Utility Week

Utility Week 24th May 2019

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UTILITY WEEK | 24TH - 30TH MAY 2019 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Angela Smith, MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Water Group 9 | Inside story Labour sets out its plans to renationalise networks 12 Policy & Regulation 12 | News Centrica wins price cap judicial review 13 | Chief executive's view Greg Jackson, Octopus Energy 14 | Analysis Aquafl ow becomes the fi rst supplier failure in the water business retail sector 16 | Market view The ramifi cations of replacing the CMA with the courts 17 | Market view Ofgem shakes up entry criteria for new entrants 18 Finance & Investment 18 | News Nuclear write-offs hit Grid for £137 million 19 | Market view The cost drivers of offshore wind 20 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz SSE's Beatrice offshore wind farm 23 | Expert view Paul Haggerty, vice president, utilities; head of UK water sector, Capgemini 25 Customers 25 | News Citizens Advice urges Ofgem debt reforms 27 | Market view Emotion, ethos and ethics 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 16 | Market view The ramifi cations of replacing the CMA with the courts WATER 6 | Interview Angela Smith, MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Water Group 14 | Analysis Aquafl ow becomes the fi rst supplier failure in the water business retail sector 23 | Expert view Paul Haggerty, vice president, utilities; head of UK water sector, Capgemini ELECTRICITY 19 | Market view The cost drivers of offshore wind 20 | High viz SSE's Beatrice wind farm ENERGY 9 | Inside story Labour sets out its plans to renationalise networks 13 | Chief executive's view Greg Jackson, Octopus Energy 17 | Market view Ofgem shakes up entry criteria for new entrants 27 | Market view Emotion, ethos and ethics 25 | News Citizens Advice urges Ofgem debt reforms 12 | News Centrica wins price cap judicial review DOWNLOAD: How to beat the digital disruptors at their own game https://bit.ly/2MfKXA8 See the Community section, page 30 If you are responsible for your company's outsourced or internal customer service centre we can deliver compelling cost savings to your business, with a typical rate for an FTE of just £10 per hour. 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AN APPSOLUTE MUST IFS: Sponsored report: Getting Ahead in the Diversifying Energy Market https://bit.ly/2MXkFkI Leader Suzanne Heneghan The wrong agenda Another week, another headline about renationalisation – and this time it's the networks' turn. It seems utilities are fated to remain relentlessly in the political spotlight over their ownership this year. They may have known it was coming, but it is now becoming unnerving, not least because, as this column goes to print, much is being made about the forthcoming European elections, the rise of the Brexit Party and its potential impact on the electoral maths and balance of power at Westminster. Utilities will not have missed the implications of what it could mean for them if Labour were to ultimately bene t from the fallout and gain more seats, as some parliament watchers predict. And just as their water company counterparts did last week, networks have now been forced to publicly step up to the plate, argue their corner and shout about their track record, spurred on by the release of Labour's more detailed vision paper Bringing Energy Home. Networks claim renationalisation would be turning the clock back, and it couldn't come at a worse time for an industry that is already transforming and making important progress towards a more e‚ cient, green energy system – one t for the UK's ambitious future decarbonisation targets ahead (see analysis and opinion, pages 9-11). They have pointed to the risks of delaying or curtailing the deployment of cutting-edge innovation at a key moment in the cli- mate change battle when the levels of clean energy being delivered are at a record high. They highlight the widespread concern that such upheaval could damage investment, stability and lead to long-term legal wrangling, and they have reiterated once more why they are the best custodians of such lifeline services. And all this when time is on no-one's side. Those in networks with long memories point out that such sys- temic change by government (as with privatisation) does not come quickly, nor cheaply. We need only look to the paralysis caused by Brexit to know that nothing has changed there. As former Labour MP Angela Smith says on page 6, rather than talking about who owns networks, shouldn't we be thinking about what needs to be done? At a time when decarbonisation is critical, when we have a growing population and a burgeoning demand, it should be the challenges facing networks and water companies that are the focus of everyone's agenda, not ideologies. This is all too important to get wrong. Suzanne Heneghan, acting editor, suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com

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