Utility Week

Customers UTILITY WEEK | 17TH - 23RD NOVEMBER 2017 | 25 This week Npower and Eon pilot SMETS2 smart meters Other suppliers say they will begin rolling out second-generation smart meters soon Npower and Eon have kick- started the installation of second-generation smart meters, with a view to undertaking wider rollouts next year. Eon has installed around a million SMETS1 meters so far, and has completed some SMETS2 installations this month. However, the company is "still in testing phase". "When we've ironed out the final details and complexities we'll then start mass rollout," a spokesperson said. Npower said it will provide installation figures for SMETS1 meters when it publishes its 2017 results next year. It refused to comment on the number of SMETS2 meters it has installed so far, but confirmed it will be increasing the rollout in 2018. Of the remaining big six suppliers, Scottish Power said it has installed circa 635,000 first-generation smart meters to date, and anticipates SMETS2 installation beginning in summer 2018. SSE has installed more than 600,000 smart meters so far, and expects to begin installing SMETS2 meters "in the coming months". EDF Energy has installed more than 400,000 smart meters and is "well underway" with testing the new SMETS2 meters. It will conduct pilot installations by the end of the year, with mass rollout expected in 2018. British Gas became the first supplier to install a SMETS2 meter in August. Independent suppliers are at varying stages in their smart meter rollouts. LV ENERGY Ofgem to cap prepay meter install charges Ofgem has announced a £150 cap on charges for installing pre- payment meters under warrant and banned them altogether for the most vulnerable. The regulator said the new measures will take effect from January to help protect consum- ers from "unnecessary hardship". Under the current rules, suppliers can apply to the court and install a prepay meter under warrant, as a last resort when customers fall into debt. They can also charge back warrant and court costs to customers. According to Ofgem, dual fuel customers in these situations can face an average charge of around £400, but in some instances the bill is as high as £900. The regulator will also ban prepay meter warrant charges for those in severe financial difficulty, and ban installations entirely for those for whom the experience would be severely traumatic. ENERGY Scots outline new goal for fuel poverty The Scottish government has pledged to set a legally binding target to eradicate fuel poverty. Kevin Stewart, minister for local government and housing, outlined the new statutory goal in a consultation paper launched last week, which also outlines a series of interim steps – includ- ing a pledge that the overall fuel poverty rate will be less than 10 per cent by 2040. The statutory target, which will be enshrined in a Warm Homes Bill, follows an admission by the Holyrood administration that it would not meet an earlier target to wipe out fuel poverty by this year. Almost a third (30.7 per cent) of homes in Scotland were in fuel poverty in 2015, according to the consultation paper. WATER Crown Commercial Service deals agreed Castle Water has secured a national contract through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework for the provision of water and wastewater services to the public sector in England, worth an estimated £28.9 million. Business Stream has also been awarded a contract via the framework, which is potentially worth £10.6 million. More than 120 customers were involved in the CCS aggregation, which can help the government, public and third sector organi- sations save time and money when buying common goods and services. The CCS said two "baskets" made up this aggrega- tion, with Basket A (monthly billing) awarded to Castle Water and Basket B (quarterly billing) won by Business Stream. In-home display: soon to be a familiar sight I am the customer Alun Shurmer "Trust is something we have to make an effort to earn" Trust. Hard to earn but easy to lose, they say. For the water sector, trust is not just a bonus in its relation- ship with customers – trust in the product we provide is taken for granted by customers and is non-negotiable for companies. Every drop of water that flows from our customers' taps is implicitly trusted by them to be safe and healthy. That shows we are doing our job of protecting our health, our communities, our environment and our economy. day-to-day business activities to long-term planning, from educat- ing future customers to using "chatbots" to capture customers' views. We're seeing positive results, but as our vision says, trust is something we have to make an effort to earn, every day. Alun Shurmer, director of customer strategy and communications, Welsh Water Alun will speak at the Utility Week Water Customer Confer- ence, 17 January, Birmingham: http://bit.ly/2w6MW0a Yet trust in a product is not always extended to trust in the company. Trust is dependent on the perception and actions of a company and its willingness to be visible to and engaged with. Trust is built on familiarity and favourability. Familiarity requires transparency and meaningful, two-way communi- cation with customers; favour- ability requires good provision of service and products, and a good perception of value for money. "Earning the trust of our customers every day" is Welsh Water's vision and central to our business strategy. At the heart of this strategy is improving how we engage with customers – from

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