Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 5TH - 11TH OCTOBER 2018 | 5 A number of water companies took part in National Refill Day on 27 September, which was aimed at promoting the Refill campaign under which people can refill reusable water bottles for free at participating businesses, dubbed Refill Stations – such as pubs, restaurants and cafes. Thames Water took to the streets with their own "plastic man" covered in 175 plastic bottles that were initially dumped in the River Thames. On average London residents buy 175 plastic bottles annually and Thames was keen for residents to visualise the amount. "Rising wholesale costs have put serious pressure on energy companies in 2018, and they have responded by raising their SVTs" Rik Smith, an energy expert at Uswitch Last chance to book Utility Week Congress is being held next week on 9-10 October in Birmingham. We will be welcoming key figures from inside and outside the industry to this flagship event. Debates will tackle what future business models will look like, and what market structure – or state-defined architecture – energy and water companies will have to operate in. Coupled to this, there will be a regulatory panel debate with Ofgem, Ofwat and Utility Regulator chief executives setting out what successful regulation looks like; keynote addresses from Sir John Armitt, the chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission and Cindy Rose, chief executive of Microso UK; and a focus on Ireland and Europe ahead of Brexit. To book your last-minute place, visit: event.utilityweek.co.uk/congress/ Peak renewables This latest Energy Trends report from the Department of Business, Energy and industrial Strategy (BEIS), out this week, shows total electricity gen- eration down 0.7 per cent compared on the same quarter in 2017. Renewables hit a new record in the second quarter ( April to June) of this year as solar power picked up the slack from a summer "wind drought". Renewables' share of total gen- eration rose from 30.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2017 to a record 31.7 per cent this year. See renewables analysis, p16 The first issue of Flex, Utility Week's new quarterly title focus- ing on technology-driven trans- formation is published with this week's magazine. It includes: an interview with National Grid's new chief information and digi- tal officer, Adriana Karaboutis; asks whether new technology is driving better customer engage- ment; and "downloads" the 16 apps no utility company should be without. 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Hydro Wind onshore Wind offshore landfill gas Sewage gas Anaerobic digestion Biomass and waste Solar PV MW NIA appoints new chair The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), the trade associa- tion for the UK's civil nuclear industry, has appointed Tim Stone as its new chair. Stone, who is a non-executive director of the Arup Group board and a non-executive director of Horizon Nuclear Power, will replace Lord John Hutton who will step down at the conclusion of his term at the NIA's annual gen- eral meeting on 5 December. Thames Water appoints non-executive director from Centrica Jill Shedden, who is currently group director of human resources at Centrica, has been appointed a non- executive director at Thames Water. Shedden, who joined Centrica as a marketing graduate in 1988, has held a number of HR roles before being appointed to her current role in July 2011. Following her appoint- ment to the board at Thames Water she said: "Thames Water is under- going a major period of change and I am delighted to be joining the board at such an important time." APPOINTMENTS

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