Utility Week

Community raged that our team didn't win despite the fact that we regard the contest with contempt. Doubtless Nigel Farage will be spluttering his indignation and renewing his calls for a hard Brexit. Fatbergs rule, OK? In what must surely pass as some sort of coming of age for the water sector, the word "fatberg" has been o• cially recognised as a legitimate word to play in Scrabble, as decided by Collins, which has just published a new o• cial Scrabble dictionary, revised for the rst time since 2015. The great man is unsure how properly to digest the move. On the one hand, it's good to get widespread recog- nition of a problem that has long plagued water companies. On the other, it implies that the people behind the dictionary assume that "fatbergs" are going to be round for a long while yet. Other words to make an o• cial entrance include "bae" and "genderqueer", which Disconnector sni• ly regards as not having put in the years to prove themselves, and – oddly – the two-letter word "OK", which has been in common usage since forever. Those dictionary folk, always spoiling for a ght. 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 Intelligence editor: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@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; Editorial assistant: Greg Jones, t: 01342 332102, e: gregjones@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. 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 (IPSO), the regulator of 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 we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint, please contact the Editor. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you want more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk. Chris Stark @ChiefExecCCC Here is our report on #NetZero in the UK by 2050. The culmina- tion of an immense programme @theCCCuk The target must cover ALL sectors, ALL greenhouse gases, achieved through domestic action alone. This target meets our Paris obligations, a„ rming UK global leadership. READ IT Extinction Rebellion @ExtinctionR The advice of @theCCCuk to the UK government is a betrayal of current & future generations made all the more shocking coming just hours aŠ er UK MPs passed a motion to declare an environment & climate emergency. Jan Rosenow @janrosenow In all the years I have been work- ing on the clean energy transition @theCCCuk has been one of the most progressive forces out there. Their staŽ are highly skilled and passionate. I think accusing them of betrayal is not only oŽ ensive but arrogant and naive. Emma Pinchbeck @ELPinchbeck Push for more from actual delay- ers/denials. Lead the debate on justice. But this quote shows ER to be really poorly informed about who the CCC are, their means to act, and their task re targets (which is technical, not political or moral): this is best report I've seen from CCC George Day @Georgeday27 This really is interesting - @theCCCuk being asked to advise on carbon policy instruments. Are we seeing a crucial evolution in the CCC's role? Top Tweets All quiet on the Brexit front Talking of angry gammons – which let's face it, we were – Disconnector can't help but wonder if the whole Brexit circus is running out of steam. Not in the sense of being resolved, of course (it's going to go on and on for years, one way or the other). But running out of steam in the sense of people simply losing interest. The great man can't help but observe that in the build-up to the series nale of Game of Brexit – where Labour and the Conservatives attempt to thrash out a deal against the ticking clock of a last-minute EU exten- sion that the French president swears will be the last – Brexit seems to have lost its audience. At one time the machinations of Labour and Tory negotiations would have been pored over in granular detail, but the truth is that even Laura Kuenssberg is looking a bit bored by the whole thing. The uncomfortable fact for May and Corbyn is that it wasn't Brexit that was knocked o– the front pages by the arrival of the new royal baby, but Brit- ney Spears. But fear not, dear reader, the great man is sure that normal service will be resumed soon. In just four days' time the Eurovision Song Contest kicks o– , which gives the nation its annual opportunity to be out- Prawn to be wild People in the UK are angry, we are always being told. Espe- cially those living in the hinter- lands of the country (which as far as the London-based media is concerned is anywhere that isn't London). Populist politicians, who will remain nameless, like to claim this is because people are disen- chanted with Westminster and the dominant "liberal elite". A more prosaic answer may that a lot of country folk are simply coming down o– hard drugs. The great man ponders thus on the news that scientists from King's College London, in collaboration with the Univer- sity of Su– olk, tested prawns from 15 locations in Su– olk looking for micro-pollutants and were surprised to nd traces of cocaine – in all of them. Many of the prawns also contained traces of ketamine, another recreational drug that can result in violent mood swings, as well as the pesti- cides and pharmaceuticals the researchers had expected to™ nd. It might explain why there never seems to be a shortage of angry, red-faced residents whenever telly journalists do a vox pop inviting "ordinary people" to give their opinion of their political masters. UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH MAY 2019 | 31

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