coronavirus

Locking down retailer protections

The second lockdown has forced many businesses across the UK to close once again. However, the full suite of protections for non-domestic water customers have not been reinstated. Utility Week talks to the chief executives of Business Stream, Castle Water, Water Plus, Waterscan and Wave, among others, about their concerns on how the latest restrictions will affect an already fragile market.

Boosting social and economic mobility: utilities’ obligations and opportunities

A webinar to explore how the social and economic impacts of the pandemic are influencing responsible business actions and strategies in the utilities sector and beyond.

‘Significant increase’ in PPM customers using emergency credit

The number of prepayment meter customers using emergency credit has increased considerably, a new report has found. Since April Ofgem has been measuring the impacts of Covid-19 social distancing on domestic energy consumption, financial wellbeing and the concerns of energy consumers around managing bills.

CCW CEO: Shouting from the sidelines doesn’t change anything

Ofgem postpones state of the market report

Energy regulator Ofgem says it is postponing the publication of its annual State of the Market report for this year due to the pandemic. In an announcement, the regulator said it has had to reprioritise its work load due to Covid-19.

Covid forced 25% of water supply chain to cut jobs

Many businesses that supply goods and services to the water sector had to furlough staff during lockdown and a quarter had to make redundancies according to British Water's Lila Thompson who described the serious impact on the supply chain

Delivering empathy over digital channels

A webinar to explore the role of digital channels in delivering sensitive and empathetic service to customers, especially in a context of increasing consumer vulnerability and hardship

Voices of the future: Lessons from Covid

The energy industry has laid the foundations for net zero but it is the next generation of sector leaders that will be responsible for ensuring the 2050 target is achieved. From shifts in energy demand to how we deal with vulnerable customers, Covid-19 has resulted in a number of big changes this year. In the second of a series of articles, Adam John speaks to the winners of the Young Energy Professionals awards and asks them what lessons they think will be learned from the pandemic

Switching sees sharp year-on-year decrease in September

Switching saw an almost 20 per cent decrease last month compared to September 2019, the latest figures from Energy UK show - the worst performance since the country came out of lockdown.

New energy license conditions to protect struggling customers

Citizens Advice calls for ‘essential services taskforce’

Citizens Advice is pushing for the creation of an ‘essential services taskforce’ to simplify and improve the support received by vulnerable customers. In its ‘Getting support to those who need it’ report the consumer charity outlines a number of challenges faced by vulnerable customers, namely the complicated process of supplying multiple service providers with their relevant data.

Smart meter installs increase year-on-year for first time since lockdown

Closures forecast to tighten power supplies over winter

Ofgem reveals final network deferral charges

Ofgem has revealed the final amount of charges that have been deferred by network companies over a three-month period in response to Covid-19. In June three schemes were announced which allowed networks to put off up to £350 million worth of charges relating to gas transportation, electricity distribution and electricity transmission as a last resort. The schemes have now closed.

Covid should ‘supercharge’ smart PPM rollout