Customer Engagement Group

Challenging Cadent's 2021 business plan

Zoe-McLeod-(1).jpeg“It’s easy for companies to make promises that they will put customers and the public interest at the heart of their decision making, but our role as a Customer Engagement Group will be to ensure it genuinely happens.

“The company has expressed an ambition to be one of the best network companies and we intend to hold them to that. This is an exciting opportunity to make a difference to around 11 million gas consumers and their communities in four network regions.”

Zoe McLeod, Customer Engagement Group Chair

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Aims and objectives

CEG-group.pngCadent’s customer engagement group

In June 2018 Cadent set up its customer engagement group with Zoe McLeod as chair.  The CEG brings together 13 independent people from a variety of backgrounds to provide independent examination and challenge to Cadent, in particular on its upcoming business plan.

The CEG provides independent examination and challenge to Cadent.  It gives views to the energy regulator, Ofgem, on whether the company’s business plan for the next regulatory period, known as RIIO2, addresses the needs and preferences of its stakeholders. 

Cadent’s existing and future stakeholders include individual customers, citizens, consumers, organisations and communities that are impacted by the activities of Cadent.  

These views will take the form of a report that will be submitted to Ofgem by the CEG, alongside Cadent’s business plan.

About customer engagement groups - CEGs

CEGs have been initiated by Ofgem through the RIIO2 framework and subsequently the need for CEGs within the distribution operators. 

Ofgem are currently in the midst of finalising the RIIO2 framework.  This will determine the regulated financial settlement and associated processes and requirements for the UK gas and electricity distribution network operators for the forthcoming regulatory period.

An integral part to the framework will be to encourage greater dialogue and interaction between the operators and their customers.  Therefore each distribution operator like Cadent will establish their own CEG and an over-arching panel that will be tasked with providing industry oversight and interaction with Ofgem.

CEG FAQs

  • Does the CEG represent customers?

    We do not represent customers directly and we are not a substitute for Cadent talking to their customers or other stakeholders. It’s our job to challenge Cadent on the way in which they do engage their customers and stakeholders, with a particular eye on how the feedback from customers and stakeholders has been taken into account in their business plan.

  • What do you mean by “customers”?

    In this context, “customers” is shorthand for “customers and other stakeholders”, in other words anyone or any organisation who is impacted by the work that Cadent do. This includes not only business and domestic gas customers in Cadent’s areas of operation, but also the general public and local communities.

  • Who are Ofgem?

    Ofgem is the energy industry regulator, who determine the maximum annual revenues that the energy network companies (such as Cadent) are allowed to earn and what they are required to deliver for their money. The framework for setting these requirements and the maximum revenues is known as a “price control”.

  • Is the CEG helping Cadent or helping Ofgem?

    We are independent of Cadent and have been set up to support Ofgem in the assessment of the company's business plan. We do this by challenging Cadent on the content of their business plan and the extent to which it takes account of stakeholder and customer views.  In December 2019 we will submit a report to Ofgem alongside Cadent’s business plan which contains our views and which will be published on this website. 
     

  • What is RIIO-GD2?

    RIIO-GD2 is the name given to the next gas distribution network price control which will run from 2021 to 2026. The review of the price control for the RIIO-GD2 period is now underway. RIIO stands for (Revenue = Incentives + Innovation + Outputs) and is intended to encourage network companies to put stakeholders at the heart of their decision-making process.