A day in the life of a CEG member

As a member of the Wales & West Utilities Customer Engagement Group (CEG), I can assure you that a day in the life of a CEG member can be a very varied thing! Our job is to challenge the company’s Business Plan, which must be submitted to the regulator, Ofgem, as part of the RIIO-GD2 price control review.  It is this plan which will set out the future of the company over the period 2021 – 2026. So, this is not a job to be taken lightly!

The CEG comprises of individuals from very different backgrounds, each of whom can (and does!) provide a unique insight and challenge. You can find information regarding the panel members of the Wales & West Utilities website, here

As one can see, we are quite an eclectic bunch!

As you would expect, we take our job seriously; papers and plans are read and a critique prepared. Depending on the task, we may all provide our individual perspectives or we might decide to divide up aspects of the plan between members of the group – I am the lead member for the section on assets (that’s things like pipes and governors – the control systems of the gas network), for example.

Although we only meet once a month, the pre-reading can take a lot longer (the Business Plan is over 200 pages!). It is common for a flurry of emails to pass between group members as the next meeting draws close! Our job is to provide constructive feedback, particularly exploring how the plan benefits Wales & West Utilities customers and stakeholders. This feedback might be challenging (it often is!) but we always try to present in a fair and good-natured manner.

All of this is set against a backdrop of our other work commitments. For example, until December 2018 I was Managing Director of Bristol Energy. Although it can be challenging juggling work commitments, it is this diversity of experience that really adds to quality of the group and the range of ways we’re challenging the company’s plans.

As the group has got to know each other better (we are now on meeting number 7), we have started to learn more about each other and about our lives away from the CEG. It makes for some really interesting conversations and lots of laughter, which is always a good thing!

I’m really proud to be a member of the CEG and to be given the opportunity to work with such a great set of colleagues. Together, I think we’re making sure that Wales & West Utilities next business plan is one that meets the needs of customers and other stakeholders as the way we all use energy changes.