East Midlands CAN Thursday 4 th September Richard Murrell Social Obligations Officer Social Obligations programme Commitment to Tackling Fuel Poverty 1

2 WHO WE ARE West Wales East Wales Cardiff Swansea Bodmin Bristol Redruth Somerset Mendip Torquay & Exeter SOUTH WEST Plymouth Barnstaple Control Room & Contact Centre Control Room & Contact Centre Tipton Nottingham SOUTH WALES WEST MIDLANDS EAST MIDLANDS Milton Keynes Birmingham Gloucester Shrewsbury Coventry Boston Stoke-on- Trent Lincoln

WHAT WE DO  7.8m customers (26% of UK)  Over 1 million customer calls a year  Do not buy or sell electricity or gas - we are regulated by Ofgem who set our revenues Restore power quickly when problems occur Connect new customers Maintain & reinforce the network 3

Vulnerability – WPD’s established services  Maintain a Priority Service Register  Prepare customers for power cuts –Direct dial numbers sent to the most dependent –Information/advice sent to registered customers and agencies –Useful items in ‘crisis packs’ (e.g. hand warmers, torches, phones) –Information/advice at community events and published online  Assist customers during a power cut –Partnerships with British Red Cross and RVS to provide hot food/drinks, advice and emotional support –Provide bespoke notice and assistance for planned power cuts –Contact oxygen concentrator providers who can ensure customers have sufficient breathing apparatus 4

WPD’S Priority Service Register  We have a very reliable network, but power cuts happen every day – so our core concern is the most vulnerable  We categorise the 21 prescribed “Special Needs” criteria as follows: 5  Over 950,000 currently on WPD’s PSR. 92,381 are SN01 or SN02  Customers can join the register via: –Their supplier –WPD direct  Increasing focus on people in vulnerable circumstances (including temporary factors), not just the individual per se 02 Heart/Lung Machine 03 Kidney Dialysis 01 Nebuliser 04 Oxygen Concentrator 05 Ventilator 06 Apnoea Monitor 07 Other medical dependency on electricity 08 Blind 09 Partially sighted 10 Deaf 11 Hearing impaired 12 Stair lift 13 Bath Hoist 14 Elderly (60+) 15 Disabled 16 Speech difficulties 17 Foreign language 18 Learning difficulties 19 Restricted movement 20 Dementia 21 Other SN01: Critical medical dependency SN02: Medical dependency SN03: Communication needs SN04: Other

Context - The regulatory landscape  DNOs operate in price controls. RIIO-ED1 =  Ofgem wants DNOs to play a fuller role in addressing consumer vulnerability: –Improve the information we hold on customers and the assistance we provide to Priority Service Register (PSR) customers –Engage a wide range of agencies to ensure customers can access available support –Identify opportunities to enable energy solutions for vulnerable households to reduce demands on the network –Identify off-gas grid fuel poor customers –Embed our strategy for addressing consumer vulnerability in our systems, processes and how we manage customer interactions RIIO-ED1: Revenue = Incentives + Innovations + Outputs – Electricity Distribution 1

WPD’s approach  We have worked extensively with stakeholders to build our plans  Being fast-tracked has allowed us to get on with our delivery well ahead of 2015  Our social obligations programme is already well-underway despite funding not being in place until 2015 (start of RIIO-ED1)  We have: –A comprehensive strategy and action plan agreed –17 Business Plan commitments for Social Obligations –14 pilot initiatives underway and delivering results –Undergone a dry-run assessment of WPD’s programme  The programme will be centrally co-ordinated but locally delivered – fully embedded in our operations

1.Broaden our understanding of customer vulnerability 2.Improve the accuracy of our records with respect to vulnerable customers 3.Improve the services provided to vulnerable customers during power cuts 4.Address fuel poverty by providing referrals to partners that can assist with energy affordability matters  It will achieve 4 key objectives:  Crucial to the success of this will be building on existing partnership working WPD’s social obligations strategy

WPD’s RIIO-ED1 Business Plan outputs: Improving our understanding of customer vulnerability 1 Work with expert partners to improve understanding of the needs of vulnerable customers 2Train staff to recognise signs of vulnerability  Our Business Plan contains 17 social obligations commitments, under the four strategic objectives: Improve the data held on the Priority Services Register 3 Proactively contact vulnerable customers at least once every two years to check the details on the PSR 4 Improve the quality of PSR data by working with other agencies and sharing information 5 Co-ordinate meetings with suppliers to agree criteria for vulnerability

WPD’s RIIO-ED1 Business Plan outputs: Improve the services provided for vulnerable customers 6Raise awareness of the PSR 7Make 10,000 crisis packs available 8 Contact all medically dependent customers every 3hours during power cuts 9 Continue to provide practical support via the RVS and British Red Cross 10 Seek feedback from vulnerable customers to improve services 11 Develop mechanisms for sharing information with local resilience forums Address fuel poverty by supporting customers to access key information 12 Build a database of regional agencies we can refer customers to for assistance 13 Work with partners to develop links to/from our website 14 Develop joint information, awareness campaigns and co-ordinated assistance with partners 15 Engage Parish Councils to assist with their Emergency Resilience planning 16 Provide bespoke training to WPD front line staff 17 Use data analysis to help identify localities

