Utility Week

Top stories today (£): 💰 Losing investors at PR24 could have consequences beyond water https://lnkd.in/epAPvWJq A major UK infrastructure investor has warned that failing to keep the investment community on-side at PR24 puts wider infrastructure investment at risk, beyond just water. The investor – which holds a stake in a UK water company – told Utility Week that Ofwat’s current stance on equity in its draft determinations risks a “fundamental loss of confidence” in wider UK infrastructure investment. They were speaking following a meeting hosted by environment secretary Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP, which brought together investors which hold an estimated £2 trillion worth of available funds.   ♒ Government vows to address £45bn waterway funding gap https://lnkd.in/ebC9HBcu The government has vowed to address a £45 billion funding gap which puts the country at risk of missing a string of legally binding targets. Without the funding commitment, The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has warned that England will fail to meet targets agreed to under the European Commission’s Water Framework Directive “by a considerable margin”. In response to the watchdog’s stark warning, the government said it “accepts that not enough progress has been made in meeting the Framework’s objective for water quality, to restore water bodies to good ecological status or good ecological potential”.   💹 CfD budgets could stretch further with more realistic assumptions https://lnkd.in/e474JfXR The government has been urged to adopt more realistic parameters for Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions to make the budgets to stretch further. RenewableUK said the assumptions for market reference prices and load factors in recent auctions have become increasingly unrealistic, making bids appear more expensive than they are actually likely to be.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 NESO launch date confirmed as deal reached with National Grid for the acquisition of National Grid ESO FULL STORY (£): https://lnkd.in/ecds_Re9

Today is your last chance to secure a place at Utility Week Forum and SAVE 20%! ➡️ https://bit.ly/3YT4fme Don't miss your chance to take part in the most important calendar event of the year for the Utilities sector!

🔦 Digital Weekly: Hydrogen in the dark (£) Our latest Digital Weekly edition looks at the fears of hydrogen producers that they will be blocked from dwindling water supplies due to a lack of planning. Meanwhile, we analyse the next stage of evolution of the Contracts for Difference process and reveal the building blocks of a national water grid. https://buff.ly/4eDLisr

AMP8 will see billions poured into new water industry infrastructure, but the rehabilitation of existing facilities also has many benefits. Read Utility Week’s new report, created in association with Sika, which explains more: https://bit.ly/4g4lDdO #Utilities #Sika

Top stories today (£) ⚠️ Ofgem CEO: ‘Monster’ licence conditions must be clearer https://buff.ly/4ejuC9j Retailers are struggling to grasp their legally-binding licence obligations due to overly-complicated rules drawn up by Ofgem, the regulator’s chief executive has admitted. Jonathan Brearley described supplier licence conditions as a “monster” and said the regulator’s guidance around them is “complicated”. He therefore wants to see Ofgem work with suppliers to redraft licence conditions so “the regulator and the industry understand the rules”. 💡 Suppliers with most ‘dumb’ smart meters revealed https://buff.ly/4dY541v New figures reveal the energy suppliers with the most smart meters operating in ‘dumb’ mode. According to the latest government figures, of the 36.2 million smart and advanced meters in Great Britain in homes and small businesses at the end of June 2024, more than 3.5 million (c.10%) did not have smart functionality. Ofgem’s figures show that at the end of June 2024, four energy retailers had less than 90% of their smart meters operating in smart mode, putting them below the UK average. 💷 Fix approved to prevent emerging flaw with transmission charges for generators https://buff.ly/3TOD7l5 Ofgem has approved proposals to fix a flaw with the methodology for calculating locational transmission charges for generators that was expected to be exposed as more wind farms are connected to the power grid. Without changes, the defect was anticipated to lead to the failure of the methodology to work as intended, potentially enabling generators to receive payments to use the transmission network, despite their connection actually adding to its costs.

There's only 5 days to go until Utility Week's Consumer Vulnerability & Debt Conference returns to Birmingham on 17 September. Register your place today to hear the latest from regulators Ofgem & Ofwat, a lived experience panel with multi vulnerabilities, a keynote from Monzo and how to engage empathetically with those in debt including communication and engagement strategies: https://bit.ly/44SMq7M

Customers moving house means time and money spent tracking address details and chasing debts. What if you could predict the move before it happened? Click here to read, created in association with Capita: https://bit.ly/4dGzVzz #Utilities

Top stories today (£) Regulatory economist says Ofwat’s cost of equity is in the right territory https://buff.ly/3TndebH Indicators such as the market-asset ratios of listed firms and water companies’ investment plans suggest the proposed cost of equity from Ofwat’s PR24 draft determinations is in the right territory, an influential academic has told Utility Week. Professor Robin Mason, who has previously provided advice to Ofwat, including on the cost on equity, said he has not seen any evidence to indicate that the figure should "start with a five” as previously argued by some industry analysts. ⚡ Power play | Who will call the shots in energy? https://buff.ly/4e3EzIb Last week saw legislation laid to establish The Labour Party’s vision of Great British Energy. Utility Week examines how it is likely to interact with other fledgling energy system architects such as NESO and Mission Control, as well as the established levers of policy and regulation. ⛓️ Net zero demands ‘supply chain overhaul’, says National Grid director https://buff.ly/4e0BgS4 Pressure to deliver accelerated decarbonisation of the power grid must spur “a supply chain overhaul right from concept to commissioning” a senior director at National Grid Electricity Transmission has said. Joseph Northwood, director of portfolio strategy and development within National Grid’s Strategic Infrastructure business was speaking at the Infrastructure Delivery Forum in Glasgow – an event instigated by National Grid, alongside fellow transmission operators (TOs) SP Energy Networks and SSEN Transmission to galvanise supply chain commitment to new ways of working and collaborating on net zero infrastructure projects. The event was curated by Utility Week, in partnership with global technology firm Autodesk.

👨👩👧👦 Ofgem CEO: It’s time to reset customer service As Ofgem outlines “an ambitious new vision” of the energy sector setting the benchmark for customer service, its chief executive Jonathan Brearley says now is the time to reset how energy companies treat their customers. Writing exclusively for Utility Week, Brearley highlights how good customer service is not just a nice to have, but fundamental for all.