Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 28Th March - 3rd aprIL 2014 | 5 "We are more competitive than most of Europe: many countries don't have the plural market we have" Energy UK chief executive Angela Knight makes the case against a CMA referral. However, Ofgem was expected to make the referral on Thursday, after Utility Week went to press The number of external leaks from 143 onshore oil and gas wells that were still active in the UK at the end of 2000 1 A retail exit was among a number of last- minute amendments Labour was seeking to add to the Water Bill as Utility Week went to press on Tuesday. Labour's Lord Whitty (pictured) was set to propose an amendment on retail exit, which water minister Dan Rogerson has said would risk "a bad outcome for household customers". Whitty also called for a national affordability scheme and an amendment that would require landlords to supply water companies with the details of their tenants, in an attempt to tackle bad debt. The government has already proposed amendments to its Bill to tackle over-abstrac- tion, which will require Ofwat to consult on the environmental impacts before approving the bulk transfer of water between companies. However, critics have called for more substantial abstraction reforms and Lord de Mauley has called for an amendment requiring the secretary of state to compile a report to be laid out before Parliament within five years after the Act is passed. WaTEr Siemens announced on Tuesday it would invest £160 million into a new wind turbine factory in Hull, doubling the amount previously planned. The investment relates to the Green Port Hull project construction, assembly and service facility and a new rotor blade manufacturing facility in nearby Paull, in East Riding. Associated British Ports will invest another £150 million, bringing the total to £310 million. Siemens had been working on plans to invest £80 million but said it had chosen to double its investment because of the UK's wind-friendly policy framework. Plugged in Blog: Budget's energy package for British manufacturers "British manufacturers and business groups were amazed last November when the chancellor's long heralded energy package failed to deliver help for businesses with the rising cost of energy. But it seems that this time around their voic- es have been heard. The package promises energy costs savings for the economy of up to £7 billion by 2018/19, the majority of which will go to businesses. The focal point of this package is a reduction in the UK's carbon tax, costing the government almost £900 million by 2018/19. The tax works by 'topping up' the price paid across Europe for carbon with a UK-only tax on electricity producers. The tax, which was introduced by the current chancellor in 2011, will now be capped at £18/tCO2 from 2016/17 instead of rising to around £21/tCO2 by 2020. This will be welcome news to many manufacturers, but there will still be concern that this did not go far enough, as without reform of the EU cap-and- trade scheme their European counterparts will face a much more modest carbon price of around £6." Mathew Beech, Utility Week reporter Read more at www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/blog LinkedIn It is a smart world, the year is 2030 – how different does your home look? Step into your imagination for a minute – jump forward 16 years, past the deadline of 2020 for the UK smart metering rollout. Andrew Mealey, senior consultant (utilities) at Advanced Resource Managers David Porter, former chief executive at Energy UK: "Perhaps, before looking 16 years ahead, first take your- self back to 1998 and check what you thought 2014 might look like. Hmm. Then do 2030." Join the discussion with Utility Week's LinkedIn group, Utility Week networking and news Last-minute amendments to Bill

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