21 June Indepen Forum

The Indepen Forum

Crisis begets reform: serving the retail markets for energy

Wednesday 21 June 2023

›The Stanley Building, 7 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG 6pm - 9pm

CRISIS BEGETS REFORM: SERVING THE RETAIL MARKETS FOR ENERGY

How does energy retail market reform balance consumers’ needs, balance competition and regulation and maintain an investable market – all while meeting net zero?.

Institutional and regulatory arrangements in the energy market were adopted at a time before we had an ambitious net zero target, before we had big data and before we understood the significance of the part that customers and communities can play in balancing the market and optimising the use of the energy system.

The current crisis has brought huge hardship to consumers and has also markedly reduced competition as a regulatory tool. Ofgem has been forced into over 30 regulatory interventions to ensure or improve governance and licence compliance in the sector. And the investment case for retail energy is not clear.

We have to look again at market , arrangements. Whereas traditionally, the debate has focused on the wholesale (generation) market and on networks, now we should start reform at the customer end of the system – namely with the retail market and ways of making customers’ lives better. What should the regulatory model be? What is needed to procure the investment in systems and products to have a stable economic sector?

Going further, retailers may have to widen their offering from selling therms and

kilowatts. Taking the net zero aspect, Simon Skillings summed it up in a Utility Week piece on electricity market reform, when he said

… reform must be driven to meet the evolving needs of consumers. Retail innovators should be constantly striving for new ways to provide comfort and convenience as cheaply as possible, and markets must adapt accordingly. Telling consumers that they must change to help the electricity system decarbonise is doomed to fail. The transition to a net zero electricity system must make lives better –this should be the focus of the electricity market reform process.

In the interest of not wasting a good crisis, we should address all the other compelling reasons for retail reform

recent challenges moved well outside the range of scenarios for which the system was designed

licencing and business models have proved inadequate to meet these challenges, and

in common with other regulated sectors, there have been examples of poor corporate behaviour and questions of governance and regulation.

Our three speakers will lead a discussion that looks though the lens of consumers, regulators and investors.

CHAIR

Jonson Cox, Chair, Port of London Authority

›Jonson Cox has wide experience in infrastructure, energy and water. He is currently Chair of the Port of London Authority and a senior adviser to ISquared Capital. He serves as a non-executive director for two energy companies. He was Chair of water regulator Ofwat from 2012-2022.

Jonson has previously been Managing Director of Yorkshire Water and Group Chief Executive of Anglian Water, as well as chairman of UK Coal plc, Harworth plc and Cory Group.

SPEAKER

Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive, Ofgem

›Jonathan Brearley was appointed as an executive member of GEMA in 2018 and this appointment runs until January 2025. Jonathan became Ofgem’s Chief Executive Officer on 3 February 2020. This follows his previous appointment as our Executive Director for Systems and Networks in April 2018.

He has wide-ranging energy sector experience, having led Electricity Market Reform as the Director for Energy Markets and Networks at DECC.

Prior to this, he was Director of the Office of Climate Change, a cross-government strategy unit focussed on climate change and energy issues, where he led the development of the Climate Change Act. Earlier in his career, Jonathan was a senior adviser in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Glasgow University and a Master’s degree in economics from the University of Cambridge.

SPEAKER

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice

›Clare was appointed Chief Executive of Citizens Advice in April 2021.  She leads the national charity and network of local Citizens Advice charities across England & Wales.  Through 1:1 advice, online support and advocacy, Citizens Advice gives individuals the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward and speaks up on their behalf to bring about wider change.

Clare was previously a civil servant for nearly 35 years, latterly as Permanent Secretary of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2015 to 2019, and of the Department for Exiting the EU until its closure in January 2020.  Her early career was spent mainly in the Department of Health and the NHS, with senior roles in the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport.   After leaving the Civil Service, Clare chaired the Health Foundation’s Covid-19 impact inquiry and worked with organisations including Transport for London and the Bank of England.  She is a trustee of the History of Parliament Trust and chairs the South Downs Partnership.  Clare was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2020 Birthday Honours.

SPEAKER

Iain Smedley, Global Chairman of Banking, Barclays Bank

›Iain has over 25 years’ experience as a power and utilities banker.

Iain joined Barclays in 2010 and has worked on a variety of strategic advisory and financing transactions for power, utility and infrastructure clients in the UK and across Europe, including corporate and asset buy-side and sell-side M&A, joint ventures, dual-track M&A / IPO transactions and equity and debt financings.

