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4 | 20th - 26th February 2015 | utILIty WeeK National media Switching plummets by a third in January energy uK data published this week reveals a significant drop in the number of customers who switched electric- ity supplier in January 2015, compared with December 2014, and a 5 per cent rise in switches to small suppliers. 36% fall in switches between Decem- ber 2014 and January 2015 211k number of customers who switched energy supplier last month 28k fewer people switched than this time last year 56k number of customers gained by independent suppliers last month EA pays £24k to move 55 water voles Moving 55 water voles from the Somerset Levels ahead of dredging work cost £24,000, it has been revealed. About 130,000 cubic metres of silt was removed from the rivers Parrett and Tone at Burrowbridge, last year. To complete the work, the Environment Agency (EA) said a "substantial relocation project" costing around £436 per vole had to be carried out. BBC News, 13 February Water crises could have a global impact The recent World Economic Forum Global Risks report identifying the ten "biggest threats to the stability of the world" over the next ten years named water crises as one of the top global risks. Competition for increasingly scarce water resources is already a real and compelling issue, impact- ing economies and societies in both the developing and developed world. Shortages are localised, which can create an immediate im- pact on communities, but also have the potential to have truly global consequences. The Guardian, 11 February Germany moves to legalise fracking Germany has proposed a dra law that would allow commercial shale gas fracking at depths of over 3,000 metres, overturning a de facto moratorium that has been in place since the start of the decade. Shale gas industry groups wel- comed the proposal for its potential to crack open the German shale gas market, but it has sparked outrage among environmentalists who view it as the thin edge of the wedge. The Guardian, 14 February Story by NUMbErS O fwat has appointed a new director for market open- ing in the second major overhaul of its plans, abandon- ing a scheme to appoint Scottish water regulator Wics, led by Alan Sutherland (pictured), to oversee the programme, aer it was voted down by the Scottish regulator's board. In a letter sent to water company bosses, Ofwat chief executive Cathryn Ross revealed the appointment of the new director, whose name will be announced in March, and who will report directly to her. Ofwat will also go out to tender for a commercial delivery partner within the next couple of months, and begin a series of independent "gateway reviews" of the programme, designed to give the sector confidence. Market Operator Services Limited, a private company set up by Anglian Water, Northum- brian Water and United Utilities, will procure the central IT sys- tems for the market by April. It is expected to become the market operator in due course. Ross acknowledged the con- tribution Sutherland had made to the programme. She said the plan to appoint Wics as delivery partner had "not been possi- ble." The move was vetoed by the Wics board at a meeting in January, although negotiations between the two regulators had reached an advanced stage. This is the second major change in the delivery arrange- ments for market opening in 2017. Last August, Ofwat announced that it was winding down Open Water Markets Lim- ited, the body initially charged with market opening, aer the Treasury refused to allow it to be classified as a private body. EB Ofwat overhauls market opening to replace Wics "They are fitter and they need the income" The looming utilities skills shortage expected as employees retire over the next eight years is not going to be as severe as originally predicted, according to United Utilities boss Steve Mogford, because people will work for longer. Seven days... 24hr Ofgem said this week that by 2019 it wants to see next-day switching using a centralised registration service run by the Data and Com- munications