34 | FUTURE UTILITIES
Changed priorities As incidents of meter cheating continue to rise, Lloyd Birkhead, group managing director at Grosvenor Services Group – part of Echo Managed Services – outlines the dangers and why it is essential energy companies do more to safeguard the public (and their wallets).
E
nergy companies should be working harder to tackle meter cheating. That’s the firm opinion of almost nine in 10 (86%) energy billpayers, according to a survey we recently commissioned with the endorsement of Crimestoppers UK. In 2017/18, the energy sector met just 67% of its theft detection obligation under Ofgem’s energy theft incentive scheme, with just five out of 35 energy suppliers meeting or exceeding their individual residential targets. Given that each instance of meter tampering potentially places individuals, their families and neighbourhoods at risk of injury or worse, isn’t it time the sector came together to look at how to do more to help keep communities safe? Electrical Review | May 2019
AN EMOTIVE ISSUE A huge 92% of survey respondents said that they believe energy theft is wrong. Whilst some respondents did put the practice down to individuals being unable to pay their bills, half thought it was simply because people don’t want to pay for what they have consumed, even if they can afford to do so. Worryingly though, only 35% of respondents said they knew that meter tampering was a criminal offence, showing that more can be done to highlight the true impact of this crime. 95% of respondents expressed annoyance at learning that £20 is added to their bills because of energy theft. Surely this annoyance is an important driver to mobilise more reporting – and yet only 20% of respondents were even aware of this increase.