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NETWORK / 15 / SEPTEMBER 2016 Speaking at an industry event in July, Ofgem's energy systems associate partner Andy Burgess theorised that one possible solu- tion to rising questions about "who does what" in the future energy system is that the regula- tor might "put more out to mar- ket and try and get markets to resolve the issues". "We want to explore how much can go out to markets," he continued, "so you don't get the regulated monopolies doing everything." Burgess said such think- ing needs "a lot of further thought", and while Emery agrees, he doesn't seem shaken by the direction of the regula- tor's thinking. With reference to Nolan's postulated demise of monopoly rule, he shrugs: "He's painted a picture of a scenario. That's fine. I would expect our regulator to be pro-competition and to encourage that kind of thinking. "In the short term, the cur- rent hybrid structure which supports industry-government collaboration as well as com- petition is helping to de-risk change and is delivering quickly. "When you begin to imag- ine the endgame, you can start to think more about where you might go. But directionally, this country tends to like to put things to competition because markets are effective and tend to deliver lowest cost." With the exception, Emery observes, of the UK smart meter rollout. "What you've got there is an inefficient process which is actu- ally slowing down innovation," he opines. Emery, then, is certainly an open-minded new leader for ENW. With his feet now comfort- ably under the table, he's very aware of the looming challenge of winter weather, which did not treat the DNO kindly last year (see "Living Without Electric- ity", leŽ). But he's also set on proactively exploring the oppor- tunities for ENW to become a fully-fledged local system operator. In the coming months, that will mean full engagement with the Smart Systems help it further improve storm response and network resilience in anticipation of increasingly frequent extreme weather – a consequence of climate change. However, the region's misfortunes also highlight some important points for broader economic and infrastructure strategy which Emery is keen for government to take on board. Speaking about business interests first, Emery says that Storm Desmond highlighted the historical inadequacy of forecasting methodologies used to set investment allowances for storm and flood resilience by industry, government and the Environment Agency. "That's not good news for us," says Emery, "because we are having to revisit capital investment schemes that were put in place to address these issues." It's also not good news for customers, he adds, "because everybody thought that we were on top of this and it looks like we're not". On a macro level, however, Emery wants to emphasise the extent to which last winter's storms show that government and media obsession with "keeping the lights on" is almost an irrelevance when compared with the growing risks of prolonged power outage. "These days, the lights going out is the tip of the iceberg," he says. "If you look at the experiences of Lancaster in particular last year, the loss of communications – internet and mobile – was a shock to many people and it really showed how critical electrical resilience is today and will be tomorrow." In a world of electrified transport, and – to some extent – heat "the consequences of failure in the system will be much greater in the future than they have been in the past". Backing up Emery's words of warning, a recent report published by Lancaster University in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Engineering and Technology explores the growing social and economic costs of power outages. Lancaster University found itself at the heart of the North West's storm damage last year and in the report, Living Without Electricity, it recalls how "the loss of power quickly affected many other services that people take for granted. Most mobile phone coverage was lost within an hour; although most landline phone services were available, many people who had replaced their traditional handsets with cordless phones were unable to connect. "The internet was lost over most of Lancaster and, even where it was available in the street, electricity was not available to supply domestic routers and Wi-Fi hubs. Electronic payment systems were unavailable and most automated cash machines did not work. The local TV booster station lost power, which also affected digital radio services." Living without ELEctricity The better the internet becomes, the more people rely on it. Charities, volunteer groups and church councils were challenged in deciding how to respond to the additional level of vulnerability for the homeless. The instinct to respond clashed with safety policies, which require volunteers to be contactable. Late on Sunday 7 December, there were still many people wanting to buy groceries, contrary to Sunday trading regulations. It was not obvious which national or local body had the power to relax these laws in an emergency. When telephone and electricity networks were first established, Lancaster Corporation acted as the "system architect". Subsequent reorganisation, nationalisation, privatisation, restructuring and the contracting out of services resulted in these services being run by a large number of organisations, contractors and subcontractors, with no-one having an overall view of "the system". The full Living without Power report can be downloaded at www.lancaster.ac.uk