A Utility Companies' Credit Circle?

According to Credit Today, Max Griffiths, the head of credit risk at British Gas Residential, has apparently suddenly realised that sharing customer data early is a more effective way of getting paid in the short term - or at all! - than trying to collect a debt later on.

And I couldn't agree more. The question here, though, is - sharing with whom? And how, and to what extent?

Mr. Griffiths, speaking at the Credit Today Utilities Conference in Manchester, talked about 'accessing external credit data', but I have to say that the article published in Credit Today's on-line news gave me the distinct impression that the 'external credit data' he was talking about was that collected by other utility companies rather than the standard credit data collected by, for example, a credit reference agency.

Mr. Griffiths did acknowledge that all utility companies were obliged to use customer data correctly - but added that there was a lot a value in finding out how customers were behaving 'elsewhere'. And where, exactly, is 'elsewhere'?

Is Mr. Griffiths really contemplating a gigantic utility-based credit circle? And if he is, does he contemplate that circle abiding by the strict rules that govern all credit circles?

I can visualise the credit circle. It's the circle obeying the rules that I'm having a problem with.