Five top stories this week
Ovo to pay over £10m for PPM process failures
Ofgem has concluded its three-year investigation into Ovo Energy and ordered it to pay over £10 million for process failures that could have put vulnerable prepayment meter (PPM) customers at risk. The regulator determined that Ovo inadequately monitored its PPM customers – including those on the Priority Services Register (PSR) – and was in breach of Ofgem’s rules that are designed to protect customers in vulnerable situations. This exposed customers to a “clear risk of harm”.
Government to peer inside onshore wind and solar auction in AR8
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has confirmed that its new ability to peer inside Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions will be extended to onshore wind and solar for the upcoming eighth allocation around (AR8). These powers, which allow the secretary of state to see anonymised bid data for projects which initially exceed the budget for an auction so it can potentially be raised, were introduced ahead of AR7 but only applied to offshore wind.
South West Water fined £1.85m for parasite outbreak
South West Water has been fined £1.85 million after pleading guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption. The firm was sentenced at Exeter Magistrates’ Court, in a prosecution brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) in relation to a cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham, South Devon. Four people were hospitalised with cryptosporidiosis following the incident in May 2024 and nearly 400 customers reported illnesses to South West Water.
ED3 still lacks direct financial incentive to build resilience
Ofgem’s approach to ensuring resilience is embedded in distribution network operators’ (DNOs’) ED3 plans is a “massive improvement” over ED2, but it still lacks a direct measure to incentivise long-term investment. This is according to Aidan Rhodes, research fellow in energy policy at Imperial College London and member of the UK Energy Research Centre.
South East Water in breach of licence after ratings downgrade
South East Water has been downgraded to junk status by ratings agency Moody’s, putting the company in breach of its operating licence conditions. It came as the company grappled with yet another supply problem, with up to 20,000 people hit by outages in the region. Moody's said the downgrade was due to an increasing resilience risk for South East Water, following two high profile outages during the winter which left thousands of customers without water.
Ovo to pay over £10m for PPM process failures
Ofgem has concluded its three-year investigation into Ovo Energy and ordered it to pay over £10 million for process failures that could have put vulnerable prepayment meter (PPM) customers at risk. The regulator determined that Ovo inadequately monitored its PPM customers – including those on the Priority Services Register (PSR) – and was in breach of Ofgem’s rules that are designed to protect customers in vulnerable situations. This exposed customers to a “clear risk of harm”.
Government to peer inside onshore wind and solar auction in AR8
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has confirmed that its new ability peer inside Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions will be extended onshore wind and solar for the upcoming eighth allocation around (AR8). These powers, which allow the secretary of state to see anonymised bid data for projects which initially exceed the budget for an auction so it can potentially be raised to bring them inside, were introduced ahead of AR7 but only applied to offshore wind.
South West Water fined £1.85m for parasite outbreak
South West Water has been fined £1.85 million after pleading guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption. The firm was sentenced at Exeter Magistrates’ Court, in a prosecution brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) in relation to a cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham, South Devon.
ED3 still lacks direct financial incentive to build resilience
Ofgem’s approach to ensuring resilience is embedded in distribution network operators’ (DNOs’) ED3 plans is a “massive improvement” over ED2, but it still lacks a direct measure to incentivise long-term investment. This is according to Aidan Rhodes, research fellow in energy policy at Imperial College London and member of the UK Energy Research Centre.
South East Water in breach of licence after ratings downgrade
South East Water has been downgraded to junk status by ratings agency Moody’s, putting the company in breach of its operating licence conditions. It came as the company grappled with yet another supply problem, with up to 20,000 people hit by outages in the region. Moody's said the downgrade was due to an increasing resilience risk for South East Water, following two high profile outages during the winter which left thousands of customers without water.
