Utilities' IT caught in a jam

Utility firms fear delays to Traffic Management Act could affect project budgets and schedules

Delays to parts of the government’s Traffic Management Act are forcing utility firms to put IT projects on hold or press ahead unguided and without standards.

The Act will require gas, water and electricity firms that carry out roadworks to obtain permission from highways authorities before undertaking maintenance. It will also impose heavy fines for work completed late.

But utility firms and local authorities fear that the delays to regulations – originally due this autumn but now not expected until next autumn – could affect IT budgets and cut the time they have to develop electronic permit and notification systems.

Severn Trent Water and Three Valleys Water have both decided to press on with installing systems rather than wait for regulations to be finalised.

‘First we thought it was supposed to be in place by the end of the year, then we were told April, and now we hear it’s toward the end of next year,’ said Jon Greensill, information systems project manager at Severn Trent Water.

‘It does give us more time, but at the same time it is hard to plan or know what is going on.’

The EToN (Electronic Transfer of Notice) Developers Group was scheduled to meet with the Department for Transport (DfT) earlier this year (Computing, 21 April).

But the meeting, to seek approval for IT standards for consistent communications between involved parties, was postponed.

‘When things keep changing, utility firms get caught out, have to do things last-minute, or end up implementing projects that they later find out are not needed,’ said Greensill.

Chris Hone, Three Valleys Water’s IT operational works manager, says delays could affect the time organisations have to develop, test and implement systems.

‘It creates a challenge from an IT project resourcing point of view, as many firms have been setting aside resources for this for two years now,’ he said.

A DfT spokesman says utilities and local authorities will be consulted before the introduction of the regulations, which are expected next autumn.

‘Both we and the industry agree that there is no sense in getting into deep discussions about IT guidelines until the regulations are ready,’ he said. ‘We do not want organisations going in one direction if it is then decided that we should go another way.’