Utility Week

Customers 26 | 23RD FEBRUARY - 1ST MARCH 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Ikea has announced a collective energy switch that promises cus- tomers a 100 per cent renewable electricity tariff. The Swedish furniture retailer has joined forces with the Big Clean Switch campaign to use collective switching to secure cheaper green power for house- holds. The two companies say a typical UK household could save £300 a year on the tariff. ENERGY Ikea's renewable tariff 'could save households £300 a year' Big Clean Switch describes itself as a "profit with purpose" company that helps people move to renewable electricity providers. It says on its website that it offers only tariffs from suppliers that can guarantee all the electricity sold is matched by energy from renewable sources. Hege Sæbjornsen, Ikea's sustainability manager, said: "We hope to make switching to renewable electricity simple, accessible and affordable to everyone." Ikea will receive a commis- sion payment for each switch that will support community initiatives near each store. It is uncertain whether this switch will undercut tariffs from other 100 per cent green electricity suppliers such as Tonik and People's Energy, This week Yorkshire to release service data by 2020 Company will publish leakage and pollution data in first phase of scheme to increase transparency Yorkshire Water plans to increase transparency by creating a form of "citizen regulation" and has announced it will release the "majority" of its operational and service data by 2020. It will start with "critical areas" such as leakage and pol- lution, and will publish leakage data for the past year in March. The company recently set itself an ambitious target of reducing leakage by at least 40 per cent by 2025. Aer publishing its leakage performance, Yorkshire Water will then engage with the public and data users to find out what they would like the company to pub- lish next. The firm has committed to a two-year programme of data releases until it reaches the "open by default" posi- tion. It has partnered with the Leeds Open Data Institute (ODI) and says it is the first in the water sector to commit to an open by default approach. The only exceptions to the data policy will be per- sonal identifiable data and information with security implications, the company said. Yorkshire Water said it aims to "empower citizens" to scrutinise data and create a new cohort of "citizens regulators" to hold the company to account. Yorkshire Water said it will encourage "outside experts" to look at its operational performance and iden- tify innovative solutions to traditional industry issues. Richard Flint, chief executive at Yorkshire Water, said: "By sharing data sets through Leeds ODI we want to encourage data scientists and analysts to become something akin to citizen auditors who are able to openly and freely monitor our performance and hold us to account." KP ENERGY Call for more checks on small suppliers Citizens Advice is calling for tighter checks on small energy suppliers aer the collapse of Future Energy last month. The charity said some com- panies are not able to meet the "minimum standards set out in the supply licence" and has called on Ofgem to change the licensing process. Early estimates show Future Energy customers could be owed up to £250 each. The company is thought to have had "credit balances" of about £2.5 million from existing customers and £500,000 from past customers, according to The Times. Victoria MacGregor, head of energy at Citizens Advice, said: "It's too easy to get a licence to start supplying energy. Compa- nies can set up and begin trad- ing without even informing the regulator when they are going to start serving customers." She said there should be greater scrutiny of a company's business plan before it starts trading. WATER Southern 'relieved' not to use permit Southern Water has not had to use the precautionary drought permit it was granted by the Environment Agency last month aer Bewl Water reservoir levels made an "astonishing recovery". The company said the reser- voir's levels hit 75 per cent on 12 February aer weeks of winter rain. It was just under 33 per cent full at the start of December. It stressed, however, that ground water sources that rep- resent more than three-quarters of its tap water are still below average for this time of year. The company warned there "can be no let-up" on finding leaks or on water efficiency. GAS Centrica launches online-only service Centrica has launched Brit- ish Gas Lite, a low-cost online electricity service for small and medium-sized enterprises. The company said it has identified a need for a simple, cost-effective and flexible energy service to meet the needs of the customer group. The service will supply free smart meters for customers and will be entirely online with a UK- based webchat team to handle customer queries instead of a call centre. With lower operating costs, British Gas Lite will pass savings onto business customers, who will pay for only what they use each month. British Gas, a subsidiary of Centrica, has partnered with cloud-based technology soware company, ENSEK to launch the new service. The partnership will let British Gas Lite improve its product and processes based on feedback from customers and brokers, the company said. Flint: wants citizens to scrutinise published data which had some of the cheapest green energy tariffs at the time of going to press. In the past, collective switches have offered some of the cheapest tariffs on the market. Ofgem recently announced plans to trial collective switching with about 50,000 consumers in a bid to combat the lack of con- sumer engagement in the retail energy market.

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