Recent roles include advising National Grid on the acquisition of WPD, sale of NECO and sale of National Grid Gas; Pennon on its sale of Viridor and acquisition of Bristol Water; and Fortum on the stabilisation measures package for Uniper.

Prior to Barclays, Iain worked at Nomura (2009-10) and Morgan Stanley (1996-2008). Before becoming an investment banker, Iain worked as a consultant specialising in public sector restructuring, regulation and privatisation. He retains an interest in regulation and policy and was a member of the Advisory Panel for UK water regulator OFWAT’s 2019 price review process.

Iain graduated from Clare College, Cambridge with a BA in History and Economics, and is based in London.

AGENDA & PARTICIPANT LIST

Agenda

Participant list

Chair Jonson Cox, Chair, Port of London Authority

Speakers

Participants

Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive, Ofgem Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice Iain Smedley, Global Chairman of Banking, Barclays Bank

Mark Abrams Sagacity Solutions

Business Development & Marketing Director

Martin Baggs Sagacity Solutions Non-Executive Director

Tony Ballance Cadent Gas Chief Strategy & Regulation Officer

Ann Bishop CEG for UK Power Networks Chair

Martin Blaxall AstraZeneca Director, Corporate Brand and Communications

Geraldine Buckland ELEXON Chief People Officer

Ian Cameron UK Power Networks Head of Customer Services and Innovation

Jo Causon The Institute of Customer Service Chief Executive

Sarah Chambers Legal Services Consumer Panel Chair

Emma Clancy Consumer Council for Water Chief Executive

Carla Cox Kubrick Group Senior Consultant

Kunal Dasgupta Mayfair Equity Partner

Ian Donald Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Associate Director

Anita Dougall Sagacity Solutions CEO & Founding Partner

Ingrid Facius Facii Associates Director

Mark Falcon Zephyre Director

Caroline Farquhar Citizens Advice Senior Policy Researcher

Rachel Fletcher Octopus Energy Director of Regulation and Economics

Maxine Frerk SGN Customer Engagement Group Chair

Colm Gibson Berkeley Research Group Managing Director

David Gill Northern Gas Networks Director of Stakeholder Relations

Stephen Glaister Imperial College London Professor Emeritus of Transport and Infrastructure

William Godfrey Office of Rail and Road Director Economics, Finance & Markets

Ashleye Gunn Ofgem Stakeholder Engagement

Panel Member, Ofgem Stakeholder Engagement & Consumer Vulnerability Incentive

Dr Jeff Hardy Sustainable Energy Futures Director

Martin Hurst Sustainability First Associate

Martin Kelly Stonehaven Senior Economic Consultant

Oscar Knowles Ovo Energy Head of Regulation

Karma Loveday The Water Report Editor

Andy Manning Citizens Advice Citizens Advice, Principal Economics Regulation Specialist

Trisha McAuley Independent

Duncan McCombie CEG for National Grid Energy Distribution Chair

Jessica McGoverne Elexon Corporate Affairs Director

Sarah McMath MOSL

Clive Moffatt Moffatt Associates Managing Consultant

Hayley Monks Think Inspire and Create Limited Managing Director

Sarah Mukherjee IEMA Chief Executive

Kate Mulvany Cornwall Insight Senior Consultant

Nicholas Pollard Tilbury Douglas Chair

Nick Rutherford Independent

Natalie Saunders Morpho

Jenny Saunders Northern Gas Networks CEG Chair

Rachael Shimmin Buckinghamshire Council Chief Executive

Rupert Steele Energy Strategies Limited Director

Alan Sutherland Water Industry Commission for Scotland Chief Executive

Marie Whaley Metis (Int) Director

Louise Wilson Abundance Co-founder and Joint MD

Ben Wilson National Grid Chief Strategy & External Affairs Officer

Juliet Young Ofwat Chief Economist

Indepen

David Elliott Director

John Hargreaves Director

Abi Rowe Team Administrator

Laura Sweeney Associate

INDEPEN AND THE INDEPEN FORUM

Indepen

Since 1990 Indepen has been a management consultancy working with senior people in investors, regulators, companies and supply chains in infrastructure and utilities.

