Utility Week

Community Perhaps feeling that he needed a win (what with impeachment and all), Donald returned to the subject of North Korea last week, ring o a tweet that the North Korean leader had "everything to lose" if he acted in "a hostile way". It's unclear what he hoped to accomplish with this, but it probably wasn't to be publicly denounced in the North Korean media as a "heedless and erratic old man". Perhaps Trump should have been mindful that he's not the only thin-skinned politi- cal leader in the ring, nor the only one disappointed that the Vietnam meeting didn't yield any results. In May, one of South Korea's leading newspapers reported that Kim's chief nuclear negotiator at the Hanoi sum- mit, Kim Hyok-chol, had been executed along with four other senior diplomats. Trump is not the only politi- cian who employs direct lines of communications with his "base". A bad light Donald Trump's other pre- occupation – apart from North Korea and impending impeachment – is energy- saving light bulbs. And not support for energy- saving light bulbs, either. Far from it. He loathes them for making him appear orange. 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 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; Water correspondent: Ruth Williams, e: ruthwilliams@fav-house.com, t: 01342 332069 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 £950+VAT per year. Contact Jo Nikiforov on: 01342 332077 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. living through, what sort of Santa might Boris turn out to be? There's the boozing, philan- dering Bad Santa, of course, as personi ed by Billie Bob Thorn- ton in the lm of the same name. Or even Krampus, the mischievous demon of central European folklore that has actu- ally become a problem in Austria of late, with yobs using Krampus festivals as cover for sometimes extreme anti-social behaviour. Good Santa, Bad Santa or Krampus? Or the Grinch? Truly, we are spoilt for choice. You've been Tango'd It's been a mixed year for Don- ald Trump. On the one hand it's been a "very, very good year, the best year ever". On the other, it's been simply awful (it depends on who you ask). The US prez's single diplo- matic success – forming a personal relationship with North Korean roly-poly psychopath Kim Jong-un (much against the advice of America's security establish- ment) may be going South. In February, Trump attended a one-to-one with Kim at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, but it broke up early when no nuclear agreement was forthcoming. Let the festivities begin… Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This is the last issue of Utility Week for 2019 and it goes to press just as the good folk of these united isles go the polls to choose our next glorious leader. Which for utilities – if not a great many others besides – is problematic, given that one of the central planks of the main opposition party's programme for government is to grab the assets of energy companies for a "fair" price. We don't know yet what constitutes fair, except that it won't be the market rate. Ho, ho, ho indeed. Given the existential threat to the sector posed by Jeremy Corbyn, that would make him The Grinch Who Stole Christmas if elected. And that in turn must make avuncular funny man Boris Johnson Santa Claus. But given this topsy turvy time we're UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH DECEMBER 2019 | 31 It's a subject he's waxed lyrical on before, and been lampooned for before, but that didn't stop him returning to the subject last week when he talked to the press až er a roundtable ostensibly about the needs of small business, and promptly went o piste. "They got rid of the light bulb that people got used to… it doesn't make you look as good… It gives you an orange look, I don't want an orange look… so we'll have to change those bulbs," he said, apropos of nothing. He also got on to water e¡ - ciency, sort of, by complaining about toilets that don't ¢ ush properly. "People are ¢ ushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once… They end up using more water. So EPA [Environ- mental Protection Agency] is looking at that," he said. So there you have it. It's not all playing golf and trying to start ghts with crazed dicta- tors armed with nuclear weap- ons. They also have a president interested in water e¡ ciency and energy-saving light bulbs, albeit from a particular perspective. His own. But given this topsy turvy time we're albeit from a particular perspective. occupation – apart from North Korea and impending impeachment – is energy- saving light bulbs. And not support for energy- either. Far from it. He loathes them for making albeit from a particular perspective. His own. albeit from a particular perspective. His own. Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, but it broke up early when no nuclear agreement was forthcoming.

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