Time to ‘put pedal to the metal’ over shared PSR

Both the energy and water sectors need to hasten the creation of a single, shared priority services register (PSR), several industry experts have said.

Electricity North West and United Utilities trialled such a scheme in 2018, but plans to roll out a common register nationwide in April this year have been delayed.

Speaking on Utility Week’s latest #AskUsAnything webinar, former Npower boss and member of the Committee on Fuel Poverty Paul Massara said it was “shocking” that there were still isolated registers for energy and water customers.

Elizabeth Blakelock, principal policy manager at Citizens Advice, agreed and said: “There is an acceptance from most quarters that that would be incredibly valuable, particularly from a consumer perspective but also from the perspective of people who use those registers.”

She added there was a concern over the pace of bringing in a shared register, and asked whether now was the time to “put the pedal to the metal and make those commitments which have been made, particularly around water and energy, and to have that shared register up and running and benefitting consumers”.

Meanwhile, former director of customer vulnerability at British Gas Steve Crabb said a common register would be a much easier method of determining vulnerability as opposed to asking every utility company to disclose the same information again and again.

He said: “As long as you depend on individual companies getting customers to disclose the vulnerability risk factors in their lives – bearing in mind that many customers never engage with their supplier at all – there may never be an opportunity to ask that customer to disclose.

He added: “I fail to see why government can’t create (a single register). As long as it was an opt-in register, that data could be sent out to any organisation that needs it in order to provide inclusive service.”

The industry-led scheme is being co-ordinated by the UK Regulators Network.

A spokesperson told Utility Week that while utilities remain committed to delivering a shared PSR, it is a “complex project that has encountered a number of difficulties”.

They added: “We are currently working through issues related to the legal basis of sharing data between sectors and assessing what the most appropriate and effective legal basis would be. We do not currently have a timeline for when PSR data sharing will be live, but colleagues are continuing to work to deliver this project and improve outcomes for consumers in vulnerable circumstances.”