Introduction: It’s not always possible for Northern Gas Networks to maintain a continual gas supply to its customers. There are unavoidable times where essential network maintenance, disconnections and upgrade works must take place to ensure the continued reliability and performance of the network. Throughout these times, vulnerable customers could potentially be left without gas.

Whilst NGN provide additional welfare to its vulnerable customers in times of service interruption, this is specifically focused around cooking and heating.

However, (through independent research), NGN’s customers have identified a ‘need’ to be supported further with hot water provisions. Whilst this is not a regulatory requirement, vulnerable customers without access to hot water are likely to have their ‘daily routine’ impacted upon.

The effects of not having access to hot water could potentially impact on the:

• Customers who are medically dependent on hot water.
• Health of NGN’s vulnerable customers.
• Routine of those customers with young children.
• Personal hygiene of customers and therefore their daily routine.
• Number of customer complaints.
• Number of financial claims.
• Customer’s perspective of NGN’s social responsibility commitments.

Objectives: Project aim:

To deliver an asset management tool for the optimised selection and delivery of researched (evaluated) temporary hot water supply solutions (or alternative measures), suitable for use in typical gas supply interruption scenarios. The focus of which is placed on vulnerable customers.

Project objectives:

• Identify and asses ‘practically feasible’ temporary hot water supply products (or alternative measures) for use in typical gas supply interruption scenarios. Delivered in the form of a technical note.

• Develop an informed outlook of the lifecycle management of temporary hot water supply products (or alternative measures). Delivered in the form of a framework document.

• Develop a decision support tool for the optimised selection of customer ‘welfare provisions’, (incorporating exiting and newly identified solutions). Delivered in the form of an ‘input driven’generated ‘output’ tool.

Note – The term ‘practically feasible’ refers to the application of the identified product, evaluated against a multi--criteria to assess its use on the gas network.