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14 | 20th - 26th FEbRUARY 2015 | UtILItY WEEK Trust in utilities In the current environment there are many general lessons to learn about the approach businesses must take to winning and retaining trust for operational, financial and competitive advantage. However, there are a number of specific developments in the utilities industry that will influence how organisations in the sector respond to the trust challenge. A future based on partnership T rust has been a topic of ongoing debate in the energy market. The sector's shortcomings and a political and regulatory environment prone to change have all been blamed. While these are all causes or symp- toms of the lack of trust, looking ahead the sector has the opportu- nity to re-establish its relationship with its customers. Customers' access to technology has changed the balance of power. Today's customers want products and services to be designed, sold, delivered and serviced in a way that suits them. Imagine a world where customers want to own their energy infrastructure. That's everything from own- ing micro-renewable systems, to using bat- tery storage to power electric vehicles, and from measuring their own energy use to hav- ing the option to sell back excess energy to the grid. In this new world, customer expectations from an energy provider will change. And as expectations change and new ones are cre- ated, a unique opportunity comes along for the trusted "energy partner" to emerge, as Market conditions long as energy providers evolve from a commodity business to an end-to-end service organisa- tion driven by experience. At the minimum, customers will expect simplicity, fairness, transparency and empower- ment. Customers will expect a partner to offer them an end- to-end service and experience around all of their energy needs. So, can an energy provider gain the trust of customers in this technology-driven world? They will undoubtedly need to grow their digital capabilities, but internet-based companies seem to have a head start. There- fore, wouldn't it be right to consider how energy retailers can create their own com- petitive advantage in order to win the battle over customers' trust? For example, think of the impact that growing a skilled field force engineer team to fit customers' solar panels would have, or servicing customers' electric vehicle battery charging stations and con- necting their new eco-optimised homes to the grid. Yunus Ozler, partner, Energy Advisory, EY "Customers will expect an end-to-end service" YUNUS OzLER, EY UtilityWeek Trust A s the subject of seemingly endless public and political debate, domestic energy can feel like a very compli- cated issue. However, for consumers, secur- ing the lowest price oen comes down to a simple question: can they change the way they think about and use energy? That is why we at Citizens Advice are chronically frustrated by energy bills – most people's only point of engagement with their supplier. They are over-complicated and rid- dled with unnecessary jargon. Bills are a source of confusion for many and thus represent a significant barrier for energy suppliers to overcome in their attempts to build trust with their customers. The longer this situation continues, the less likely people are to change their behaviour to save energy, and the more mistrust of sup- pliers will fester. This issue is not new – it has been ten years since Energywatch made a super- complaint on billing – and the failure of suppliers to address it adequately is symp- tomatic of their broader inability to build bridges with consumers. We have some ideas on what should be done, and we intend to filter evidence into the ongoing Competition and Markets Authority probe of the energy sector. Daniel Walker-Nolan, Policy Manager (Energy), Consumer Futures Viewpoint "Energy bills are over-complicated and riddled with unnecessary jargon." EdELmAn TRUST bAROmETER 2014 gLObAL RESULTS financial services food & beverage Energy Not enough regulation Too much regulation 42% 27% 53% 16% 51% 17% 48% 12% energy Food & beverage business Financial servies by A ThREE-TO-OnE mARgIn, InfORmEd PUbLICS CALL fOR InCREASEd gOvERnmEnT REgULATIOn Of fInAnCIAL SERvICES, EnERgy And fOOd & bEvERAgE IndUSTRIES ThE TOP ThREE And bOTTOm ThREE mARKETS fOR TRUST In fInAnCIAL SERvICES, fOOd & bEvERAgE, And EnERgy uK: 73% say not enough regulation of the energy industry China Indonesia India Spain Ireland Germany India Mexico uae Turkey russia Poland India China uae Germany Sweden uK 74% 70% 24% 23% 23% 42% 43% 43% 76% 76% 79% 81% 78% 76% 36% 36% 31% 76%