The past few months have seen wholesale energy prices continue to rise and exceed the energy price cap.
It’s no surprise this intense pressure has resulted in a record number of energy suppliers exiting the market and we are pleased to see Ofgem responding to this with a review of the price cap methodology.
Although not directly addressed in the consultation, we will be reiterating our view that the price caps are not consistent with the objectives of an efficiently operating energy market which keeps the lights on, achieves long term decarbonisation, and affordability for customers.
At this difficult time for many (customers and suppliers alike), we must do whatever we can to manage costs efficiently and achieve value for money for funding REC Parties.
This has been a key consideration as we turn our attention to RECCo’s 2022/2025 Strategy and Forward Work Plan which this edition of the newsletter will update you on.
On a more positive note, we achieved most of what we set out to do this year:
We are now over three months into Retail Code Consolidation and the go-live of our REC services. Our Hypercare support arrangements supporting the go-live of the REC Code Manager service concluded at the end of October and we are now within a period of post implementation enhancements to ensure the Code Manager service meets your expectations.
Listening and acting on your feedback is our priority, and we are working with the Code Manager to put in place service improvements, including across the Portal, Service Desk and EMAR to make them as intuitive and user friendly as they should be, with monthly releases planned until February 2022.
We recently completed the first two of our post-implementation releases in October and November including the successful inclusion of new Committee Management functionality to the Portal which should streamline the work of Committee members and enable further collaboration.
In the November release, new Performance Assurance related functionality was made available including enabling uploading of party documentation and reports directly to the Portal to improve efficiencies in line with our core objective of digitalisation.
The Code Manager is also considering what other changes are required to the overall service beyond March 2022 to support their continuous improvement requirements.
Key to this is working with interested REC Parties to consider new improvements you would like to see as well as incorporating any feedback. Please keep sending your feedback into the Code Manager via the Service Desk or your Operation Account Manager so we can develop the service to meet your ongoing needs.
Next year will see the implementation of the new Switching Programme arrangements and Central Switching Service (CSS). We continue to be on track in supporting this implementation with our first major milestone approaching in mid-December.
This involves baselining of the REC Version 3 drafting which we are responsible for drafting. Baselined REC V3.0 documents will be made available to industry participants via the REC Portal as soon as they are available.
The newsletter provides a more detailed update on progress across RECCo’s switching programme implementation project.
Finally, on behalf of the team, I’d like to thank all our stakeholders for their cooperation and support over the last year.
Your support, expertise and guidance has enabled us to achieve what we set out to do over challenging times.
The next year will certainly be full of opportunity and some continued challenges for the retail energy market but we look forward to working with you all to achieve our mission in simplify, improving, and resolving problems within the retail market to make it better for industry parties and deliver value for our customers.
See you in the New Year!
The prolonged supply outages caused by Storm Arwen have provided a further reminder of the importance of up-to-date consumer contact details, particularly for those vulnerable consumers and their families who should be afforded additional safeguards through the Priority Service Register.
Despite the herculean effort that has gone into restoring power to the hundreds of thousands of homes effected by power cuts, in many cases caused by falling trees bring down power lines, the Secretary of State has highlighted the unacceptable situation of many homes still being left without power ten days after Storm Arwen, with a further storm imminent.
There are of course practical limitations to the speed of restorative works, particular when damage is so widespread, making it all the more vital that network operators are able to prioritise their efforts appropriately and protect those who may be most impacted by a lack of heat or power, and to keep all consumers appropriately informed. The industry as a whole must cooperate to ensuring that the networks have the necessary data to do this.
REC Schedule 13 (Transfer of Consumers Data), requires gas and electricity suppliers to keep the relevant network operators informed of changes in consumer contact details. We encourage all energy suppliers who have not already done so to ensure that they have provided up-to-date contact details as soon as possible.
We expect this to be an area of focus for the Performance Assurance Board going forward. If you have any questions, please let the code manager know at enquiries@recmanager.co.uk.
