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UTILITY WEEK | 23rd - 29Th MaY 2014 | 3 Leader Ellen Bennett This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Opinion dermot Nolan, Ofgem 8 | Interview david Clarke, chief executive, ETI 13 Policy & Regulation 13 | News CMa probe must end higher prices for poor 14 | Market view Learning from australia 15 | Market view The pros and cons of the Water Bill 16 | Analysis British Gas sticks it to the dNOs 19 Finance & Investment 19 | News SSE wins Peterhead voltage control deal 20 | Analysis The big six and retail exit 22 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz Outwood and Buckland main, Sutton and East Surrey Water 22 | Market view Smart meters and network resilience 23 | Analysis Strikes at EdF 26 Customers 26 | News Scottish Power gripes soar on billing issues 27 | Analysis Mis-selling engulfs Eon 28 Markets & Trading 28 | News Warm spell depresses UK gas prices further 30 Community 30 | Subscriber focus Giles hankinson, Utility aid 31 | Disconnector Fill the trust gap – or someone else will Utility Week hosted a debate for chief executives from across energy and water last week, on the topic of customer trust and legitimacy. There were multiple points of view around the table, but one thing was clear: there are no easy answers. The leading minds in UK utili- ties are not agreed on how to re-establish trust, or indeed on how and why it was broken so badly in the first place. There are disagreements, for example, on whether more choice would create more trust, allowing consumers to choose from 30 tariffs in the same way they'd browse loaves of bread in the super- market; or whether all the customer wants is a minimal relationship with their energy providers and a working light switch. Some things were clear. Water is in a better position with regards to customer legitimacy than energy; energy companies could learn from the customer challenge group process that fed in to PR14. Networks must change their relationships with their customers – or, indeed, create those relationships, and take a visible role on the bill. And energy suppliers have been dealt a bad hand by govern- ment. They have been handed a huge programme of environmental subsidies that have not been properly explained to the customer base by the politicians who signed up to them; their structures and operations are a result of decisions by successive governments for which they are now being blamed; and they are increasingly used as whipping boys by politicians hungry for a quick fix without any consideration of the real issues. And the reason they don't stand up and say so? Well, that became clear the next morning, when news broke that Eon had been slapped with a £12 million fine for mis-selling. Energy suppliers haven't just shot themselves in the foot with shoddy sales practices, they've blown their legs off. The public is desperate for energy suppliers they can trust, and with the advent of smart meters, established customer-facing brands will soon be ready to fill the gap. Many of today's vertically integrated energy suppliers will retreat to generation, with British Gas (the only supplier to avoid a mis-selling fine) most likely to be still standing in retail. Ellen Bennett, Editor ellen.bennett@fav-house.com GaS 28 | News Warm spell hits UK gas prices WaTEr 7 | Expert view Karma Ockenden 13 | News EU must integrate water policy goals 15 | Market view Utility regulation down under 22 | High viz Outwood and Buckland main ELECTrICITY 8 | Interview david Clarke, chief executive, ETI 13 | News Subsidy errors cost Npower £1m 13 | News Tariff exemption for Good Energy 16 | Analysis British Gas sticks it to the dNOs 19 | News SSE wins Peterhead deal 23 | Pipe up alex Tsimboykas ENErGY 6 | Chief executive view dermot Nolan, Ofgem 20 | Analysis The curse of energy retail 21 | Analyst view Martin Brough 26 | I am the customer Maria Wardrobe 24 | Market view Smart meters and network resilience 25 | Analysis Strikes at EdF 27 | Analysis Mis-selling at Eon Knowledge worth keeping Visit the Downloads section of Utility Week's website for special reports and exclusive research commissioned for the utilities industry. http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/downloads