Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH APRIL 2018 | 5 WATER Water market off to a slow start Less than 3 per cent of eligible business customers have switched water retailer in the first year of the open market, Ofwat research has revealed. A survey of customers conducted at the end of last year found 35,000 had switched – 2.9 per cent of the 1.2 million eligible customers. The survey found: 25,000 cus- tomers had "looked at switching" but decided to stay on their current deal; 10,000 had renegotiated a new deal with their current provider; and 15,000 were "actively considering" switching now. A further 35,000 said they "plan to engage" in the market by April. Awareness of the market appeared to have risen, with 89 per cent of large businesses and 48 per cent of micro businesses now aware of the market. However, this is a figure some market players are concerned is not high enough. The Consumer Council for Water said in February the water industry needed to "step up" its efforts to engage with customers to ensure awareness among small busi- nesses does not "stagnate". The call was prompted by the consumer watchdog's own research, which found just 38 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses in England knew they could switch supplier. "It is likely to be a nail-biting experience, causing great uncertainty in the industry for the best part of two years" Lord Warner issues a warning as the government suffers a double defeat in the House of Lords on its plans to leave Euratom amid warnings that attempts to secure a replacement nuclear co-operation agreement with the US risk being delayed by congressional deadlock. "We get some meter co-ordinates that would put the meter in the sea" Wave chief executive Lucy Darch speaking at Future Retail #1 about data quality in the water market. BMW showed off an all-electric version of an iconic 1960s mini at the New York motor show last week to show how the original city car can be adapted for the future with new technology. The one-off vehicle was produced to whet the market's appetite for the launch of the first all-electric production Mini, due next year. The restored Mini pictured is a late model with the four- cylinder petrol engine swapped out and replaced with an electric engine with a range of 100km and a top speed of 120km an hour. 1.3GW Capacity the UK will lose over the next five years unless about 750 ageing wind turbines are replaced, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. Domestic energy bills fell in 2017 The average household energy bill in 2017 was down 3.1 per cent on the year before, official figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have revealed. The reduction was mainly due to a fall in demand for both gas and electricity, although a fall in wholesale gas prices also helped to lower bills. 2030 National Grid would back phasing out the sale of all new diesel and petrol cars ten years ahead of the government's 2040 target date, according to its head of electric vehicles, Graeme Cooper. £40 £30 £20 £10 0 -£10 -£20 -£30 -£40 -£50 Consumption Price Overall change Source: BEIS -£21 £32 £10 -£27 -£19 -£46

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