the charging where the vehicles are. It may be vehicles spend more time on customers' premises than they do on your own. "So, we have created charging infrastruc- ture ourselves on our customers' sites. Those customers now utilise our infrastructure at their premises." Adam John, senior reporter Limit consumer choice to achieve net zero C onsumer choice must be limited to a degree if the UK is to achieve its net zero ambitions, a senior industry ‰ gure has argued. Responding to a question about hydrogen boilers during a panel session on the decar- bonisation of heat at Utility Week Live, SGN regional development manager Paul Rose stated that consumers should have a "choice in their chosen energy to decarbonise". However, Noah Nkonge, head of partner- ships at Vattenfall, said decarbonising heat- ing will inevitably mean limiting people's choices: "We talk a lot about choice in the UK, everyone's right to choose. We also have to be honest. We've got the climate emer- gency and we need to get to net zero. Can Show sponsor Customer Service Green Transport Energy flexibility and smart networks Stay in the loop for Utility Week Live 2023 ticket alerts, plus the latest industry and exhibitor news, by signing up to our newsletter https://bit.ly/3ae43qk mon standards, so that's the conversation we are having internally." Adley was later asked about the state support the government has tasked retailers with dispensing. He said: "I think the chal- lenge is it was worded as 'this is a loan from your energy supplier' and many people are proud, they don't take loans, they don't want loans. Adam John, senior reporter people choose solutions that are not going to help the UK get to net zero? "So, how much choice do you give? Do you give a limited choice which ‰ ts in with whole systems? Because you can't have it both ways. If everybody gets to choose every little thing then things like heat networks are really di˜ cult to deliver." Nkonge further added that the govern- ment should take the lead on the methods of decarbonisation available: "There are ways of introducing choice, but I think also that's the government's role, to say what choices are appropriate for each di erent customer." Adam John, senior reporter The conference session on decarbonising heat

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