Benchmarking service quality in UK electricity distribution networks

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to review the evolution and development of customer service performance measures in the electricity sector since privatization in 1989, and then examine the impact of a specific recent energy regulatory requirement (known as information and incentives project (IIP)) on the organizational management of an exemplar electricity distribution company. Also discussed is how the sector has tried to learn from benchmarks from a number of such literary disciplines as economics, marketing service quality, and total quality management. Design/methodology/approach-The research first presents a survey of the historical development of performance standards based on archival documentation. It is then augmented by the employment of a longitudinal "tracer study", involving the isolation and firsthand real time qualitative observations of a company's key strategic and operational activities, to understand how they related to the other organizational phenomena at large. This process spanned an investigative period of two years. Findings-The paper finds that much of the early standards used in electricity immediately after the sector's privatization rested much on those in the water and gas safety sectors, which themselves were then admittedly inadequate in UK. The IIP, a complementary set of service quality standards, worked on these early problems, but the implementation of the new scheme proved problematic and warranted major organizational reengineering, as shown in the exemplar company, ElectriCo. IIP has impacted on organizational management mostly in the areas of: higher-level strategic change, causing noticeable internal confusion during strategic transitions, building a performance management system, improvements in performance data, and establishing more effective ways for management. Research limitations/implications-While the case example used in the research is a regional monopoly and is a good representation of the context in which the service standards operate, the findings are limited to the one company. It is a UK specific context without international comparison. Originality/value-The research has combined archival research with an innovative firsthand methodological approach (tracer studies). Its value is in how the story of service standards in electricity (and specifically distribution) has been augmented from the early customer service standards to the most recent IIP considerations. It also looks from within the company, which has been missing in longstanding research in the more traditional disciplines such as economics.

Water Benchmarking in Buildings: A Systematic Review on Methods and Benchmarks for Water Conservation

“…Results showed institutional fragmentation as the main challenge to achieve better service performance due to inconsistent data from different water utilities operating within the same regions. A similar effort in the United Kingdom showed that many original standards for energy efficiency were inadequate, demanding the sector to be restructured for establishing suitable benchmarks [35].…”

Power Supply Small And Medium Scale Enterprise In Rivers State Nigeria

“…Businesses who have looked into alternate power sources have found that running on a steady generator power supply is costly and, in most instances, capital heavy. As an aside, customers in Nigeria essentially have no option but to pay for the critical service of electricity, which is protected from competition (Chau, 2009;Watson et al, 2002). From an economic perspective, this means that any disruptions in the electrical supply chain could potentially dampen the nation's economic growth and development, and secondly, that the general public's interests, particularly those of individuals who depend heavily on electricity, could be jeopardised due to price increases and the "degradation of quality of supply and customer service" (Chau, 2009).…”

“…As an aside, customers in Nigeria essentially have no option but to pay for the critical service of electricity, which is protected from competition (Chau, 2009;Watson et al, 2002). From an economic perspective, this means that any disruptions in the electrical supply chain could potentially dampen the nation's economic growth and development, and secondly, that the general public's interests, particularly those of individuals who depend heavily on electricity, could be jeopardised due to price increases and the "degradation of quality of supply and customer service" (Chau, 2009). The above points to the need of researching how electricity supply affects the efficiency of SMEs before taking any kind of policy decision in this area.…”