Western Power Distribution (WPD) has issued a call for ideas for innovation projects to help vulnerable and fuel poor customers.
Those that are successful in the competition will be trialled using funding from the Network Innovation Allowance (NIA).
WPD said ideas can be submitted by member of the public as well as organisations and do not need to be complex as they will be able to discuss and develop them in a one-on-one call with an engineer. It is partly keen to receive submissions from community energy groups that are able to leverage their knowledge of local priorities.
By opening the competition to the public, the company said it hoped to make its innovation programme more engaging and responsive to the needs of customers.
WPD said its innovation team is looking for projects that address the following questions:
- How can we improve access to smart solutions for all our customers? Can we develop new solutions to enable the fuel poor to directly benefit from smart technologies and network flexibility opportunities?
- Can you help us better understand how the needs of our vulnerable customers will change in the future? What new processes or systems do we need to create to be able to continue offering excellent customer service to our vulnerable customers as their needs change?
- Can we create novel ways of supporting our vulnerable customers through the transition to net zero and how can community energy groups play a role in that?
Yiango Mavrocostanti, innovation team manager at WPD, said: “We are excited about the prospect of innovating with our communities. I would urge anyone who has an idea for an innovative energy project that could help vulnerable and fuel poor consumers to come forward with their ideas.
“We have seen some excellent projects funded as a result of NIA funding, and your idea could be next.”
The call for ideas will remain open until 9 November 2020. Timeslots to discuss ideas with an engineer will be available until 30 October.