Company strategy

Elexon bids to allow small asset owners to provide balancing services

Elexon is proposing changes to the balancing and settlement code (BSC) to allow asset meters to be used for settlement purposes. Asset meters, which measure electricity flows to or from embedded generators, demand-side response providers or owners of electric vehicle charging points, are currently not recognised by the BSC.

The Big Switch: Finding the words to compare a market

Switching figures are a common gauge of the health of the energy retail sector, with the flow of big six to challenger and vice versa inevitably the focus. However, with several substantial mergers having drastically altered the make up of the "big six" and challenger brands now serving millions of customers, are these labels still fit for purpose? Adam John asks the experts.

Sustainability strategies driving growth in self-supply

Call to protect customer service professionals after rise in abuse

Ovo to pay £1.2m over SSE smart meter failings

Ofwat forms Covid-19 impact assessment group

SSE launches demand side response platform

SSE Enhance is described as a smart grid, aggregation and trading platform that will give customers access to the wholesale market, balancing mechanism and ancillary services.

Centrica kicks off energy as a service bundle with Birmingham NEC project

Why back office automation is key to helping the vulnerable

Parseq's managing director Craig Naylor-Smith believes rethinking how payments are allocated can help utilities improve their customer experience and avoid reputational damage when supporting vulnerable consumers in the wake of Covid-19. He argues that while the channels customers use to interact with their suppliers have become more digital, the back office has fallen behind.

People’s Energy looks to roll out white label offer

Edinburgh-based challenger brand People’s Energy has struck a white label deal with a local authority to create East Lothian Energy. Speaking to Utility Week chief executive David Pike, who co-founded the company in 2017 with his wife Karin Sode, said the retailer was in talks with a number other councils in the UK over similar deals.

Energy market may be in for a ‘winter of discontent’

By August 2019 a total of five energy suppliers had entered the supplier of last resort process, with a further four to follow before the end of the year. However, despite the economic disruption seen so far in 2020, only one supplier has exited the market - with one other believed to be on the brink. To find out why, Utility Week speaks to industry experts.

Balfour Beatty quits – but who cares?

Northern Powergrid adopts ‘eco-paint’

Northern Powergrid says it has become the first network operator to adopt a sustainable protective paint which will cut the amount of material needed to protect an asset by a third. The DNO believes the new paint could save more than 5.5 million tonnes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from being emitted into the air if rolled out across the UK.

Contractor seeks £49m from National Grid

Costain is pursuing National Grid to recover costs from work on the upgrade of gas compressor stations in Peterborough and Huntingdon. The contractor agreed to exit the contracts in June after disputes over changes to the schemes’ design and scope.

SES charges ahead with EV rollout

As part of a sector-wide pledge to reach carbon net zero by 2030 water companies are having to make big changes to vehicle fleets. Utility Week talks to SES Water’s energy and carbon manager Henrietta Stock, about the progress the company has made so far and the challenges ahead in terms of electrifying HGVs.