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UTILITY WEEK | 9TH - 15TH JUNE 2017 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Jonathan Kini, chief executive, Drax Retail 11 Policy & Regulation 11 | News Call for delay of cuts to embedded generation 12 | Sponsored report Demand-side flexibility 17 | Analysis Where should RIIO go next? 18 | Market view Capital accounting should include natural, social and human capital too 19 | Opinion How do you solve a problem like carbon capture and storage? 21 Finance & Investment 21 | News Castle Water wins £275m schools deal 22 Operations & Assets 22 | High viz Scottish Water's Newton Mearns main 23 | Pipe up Paul Jackson, chief executive, EngineeringUK 24 | Market view Infrastructure vulnerabilities exposed 25 Customers 25 | News Renewables 'priority for small businesses' 26 | Event How to better serve vulnerable customers 28 | Market view Where European smart meter rollouts are going wrong 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 23 | Pipe up Paul Jackson, EngineeringUK 26 | Event How to serve vulnerable customers WATER 18 | Market view Capital accounting should include natural, social and human capital 21 | News Castle Water wins £275m schools deal 22 | High viz Scottish Water's Newton Mearns main ELECTRICITY 6 | Interview Jonathan Kini, chief executive, Drax Retail 11 | News Call for delay of cuts to embedded generation 12 | Sponsored report Demand- side flexibility 17 | Analysis Where should RIIO go next? 19 | Opinion How do you solve a problem like CCS? 25 | News Renewables 'priority for small businesses' ENERGY 24 | Market view Infrastructure vulnerabilities exposed 28 | Market view Where European smart meter rollouts are going wrong CGI: Demand side flexibility in UK utilities http://bit.ly/2qOgC0R GORE: New Arc Rated Foul Weather Protection http://bit.ly/2ot3xrO Knowledge worth Keeping Visit the DownloaDs section of Utility week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Is the smart deadline putting safety at risk? The general election has thrown many utilities industry programmes and initiatives off track – especially in the energy sector. But not smart metering. Amid heated campaigning, mudslinging and posturing, this unprecedented infrastructure project has kept going, for better or – quite possibly – worse. The installation of smart meters in homes and businesses across the UK has optimistic intent. It reflects ambitions across industry and successive governments to create a tech-savvy, 21st century nation with empowered consumers drawing on data-rich services. The reality of the rollout reflects little of this, however. A litany of hold-ups and technical issues has made progress hard going so far. And with the 2020 deadline still stubbornly in place, the compressed timeline for the bulk of smart deployment is unlikely to help. It's no secret that the current targets for smart meter deployment are causing energy companies headaches – all the more so while SMETS 2 meters, the real smart McCoy, remain tantalisingly out of reach. But Utility Week understands that beyond anxiety about regu- latory compliance and cost, more sinister misgivings are rumbling. Last year at Utility Week's Congress event, Wales & West Utilities' Clive Book expressed concern about compromises to gas safety as suppliers and their contractors rush to meet demanding rollout requirements. With skilled installers hard to find and training pro- grammes thrusting recruits into the field, mistakes could happen. More recently, Utility Week has heard such concerns echoed in other corners of the industry. Worries range from the scope for major incidents, such as a gas explosion, to less dramatic but still serious worries, including an inability to track installers with sketchy track records. Anecdotes of near misses are being cautiously whispered. Safety has, and always will be, a non-negotiable consideration for utility companies. But a refusal to relent on smart meter rollout targets or to loosen the interpretation of the 2020 deadline will not help firms deliver on this overriding responsibility. A good outcome from the smart meter rollout could help the gov- ernment make good on its social and economic promises, improve consumer value and offer energy industry players new avenues for innovation. A bad one, which brushes safety concerns aside, is unthinkable. • For reaction and analysis on the general election result, see utilityweek.co.uk Jane Gray, Deputy Editor, janegray@fav-house.com Leader Jane Gray