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6 | 12th - 18th December 2014 | UtILItY WeeK People & Opinion All I want for Christmas is… Some of Utility Week's regular chief executive contributors share their festive wishlists. Chief executive views Christmas messages Juliet Davenport, chief executive, Good Energy "The gis I'd like to see under the Good Energy tree would be: a fourth consecutive top rating from Which? for our customer service; planning approvals for all our renewable generation sites and trouble-free builds for all those under construction; for the government to widely praise renewables for driving down prices for customers and delivering a low-carbon, low- cost world; and for all our Solar Schools 10:10 to raise the funds they need for solar panels… and of course, a white Christmas so we can all go sledging!" Mike Foster, chief executive, Energy & Utilities Alliance "When the smell of Christmas dinner starts to whet your appe- tite, think of this – half the coun- try will be using a gas cooker, supplied safely via our gas grid. Gas outages will be rare; power surges managed economically and eight out of ten homes kept warm by gas central heating. There are enough things to worry about at Christmas, we forget about the basic infrastructure. Let's thank those who will be working over Christmas to make sure we can enjoy ours, and make a New Year resolution not to take our grid for granted." David Smith, chief executive, Energy Networks Association "Aer the severe weather last Christmas caused such damage to our electricity infrastructure, network engineers had to work long hours in extremely chal- lenging conditions to restore power to people's homes. For their sake, I hope the weather is calmer this year, and the men and women who keep the lights on can enjoy some well- deserved time with their families at Christmas." Neil Robertson, chief executive, Energy & Utility Skills "Christmas is oen a time for reflection and thinking about those around us. Employers in the Energy & Efficiency Indus- trial Partnership are giving many more people opportunities to learn about, and find, good jobs in their companies. It's a great time for all firms to think about how we can do more together to prepare the next generation for the great opportunities in our industry. It's the longest lasting present we can give." Johanna Dow, interim chief executive, Business Stream "A retail market that delivers for customers in England would be top of my Christmas list. A work- able commercial margin which provides retailers with proper incentive to compete will drive the behaviours which benefit customers. They'll be forced to compete on service, innovation and value, which our experi- ence tells us are the factors most important to customers. If the margin is set in the spirit of Scrooge, the Brussel sprouts on Christmas day will look more attractive… Oh, and a handbag or something like that would be nice too." See p14 for more comment on retail margins in the UK non- domestic water market. Utilities countdown to Christmas The Energy and Efficiency Industrial Partnership (EEIP) has been fuelling its yuletide spirit with an alterna- tive advent activity. For each of the 25 days before Christmas it is posting a story of employer commitment to skills and people development from the utilities sector. At time of writing, the calendar had opened doors to reveal insights from school-aged and graduate interns with Energy & Utility Skills. There are also updates on recently launched pilots and education programmes with organisations including the Institution of Engineering and Technology, United Utilities and Thames Water, among others. To see the latest additions to the EEIP's advent calendar: www.energyandefficiencypartnership.co.uk