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Interview Ben Jeffs, chief executive, Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL) Ben Jeffs, the chief executive of Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL), is lead- ing, until the summer, an organisation with transformation at its heart. As the body tasked with developing the mechanics of the new non-household water retail market which is opening in England in April 2017, "DNOs need to start considering how plug in vehicles and charging infrastructure can be an active part of their network and be managed intelligently in order to minimise potential adverse impacts on the network." Denis Naberezhnykh, head of ultra- low emission vehicles at TRL "When there are millions of electric vehicles on the streets moving electrons around as well as humans, will EVs become the UK's new energy grid?" Phil Gilbert, director of B2B energy solutions, Eon UK MOSL has developed the IT and systems architecture that will allow 1.2 million business and public bodies to choose their water retailer. These reforms that will open up a market worth an estimated £2.5 billion and are expected to drive profound change across the water industry. One of MOSL's central tasks has been delivering the central marketing operating IT system (CMOS) which carries customer data and enables switching to take place; this has had to be developed in tandem with systems projects within the companies participating in the market. Other core work has included publishing a full and acceptable Market Code, and delivering an ongoing market operator capable of supporting the function- ing market. "We are on track. We had a board meet- ing yesterday and subject to a few points of clarification, I think we'll soon be signing off a letter to say 'we are ready to go'," said Jeffs, speaking to us with eight weeks to go until the big day. "The market participants' letters of assurance have indicated that they are broadly ready to go as well, and they are happy to operate with the central system. So we are in good shape." An experienced leader who came to water from the energy sector, Jeffs spent his early career at British Gas, Transco and National Grid, before later becoming chief operat- "Looking forward, interconnected devices will enable fully autonomous machines and active self-managing networks, we are seeing more drones and robots being used in the water sector and soon they will be able to be set free making their own decisions based on information from sensors and data nodes. Combining IoT and 3D printers means networks would be able to order their own parts and fix themselves." ing officer for First Utility. This experience of being a new entrant has stood him in good stead for his current role, where the goal is to establish a level playing field for water sector incumbents and new entrants alike. MOSL was formed in July 2015 with the active backing of three water company lead- ers – Steve Mogford of United Utilities, Peter Simpson of Anglian Water and Heidi Mottram of Northumbrian Water – and Jeffs said that it could not have made the progress it has since then without the constructive attitude and practical input of the industry. "The whole industry has really mobilised around this market opening, and I think the water companies deserve credit for that. This hasn't been about the Open Water Programme imposing change on the industry and the industry fighting at every stage; this has been about the industry stepping up. "By appointing MOSL and supporting me in this role, I think that they've enabled a market opening which involves significant changes, and large systems implementation. How many of those across the world are delivered on time, on cost, and within the scope? It's quite an achievement in just 18-20 months." Ben Jeffs will be speaking at the Utility Week Live Keynote conference on 23 May in Birming- ham. Details: www.utilityweeklive.co.uk IoT will be debated during the 'Transformation in Action' seminar in the Network Theatre at Utility Week Live on 24 May. For more information, visit: www.utilityweeklive.co.uk INDUSTRY VIEW Internet of Things (IoT) Electric Vehicles (EVs) NUMBERS 89,000 – the number of plug-in EVs registered in the UK 1.3 million – the number of EVs that could be on UK roads by 2027 £2.2 billion – the amount the smart charging technology Espirit could save networks in reinforcement costs. EVs will be one of the main topics discussed in the "Electricity System of the Future".