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UtilitY WEEK | 11th - 17th April 2014 | 5 "£110 billion of investment – yes, it worked! It transformed water from an industry that was underfunded to one that can access the capital to do all the things it needs to do" Wessex Water chief executive Colin Skellett at Sustainability Live, participating in the Utility Week debate on the 25th anniversary of privatisation of the water sector, with Sir Ian Byatt, Lord Moynihan and Jonson Cox "Windfarms have a place – and it is offshore by and large" Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps. See political agenda, p13 The closure of two UK Coal collieries would be "disastrous" for energy security and energy prices in the UK, according to the chief executive of Eggborough, Neil O'Hara. O'Hara said if the government was not able to rescue UK Coal, it would shut down the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire and Thoresby Colliery in Nottingham- shire in the next 18 months, and the UK's energy security and current prices would be "potentially threatened". With 40 per cent of the UK's electric- ity coming from coal, O'Hara warned that failure to save UK Coal could lead to energy prices rising. He said: "The impact on energy secu- rity and energy prices could be disastrous and particularly unfortunate after the country has worked so hard to pull our economy out of recession." ElECtriCitY Good Energy chief executive Juliet Davenport celebratesthecompany'sgrowthasitbenefitsfromthe troubles of the big six. See p23 Plugged in Blog: Collaboration – the key to innovation Within the water industry, there's a drive to do things very differently in the next AMP period and the eight2O alliance is a great example of this new way of working. It's a partnership of eight organisations, each with significant expertise in their own field of work: • Two joint ventures – Costain, Veolia, Atkins (CVA) and Skanska, MWH and Balfour Beatty (SMB) • IBM as the technology and innovation partner • MWH as the programme management function • Thames Water (as alliance partner every bit as much as client). Collaboration is at the heart of the alliance – and its one of our key workstreams in its own right. Well that's nothing new, you might say. Surely, collaboration is essen- tial to every partnership? Well yes, but the collaboration between the eight2O partners is much deeper and more integrated than I've ever encountered before. Keith Wishart head of innovation, sustainability and collaboration at eight2O. LinkedIn Competition & Markets Authority investigation Duncan Sinclair: Barrister at 39 Essex Street Ofgem has had such a change at the top that any criticism won't be taken personally. Indeed there are some aspects which have been relative backwaters upon which a fresh pair of eyes may be entirely welcome… Ron Yellon: MD, Auditel Perhaps you get the regulator you deserve (the you being the politicians and the industry). If there is a perception of capture, of just lack of teeth, then ultimately its unsustain- able and doesn't help companies over the longer term. Join the Discussion with Utility Week's LinkedIn group, Utility Week networking and news UK Coal closures 'disastrous' 1.5tWh output of London Array in its first full winter (October 2013 to March 2014)