While our work has evolved as the sectors have changed, our main modes of operation have remained, namely helping senior clients make sure that they

devote enough time to allow them to address the strategic decisions and tradeoffs they make

inform their decision making by a combination of horizon scanning, common sense reflection and engagement with internal and external parties and organisations

keep their governance processes sharp and effective from board level downwards throughout the organisation

are able to justify and communicate their decisions in a coherent and convincing way with evidence that is soundly based.

Having been long in the game, our senior people have a length and depth of sector and institutional memory that may be unrivalled in the industries in which we work. One leading UK infrastructure business has been a client of Indepen client continuously since the mid-90s.

We complement the skills and experience of our core team with input from our associates who have themselves played senior roles in quoted and private companies and regulators, and as academics and from our partner businesses that have complementary skills and capabilities, including in artificial intelligence, machine learning and related analytics.

The Indepen Forum

The Forum provides a place where new ideas and approaches can be developed, socialised and refined. The meetings of the Forum are private but not secret: they take place under The Chatham House Rule.

Increasingly we observe that markets, business and their customers are ahead of governments and regulators in innovation and adapting to the multiple evolving challenges we are all grappling.

The Forum, and the associated series of summits we have hosted with The Water Report have a history of anticipating issues and policy developments.

The topics we have covered and the chairs and speakers who have honoured the Forum with their participation are summarised at https://indepen.uk.com/ where you can find summaries of the debates we have had.

Since 2018, Indepen and The Water Report have come together to host the Social Contract Summit, an opportunity for decision makers to explore how companies providing essential services infrastructure – water, energy, transport and communications – could provide more value to citizens, society and the environment. The agendas and speakers at the Summits can be seen at https://indepen.uk.com/the-summit/

The Forum is sponsored by a group of businesses all of which have been long term supporters. The sponsors have the opportunity to propose topics and speakers and to issue invitations to the events.

Most of the Forum debates take pace in central London but we are keen to include other locations and this year we have held events in Leeds and Edinburgh.

As well as the regular Forum events we convene and facilitate roundtables where smaller groups of interested parties can explore their thinking on a particular aspect of a Forum debate or any other issue which is central to the development of government and regulatory policy, particularly where change is needed.

We welcome ideas for Forum and round table topics. Please contact John Hargreaves or Ann Bishop john.hargreaves@indepen. uk.com and ann.bishop@indepen.uk.com.

CHAIR: Ann Bishop

›I have spent the last 37 years working in the regulated environment with boards and investors in water, energy, transport, telecoms, financial services, social housing and higher education.

I am founder and Chair of Indepen, and lead the Indepen Forum, which was established in 1995 to bring together infrastructure businesses, policy makers, regulators, investors, customer representatives, the supply chain and others to debate topical and often controversial issues which might not otherwise be considered in such a diverse environment.

I am chair of UK Power Networks’ Customer Engagement Group, established in 2019 to ensure that the DNO’s business plan for 2023-2028 reflects the needs and preferences of customers now and in the future.

Before establishing Indepen, I worked for P&O, Chase Manhattan Bank, County Bank and the strategy group of Deloitte consultancy, specialising in the financial services and retail sectors.

I have previously served as a Board Member at Leeds Beckett University and Chair of its Remuneration Committee; Deputy Chair of Opera North; an Ambassador for Wellbeing of Women, the charitable arm of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; a member of Ofwat’s Expert Panel; a Commissioner of the London First Infrastructure Commission; and an INED at Affinity Water.

DIRECTOR: John Hargreaves

›I am an economist and have been a lecturer, a civil servant and have worked in management consultancy and in corporate finance teams. I start from the position that the questions are more important than the answer.

I’ve worked in the water, energy, telecommunications and transportation sectors and advised government departments, regulatory and competition agencies and numerous investor-owned businesses in the UK and around the world. As well as serving infrastructure clients, I led the mergers and acquisitions team at Deloitte and worked with UK government agencies on areas of public policy including education, health, and social housing. Just now I am advising investor-owned businesses in the UK on their regulatory strategies, helping them to access new markets and services, attract investment and deliver outcomes that meet the economic, environmental and social challenges they face.

DIRECTOR: David Elliott

›I have over 30 years’ experience in the utilities sector, primarily the water industry, at all levels including 10 years as an Executive Director at Wessex Water.

More recently I worked as Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer at Wessex Water helping them migrate to a modern and agile water service provider based upon an open-system model enabling Wessex to deliver greater customer and environmental value.

