Utility Week

10 | 3RD - 9TH NOVEMBER 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation This week SMETS 1 customers will be able to switch Business minister pledges that software under development will permit remote upgrades Customers with first-generation smart meters will be able to upgrade them so that they can switch suppliers, the business secretary Greg Clark has told the House of Commons. During a Commons debate on the Smart Meters Bill last week, Clark said customers with SMETS 1 meters would be able to access soware to make them interoperable with the SMETS 2 devices that will appear from early next year. Energy minister Richard Harrington added that the conversion of SMETS 1 meters will begin in a year. "A soware program is being developed that will allow full conversion between the two," he explained. "That will be done remotely, so customers who have had the meters installed will not have to worry about people coming to their house and changing them again. That conversion programme will start within a year." Former energy and climate change secretary of state Ed Davey said the news would reassure customers with SMETS 1 meters. "There is a danger that many suppliers, be they one of the big six or others, see the roll-out of as many SMETS 1 meters as possible as a way to stop competition and lock in their consumers," he said. However Alan Whitehead, shadow energy minister, pointed out that problems plaguing the smart meter roll-out mean the 2020 target of one in every home is unlikely to be achieved. He said: "All these issues raise legitimate and far-reaching questions about whether the goal of having a critical mass of smart meters in place by the end of 2020 is likely to be achieved." DB WATER South West pain, but ST and Anglian gain South West Water faces a penalty of £2.09 million, while Severn Trent and Anglian Water are to benefit from financial incentives for outperformance, Ofwat has announced. South West Water's penalty is for underperformance on serious pollution incidents over the past two years. The company said it was making "good progress" on its business plan, and had earned rewards for leakage target outperformance. Meanwhile, Severn Trent has earned rewards of £38.4 million for outperformance against its sewer flooding targets and other commitments. Anglian Water's reduction in leakage levels will trigger a proposed outperformance payment of £2.6 million. The company has reduced leakage by five million litres of water per day in the past two years. ENERGY Hopes of energy rules bonfire doused The energy minister has ruled out a bonfire of energy regulations following the UK's departure from the EU. Richard Harrington said the government had no plans "at the moment" to cut the red tape in the sector that has been generated by the UK's membership of the bloc. "We are trying to give maximum certainty for business by bringing ex-EU regulations into UK law," he said. He added that the government was seeking to retain as close an association with the EU's internal energy market (IEM) as possible, and hoped to keep the UK's future IEM relationship separate from the wider Brexit negotiations. "Energy is an area where there is a strong alignment of interest because benefits flow to both parties," he said. ENERGY ADBA warns over RHI reform delay Further delays to reforming the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) could threaten the UK's climate change goals, the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) has warned. ADBA's chief executive Charlotte Morton said last week's decision by the government to delay tabling legislation to reform the RHI until next year is a "significant threat to the UK's ability to meet its climate goals". ADBA says millions of pounds' worth of investment in renewable biogas plants is currently on hold, waiting for clarity and certainty from the government. SMETS 1 meters will work with SMETS 2 devices Political Agenda David Blackman "The archives are bulging with reviews gathering dust" Governments love reviews and have lots of different motives for commissioning them. Sometimes it is for political cover for a particular course of action: Gordon Brown was a past master of this approach, commissioning a plethora of such exercises during his time as chancellor of the exchequer. On other occasions, a review will be about building a political consensus. An example is the Turner review, which laid the groundwork for the auto- The aim was to leave the Conservatives honour-bound to follow through on the review when re-elected. But with Timothy reduced to the sidelines as a commentator, albeit it from an influential perch in Fleet Street, the question now is whether it will carry any weight. The national archives are bulging with heavyweight reviews gathering dust. Professor Helm will be hoping his opus doesn't join them. enrolment pensions policy that is now widely accepted across the political spectrum. Other reviews have been an excuse to kick a thorny issue into the long grass. Very rarely will the exercise be a genuine attempt to seek out truth. The Helm review of energy costs, published last week, is thought to have been the brainchild of former No 10 joint chief of staff Nick Timothy. Timothy, who once described policies to tackle climate change by hiking energy prices as a "monstrous act of self harm", inserted the review idea into the Conservative manifesto as a way to rein in Cabinet enthusiasts.

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