Utility Week

Community suicide or acts of violence a er receiving sinister threats on messaging service WhatsApp from users with a pro le pic- ture of a distorted image of a woman with bulging eyes. Videos of Momo are also said to have been spliced into Peppa Pig and loaded on to YouTube, prompting several heads of primary schools to send kids home with factsheets warning parents of the craze and issuing advice on how to safeguard the kids. The only problem is that it's a hoax. Spokespeople for YouTube and WhatsApp have said they've found no evidence of any material about Momo on their platforms – but that hasn't stopped the story spreading like wild re. It's a classic urban myth, where people are only too will- ing to believe something that, with a erthought, is clearly ridiculous. Much like the Grayling Challenge, where an unfeasibly incompetent minis- ter is given another department to run despite having le a trail of destruction at all his previous posts. Disconnector Publishing director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Content director: Jane Gray, janegray@fav-house.com, t: 01342 333004; Acting editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Acting content director: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@fav-house.com; Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; News editor: Katey Pigden, t: 01342 332082, e: kateypigden@fav-house.com; Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@ fav-house.com; Reporter: Adam John, t: 01342 332069, e: adamjohn@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, e: sarahwood@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332117 Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e: sophieabbott@fav-house.com; General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Offi ce. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2018 Membership subscriptions: UK £769+VAT per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the publishing director, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk Matt Rooney @mattrooney11 Dr Alan Whitehead MP, Shadow Energy Minister, speaking at the Net Zero Carbon Emissions debate in the Commons: "We are all together in this house... perhaps all together for the rst time when it is almost too late." Claire Perry @claireperrymp Amazing to see UK CO2 emissions at 1888 levels! So much more to do, but the actions we're taking together are delivering results. #ClimateChange #CleanGrowth Claire Spedding @ClaireSpedding New month, new start .... as of today I've le' NGESO to take up a new position as director of National Grid Smart metering. Very very sad to leave but looking forward to new challenges and continuing to play a part in the decarbonisation and decentralisation transition. Mark Lynas @mark_lynas UK carbon emissions are now lower than at any time since the late 19th century. 1888 to be precise, the year my great grand- father was born... William Marchant @ richonlyinname The nature of the regulatory con- struct is that we all spend large chunks of our working lives stuck in work groups with people that we occasionally nd annoying. I'm afraid that's as unavoidable as death and taxes. Jonathan Graham @enerjg Energy geek problem #43 When trying to text the word 'love you' to your wife, predictive text keeps making you text her 'LCOE you' Top Tweets Chris Grayling Momo the animal rescue organisation had no contract with the re service, nobody got paid. Sehr said rescuing the rat was the right thing to do and the only payment the remen got was drawings of the rat sur- rounded by red hearts, which were penned by the two little girls who discovered it. Whether anyone at Bensheim's pest control service got a similar gi is not recorded. Bin it Fat rats in the sewers is some- thing we may have to get used to in this country too if people don't stop disposing of food down the toilet. Disconnector muses thus as another water company has had to repeat exhortations asking the public not to ll the sewers with fats, oils and greases – or in Anglian Water's case, battered roast dinner accompaniments. Last month, Anglian engi- neers were called to Ipswich due to a sewage drain blockage. They took a look and found the drain was blocked because "somebody dumped a load of Yorkshire puddings in the sewer". Challenging times Talking of stupidity, most read- ers will be aware of the "Momo Challenge" craze sweeping the internet, where young children are being encouraged to commit Not such a rat race In Britain, people may be queuing up for food banks, but it would appear life is a good deal easier else- where in Europe – especially in Germany, where food is so plentiful that a portly rat in the town of Bensheim got stuck in a manhole cover and had to be freed by remen. Yes, I know what you're thinking, they could have freed it by smashing a shovel on its head, but they do things diŒ er- ently in that part of Germany. So when local resident Knut and his two young daughters spotted the distressed animal, their reaction was to try to rescue it. When this failed, they called on the services of Michael Sehr of the Profes- sional Animal Rescue Rhein Neckar, who in turn called his buddies in the re brigade. Disconnector can only imagine that not much happens re-wise in Ben- sheim, because nine remen responded to the callout, li ed the manhole cover and freed the rodent. Which promptly scarpered back into the sewer. And even though the rescue mission would normally be billed at around £100, since UTILITY WEEK | 8TH - 14TH MARCH 2019 | 31

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