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Customers This week Safety group backs Grid's helpline plans Any changes to emergency helpline would be 'costly and complex', and confuse customers The Gas Industry Safety Group has backed National Grid's plans to include the gas safety number in the sale of its gas distribution businesses. The group's chairman, Chris Bielby, told Utility Week the sale will not materially affect the run- ning of the emergency number, and because it has proven effec- tive – with 98 per cent of gas escapes being attended within the hour – "it should be maintained as it is". Bielby added that any changes to the operation, such as moving it in-house within each gas distribution company, or creating a separate body would be a "risk to safety" and be costly and complex to implement. "On the ground nothing will fundamentally change, people will just move across, it will be exactly the same. It will be same people who answer the calls, it will just be the shareholders that change." Last week shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead called for a fresh approach to the number, adding that just passing the service to "whoever happens to buy it seems to me not appropriate now". He also said the service should be rebranded to be independent of any distribution company, but Bielby said this potentially poses the biggest risk to safety. He said that the average customer is unaware of who provides the service, and is only aware of the number. The number is currently well publicised, in telephone directories, on energy bills, on thousands of fleet vehi- cles, on carbon monoxide detectors and on every gas meter in the UK. LD WATER Smart meters 'will revolutionise water' Smart metering will be "revo- lutionary" for the water sector, Thames Water's chief financial officer Stuart Siddall has said. "We've installed our first 21,000 smart meters," he told delegates at Water UK's City Conference in London. "Three thousand of those are in an area where we're now collecting the data, and I can only say that the data we're receiving from that is nothing short of revolutionary." Thames plans to install smart meters at all 3.3 million proper- ties it supplies over three AMP periods at a cost of £300 million. Thames has said its metered customers generally use 12 per cent less water than those who are unmetered. The meters also give the company a more detailed understanding of where water is being used – improving its ability to find and fix leaks. ENERGY Storage could save customers £50 a year Energy storage has the potential to cut household electricity bills by £50 a year through a system- wide saving of £2.4 billion, according to a report from the Carbon Trust. The report, funded by Eon, SSE and Scottish Power in con- junction with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Scottish Government, analysed the benefits of storage in three future energy scenarios. But the report also highlights that an incompatible market structure has reduced the com- mercial viability of storage for investors by increasing risk and reducing revenue potential. It calls for a "clear and com- prehensive strategic approach" to energy storage including the creation of a multi-stakeholder taskforce, an inter-governmental working group and joint indus- try projects. ENERGY Campaigners praise SSE's clear-cut bills The Campaign for Plain English has praised SSE's new bill, urg- ing other energy companies to follow suit. SSE redesigned its bill in Feb- ruary aer a year-long research project with, among others, consumers, Citizens Advice and the Design Council. Important information is separated into three clear bub- bles that show consumption for electricity, then gas and a total. The bills also explain how customers could pay less. A spokesman for the Cam- paign for Plain English said: "The bill gives the reader all the information they need in a simple, easy-to-read format." Analysis, p27 Current system has proven effective I am the customer Peter Haigh "The council's ethos is central to our business" This winter has once again brought to light how energy companies could be doing better to serve their customers, whether by passing on lower wholesale prices or providing a higher quality service to suit dif- ferent needs. At Bristol Energy, we aim to balance the objectives of generating profits while offer- ing fair prices and great, as well as accessible, customer service. The energy supply company was created by Bristol City Council in 2015 to be a force for energy can be to understand and will be offering customers in our region face-to-face help to understand bills and other services that could help them. Bristol Energy is also look- ing at ways to help community energy projects thrive. There's a strong movement in the city to be more self-sufficient and we'll do what we can to help commu- nities generate their own energy and make the best use of it. Peter Haigh, managing director, Bristol Energy social good – generating income for the council to support city services, but also to help allevi- ate social and environmental struggles associated with energy, such as fuel poverty and energy waste. The council is the sole shareholder, so its ethos is cen- tral to our business. There are also people out there who are happy to pay higher prices, if they know the money will be spent on a good cause, so we'll be exploring that. Knowing customers is incred- ibly important. We realise that those people who we'd most like to help are not always those most likely to switch. We're also conscious of how complex 26 | 11TH - 17TH MARCH 2016 | UTILITY WEEK