Objective: Address fuel poverty by supporting customers to access key information Objective: Improve services provided for vulnerable customers (in relation to power cuts) Objective: Improve the data held on the Priority Service Register Objective: Improve our understanding of vulnerability Our social obligations programme 2013/14 BSI standard on inclusive service provision - Externally audited WPD PSR Contact Centre team established -Data cleanse, resilience advice & fuel poverty referrals NEST fuel poverty referral partnership -Wales Citizens Advice Bureau referral partnership -Coventry & Leicester National Energy Action - Community outreach - EAST MIDLANDS National Energy Action - Community outreach project - WEST MIDLANDS Energy Saving Trust - Community outreach project - SOUTH WALES Energy Saving Trust - Community outreach project - SOUTH WEST Annual vulnerable customer research Changes to industry dataflow arrangements Local Resilience Forum & Parish Council emergency planning advice Innovation interventions – e.g. Power Outage Detection devices Worst served customers network improvement schemes Extended Red Cross & RVS partnerships -incl. new Crisis Packs WPD led Partnership delivered

Getting on with it – An example from our programme so far Project 1: Priority Service Register Team established  Team of 10 call handlers permanently outbound calling PSR customers to update their records and give advice  40,000 customers contacted since December 2013  57% of records updated Project 2: Citizens Advice referral partnership  Handled 276 direct referrals in 6 months  Interventions including tariff switches, ECO scheme applications, pension credit claims and energy efficiency grants  Monthly savings of £2,740 for those supported (c.£33k per year)  Assisted clients with overall levels of debt over £120,000 Every customer given the option to be referred onwards to Citizens Advice for support regarding affordability / tariffs / energy efficiency

How the CAB referral process works  Initial pilot project. We identify customers for referral through our: –Data cleansing of the PSR –Contact centre day-to-day interactions –Pro-active direct contact with clients in fuel poor areas  Direct referral process in place with CAB to deliver initial advice by telephone, followed by a casework service including: –Benefits check and budgeting advice –Debt and fuel tariff advice –Fuel usage reduction steps –ECO schemes that might support a household to obtain a new boiler or wall/loft insulation  Also promote the PSR via CAB’s existing services  Detailed monthly reports are used to measure the benefits

Energy Self Help and information sent out to clients79% Debt Casework14% Happy with current supplier/tariffs/energy deal and no help required3.90% Unavailable (Internal DNA)1.50% Referrals Out1.20% Debt Self Help0.38% 73 years old, lives alone in 2 bedroom house. Fixed 1 year tariff which ended. Confused by supplier letter stating she could be changed to new energy plan, but must elect to. Therefore moved to standard tariff £61 better off per year Couple with a disabled child, had mortgage arrears, eviction notice & £50,000 of unsecured debt. Supported to gain suspension of eviction warrant, established regular token payments to non-priority creditors & a grant for utility arrears £75 saved per month 82 year old with no debts, supported in claiming Pension Credit. Also referred to ‪ECO scheme for a replacement for current grade G rated boiler, saving £310 a year on energy costs £115 saved per week Delivering clear, measurable benefits 14 Client was confused by energy tariffs & had no access to a computer. CAB helped her to compare tariffs on switching website & handled switch on her behalf to best available deal £85 saved per year Elderly, lives alone with severe arthritis. Struggles to climb stairs & literally has to crawl up. CAB gained a GP referral to an occupational therapist & helped apply for a disabled facilities grant New stairlift

Objectives To ensure fuel poor households are aware of:  Support they can receive from WPD during power cuts  How to join the PSR  How to better manage their energy use  Information and support to reduce their risk of suffering in fuel poverty Community outreach projects  Teamed up with expert partners, Energy Saving Trust and National Energy Action  Identify, train and support local volunteers to become community ‘energy champions’  Engage organisations such as Age UK, Care & Repair, Citizens Advice, Councils, housing associations, NHS trusts and elderly forums Approach Identification  Areas of highest fuel poverty  Appropriate community support networks Training  To help householders make meaningful changes Support  Ongoing mentoring and development of volunteering action plans  Advice booklets, leaflets, flyers and City & Guilds training courses.

Areas Solihull (West Mids) Nottingham (East Mids) Cardiff (Wales) TBC (South West) Status Complete October 2013 – April 2014 Ongoing Start up January Delivery commenced May Organisations engaged50400 Community champions trained Customer engaged554 householders5,248 customers to date Community outreach projects - outcomes  Combination of “one to one” and “one to many” outreach approaches

Next steps  Focus on projects that achieve measurable outcomes and benefits –How many people took positive action as a result –What actions were taken  Greater focus on providing practical assistance, not just advice  Continued use of pilot projects  Expansion of successful pilots into business as usual as soon as possible  Greater involvement in existing local authority/community schemes.