Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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4 | 27th June - 3rd July 2014 | utIlIty WeeK National media Eco take-up slumps the latest eco figures show a dramatic slump in take-up in April, down 56 per cent on the previous month. 42,090 measures were installed under Eco in April, down from 95,388 in the previous month. 818,701 total Eco meas- ures installed by the end of April. 36% of April's meas- ures were cavity wall insulation installations. 29% were boiler upgrades. 21% were loft insula- tion measures. 7% were solid wall insulation instal- lation measures. Russia 'working to undermine fracking' The head of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has accused Russia of undermining projects using hydraulic fracturing technology in Europe. Rasmussen said that president Vladimir Putin's government was behind attempts to discredit frack- ing, according to reports. "I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations – environmental organisations working against shale gas – to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas," he said. The Guardian KKR buys stake in Acciona for £334m Private equity firm KKR is to buy a one-third stake in the energy arm of Spain's Acciona for €417 million euros (£334 million), the companies said, as they move to develop one of the world's largest renewable energy portfolios. It is the latest asset sale by a Spanish renewables energy firm aer regulatory changes in Spain to cut costly subsidies. Reuters Tackling climate change makes economic sense Fighting climate change would help grow the world economy, according to the World Bank, add- ing up to $2.6 trillion (£1.5 trillion) a year to global GDP in the coming decades. The Guardian story by NUMbErs U KPN chief executive Basil Scarsella was set to be the only distribution net- work operator representative at the first hearing of a parliamen- tary inquiry into network costs, Utility Week revealed on Tuesday (24 June). Scarsella is set to appear next Tuesday (1 July) alongside Brit- ish Gas, which made headlines with its written submission to the inquiry in May calling for Ofgem to slice £500 million off network costs in the 2015-23 price cycle. Citizens Advice will appear in the same session. RES, First Utility and Haven Power will be called to the sec- ond session on the same day. In a late written submission to the inquiry, Haven Power blamed complex and volatile network charges for holding back com- petition in the non-domestic supply market. The inquiry's second day, originally scheduled for 15 July, could be delayed until aer the summer recess because the com- mittee has a number of ongoing inquiries. Committee chair Tim Yeo told Utility Week in February: "[Net- works] account for more than the green levies [on the bill] and they don't seem to get the same scrutiny… we've got some monopolies here and maybe we need to bear down on their costs a bit heavily." In a separate development, Ofgem signalled further scrutiny of networks with a consultation on Tuesday setting out a pos- sible referral to the Competition and Markets Authority. This is one of three actions it could take in response to the networks' fail- ure to open up to competition in connections. The consultation closes at the end of July, and Ofgem will commence its plans by the end of the year. EB Seven days... UK Power Networks' Scarsella to face MPs £19.1m The amount paid by The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) to developer RES for the 12MW Tallentire windfarm in Cumbria and the 10.2MW Meikle Carewe windfarm near Aberdeen. "That's no mean feat, but the business is well-equipped to meet the task, and it's a challenge I relish" James Cardwell-Moore, newly appointed director of sales and marketing for Scotland's Business Stream, on helping the company expand into the English market.