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4 | 15TH - 21ST SEPTEMBER 2017 | UTILITY WEEK People warming to smart tech More and more consumers are coming to see the benefit of smart energy technology, according to a survey by Smart Energy GB, which found: 87% of all adults surveyed said they found at least one smart technology option appealing. 60% of those aged over 55 said they would use technology that switched off appliances when not in use. 68% would like to receive cheaper energy for using appliances outside peak times, while this figure rose to 80 per cent among smart meter users. 69% would be inter- ested in devices that switch off once fully charged. STORY BY NUMBERS Seven days... National media Activist investor calls time on conglomerates Europe's leading activist investor has called for the end of conglomer- ates, saying the next big trend will be for them to shrink by selling non- core businesses. Christer Gardell cited RWE and Eon as examples. Financial Times, 11 September EU makes contingency plans to protect carbon market from Brexit The European Parliament is prepar- ing to amend legislation governing the EU's carbon emissions trading system over concerns that a sudden UK exit could crash the price of carbon. Financial Times, 11 September Many face energy shock this winter As many as 42 fixed rate energy deals will come to an end this month, resulting in significant increases in costs for energy con- sumers, MP John Penrose, who is leading the campaign for a market wide price cap, has warned. Sunday Times, September 10 British Gas jolly as mil- lions face price hike British Gas spent £55,000 sending managers on a "morale-boosting jolly" to a theme park – days before hiking its prices for millions of customers. Energy bosses fixed the £140-a-head bash at Alton Towers while putting the squeeze on strug- gling homeowners with a 12.5 per cent price rise. Sunday Mirror, 9 September Ofgem: energy competition has two years to prove itself E nergy competition has two years to prove itself before "other measures would be necessary", Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan has told Utility Week. Asked whether competition is still the right model for the energy retail market, Nolan said: "I think broadly yes, but I think it has to prove itself and I think one of the tests for the next cou- ple of years is seeing whether or not competition can deliver." He said competition is "very much the goal we're still work- ing towards," but added: "I could certainly foresee possi- bilities where we felt that really that individual engagement issue had not proven as effective and other measures would be necessary and we are certainly thinking about those." He added: "If the indi- vidual engagement, with all the remedies applied, with every effort made to make the market as efficient as possible and break the two tier system hadn't worked, then I think we would very much need to be open to other ideas." Asked how competition could prove itself, Nolan cited switch- ing figures, ease of switching and switching technologies, the level of saving for which con- sumers switch, and the variation between tariffs on the market. Ofgem is expected to consult later this month on extending its current price cap for customers on prepayment meters to all vulnerable customers. Nolan has previously made clear his view that introducing a price cap across the whole market, as called for by more than 50 MPs, is a matter for government rather than the regulator. EB See interview, p6 "Some of these dropouts are because the rules are unnecessarily difficult for flexible customers to actually get through" Flexitricity founder Alistair Martin on the challenges DSR faces in the capacity market