Utility Week

Community Disconnector Let me explain… The problem with taking the moral high ground is that it's easy to get knocked off it. Take Npower, for instance, which last year decided to tackle the haters out there head-on with a publication called Energy Explained. The idea was to cut through the media hysteria and misinformation about energy and give the public the low-down. Its stated aim was the laudable, if lofty, ambition to "rebuild trust in our industry by presenting facts rather than opinions". Since the summer, of course, it's been downhill for energy companies, with hefty price rises attacked in the media and senior political figures openly accusing suppliers of "ripping off" their customers. This January's second report Energy Explained: Inside the Cost of Energy, sought to redress the balance by "shining a light on energy costs". One of the issues it wants to communicate to the great unwashed is that network charges make up a considerable part of the bill, over which suppliers have no control. It calculated that, by 2020, network costs would represent £314 of a typical household bill of £1,330. But before the report was even released, Ofgem was disputing its sums. Npower's calculations assumed that gas transportation charges would rise between now and 2020. Ofgem said they would be "broadly flat". After "further discussion with Ofgem", Npower conceded that 31ST JANUARY - 6TH FEBRUARY 2014 CAN SMALL PROJECTS DEMONSTRATE TO THE PUBLIC THAT SHALE GAS IS SAFE? p16 Interview: Chris Jones, CEO, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water p8 WHY NEW BIOMASS PLANT IS JUST TOO RISKY FOR MOST INVESTORS p20 UtilityWeek Ofwat walks the line THE BUSINESS OF UTILITIES Top Tweets total energy transportation costs would not rise by £25 after all, but by £10. The figure could turn out to be as low as £5. It hastily revised its figures before publication, which was just as well because when Energy Explained did hit the newsstand (well, the website), it was greeted with derision by Decc, which called it "misleading on so many levels". It basically accused the supplier of using the same sleightof-hand as politicians to come up with the answers it wanted. Worse was to follow. Npower had estimated that EMR would add £30 per megawatt-hour to business customers' bills between now and 2020. After "further discussion" with Ofgem and Decc it downgraded this to £25, and conceded it could be as low as £10. Disconnector is considering publishing his own how-to guide called The Dos and Don'ts of PR: How to Avoid Shooting Yourself in the Foot. Two's company Given his willingness to outrage public opinion in the West by locking up Greenpeace activists on charges of "hooliganism" or punk protest bands on the basis of sounding really terrible, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Russian president Vladimir Putin didn't give a stuff about PR. Far from it. The ex-KGB man spends an inordinate amount of time and effort cultivating a manly image – hence the care- fully managed photo shoots of the bare-chested former Judo champion holding automatic weapons or riding horses across the Russian tundra. These are aimed at a Russian audience, not the West, where quite frankly they look a bit camp, which is ironic given Putin's rabid anti-homosexual bent (as it were), which saw the passing of Draconian laws banning the "promotion of homosexuality" in the run-up to the winter Olympics in Sochi. Putin will therefore not be best pleased by a photo doing the rounds on Twitter showing the state-of-art toilet facilities of the media centre at the Biathlon Centre in Sochi, complete with cubicles containing twin sit-down lavatories. The Biathlon Centre was part-funded by none other than Gazprom. The photo, taken by BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg, has caused much hilarity among Russians, who have derided both the £30 billion cost of Russia's Olympic effort and what they have got for their money. "Two toilets: 28,000 roubles. Olympic media centre: 1.5 billion roubles. Global embarrassment: priceless" was a typical Tweet. What next? YMCA blaring out at the opening ceremony? Editor: Ellen bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellen.bennett@fav-house.com; Energy editor: Megan Darby, t: 01342 332087, e: megan.darby@fav-house.com; Features editor: Karma Ockenden, t: 01342 332086, e: karma.ockenden@fav-house. com; Reporter: Mathew beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathew.beech@fav-house.com; Reporter: Conor McGlone, t: 01342 332083, e: conor.mcglone@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul newton, t: 01342 332085; Business development manager: Ed roberts, t: 01342 332067, e: ed.roberts@fav-house.com; Sales executive: nicky shaw, t: 01342 332070, e: nicky.shaw@fav-house.com; Publisher: amanda barnes, e: amanda.barnes@fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Subscriptions: UK £577 per year, Overseas £689 per year, t: 01342 332011. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Printed by: buxton Press, Palace road, buxton, Derbyshire sK17 6aE. Published by: Faversham house Ltd, Windsor Court, Wood street, East Grinstead, West sussex rh19 1UZ Alice Bell @alicebell Cameron 'rips up green regulations' story possibly a distraction from Decc community energy strategy James Kershaw @James_Kershaw_ Despite PM's rhetoric, encouraging stuff from Decc today with plans for UK's first Community Energy Strategy Simon Read @simonnread If Ofgem were on Facebook it would describe its relationship with energy firms as: "It's complicated" James Murray @James_BG Bit of a throwaway line from @DECCgovuk but great idea – we have prettiest village competitions, what about most energy efficient? R Shepherd-DuBey @devoncatt Ofwat to hold back big water bill rises: Stop paying to foreign owners without repairing our pipes & water mains! LiberumAtherton @LiberumAtherton #Ofwat 3.85% COC will be seen as very tough by some companies, especially those with high leverage. But looks fair on our numbers Catherine Bearder @catherinemep Lib Dems steering Europe #environment policy in a greener direction #renewables 3WhitehallPlace @3WhitehallPlace We've been reminded by the Uri Geller Institute of Advanced Spoon Bending that shale gas will reduce energy bills if we all concentrate EnergyBillRevolution @EnergyBillRev The government has started to collect carbon tax from big emitters, lets use money help thousands dying of the cold #ColdHomesWeek ecotricity @ecotricity For one hour on 1 December 2013, wind energy produced 135.4% of Denmark's demand… subscriptions: UK £577 per year, Overseas £689 per year fhcustomerservices@ abacusemedia.com 3,580 average circulation Jan–Dec 2012 UTILITY WEEK | 31sT JanUarY - 6Th FEbrUarY 2014 | 31

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