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National media France 'ready to sell more energy stakes' France is ready to sell more of its stakes in energy companies and its holdings need only be big enough to maintain influence over strat- egy, according to energy minister Segolene Royal. Asked whether the state would be ready to reduce its stakes in 84 per cent state-owned utility EDF or 33.6 per cent state-owned gas util- ity GDF Suez, she said those stakes could fall "as long as we maintain the same influence". Reuters, 16 November Water charges row leads to bomb threat Irish police are investigating a bomb threat to a government minister's office as tensions heighten over the introduction of water charges. A woman phoned environment minister Alan Kelly's constituency office in Nenagh, County Tipper- ary, and delivered a "menacing and threatening" warning. It was reported to police. Meanwhile, protesters tried to stop the Irish prime minister's car in Sligo on Monday evening and scuffles broke out. BBC News, 17 November Tony Abbott maintains support for coal Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has told a G20 leaders' discussion on energy he was "standing up for coal" as the Queensland government prepares to unveil new infrastructure spend- ing to help the development of Australia's largest coal mine. Abbott opened the closed-door discussion on energy on Sunday by telling the world leaders that "as the world's largest producer of coal, I'd like to stand up for coal". The Guardian, 16 November T he government's Electricity Market Reform (EMR) pro- gramme is being rushed and the quality of delivery has been adversely affected, MPs were told on Tuesday. Leonie Greene, head of external affairs at the Solar Trade Association (STA), told the Energy and Climate Change select committee (ECCC) that there was a "relationship between pace and quality" that the government was failing to adequately balance. She said: "Full credit to the Department of Energy and Climate Change [Decc] for the pace over the past six months, but I feel this has come at the expense of quality." Greene added that the indus- try was hit with an "avalanche of consultations" from Decc, some of which were "only a cou- ple of weeks long", meaning the STA "barely had time" to consult its members. She stated: "The pace was so fast that it was difficult to believe the feedback was being assimilated." Greene was supported by the Renewable Energy Asso- ciation's (REA) chief executive Nina Skorupska, who said the EMR programme had been introduced "at such a pace" that the smaller members of the association "may not be able to participate effectively" in the reformed energy market. She added that the reforms were being introduced in "quite a piecemeal way". In a statement, Decc said the industry and stakeholders had been consulted "extensively" to ensure the "policy design was as transparent as possible". MB Rushed EMR lacks quality, claim renewables groups Seven days... Switching surges The number of people changing electricity supplier reached its highest level in October, according to Energy UK. 345,000 number of consumers moving to a new deal in October 138,000 net gains by small suppliers, hitting an all-time high 152% increase in switching compared with last October 33% rise in electricity switching number compared with September Story by NUMbErS £32m Amount paid by The Renewables Infrastructure Group for the 16MW Earlseat windfarm in Scotland £280m Amount of customers' cash that energy suppliers are holding on to due to billing errors, according to Uswitch "Companies who don't get it right will be subject to more intrusive assurance processes, and more burdensome regulation" Ofwat chief executive Cathryn Ross says there will be no return to easier times on regulation 4 | 21ST - 27Th NOvEmbEr 2014 | UTILITY WEEK Source: Veolia Christophe Manani d'Inguimbert