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UtILItY WeeK | 24th - 30th OctOber 2014 | 31 Community Disconnector Editor: ellen bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellen.bennett@fav-house.com; News editor: Jillian Ambrose, t: 01342 332061, e: jillian.ambrose@fav-house.com; Associate news editor: Mathew beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathew.beech@fav-house. com; Energy correspondent: Joyeeta Basu, t: 01342 332110, e: joyeeta.basu@fav-house. com; Insights editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: jane.gray@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, e: paul.newton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ed Roberts, t: 01342 332067, e: ed.roberts@fav-house.com; Sales executive: Hayley Cronin, t: 01342 332077, e: hayley.cronin@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: 020 8955 7045. 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 The regulator who stole Christmas Ofgem has clearly been stung by criticism that it has been too so on the big energy companies, but Disconnector thinks maybe it is trying too hard to redress the balance. Earlier this year, in a bid to increase market liquidity, it mandated that energy traders should be forced to offer prices during two daily "windows" – the latter for an hour between 3:30 and 4:30 in the aernoon. Fair enough, you might think. But traders have become irate to learn that Ofgem is playing hard- ball over the Christmas holidays and has said Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve should be busi- ness as usual, with traders sat at their desks offering prices for power while the rest of the world slopes off for the aernoon. "As far as we are concerned, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are business days, so unless the obligated parties can come up with a convincing reason why they should not be regarded as business days, they will have to trade on those days," a spokes- man for Ofgem was quoted in the press as saying. Apparently, the argument "because it's Christmas" is not regarded by Ofgem as a convinc- ing reason. What did I say? Disconnector has a sneaking admiration for Owen Paterson, Disconnector the former environment secre- tary sacked earlier this year by David Cameron to make way for the altogether more fragrant Liz Truss. Paterson was unpopu- lar with many people while in office, chiefly because he was not afraid ask hard-headed questions of well-meaning but clueless townies when it came to issues of managing the coun- tryside. He got a fair number of brickbats lobbed his way as a result. Even so, the quieter life on the back benches clearly doesn't have the draw one might imagine, since last week he was getting back into his groove and offending environ- mentalists across the board. In a wide-ranging speech for Lord Lawson's Global Warming Policy Foundation, he laid the blame for 6,000 deaths a day world- wide on green pressure groups who blocked research into genetically modified food and demanded the repeal of the 2008 Climate Change Act tying Britain into meeting renewable targets. Instead, he wanted a generation industry founded on shale gas and small nuclear power plants (which don't exist yet, but could if we tried a little harder, accord- ing to Paterson). You gotta love him. He couldn't have caused more out- rage among Guardian-reading tree-huggers if he'd been caught throwing kittens at a wall. Paterson has previously blamed his sacking on the "green blob", which was his riff on Michael Gove's lampooning of the faceless bureaucracy that ministers faced whenever they tried to get anything done. Well at least there was nothing faceless about the reaction he garnered for last week's speech. From leading campaigners to heavyweight politicians and renowned sci- entists, they were quite happy to stand up and be counted as among those who thought Paterson was "bonkers". Maybe with bonfire night coming up, Owen just wants to make sure he features as many people's first choice of guy. Dry your eyes Mind you, Chinese inventor Chuan Wang would prob- ably be no less popular with environmentalists if he ever gets his idea into mass produc- tion – an umbrella that does away with the standard canopy in favour of a "force field" of compressed air. How's that for finding an energy-intensive solution to a problem that doesn't exist? Disconnector has been unable to ascertain what Wang thinks the big USP of his device will be, apart from the ability to alter the diameter of the force field depending on how many people want to stand under it. Against that, people will effectively be walking around carrying broom handles that emit a high-powered but invisible stream of compressed air at eye level – what could possibly go wrong there? 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2013 Subscriptions: UK £577 per year, Overseas £689 per year fhcustomerservices@ abacusemedia.com David Lloyd Owen @Daviddwr Jonson Cox looks back over 25 years of private sector #water at @YorkshireWater @AnglianWater and @Ofwat uw-twentyfiveyears.net/28586 3WhitehallPlace @3WhitehallPlace Today the gorgeously dynamic Amber is with Eric Pickles unveiling a plaque commemorating a windfarm he's rejected Rich Hall @richonlyinname Ironic Ofgem says "more interconnection will help with GB's security of supply" – because its security forecasts treat it as a liability Liberal Democrats @LibDems Owen Paterson's views reveal the disdain Tories like him show for the environment. Lib Dems are proud of our work to tackle climate change John Parnell @pv_techjohn I think O-Patz might have locked himself inside Defra and started sending out rogue commands… Tim Probert @TimProbert There's a distinct whiff of Peter Lilley about Owen Paterson's (not very credible) mini nuclear plant idea Leo Hickman @LeoHickman Davey on Didcot: "I've been reassured by National Grid that there is no risk to electricity supplies" Decc @DECCgovuk Without action, 50/50 risk of more than 4°C hotter by 2100. Flood and heatwave risk has increased. Urgent action is needed #climatechange James Beard @JamesBeardREA This Defra PR is bonkers gov.uk/government/ new… #Solar farms usually invisible from ground & complementary with agriculture & conservation Andrew Cooper @clrandrewcooper Remind me who's the Decc cabinet minister? Is it Ed Davey the Lib Dem? What about all this supposed influence you have? Top Tweets