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UTILITY WEEK | 14Th - 20Th NovEmbEr 2014 | 3 Leader Ellen Bennett This week 4 | Seven days 6 | People & Opinion 8 | Interview Lord redesdale, Energy managers Association 13 Policy & Regulation 13 | News Decc mulls national charge for power networks 14 | Market view have your say on the Water Framework Directive 16 | Analysis Who will follow Ed Davey? 19 Finance & Investment 19 | News SSE sells quarter of its stake in beatrice wind scheme 20 | Analysis A utility shake-up in 2015? 21 | Analysis Eggborough wins late reprieve 22 Operations & Assets 22 | High viz South West Water 24 | Market view Lessons learnt from the 2013 Christmas storms 26 Customers 26 | News Landlords may have to shop water debtors 27 | Market view Energy suppliers should think more like retailers 29 Markets & Trading 29 | News Gas prices rally but fall year on year 30 Community 30 | Reader of the week matthew Aylott, UK Energy research Centre 31 | Disconnector Having a smart meter fitted mustn't be a matter of regret A sad indictment of the water sector has been delivered this week, and a timely warning for energy, with a report that reveals that more than one-third of households regret having a water meter installed, or moving to a house that has one (news, p26). One suspects the customers regret getting a water meter because their bills have gone up. Nevertheless, these figures suggest that water companies are failing to communicate the need for meters and their potential advantages to customers. This is a failure that could be attributed to the industry as a whole, for only a handful of com- panies have meters firmly on their agenda, and only one (Thames) has embraced smart meters. In a world in which resources are becoming ever more precious, and weather ever more uncertain, the general public's prevalent view of water as an abundant, low-cost, never-ending commodity must be challenged. Who should lead the charge? For Lord Redesdale, who we inter- view this week in his role as chief executive of the Energy Managers Association, Ofwat seems to be the answer (p8). The prominent Liberal Democrat questions the enthusiasm with which Ofwat has embraced its duty to promote water efficiency, going so far as to say: "If we don't see evidence of change soon then someone will end up taking them to judicial review – it could be me." Lord Redesdale would no doubt agree that people who have water meters should understand why, and should see the benefits of using them to gather consumption information and increase their water efficiency. The reputational risks of meters being installed without this understanding become clear later in the survey, where we read that 22 per cent of respondents who don't have water meters become "furious" at the idea of having one fitted, and 9 per cent would not let the meter fitter through the door. There is a salutary lesson here for energy suppliers. Smart meters will only have the desired impact if householders understand and use them on a continuous basis. Meter fitters will only get through the nation's front doors if the rollout is well managed, well under- stood and well spoken of. Let's hope that in 2020 we're not reading surveys suggesting that one-third of householders regret having a smart meter installed. Ellen Bennett, Editor ellen.bennett@fav-house.com GAS 26 | News CGI will link bG's smart meters to DCC 29 | News Gas prices rally but fall year on year WATEr 7 | Speaker's corner Dame Yve buckland 14 | Market view have your say on the WFD 19 | High viz South West Water ELECTrICITY 13 | News high Court says cuts in solar aid are legal 21 | Analysis Czech utility EPh makes an entrance with purchase of Eggborough ENErGY 6 | View from the top Jonathan brearley, brearley Economics 8 | Interview Lord redesdale, Energy managers Association 13 | News Energy links must be commercial 16 | Analysis Who will follow Ed Davey? 23 | Pipe up Impact of 3D printing on utilities 27 | Market view suppliers must think like retailers 29 | News Chinese boost for global carbon trade Knowledge worth keeping Visit the Downloads section of Utility Week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Diligent: British Gas gives board portal a warm reception http://bit.ly/1sAvsnw Rolta: White Paper: Pull yourself together http://bit.ly/1qPuBgR