I am a systems thinker, and have particular interest and experience in how markets, through the use of digital business models, can encourage better system design. One of my key areas of specialism is how natural capital can contribute to some of our societal and environmental issues today, and how customers, as prosumers can contribute to better outcomes.

I have experience with a number of start ups including founding EnTrade, an exciting online trading platform for environmental services that enables businesses to collaborate on investments to improve environmental and societal outcomes. I have also served as Non-Executive Director at Flipper, an energy auto-switching platform and Albion Water – an independent water and sewerage services provider for new housing developments.

In the innovation and research space I recently served as a Non-Executive Director of UKWIR, specialising in water industry research and innovation.

I am the founder of Business4Life, a leadership development programme involving setting up model businesses whose profits go to WaterAid.

ASSOCIATE: Laura Sweeney

›I have worked in various industries including the legal, finance, retail and charity sectors.

In addition to running my own business in the events and services industry, I have also held roles as Legal PA to a Senior Partner, Marketing Executive, Development Officer and Retail Manager.

At Indepen, I apply my background in customer experience and events management to help manage the full programme of Indepen Forum events throughout the year.

TEAM ADMINISTRATOR Abi Rowe

›Abi’s primary responsibilities involve offering administrative support to the Indepen Directors, managing their schedules, and spearheading the company’s business planning efforts. Additionally, Abi plays a crucial role in organizing the yearly Indepen Forum Events, along with any small-scale Roundtable events that may arise in the interim, in addition to the annual Summit.

Abi has previously held roles in project management, customer service, and business development, which have enabled her to develop a diverse range of skills that she can apply to her current role at Indepen. As a result, she finds her work at Indepen both stimulating and fulfilling.

ASSOCIATES

Dr Melvyn Weeks

›I am an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Clare College and an associate of Indepen.

I have previously worked as Senior Economic Advisor to Ofgem. This work focused on the provision of advice relating to the benchmarking of costs for electricity companies. I have also provided advice to the regulator for the DPCR5, RIIO-ED1, RIIO-GD1 and RIIO-T1 price reviews. I prepared expert evidence for Ofgem in the wake of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) inquiry into a number of aspects relating to price setting during RIIO-ED1.

More recently, I have represented a gas company in providing evidence to the CMA in the area of cost assessment for RIIO-GD2, and I have worked with a distribution network operator, providing advice on a number of issues relating to RIIO-ED2 including cost assessment and flexibility markets.

I have advised Ofwat, Ofcom and other regulatory bodies on issues relating to incentive design, welfare effects of policies and econometric modelling. I have also carried out quality assurance of data and evidence on behalf of regulatory bodies – a recent example concerning the safety of smart motorways.

My key interests lie in micro-econometrics, particularly discrete choice models, modelling demand systems in empirical industrial organisation, revealed and stated preference models, model testing and evaluation, computationally intensive methods including machine learning, simulation-based inference and the bootstrap, and convergence within and across countries.

I am also adviser to the smart meter analytics platform company SMAP Energy and digital technology company Fetch.AI.

At Indepen I provide leadership and support on projects relating to markets and incentives, with a focus on statistics and econometrics.

›Bridget Rosewell is an experienced director, policy maker and economist, with a track record in advising public and private sector clients on key strategic issues. She chairs Atom Bank and the M6 Toll Company and is a non-executive for the UK Infrastructure Bank and Northumbrian Water Group. Among other roles, she has been a Commissioner for the National Infrastructure Commission, chaired DVSA, been Senior Independent Director for Network Rail and Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater London Authority. She was appointed CBE in December 2018 and is also a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Academy of Social Science and the Society of Professional Economists. She writes on finance, risk and uncertainty as well as infrastructure and modelling validation.

She has worked extensively on cities, infrastructure and finance, advising on projects in road and rail and on major property developments and regeneration. She has advised on changes to planning regulation and TfL’s finances and has appeared at planning Inquiries.

Bridget Rosewell CBE, MA, MPhil, FICE, FACSS, FSPE

2023 FORUM PROGRAMME

19 January

All systems go! Social Contract Summit https://indepen.uk.com/the-summit/

›RSA London

21 February

Penny wise - pound foolish?

Regulatory focus on squeezing network costs puts at risk getting the new networks we need to achieve Net Zero and make energy affordable and secure.

