Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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Top Tweets Greg Barker @GregBarkerMP: EdM's Red #Energy Plan would mean nuclear winter for new investment, massive job losses and rocketing bills as soon as freeze over! #Lab13 Tim Rotheray @trotheray: It will sell well with voters but I struggle to understand how Ed Milliband can guarantee a price freeze on energy bills for 2 years. #lab13 David Powell @powellds: 2 ways I can see to freeze prices. (1) price caps (2) pay difference out of tax. (2)'s out. (1) is communism. This'll be fun. New control systems for a wave energy device have doubled the amount of power captured, bringing the technology a step closer to commercial use. The next generation of Pelamis Wave Power's "sea snake" apparatus showed the better performance in a tank simulation of "small and medium seas". ENERGY 10% £2.4bn The amount by which Decc has downgraded its forecasts of renewables output by 2020. However, falling demand means the predicted share of renewables in the energy mix is marginally down, at 33.7%. The total value of the contracts for the infrastructure and service provisions for the smart meter rollout confirmed by Decc this week. The smart meter rollout is scheduled to begin in 2015. "As an industry, we focused on the mantra of choice and choice actually led to complexity" Tony Cocker, chief executive, Eon. Interview p8 GAS Companies lining up for UK shale gas boom Companies are positioning themselves to cash in on shale gas in the UK, it emerged this week. Australian unconventional gas company Dart Energy has earmarked £11 million in cash – raised from its sale of interests in China – for shale gas and coal bed methane (CBM) projects in the UK. And unlisted UK company Shale Energy has bought the UK shale and CBM assets of Australian firm Eden Energy to focus on UK projects. The cash, along with funds raised from a $21 million rights issue, will be used in an "active" drilling programme in the UK. Benedict Brogan @benedictbrogan16h: Greatly liking #Labour low-key, small zone, no searches security. Gives #labconf nice, retro almost - whisper it - Lib Dem feel FSB @fsb_hq21h: The way we do politics is a tribal, anachronistic, yah-boo bloodsport and PMQs is absurd, says Chuka #labconf" @FSB event James Chapman (Mail) @jameschap pers5m:Tories: Lab has now committed to spending proceeds of more bank taxes on 11 different things, totalling least £30.695 billion #lab13 Online feedback We have been told by the government it's OK for suppliers to charge consumers extra for investment. But have you noticed the suppliers are not really investing. Gas storage rejected (we are one of the worst in EU for this) and the supplier companies say no to new power stations. A Consumer I never ever thought I would come to the rescue of Ofgem. There are many things they do wrong and waste money on extravagant accommodation, etc, but government is to blame for the reduction in tariffs. It is the failure of proper competition that is the problem. We started from the wrong point when it was privatised to bring in the cash quickly. Ray Cope UTILITY WEEK | 27TH SEPTEMBER - 3 OCTOBER 2013 | 5