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South West Water’s £125m desalination plants delayed
South West Water’s £125 million plans to deliver two desalination plants have been pushed back to next year. Speaking to Utility Week, South West Water chief executive Susan Davy confirmed that the plants would not be delivered this year as previously slated. Davy was speaking after South West's parent company Pennon announced an 85% drop in half-year pre-tax profits.
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Shell’s B2B arm hit with seven-figure fine for overcharging
Ofgem has issued a £1.6 million fine to Shell’s B2B energy arm for “serious overcharging of business customers”. The regulator found that Shell-owned Hudson Energy Supply UK (HES) - now Shell Energy UK - breached 10 licence conditions by outsourcing elements of its day-to-day customer operations without appropriate supervision. Issues found included “serious unjustified overcharging” of customers, as well as failure to return credit refunds owed.  
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Five water retailers refund thousands of customers
Five water retailers have refunded thousands of customers who were overcharged. In total, the five retailers have refunded £380,000 to 3,500 customers after a CCW investigation uncovered billing errors.
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Utilita sees 800% jump in support credit payments
Prepayment meter (PPM) specialist energy supplier Utilita has told Utility Week that it has seen an almost 800% increase in the amount of additional support credit (ASC) it provides to customers over the past three years. Commenting on the stats Utilita’s non-executive chair Derek Lickorish said the data highlights that "households are running on empty, their financial resilience destroyed".
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Ofgem to probe supplier treatment of microbusinesses
Ofgem has launched an investigation into Maxen Power Supply, focussing on the fair treatment of businesses and the rates they are charged. The regulator said it will consider the “supplier’s compliance with rules around treating microbusinesses fairly, organisational capability, whether deemed rates are unduly onerous and customer transfer blocking”.
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Heat pump grant applications soar
The number of applications made to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) has soared in the weeks after grants were increased to £7,500. An additional 1,150 new applications were received during the week commencing 23 October, three times as many as the weekly average received so far this year. Speaking to Utility Week, Heat Pump Federation director Bean Beanland said he expects the recent surge in demand to remain for the foreseeable.
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Total Energies takes stake in project to link UK and Morocco
Total Energies has acquired a minority stake in an ambitious project to link the UK grid with wind and solar farms in Morocco via subsea cables running along the west coasts of Europe and Africa. The French oil supermajor’s £20 million investment comes after Octopus Energy Group took a stake in the project last year as part of a partnership that could eventually see Octopus’ retail arm obtain offtake rights for the power imported to the UK.
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ESO permitted to delay release of strategic network plan
Ofgem has permitted the Electricity System Operator (ESO) to delay the release of multiple documents that will form part of its second transitional Centralised Strategic Network Plan. The ESO requested the deferral to give it time to go over the plan with the government and transmission owners and make changes based on their feedback.
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Payments for pylons require legislation, lawyer warns
Plans to offer energy bill discounts to householders living near new grid infrastructure will require legislation to avoid falling foul of the Supreme Court, a leading environmental lawyer has warned. The government unveiled plans to compensate homeowners living near to grid infrastructure projects last week alongside its Autumn Statement announcements. However, Estelle Dehon, a barrister at Cornerstone chambers, told the House of Commons energy security and net zero committee that introducing the scheme cannot be done through policy alone.
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Scottish Power launches flexibility app
Scottish Power has partnered with Equiwatt to help its customers to participate in the Electricity System Operator’s Demand Flexibility Service this winter. The Equiwatt smartphone app rewards customers for reducing their electricity consumption during ‘powerDOWN’ events with points that can be redeemed for high-street shopping vouchers or donated to charity. It has now been adapted to create a separate version specifically for Scottish Power's customers.  
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Anglian sets out £12m of river improvements
Anglian Water has set out plans for more than £12 million of improvements to river water quality across its region. The work at six locations includes removing phosphorous at wastewater treatment sites to meet tightening environmental regulations as well as upgrades to boost capacity to process more sewage.
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Demand Flexibility Service to go live for first time this winter
National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has announced that a live Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) event will take place for the first time this winter. The ESO said that it plans to use the service to mitigate “tighter than normal” electricity supply margins and is seeking to reduce demand by 550MW between 5pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday (29 November) evening.
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Centrica’s Rough facility feeds gas into grid
The Rough storage facility has released stored gas into the grid for the first time this winter, to meet rising demand during colder temperatures. Operated by Centrica, Rough is the UK’s largest gas storage facility. This year, Centrica has filled Rough with the equivalent of 18 LNG tankers, double the amount stored last winter.  
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Scots scheme delivers just 215 home upgrades in three years
Just 215 private rented properties have secured energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades under a scheme set up by the Scottish Government three years ago. This equates to 0.06% of all eligible private rented homes north of the border, according to the Scottish Lib Dems.
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SSEN appoints contractors for record £1bn network upgrades
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has appointed three contractors to carry out capital delivery works worth more than £1 billion. Keltbray, OCU Services and The Clancy Group will each carry out upgrade works in three allocated areas within SSEN’s central southern England distribution area.
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