Chair:

Basil Scarsella, CEO, UK Power Networks

Speakers:

• Graham Taylor, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure Finance, Moody’s Investors

• Ben Wilson, Chief Strategy & External Affairs Officer at National Grid

• Jane Dennett-Thorpe, Deputy Director, Net Zero Strategy, Ofgem

›The Stanley Building, 7 Pancras Square, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4AG

08 March

Mind the widening gap!

How can private and public investment interact to stimulate innovation in parts of the UK with untapped potential?

Chair

• Councillor Susan Hinchcliff, Bradford Council

Speakers:

• Bridget Rosewell CBE, Non-executive Director, UK Infrastructure Bank

• Ian Smyth, CEO, Electricity North West

• Gareth Mills, Regulation and Strategic Planning Director, Northern Gas Network (first respondent)

›The Queens Hotel, Leeds

18 April

“I’d do anything for love (But I won’t do that)”

What will net zero do for customers other than cost them a lot of money?

Chair:

Johnson Cox, CEO, London Port Authority

Speakers:

• Lord Matthew Taylor, Chair of Kensa

• Piers Williamson, CEO, Housing Finance Corporation

• Louise Wilson, Joint Managing Director, Abundance

›The Stanley Building, 7 Pancras Square, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4AG

18 May

How to bake a bigger infrastructure cake without breaking too many eggs

Do we need evolution or revolution of infrastructure policy and regulation?

Chair:

• Tony Cocker, Senior Independent Director, SSE Speakers:

• Matt Bevington, Practice Director, Global Counsel

• Martin Hurst, Associate, Sustainability First

• David Black, CEO, Ofwat (first respondent)

›The Stanley Building, 7 Pancras Square, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4AG.

2023 FORUM PROGRAMME

21 June

Crisis begets reform: serving the retail markets for energy

How does energy retail market reform balance consumers’ needs, balance competition and regulation and maintain an investable market – all while achieving net zero?

Chair:

• Jonson Cox, Chair, The Port of London Authority

Speakers:

• Jonathan Brearley, CEO, Ofgem

• Iain Smedley, Global Chairman of Banking, Barclays Bank

• Dame Clare Moriarty, CEO, Citizens Advice

›The Stanley Building, 7 Pancras Square, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4AG.

18 July

Refer, appeal or grin and bear it? Comparing the “appeal” processes in infrastructure; are the differences justified?

Chair:

• Colm Gibson, Managing Director, Berkeley Research Group

Speakers:

• Thea Hutchinson, Director, Price Review, Ofwat.

• Natura Gracia, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Partner, Linklaters

• Harold Hutchinson, Managing Director, Co-Head of Energy at Investec

›Berkely Research Group, 8 Salisbury Square London EC4Y 8AP

19 September

A generational shift in infrastructure policy and regulation.

What would be in the manifesto of the Sensible Party?

• Chair: TBC

• Speakers: TBC

17 October

New ownership models for water companies

Has the water company chicken that laid the golden eggs shuffled of its mortal coil? Could a new model for company ownership revive it?

• Chair: TBC

• Speakers: TBC

21 November

Getting the skeletons out of the cupboard Infrastructure businesses are lagging in artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and open data despite the mountains of data waiting to be analysed. Is this due to their monopoly power or the prevalence of regulation? How can we get the skeletons out of the cupboard to create new business models?

• Chair: TBC

• Speakers:

December – date tbc.

The Indepen Forum Christmas Reception and infrastructure quiz

›TBA in Central London

2022 Forums

16 February Scream if you wanna go faster! Is activism more effective than regulation at driving change in economic infrastructure?

Chair: The Rt Hon the Lord Deben, Chairman, Climate Change Committee

21 April Asking the wrong people the wrong questions for the wrong reasons. Are we using the wrong information to understand what customers need and want?

Chair: Bridget Rosewell CBE, Commissioner, National Infrastructure Commission

Speakers: Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation at the Office for Statistics Regulation

James Walker, Non-Executive Director at Consumer Scotland

26 April Have economic consultants hijacked energy and water price regulation?

Chair: Sir Ian Byatt, first Director General of Ofwat (1989 to 2000)

Speakers: Mark Falcon, Director of Zephyre

Andy Manning, Principal Economic Regulation Specialist, Citizens Advice

Professor Tommaso Valletti, Head of the Department of Economics & Public Policy, Imperial College Business School

Simon Wilde, Director of Analysis & Assurance at Ofgem

10 May Go to jail! Do not pass go! Do not collect £200! Do directors of licensed monopolies have more to think about and if so, what?

