OHAL and SFHA highlight energy issues with Ofgem visitors

28-10-2024 10:18

Robert Leslie (centre) with Ofgem directors Charlotte Friel and Tim Jarvis in Kirkwall during their fact-finding visit.

Senior officials from the UK energy regulator Ofgem have been given a detailed picture of the energy issues facing households across Orkney during a visit to the islands.

Tiim Jarvis, Director General, Markets, and Charlotte Friel, Director Consumer Protection and Retail Markets, were making their first visit to Orkney.

They met last Wednesday with Orkney Housing Association committee members led by new chair Brian Kynoch, and staff members Tracey Longworth, Dean Campbell and Robert Leslie, along with Carolyn Lochhead from the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.

The Ofgem team heard about the issues around pricing, customer service from energy companies, and metering issues, not least the replacement programme for Radio Teleswitch meters, which has ramped up in the islands recently.

Tim Jarvis also outlined some of the measures Ofgem has been taking since the energy crisis of 2021-22, which saw the loss of so many supply companies and rocketing energy prices amid the market collapse. And he explained the limits to which Ofgem could act as regulator, with many issues needing a political solution.

Carolyn Lochhead gave an overview of energy issues facing housing associations across Scotland, and some of the reforms that the SFHA felt were needed, including a social tariff, which has been called for amid the continued high electricity prices.

Robert Leslie gave some Orkney-specific examples of the impact of poor customer service, metering faults and cost issues among tenants, where rationing and self-disconnection of electricity has become widespread. He said this led to underheating of properties, restricted ability to prepare hot meals and led to folk living in cold, damp homes, with the associated mental and physical health risks. He also underlined the case for an island tariff for areas such as Orkney that have significant existing renewable energy projects and plans for many more.

An OHAL tenant was also able to tell the Ofgem team the story of how her Radio Teleswitch replacement hadn’t been able to go ahead, and how she felt anxious about the lack of a solution so far, with the signal due to be switched off at the end of June 2025.

Charlotte Friel from Ofgem was able to give some assurances around the kind of work that would happen in the run up to the RTS signal disappearing, including testing of the impacts of switching off, which she said would be carried out in limited areas for short periods of time.

However, Tim Jarvis admitted that there was more to do on the RTS issue in particular, and he would be taking the messages he had heard in Orkney to the heads of supply companies.

After the meeting, Energy Officer Robert Leslie said: “We were very pleased that Ofgem came to Orkney to hear at first hand the issues we face here. We hope they will take these on board and look forward to continued engagement with them, especially on what we see as the inequity of high standing charges and unit prices; on the urgency around the RTS replacement programnme and smart metering issues; as well as generally poor customer service.

“It is crucial that folk in Orkney can access tariffs that can help bring down their unsustainably high electricity bills, and that is not happening for too many households right now.”