Ofwat overhauls market opening again
Ofwat revealed this week that the market opening programme faces a third overhaul in less than a year, following an independent report which gave it an amber warning. The transition for programme responsibility from Open Water Markets Limited (OWML) to Ofwat and market Operator services Limited (MOSL) was highlighted as the biggest concern.
As well as being given a warning on how the process is going, Ofwat also informed the industry that costs have jumped by more than £16 million, and now top £40 million, as the impact of designing and building the IT system is fully appreciated.
Energy collaboration called for
As the start date for the mass rollout in the troubled smart meter campaign creeps closer, Npower has called on the industry and government to work together to be as “coherent” as possible in developing smart metering, as a lack of coordination threatens customer trust further.
Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan joined in on the calls for collaboration this week by urging the distribution network operators to work together to collectively respond to changes in the sector. This includes the need to be able to adapt quickly and innovatively to increased embedded generation .
National Grid echoed this call, with one for the gas distribution networks to share their learnings from innovation projects with one another to avoid duplication of research in certain areas.
The hunt for missing assets
Thames Water issued a cry for help to its customers in Surrey as its crusade to locate 300 “missing” private pumping stations ahead of an adoption deadline in October 2016 continues.
The move is one repeated across the sector as the water and sewerage companies try to find and assess the quality of the pumping stations before they have to take ownership of them. In doing so, they are learning the lessons from the private sewer adoption that took place in 2011.