Chair: Christine Hodgson CBE, Chair:, Severn Trent Water

Speakers: Michael Osbourne Investment Director InfraRed Capital Partners Ltd

Jonson Cox CBE, former Chairman, Ofwat

26 May We’re on the road to nowhere. Come on inside. Who gets left behind in the migration to net zero?

Chair: Trisha McAuley OBE

Speakers: Keith Anderson, CEO, Scottish Power

Sean Duffy, Chief Executive Officer, Wise Group

Simon Parsons, Director of Strategic Customer Service Planning Scottish

Water

Alan Sutherland, CEO, WICS

7 July Give me land lots of land under starry skies above just don’t fence me in! Opening the gate to whole system thinking

Chair: Bridget Rosewell CBE, FICE, MA, MPhil, Commissioner, National Infrastructure Commission

Speakers: Dr Jeff Hardy, Senior Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London

Laura Sandys CBE, CEO of Challenging Ideas

7 September They tried to make me to go to Rehab.... Why regulators need to stop saying no, no no.

Chair: Colm Gibson, Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group

Speakers: Tony Ballance, Chief Strategy & Regulation Officer at Cadent Gas

Sonia Brown, Vice President of UK&I Government Engagement and Regulatory Policy at Visa Europe

Stephen Littlechild, Emeritus Professor at the University of Birmingham and Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School

20 September This ain’t no technological breakdown. Oh no, this is the road to hell. How to stop siloed transport policy becoming a cul de sac?

Chair:; Pauline Walsh, Non Executive Director, Angel Trains

Speakers: Anit Chandarana, Lead Director on the Great British Railways

Transition Team

Elliot Shaw, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at National Highways

Christian Wolmar, transport writer and broadcaster

20 October We can’t go on together with suspicious minds. How do we make collaboration for innovation meaningful and sustainable?

Chair: Gus O’Donnell, Chairman, Frontier Economics

Speakers: David Black, CEO, Ofwat

Colin Skellett, CEO, Wessex Water

7 November Model, model toil and trouble! How must we change the model that underlies economic regulation in the UK?

Chair: Nicholas Pollard, Chair: of Tilbury Douglas Group

Speakers: Ingrid Facius, Director at Facii

Paul Ormerod, Director at Volterra

Cathryn Ross, Strategy and Regulatory Affairs Director at Thames Water

31 January Indepen Forum New Year Reception

Speaker: The Rt Hon the Lord David Blunkett

PAST EVENTS

2021 Forums

19 January Save paradise – can new financing arrangements for nature-based solutions defeat the parking lot and the pink hotel

Chair: Richard Nourse, Founder and Managing Partner, Greencoat Capital

Speaker:s David Black, Chief Regulation Officer, Ofwat

David Young, Senior Fellow, Broadway Initiative

16 February Groundhog Day: how can we create policy credibility to engender public support for paying for net zero

Chair: Laura Sandys CBE, CEO, Challenging Ideas

Speaker:s Sul Alli, Director of Strategy and Customer Services, UK Power Networks

Tony Ballance, Chief Strategy & Regulation Officer, Cadent Gas

Dermot Nolan, Director, Fingleton and former CEO, Ofgem

16 March Life in lockdown – has Covid taught us anything about evidence, uncertainty and communication?

Chair: Ann Bishop, Founder of Indepen and the Indepen Forum, Chair: of the Customer Engagement Group (CEG) for UK Power Networks and NonExecutive Director of Affinity Water

Speaker:s Martin Blaxall, Director, Corporate Brand and Communications, AstraZeneca

Ali Chegini, Director of Systems Safety and Health, RSSB

Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, Office for Statistics Regulation

Ben Page, Chief Executive Officer, Ipsos MORI

20 April How ‘appealing’ is the utilities sector? What should the CMA and Ofwat learn from PR19 and what might this mean for RIIO-2?

