“We have put in place a new regulatory framework which places much more emphasis on stakeholder engagement,” said acting director with the regulator Hannah Nixon. She said networks “are expected to really understand what their customers want. That is something we would expect the electricity distribution companies to pick up”.
Nixon was giving evidence to an all-party group of MPs looking at the resilience of the Scottish network after damage to the power lines during heavy storms in January left many households without power.
Nixon’s fellow director at Ofgem, Rachel Fletcher, assured the MPs that the watchdog had the necessary powers to ensure a high quality service to all. “But it is something we need to continue to keep under review,” she added.
Also giving evidence, chief executive of Scottish Power Energy Networks Frank Mitchell said the weather had been “extreme”, causing 1,100 faults in January.
Mark Mathieson, managing director of networks at SSE, said: “In that period we saw five exceptional events. We would normally average three a year.”
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 17 February 2012.
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