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People & Opinion Utility Week community utILIty WeeK | 19th - 25th February 2016 | 7 "It's time to make energy bill confusion a thing of the past" E nergy bills are a key form of communication between a customer and their supplier. If they want to keep track of payments, find their account details or how to get in touch, for many the bill is the first place they look. However, bills are the number one reason for complaints and not just because of disagreements over the bill size. In many cases the complaint is simply a result of not understanding the bill or not being able to find the informa- tion needed. All the information on bills is there for the right reasons, to help and inform customers. But over the years the amount of information suppliers are required to include has grown to the point where the bill has become cluttered and confusing. This week, we published a new, simplified bill design which was the product of a year-long research project based on a single question: what is it customers actually want from their energy bill? Rather than starting with a list of optional bill components, we started with a blank sheet of paper, a group of customers and an illustrator to bring their ideas to life. Since then we've spoken to around 8,000 customers and a range of influential stakehold- ers including Which?, Citizens Advice, Uswitch, the Design Council, Age UK and the Money Advice Service to develop a radi- cally new design. Customers told Opinion Will Morris, Group managing director, retail, SSE us that they want to be able to find the information they need quickly and easily. They don't want the bills to be longer than two pages and they don't want unnecessary or confusing infor- mation (calorific conversions being a good example). A key challenge was ensur- ing that the resulting design not only met the functional require- ments of a bill but also aligned to the spirit, if not the letter, of current regulations. We believe we've been successful in produc- ing something that achieves this – giving customers the informa- tion they need in a simple and engaging way. So what next? For one thing, we hope this comprehensive research and new design will make a significant contribu- tion to the work being done by Ofgem as part of its Future of Retail Regulation workstream, which we expect will include a review of the current rules around supplier communica- tions. In the meantime, we will continue to refine our design through further consultation with customers. As we move towards a smarter future where suppliers have access to much richer customer data, we need a framework within which we can make the most of this. At SSE, we're putting custom- ers at the heart of what we're doing and are proud to be lead- ing the industry in this impor- tant area. See news, p24 "Gas is going to be an essential part of the low-carbon mix" Energy secretary Amber Rudd £55 million The costs Yorkshire Water faces following devastating flooding over the Christmas period. See news, p14 Germany leads the way in renewables growth. The chart above highlights the annual increases in renewables output by country, and since 2010 Germany has seen the highest growth in renewa- bles output, with a total increase of around 90TWh. Last year saw the largest increase in renewables output in the 2010-15 period, driven by further growth in Germany and a significant expansion in the UK. If this trend continues, it would further worsen the econom- ics of European conventional power generation. "We see further opportunity to deliver improved efficiency and effectiveness" Pennon Group chief executive Chris Loughin Annual changes in renewable generation output (TWh) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Germany UK Italy Rest of Europe EU28 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Why the water sector is now on the front line of climate change 2015 brought with it a number of erratic and extreme weather events, which broke records and challenged the resilience of local communi- ties around the world. In India, 269 people were killed in the worst floods to hit the country in more than a century, a long dry season in Indonesia caused forest fires to spread rapidly, costing the economy $15.7 billion, and the UK experienced its wettest month ever docu- mented in December, with almost twice as much rain than normal. In terms of the global picture, 2015 was also the hottest year on record with temperatures 0.75c warmer than the long-term average. Miriam Denis-Le-Seve, WaterAid's policy officer (climate change) To read the full blog, visit: http://bit.ly/1ObIPRr source: Jefferies estimates, Platts