Chair: John Penrose, MP for Weston, Worle & The Villages

Speaker:s Maxine Frerk, Chair:, SGN Customer Engagement Group

Ceri Jones, Chair:, WaterSafe

Stephen Littlechild, Emeritus Professor at the University of Birmingham, and Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School

Angela Love, Director of Future Markets and Engagement, Elexon and Independent Chair:, ScottishPower RIIO2 Transmission User Group

18 May Who should pay to transform our environment?

Chair: Jonson Cox CBE, Chairman, Ofwat

Speaker:s The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben, Chairman, Committee on Climate Change

22 June Up, down, round and round – rising up to the challenge of levelling up

Chair: Bridget Rosewell CBE, Commissioner, National Infrastructure Commission

Speaker:s The Rt Hon. Lord Blunkett

Susan Davy, Chief Executive Officer, Pennon Group

Martin McIvor, Research Officer, Prospect

20 July Déjà-vu: why do megaprojects go wrong? How can we fix them?

Chair: David Elliott, Director, Indepen

Speaker:s Howard Ashcraft, Partner, Hanson Bridgett law firm & Adjunct Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

Billy Glennon, Chief Executive Officer, VISION Consulting

Nicola Medalova, Managing Director, National Grid Interconnectors

Colin Nicol, Senior Advisor & former Managing Director of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

21 September We want it all and we want it now. Infra companies should invest more, but economic regulators worry they will make out like bandits. Discuss!

Chair: Dr Tim Stone CBE, Chairman, Nuclear Industry Association

Speaker:s Filipp Gaddo, Head of Energy Economics and Regulation, Arup

Steve McMahon, Deputy Director, Electricity Distribution and Cross Sector Policy, Ofgem

Cathryn Ross, Strategy and Regulatory Affairs Director, Thames Water

19 October Nothing learned and nothing gained? All together now – collaborating across the infrastructure sectors and beyond to achieve Net Zero

Chair: Dr Jeff Hardy, Senior Research Fellow at the Grantham InstituteClimate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London

Speaker:s Alex Plant, Strategy and Regulation Director, Anglian Water Bridget Rosewell CBE, Commissioner, National Infrastructure Commission

Dipesh Shah OBE, Chair:, National Highways

7 December Well, it’s a marvellous night for a moondance! Solving problems to get to net zero

Chair: Rachel Fletcher, Director of Regulation and Economics at Octopus Energy

Speaker: Neil Harris, Sustainability Strategy and Innovation Lead at Amazon Web Services

The notes of these discussions are available on the indepen website: www.indepen.uk.com/questions

Introduction

Since 2018, Indepen and The Water Report have partnered to host the Social Contract Summit, a forum for decision makers to explore how companies providing essential services infrastructure – water, energy, transport and communications – could provide more value to citizens, society and the environment.

2018 – Defining the social contract

At the Summit’s inception in 2018, social contracting – and the wider idea that essential service companies should deliver more for society and the environment than demanded by their formal obligations or gifted by their charitable contributions –was not the mainstream conversation it is today.

Against a backdrop of perceived failings in the delivery of essential public services, the 2018 Summit brought industry leaders together with regulators, politicians, investors and those representing social and environmental interests to address the fundamental question: how can private companies providing essential public services deliver better outcomes for society?

We also specifically explored and attempted to define the contribution a social contract between essential service companies and their investors on one hand, and customers through government and regulators on the other, could make to rebuilding trust in the industries that underpin our lives.

2019 – Value for all

By 2019, the concept of social value had been enthusiastically adopted, particularly by the water sector where there was considerable progress to report.

Our 2019 Summit therefore focused on issues relating to public value delivery in the water sector, such as how megatrends like

climate change, demographics and technology might impact future service provision, the role of regulation in public value delivery, governance considerations to embed public purpose within companies, the need for greater and more effective collaboration, and the role and nature of engagement with consumers and communities.

2020 – Public purpose in a pandemic

In 2020, the Summit convened virtually to explore how water companies were demonstrating ‘public purpose in a pandemic’.

As anchor institutions in their regions and with the privilege of providing an essential monopoly service, we looked at how water companies were supporting their communities, and contributing to strengthening the economy, enhancing the environment, as well as exploring how the experience of Covid-19 had affected the attitudes and behaviours of those they serve.

We considered what companies could do alone and what they needed agreement, support and partners for. Importantly, we discussed what lessons we might learn from this unique chance to break the mould and do things differently for future models of operation, regulation and policy.

2022: Whole systems go!

Against this backdrop, our Social Contract Summit considered whether a whole systems approach to collaborating on shared challenges across sectors and actors could offer a key to the deadlock of rising expectations and constrained resources.

Further information on the themes and issues we have explored is available at www. indepen.uk.com/ the-summit.

The event was held in RSA, London on Thursday 19 January.

Supported