Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/315090
26 | 23rd - 29th May 2014 | UtILIty WEEK Customers This week Scottish Power gripes soar on billing issues the suppliers blames a doubling in quarterly complaints levels on a new billing system A new billing system is behind the doubling in the number of complaints made about Scottish Power. Complaints about the sup- plier increased from 46.2 per 100,000 customers for the period June to September 2013, to more than 100 per 100,000 for the final quarter of 2013, according to figures from Citizens Advice. A spokesperson for Scottish Power said part of the increase was caused by "our people adapting to our new £200 million customer system". British Gas saw the number of complaints it received spike to more than 250 per 100,000 following the imple- mentation of a new billing system in 2006. Npower is still struggling aer the introduction of a new billing system, with the supplier remaining the bottom of the complaints league for all of 2013. Latest figures show 306.2 complaints per 100,000 customers. Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said there had been a "clear pattern" between new billing systems and problems for consumers. She said introducing a new billing system "should not mean a huge headache for consumers" and the suppliers "can learn from each other to avoid the same mistakes being made time aer time". Scottish Power told Utility Week: "All our custom- ers have been migrated and the new platform is now operational." The supplier also said "a higher than ever call volume over the winter" as they settled mis-selling issues, contributed to the increase complaints. MB EnErgy Green Deal charges 'simplified' Early repayment charges on Green Deal plans have been removed by the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) as part of a "simplification package". Under the previous arrange- ment, customers with a loan of 15 years or more were charged £6 per £1,000 per year if they wanted to settle early. If the loan was for less than 15 years and the balance was less than £8,000, the customer was not charged. Mark Bayley, chief executive of the GDFC said: "This action is in direct response to views raised with us, and will make Green Deal plans an even more attractive, accessible and pre- dictable proposition for energy- saving home improvement". The GDFC said it would encourage Green Deal providers to "look favourably" at waiving the charges that might apply to plans already purchased, which came to 1,178 at the end of April. ELEctrIcIty Grid to return £70m to customers National Grid will pass on £70 million of efficiency savings to UK customers in 2015/16 aer a "solid" financial year. In its UK regulated busi- nesses, the company outper- formed its first year of the RIIO price control despite extreme winter weather and flooding, which it said showed the value of recent investment in resilience. National Grid posted group pre-tax profit of £2.6 billion in the 12 months to 31 March 2014, a 2 per cent rise on the previous year. It invested £3.4 billion in infrastructure and had a return on equity of 11.4 per cent. John Musk of RBC Capital Markets named National Grid his "top pick" in the regulated utility sector, but Martin Brough of Deutsche Bank said UK water companies offered better value. Musk said the results were slightly below expectations, but "the focus should be on regu- lated returns, which are healthy". EnErgy Ovo announces 3% price rise Ovo Energy has announced a 3 per cent price rise, just over a month aer it reduced bills. The independent energy sup- plier's increase will affect new and renewing customers on the company's Cheaper, Better and Greener energy plans. The rise will see the typical dual fuel energy bill increase from £998 to £1,028 year. Ovo Energy said the rise was due to "an upward move in wholesale commodity costs in April, coupled with a small rise in the cost of supplying energy". Customers unhappy with bills I am the customer Maria Wardrobe "We need a minimum home energy-efficiency standard" Fuel poverty is at crisis levels but there is a huge opportunity for all agencies involved in this arena to shape an ambitious new fuel poverty strategy. The government has set out in the Energy Act a continued commitment to tackle fuel pov- erty in England and the strategy should be a significant milestone in fuel poverty policy, second only to the passage of the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act, the foundation of the Fuel Poverty Strategy of 2001. programme can be funded by recycling revenues from environ- mental taxes such as EU-ETS and the Carbon Floor Price. Doing so will not only tackle fuel poverty, but also help reduce general poverty, tackle health inequalities, reduce carbon emissions, contribute towards economic growth, reduce finan- cial exclusion and build more resilient communities. Maria Wardrobe, director of external affairs, National Energy Action A focus on freezing energy prices is welcome, although short term given that energy prices are almost at an all-time high. Similarly, rebates in the form of the Warm Home Dis- count provide valuable help. The long-term way to tackle fuel poverty is to improve the efficiency of the housing stock. We need a minimum energy- efficiency standard of EPC B by 2030 for all homes occupied by low-income households, and an interim target of EPC D by 2020. Imposing these targets would have a huge impact as around 65 per cent of fuel poor households live in homes rated E, F or G. Such an ambitious