Utility Week

18 | SEPTEMBER 2022 | UTILITY WEEK Vulnerable customers Roundtable Is a shared PSR within grasp? Utilities have dreamt of a shared Priority Services Register for years, but the time could at last be ripe for progress. That was the promising conclusion of a Utility Week/Google Cloud roundtable. W e've been talking about the same thing for years now but what's actually stopping us?" A senior figure at an electricity distri- bution network operator (DNO) summed up a fascinating debate, hosted by Utility Week and Google Cloud, on the barriers to a shared nationwide, multi-sector Priority Ser- vices Register (PSR). It is a vision that has been jointly held across the utilities sector for many years, but the key takeaway from this conversation – which brought together executives respon- sible for customer service, data and asset investment from across the industry – was that many of the hurdles have already been cleared. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the broader role of data and insight in tackling the cost of living crisis. However, the galva- nising topic of conversation was the need to ensure that data on vulnerable customers is shared across a variety of stakeholders – from utilities to government departments, councils, health services and charities. Utilities have an obligation to hold a PSR, which records the details of vulnerable cus- tomers, principally so that support can be targeted in the event of a supply failure or other emergency. However, these lists remain siloed across the sector and while an energy supplier may be aware of a vulnerable customer, this infor- mation cannot be shared with the relevant distribution network operator (DNO), water company or local support services. Where are we now? In recent years, there have been huge strides in overcoming obstacles to a shared PSR, namely the consent for data sharing and the interoperability of the information. One of the pioneering projects cited was the collaboration between UK Power Net- works (UKPN) and Thames Water, which has now incorporated a number of other bodies. This has led to UKPN developing a Utility Affordability Framework, which aims to pro- vide a joint approach to identifying vulner- able customers and providing support. Similarly, Northumbrian Water is leading a project as part of Ofwat's Innovation Fund that will involve designing, building and delivering a hub to securely host data on cus- tomers in vulnerable circumstances, so that when submitted once, the data can then be shared with other relevant utilities. Despite positive signs of progress from these and other projects, they still exist in silos and we remain a long way from an industry-wide agreement to share data on vulnerable customers. One participant at the roundtable noted: "I find myself in two separate worlds. There are industry-wide groups where we all get together and it takes nine months to appoint a project manager to head up a piece of work. Then the other side is that, off our own bat, we just get a bunch of people in a room and we say, here's the problem, what's the solu- tion. An example would be that water com- panies identify the addresses of vulnerable customers one way, energy networks do it another way. How do we marry up the data? You get some clever people, some incredible "

• Cover