Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH JUNE 2018 | 9 Policy & Regulation This week EDF fined for missing smart meter deadline Supplier misses installation target by three weeks and agrees to pay regulator £350,000 EDF Energy has avoided enforce- ment action for missing its smart meter rollout target for last year, but will have to pay £350,000 to regulator Ofgem. The energy giant was "disap- pointed" at being three weeks late complying with the instal- lation deadline. It has agreed to pay the money into the regula- tor's consumer redress fund, which supports vulnerable customers and the development of innovative products or services not currently available to energy consumers. As a result, Ofgem has confirmed it will not be taking formal action against the company. Under the government's smart meter programme, suppliers must by law "take all reasonable steps" to roll out the devices to all homes and small businesses by the end of 2020. Larger suppliers are required to meet individual annual targets, monitored by the regulator. EDF Energy has since submitted targets for 2018. Jim Poole, director of customer operations at EDF Energy said: "During 2017 we doubled our smart meter installation rates and employed more people to install smart meters. We recovered the shortfall quickly in 2018 and are on target for this year." As of March 2018, 11 million smart meters had been installed in households by all suppliers. One advantage of smart meters is customers no longer having to take meter readings or face bills based on estimated readings. Ofgem says it is following suppliers' approaches to the rollout closely and will hold them to account if they do not meet their obligations. Last month it also reminded suppliers that their customer communications to offer installations must be both transparent and accurate. SH ELECTRICITY More suppliers will have to offer WHD The government has widened the pool of energy suppliers obliged to offer the Warm Home Discount (WHD) to vulnerable customers. Energy and clean growth min- ister Claire Perry said that from 2020/21 all suppliers with more than 150,000 customers will be obliged to offer the £140 discount on electricity bills. Currently the threshold is 250,000 customers. The threshold will then be reviewed aer 2021 to decide if it should be scrapped entirely. The lowering of the thresh- old will be phased in so that it will apply to companies with 200,000 customer accounts in 2019/20 before falling to 150,000 in 2020/21. The phased reduction is designed to give smaller suppliers time to adjust. The government says the move will benefit an extra 20,000 pensioners in 2019/20, and a further 10,000 in 2020/21. By the time the 150,000 threshold has been phased in, the government estimates that 97 per cent of the consumer energy market will be covered by the discount. The government also plans to consult further on using better data matching to automatically identify all eligible low-income households that should get the discount, so they do not have to apply through their suppliers. A total of 16 companies cur- rently participate in the WHD, including council-owned Bristol Energy, which is doing so volun- tarily despite having fewer than 250,000 customers. PAN-UTILITY MPs back watchdog with sharper teeth The government has beefed up its plans for an environmental watchdog aer widespread criticism that current plans were too weak. The House of Commons threw out an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill, passed by the House of Lords last month. Conservative MPs backed an alternative amendment tabled by former Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin, which proposed more teeth for the agency – the key concern of critics aer a consultation paper outlined how the new watchdog will work. The amendment equips the new agency with powers to initi- ate enforcement of environmen- tal breaches as well as stipulat- ing that it will have to abide by environmental principles, such as the "polluter pays" principle. Robert Buckland, the govern- ment's solicitor general, told the Commons that the powers would be "proportionate and appropriate", and used only as a "provision of last resort". Mary Creagh, chair of the Commons environmental audit committee, welcomed ministers' concession on enforcement pow- ers, but criticised the proposals for not guaranteeing the new watchdog's independence. Smart meters will mean an end to estimated bills The proposed Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant in North Wales has been granted environmen- tal approval by the European Commission. Article 37 of the Euratom treaty says that nuclear power stations in a given country must not have significant health or environmental impacts on other member states. The commission says the project passes this test. ELECTRICITY Green light from commission for Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant The submission to the com- mission was filed by the UK government as the host nation for the project. It set out how the intended safety and contain- ment measures of the developer, Horizon Nuclear Power, would prevent the disposal of radio- active waste from the power station leading to contamination in any other EU country. The plans were assessed in the contexts of operations, decommissioning and spent fuel storage, as well as accidents. Earlier this month, Horizon submitted an application to the Planning Inspectorate for a development consent order for Wyla Newydd. The body must now decide within 28 days of the submission date whether or not to go ahead with an examination. If it opts to proceed, the public will first be given the opportunity to register as an interested party as part of a pre- examination stage. Once this is complete, the Planning Inspectorate will have six months to complete the exam- ination, followed by another three months to produce a report and make a recommendation to the relevant secretary of state.

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