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Utility Week 2nd February 2018

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Customers UTILITY WEEK | 2ND - 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 | 19 A consortium has been launched to develop the first large-scale UK domestic trial of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging technology for drivers of electric vehicles (EVs). The £7 million Octopus V2G project from Octopus Energy, Octopus Electric Vehicles, UK Power Networks, ChargePoint Services, Open Energi, Energy Saving Trust and Navigant has been granted £3 million of ELECTRICITY New consortium to drive major UK vehicle-to-grid trial for EVs government funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Office for Low Emis- sion Vehicles, and is backed by Innovate UK. The smart technology trial is set to be rolled out this year and will see 135 V2G chargers installed in a "cluster" to see how much spare capacity from car batteries can be collected – not only potentially boosting resilience and flexibility for the network during peak demand, but also giving customers the chance to sell and earn money on the energy. The scheme aims to help identify consumer behaviour and preferences, provide key data on demand times and flexibility, help establish future infrastructure needs and plan for This week Customers 'bullied' to install smart meters Citizens Advice says energy firms are telling customers smart meters are a legal requirement Citizens Advice has reported a stream of complaints from har- assed customers who say they have been hit with a barrage of texts, emails, letters and phone calls from energy firms wanting them to get a smart meter. In a statement released by Citizens Advice, energy compa- nies were accused of misleading consumers by telling them smart meters are a legal requirement, which is both untrue and a breach of consumer law. A letter sent by one supplier said: "We have a legal requirement to change your meter." In other cases, engineers have reportedly been sent out to households despite the occupiers repeatedly insisting they did not want a smart meter. Michael Coote, a 74-year old retired engineer, told Citizens Advice he received a letter that was both "frightening and bullying" in tone. This is not the first release from Citizens Advice surrounding smart meter installation complaints. Last March it said the number of disgruntled customers coming forward on the issue had almost trebled in three years. The top three areas mentioned were: bills or usage increasing and/or backdated billing following the instal- lation of a meter; perceived inability to switch suppliers or difficulty in switching following installation; and inaccurate information and sales practices of suppliers. Victoria MacGregor, director of energy at Citizens Advice, said: "Smart meters are not compulsory and customers shouldn't feel pressured to have one installed. "We appreciate suppliers are under pressure to install more meters, but they have a responsibility to act reasonably towards their customers and not to use misleading or aggressive sales practices." AC WATER Firms back scheme to cut plastic bottles The water industry has launched a national scheme to cut plastic bottle use by tens of millions each year, while increasing the availability of free drinking water. Water companies across the UK will join forces with the Refill campaign to create a national network of high street retailers, coffee shops, businesses and local authorities offering stations for the public to refill their water bottles. The "ambitious drive" will see refill points in every major city and town in England by 2021. Whitbread, which owns Costa Coffee and Premier Inn, is the first business to join the scheme, having pledged to offer water for customers and passers-by in each of its 3,000 sites from March 2018. Michael Roberts, chief execu- tive of Water UK, said: "This country has some of the best drinking water in the world and we want everyone to benefit from it. This scheme will do that by making it easier for people to refill their bottles wherever they work, rest, shop or play." Refill now has more than 1,600 refill stations and 13 offi- cial schemes around the UK. PAN-UTILITY Bills are confusing 42% of consumers A survey conducted by Utility Week in association with Harris Interactive has found only 55 per cent of customers find their energy and water bills "easy" or "quite easy" to understand, while 42 per cent said they're "neither easy nor difficult", "quite difficult" or "very dif- ficult" to get to grips with. When questioned as to what their bills include, more than 44 per cent of respondents said they were unaware they are subsidising the national smart meter rollout, 41 per cent didn't know they are contributing to renewable energy and govern- ment energy efficiency schemes, and 34 per cent weren't aware their bills help fund the energy networks. ENERGY Bristol firm running at an £8.4m loss The Bristol City Council-owned energy company Bristol Energy is reportedly operating at an £8.4 million loss – despite there being £17.3 million of taxpayers' money invested in it. Local press reports claim the council rejected Bristol Energy's latest dra business plan, because it was not satisfied with its projected number of custom- ers. But managing director Peter Haigh told Utility Week it was business as usual: "At Bristol Energy, there'll always be more scrutiny of our plans, and rightly so. We're a council-owned energy company. But we didn't plan to make a profit in year two of trading, and we remain on track to start repaying back to the council as planned in 2021." Feel the heat: but smart meters not compulsory charging models and packages to suit everyone in the market. Fiona Howarth, chief execu- tive of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: "There has been a lot of talk from the sidelines about how vehicle-to-grid technology will change the face of energy, but with this consortium we will be the first in the UK to actu- ally deliver it to hundreds of households."

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