Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/599772
UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH NOVEMBER 2015 | 11 Interview P eople who still sweepingly classify the energy industry as one of slow-paced change and stale corporates are living in the past. Last week, Utility Week interviewed Sara Bell, the tenacious chief execu- tive of tech-driven Tempus Energy. This week we're with Peter Haigh, a veteran of old school incumbents Eon and Elexon but now managing director of one of another new strain of fast-moving energy retail start-ups. Bristol Energy is among a fresh wave of energy market entrants popping up all over the UK – municipal energy companies. These companies come in a variety of hues, and with city councils as their shareholders they could be a perfect answer to growing consumer interest in locality and individualism. Not to mention to local gov- ernment's interest in serving citizens better while finding new sources of revenue in a time of austerity. "Disruptive" has become the word of choice for describing new technologies and approaches to cus- tomer engagement in the energy sector. But as Utility Week meets Haigh in Bristol Energy's smart new offices (currently shared, somewhat oddly, with the Bank of Ireland) a stone's throw from Temple Meads station, there is a sense that market disruption is brewing. Next to our meeting room activity is buzzing as the small hive of staff prepares for controlled market entry, starting 18 November. Haigh, though new to entrepreneurship, is full of enthusiasm for the approaching launch. He loves the detail involved in taking a company through its first steps. "It's special," he says, "because you see the whole business every morning when you walk into work. You're involved in lots of basic decisions every day that impact customers and colleagues." However, although the nitty-gritty of operations are still fledgling, don't be fooled into thinking Bristol Ener- gy's strategy – its raison d'etre – is similarly immature. Haigh took up his position at Bristol Energy in Sep- tember. He was the first salaried employee, which means he got his first pay cheque "with the number one in the top right hand corner". It's an experience that clearly thrilled him – you get the impression he'll frame it. But before Haigh joined, a long and rigorous process of planning and strategic positioning took place. "It was one of the things that attracted me to the role, if I'm hon- est with you," says Haigh. "The structure and the strat- egy had had a huge amount done to it and had been subject to a lot of challenge from [Bristol City Council] long before I got here. That clear understanding of what we were taking on." And what is that? "The opportunity for a more socially responsible way of selling electricity and gas." It's an ideal that fits nicely with the wider work of the shareholder, Bristol City Council. The city is known for its quirky individualism, for its love of independent busi- nesses, for its green-living collectives, artists and, more recently, for its establishment of its own currency, the Bristol Pound. The city council is keen to nurture and reflect this quirkiness and in the energy space has invested sig- nificantly in renewable energy, energy efficiency and schemes to help the fuel poor. In 2015, Bristol was named European Green Capital by the European Commission. With all these things converging, and against a recog- nised backdrop of public disaffection with mainstream energy supply, the council began "well over a year ago to look in earnest at what an energy company might look like. This has been well-considered and is part of a coherent strategy for Bristol". That said, while the council's social motives for Bris- tol Energy mean that it "is not a pure play commercial" enterprise, as a wholly-owned but "entirely separate" subsidiary, the company must also stand on its own two feet. It will not be a subsidised initiative and it cannot become "a burden" on the council, says Haigh. "It's my job to run the energy company," he says, to ensure the right profitability model can be achieved and that the business can offer viable products that can compete with those being dangled by bigger, more estab- lished brands. Haigh is confident that by majoring on customer experience and taking advantage of the agility inherent in a small firm, this is achievable. That said, he is aware of the challenges ahead and wants to be "prudent" by making sure that the company can "walk before we run". The upcoming period of controlled market entry – required by Ofgem for new entrants – is therefore criti-