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UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH OCTOBER 2017 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 7 Policy & Regulation 7 | News Ministers speak up for onshore wind 8 | Market view How heat networks could harness competitive retail forces 10 | Lobby The Labour party conference 13 Finance & Investment 15 | News Drax calls for clarity on ancillary services 14 | Analysis Accounting for carbon emissions in financial reporting 16 | Analysis Ofwat's drive to get companies to tackle bad debt 19 | Analysis Engie's restructuring starts from a better place than most 20 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz Seven Trent's Elan Valley Aqueduct 21 | Pipe up Shakespeare Martineau 22 | Analysis Drax looks to gas to complete its low-carbon transition 24 | Analysis Clayhill solar farm is the first in the UK to operate without subsidy 27 Customers 27 | News Ofwat to crack down on bad debt in PR19 28 | Market view Big six customer losses 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 10 | Lobby The Labour party conference 22 | Analysis Drax looks to gas to complete its low-carbon transition 27 | News Ofwat to crack down on bad debt in PR19 WATER 16 | Analysis Ofwat's drive to get companies to tackle bad debt 20 | High viz Seven Trent's Elan Valley Aqueduct ELECTRICITY 8 | Market view How heat networks could harness competitive retail forces 14 | Analysis Accounting for carbon emissions in financial reporting 24 | Analysis Clayhill solar farm is the first in the UK to operate without subsidy 7 | News Ministers speak up for onshore wind ENERGY 19 | Analysis Engie's restructuring starts from a better place than most 28 | Market view Big six customer losses 15 | News Drax calls for clarity on ancillary services Pitney Bowes: Make self service smarter and more engaging http://bit.ly/2nAa2rC CGI: Energy Flexibility Transforming The Power System By 2030 http://bit.ly/2bR3zXB Knowledge worth Keeping Visit the DownloaDs section of Utility week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Leader Ellen Bennett SVTs are a busted flush It's no longer a question of "if ", but of "when" and "how". The pres- sure for a market-wide price cap on standard variable tariffs (SVTs) has reached boiling point. John Penrose is a senior Conservative MP: for him to be leading a campaign for such a cap, with the support of one-third of his fellow MPs right across the House, puts the govern- ment in an almost impossible position – particularly as the price cap he is campaigning for was promised in the Conservatives' own manifesto. Inaction is not an option. Indeed, the only option for ministers, other than to legislate for a price cap themselves, is to force Ofgem into doing it. Yet the regulator has been repeatedly clear in its belief that a market-wide price cap, without the backing of legislation, would be open to legal challenge. Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan told Utility Week earlier this month that the regulator's mooted extension of the current prepayment price cap to all vulner- able customers is a clear fit with its duty to protect such customers – the implication being that a wider price cap is not. The delay in releasing the consultation for the vulnerable customers price cap suggest frantic negotiations behind the scenes. But let's face it: a market-wide price cap is a political act, with a political imperative, for political objectives. If ministers want to introduce it, they should stand up and do it themselves rather than try to twist the arm of the regulator. Ofgem is, aer all, supposed to be politically independent and a facilitator of a competitive market. Of course, such machinations mean little to the companies themselves. The reality is, a price cap now seems inevitable and as energy secretary Greg Clark told the Conservative party conference this week, the end of the road is nearing for SVTs. Eon got out in front of the move last month with its announcement that SVTs will be scrapped for some of its customers. Centrica looks set to follow shortly. The name of the game now is coming up with a replacement for SVTs that is fair, sustainable and facilitates diversity, flexibility and engagement in the market. Then, perhaps, the energy sector can finally put SVTs behind it. Ellen Bennett, Editor, ellenbennett@fav-house.com