Company strategy

Smart Metering Systems hits 1.2m installations

Smart Metering Systems says the proposed introduction of compulsory annual installation targets for energy suppliers will help more “evenly spread” the smart meter rollout. In a trading update, the smart meter installer and manager revealed its portfolio grew by 44 per cent to 1.2 million during 2019.

Water retailers approve MOSL business plan

Sarah McMath, CEO of non-domestic water market operator, MOSL, said she had strived to be” honest in my reflection of what is needed to make this market work for customers” and to tackle various legacy challenges within the £11.2 million budget programme for the year.

‘Customers are for life, not just for a price review’

PR19 has been the water sector's most customer-focused ever with more than five million people involved in the writing of the business plans. CCWater and Ofwat discuss how the research should be used as an opportunity to learn more about customers, not as a box-ticking exercise

Utilities 2020: The year ahead for energy and water

Drax hits back over judicial review into gas turbine plans

The project to replace two coal units at Drax’s north Yorkshire plant are now subject to a judicial review. The company has insisted that the project will “help the UK on its path to net zero by 2050”

‘Reckless’ Ovo displayed ‘poor attitude’ towards regulation

A report by Ofgem has issued a damning verdict on challenger brand Ovo Energy. The firm was found to be in breach of 10 licence requirements concerning the way it had previously billed its customers. Adam John takes a closer look at what went wrong at the supplier, which has recently been allowed to take on 3.5 million customers from SSE Energy.

The power shift to regional growth

Recent confirmation from the Tory Party chairman that relocating the upper chamber from the capital

Energy UK announces new chief executive

Emma Pinchbeck will begin on a part-time basis in July before taking up the role on a full-time basis in September. She has been deputy chief executive of Renewable UK since 2016.

Utility Warehouse to pay £650,000 after customers overcharged

Utility Warehouse overcharged warm home discount customers above the correct level of the price cap. Ofgem said the supplier quickly 'self-reported' the issue.

Ofgem fines Ovo after thousands of customers incorrectly billed

Ovo Energy has agreed to pay almost £9 million into the regulator's voluntary redress fund after over legacy communications and billing issues.

Affinity gets to grips with PCC and leakage

Yu Group confident it has ‘weathered the storm’

PR19: Severn Trent is first company to accept final determination

Investigation into National Grid and Scottish Power over subsea cable issues

The probe will consider whether the joint venture between National Grid and Scottish Power breached licence conditions in the delivery and operation of the £1.3 billion Western HVDC subsea cable between Scotland and Wales.

Energy sector needs 400,000 recruits by 2050 to hit net-zero target

A new report from National Grid says that 117,000 more jobs are needed in the industry over the next decade alone. The report lists a number of workforce challenges including the “baby boomer retirement crunch” and competition from other sectors, with 40 per cent of physics graduates currently opting for careers in banking and finance.