Utility Week

16 | 1ST - 7TH JUNE 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Analysis T housands of visitors joined hundreds of exhibitors and speakers at Utility Week Live, the UK's biggest utilities event, at Birmingham's NEC last week. The buzz in the air was palpable as the electricity, gas and water industries joined together to tackle the biggest issue of the day: disruption. The theme touched a nerve with exhibi- tors and visitors alike, prompting hundreds of stories of how utilities are being disrupted – by policy, by economics, by changing customer habits and expectations, and of course, by technology. So why disruption? The theme reflects a unique moment in utilities' history. Competi- tive players in the energy supply market face unprecedented political intervention, as well as seismic changes to their value proposi- tion driven by the energy transition. This is driving business model change on a grand scale, with global deals such as the Eon/ Innogy asset swap reshaping ideas of what an energy company looks like. The landscape is no less challenging for the UK's monopoly utilities – water compa- nies and energy networks. As they prepare for their next regulatory settlements, there is huge pressure on them to deliver value for customers and drive efficiency in their businesses. There are major questions over what those businesses will look like in the future. Will distribution network operators (DNOs) become distribution system opera- tors (DSOs), and how will they realise value Disruption takes centre stage All the highlights from this year's premier exhibition and conference for utilities. "Disruption should be seen as a force for good not a force for bad." Steve George, associate direc- tor - water and waste, Business Modelling Associates "The investors in UK infrastructure are worldwide investors." Steve Edwards, Wales and West Utilities "AI is best deployed when blended with the knowledge of our people." Nigel Watson, Northumbrian Water) "There's something fundamentally wrong with our governance." John Scott, director, Chiltern Power "No problem can be solved by one industry on its own." Rachel Dyson, behavioural change programme manager, Anglian Water, and chair of the Water UK sewer network abuse prevention group from this? Will domestic competition disrupt the water sector, or will the consequences of extreme weather get there first? Meanwhile, a new breed of utility com- pany is emerging. New entrants are spotting the opportunities in the market and using emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to challenge established busi- ness models. Utility Week Live presented hundreds of ways to manage these challenges. With two days of presentations across five theatres, visitors heard about the massive amounts of data now available to utilities, and how they can turn that into valuable insight. They looked at mobile technologies and new techniques such as gamification, which can drive engagement with customers, as well as game-changing new technologies – artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, block- chain. And they saw these new technologies and techniques on display from our industry- leading exhibitors. Visitors also heard about the innovation and best practice happening on the front line of delivery: cleaning up the sewer network, for example, and improving customer expe- rience techniques in the water industry. Over the next three pages, we present some highlights from two of our seminar the- atres: energy networks, and wholesale water. Next week, we'll look at what happened in the streetworks theatre, customer solutions theatre and the keynote conference. What the speakers said:

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