Utility Week

Customers UTILITY WEEK | 8TH - 14TH DECEMBER 2017 | 23 This week Thames: 'We've let down on leakage' Water company is on 'trajectory for recovery' for leakage targets which may take until 2020 Thames Water has admitted it "let down" customers on its leak- age performance as the company pledged to return £40 million of penalties to customers. The company told Utility Week it will again fail to meet its target for leaks this financial year and potentially next year as well. It made the announcement as the group posted half- year results for the six months to 30 September 2017 that showed underlying profit down to £281.5 million from £301.8 million for the same period last year. Outgoing chairman Sir Peter Mason, said: "Our leakage performance over the last year has let down our customers and stakeholders and we're working hard to improve our performance." He said the company's outcome delivery incentive penalty for leakage was due to be applied to bills aer 2020, along with other penalties incurred during 2015/16 and 2016/17. "However, we've decided to return the £40 million of penalties to customers now," Mason said. Steve Robertson, chief executive of Thames Water, told Utility Week the company hopes to bring its leakage performance into target by the next Asset Management Plan. He said: "We're likely to miss our leakage target next year as well, but we are on a trajectory for recovery, which will probably take until 2020." Thames Water said it will also not be paying divi- dends this year and it will "divert resources" to tackle issues such as leakage. KP WATER Water companies 'transforming lives' The trusts and assistance schemes of three large water companies are "transforming the lives" of customers in "financially vulnerable" circum- stances, a new study has found. The study found the equiva- lent of £3.06 is generated for every £1 invested in schemes for customers of Severn Trent, United Utilities and Thames Water. The trust funds are in place to help customers by assisting them with awards for "essen- tial" household goods and fees for bankruptcy and debt relief orders. The schemes also award organisational grants to fund agencies to deliver money and debt advice services. Research commissioned by the trustees of Severn Trent Trust Fund, United Utilities Trust Fund, Thames Water Trust Fund and Auriga Services, which administers all the funds, suggested helping customers in need not only has an "immedi- ate impact" but also a "wider social influence" on their fami- lies, communities and society. ELECTRICITY Ecotricity launches 'cheapest' EV tariff Green energy company Ecotricity and charge point manufacturer Rolec EV have launched the Fully Charged Bundle, a new electric vehicle (EV) charging offer with three key elements. These include the New Green Electricity + EV tariff, which the company claims is the lowest cost electricity tariff on the market. The second element is a WallPod home charging unit from Rolec EV for £99 installed, which represents a £180 saving on the standard price. Rolec EV claims the WallPod can charge a vehicle up to 60 per cent faster than a standard plug socket. Half-price charging on the road with the Electric Highway makes up the third element. ENERGY Eon starts smart thermostat tariff Eon has launched a two-year fixed tariff aer joining forces with smart thermostat provider Tado. The Fixed two-year Tado tariff is priced at £1,223 a year, which Eon said is based on national average dual fuel consumption. As part of the deal, available to dual fuel consumers only, households will get a Tado Smart Thermostat installed, worth £249. Eon said the Tado Smart Thermostat uses and learns from information, including a home's layout, heat capacity and local weather "to maintain a warm and energy efficient home". Thames: £40m will be returned to customers I am the customer Sarah Bentley "It's better to treat customers as individual people" With the new SIM measures being discussed, what is a complaint? No longer is it simply a case of someone filling in the right form on a website or sending an email; any customer raising a concern on Twitter or Facebook deserves the same care and diligence as those contacting us through "traditional" means. We've already brought social media into the mainstream at Severn Trent, providing 24/7 contact on a range of channels for any type of contact – not just opportunity: we can learn what went wrong, why it went wrong, work out how to fix it and make sure no other customer has the same issue. It's only by striving to improve and delivering a per- sonal service for our customers that we can build a trusting and engaging relationship with them. Sarah Bentley, chief customer officer, Severn Trent Sarah will speak at the Utility Week Water Customer Conference on 17 January in Birmingham: http://bit.ly/2w6MW0a an emergency. By incorporating webchat, Twitter and Facebook into traditional customer ser- vice, we're starting to see real progress being made in treating customers as individuals rather than having a "one size fits all" solution. We're now communi- cating with customers in the way that works best for them. One customer wrote us a poem, so I sent her a sonnet in response. Whether it is the language of Shakespeare or an emoji, our sector is changing for the bet- ter as we treat customers as individual people rather than as account numbers, or postcodes. I also think it's important to see every complaint as an

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