Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH JULY 2019 | 5 "It's an incredibly small amount of money to get to net zero. We are not talking about huge amounts for what is a massive transition." Ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband says the Treasury is stuck in a "30-year-old mindset" when it comes to climate change. Sir David Attenborough has backed the government's goal of decarbonising by 2050 as the correct balance between radical action and what is practically achievable. Giving evidence this week to the BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) select committee, the renowned TV naturalist endorsed the net zero target, which was signed into law last month. WATER Thames Water says up to 650 jobs will be cut Thames Water has announced the potential loss of 350 jobs across the company with a further 300 posi- tions set to be removed through not filling vacancies and terminating contractor roles. The company, which was this week warned by Ofwat that it would have to revise its investment plans for the 2020-25 period, said the roles were primarily in support func- tions and management. It stressed that employees responsible for delivering services directly to cus- tomers would be largely unaffected. A spokesman said: "Thames Water is focused on maximising every penny we spend on priorities including reducing leakage and customer complaints. To achieve that, we must be as efficient and productive as possible across our business. This includes having the right mix of people in the right jobs, in the right buildings and sites, focused on the right priorities. "This is clearly very difficult news for employees directly affected and we will do as much as we can to support them, including providing practical help to find new roles." ENERGY Eon investigating potential GDPR breach Big six supplier Eon has launched an investigation aˆer an email reportedly containing nearly 500 email addresses was sent out to customers in error. The potential GDPR breach is now being investigated by the inter- nal customer rights team, which will report to the Information Commis- sioners Office "where required". An email was sent out by way of apology shortly aˆer and a "system error" was blamed for the mistake. This said the error was noticed within four minutes of the original email being sent and was recalled. All customers were asked to refrain from replying to the original email and were advised to delete it from their inbox. Eon said: "A full investigation will take place into this and the pro- cesses we have in place. We will be looking to add additional controls to prevent this issue from happen- ing again." 95% The vast majority of EV drivers would use smart charging to avoid expensive peak demand periods, according to a study by the Energy Technologies Institute. £500k United Utilities has paid out more than £500,000 as part of an enforcement undertaking for polluting the River Douglas at Horwich with ferric solution in 2016. Welsh Water's CEO to step down Welsh Water chief executive Chris Jones will retire in March next year, to be succeeded by current managing director Peter Perry. Jones has been a director of the company for 25 years and founded Glas Cymru, the not-for-profit enterprise that acquired Welsh Water in 2001. Perry has been managing director since 2017 and began his career at the company as an apprentice. MOVES Photo: PA

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