Utility Week

Community But then as Humpty Dumpty once said: "When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less." Who knew he'd prove to be such a philosopher for our age? Dragon dream The government last year rejected proposals for a tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay on the basis that the £1.3 billion scheme was too expensive. But that doesn't mean you can't continue to dream. Among the next proposals for the bay is a futuristic … oating island with 10,000 homes. The proposal includes building an underwater data centre, a solar farm and giant under water turbines that could power thousands of homes over a period of 120 years. Dragon Energy Island points to similar schemes of man-made islands of homes, most famously the three Palm Islands oŒ the coast of Dubai. Hmm. Location, location, location, thinks Disconnector. Swansea lacks access to a fabu- lously wealthy clientele, and one of the things it does have a surplus of – rain – does not say "luxury island living". 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; Editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Digital editor: James Wallin, 01342 332015, jameswallin@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. Jonson Cox @ChiefExecCCC Following @Ofwat's investigation into Southern Water, shocking that there was such disregard for their responsibilities operation- ally towards the environment and their customers, who have truly been let down, and in terms of false reporting to @Ofwat. Caroline Lucas @CarolineLucas Southern Water *failed to main- tain equipment *polluted our envi- ronment with sewage *lied about it for 7 years. Water companies have been putting pro€ t before environment for too long. Time to take them back into public owner- ship @We_OwnIt #Brighton William Marchant @richonlyinname Ofgem's in the market for a new CEO. £200k basic plus a complimentary thrashing by the BEIS Select Committee every 3-6 months. Thomas Edwards @NotionalGrid Extremely frustrating delay to Project TERRE puts back imple- mentation to December 2020 Doug Parr @doug_parr We're in a climate emergency says UK Parliament. Let's go to net zero say Prime Minister Treasury responds by increasing tax on one of the key solutions #solar Gareth Redmond-King @gredmond76 Oh yes - this seems™a™great™idea, @hmtreasury - in a #ClimateEmergency why not whack a tax onto a climate solution, slowing down its deploy- ment & development?! Brilliant! [very slow hand clap] Top Tweets Which to be fair on Boris, it is – as long as MPs vote in favour of the withdrawal agreement. Which he didn't. Watch this space! Land of the free The pioneers of the internet her- alded a world with citizens able to access all human knowledge, un" ltered by the state – we were headed for an unparalleled world of truth and freedom. In practice, what the world wide web does is give us access not so much to the truth as whatever truth we choose. And it turns out that many of us choose truth more on the basis of whether it's entertaining or " ts in with our prejudices rather than its essential truthiness. Into this Orwellian world of newspeak we can add "freedom gas", referred to in a recent US Department of Energy release. The US undersecretary of energy, Mark W Menezes, applauding the increase in capacity of a gas terminal oŒ the coast of Texas, said: "Increas- ing export capacity is critical to spreading freedom gas through- out the world by giving Ameri- ca's allies a diverse and aŒ ord- able source of clean energy." In case you're wondering what "freedom gas" is, it's more commonly known as natural gas, which is more usually clas- si" ed as a fossil fuel rather than a source of "clean energy". Not in the Hunt It was the leadership contest that absolutely no-one wanted to see: Boris Johnson versus Jeremy Hunt. Everyone knew Boris was a shoo-in from the get-go, but at least if it had been Michael Gove we could have enjoyed a few weeks of seeing him stick needles into Bo-Jo's famously thin skin. But now we've got a month to get through and Boris feels he doesn't even need to turn up to the TV debates, at least not until all the postal votes have been cast, which leaves Hunt gamely trying to drum up some interest in this dead rubber. He's doing his best, dancing around for the cameras and calling Boris a "bottler", but Hunt's trouble is that he doesn't have the sneering malevolence necessary to land his barbs. No problem there for Gove, of course, which is probably why Johnson's team were rumoured to have rigged the race so he didn't appear on the " nal ballot. So, we'll all just have to wait until Johnson becomes PM before he " nally unveils what he's actually going to do, which given his clown persona may or may not be accompa- nied by an actual "ta-da". The single plank of his policy platform so far is that it is "eminently feasible" that we leave the EU by 31 October. UTILITY WEEK | 28TH JUNE - 4TH JULY 2019 | 31

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