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UTILITY WEEK | 6Th - 12Th march 2015 | 3 Leader Ellen Bennett This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview David Smith, chief executive, ENa 11 Policy & Regulation 11 | News Energy policy stifles innovation, mPs warn 12 | Utility Week Lobby In-depth political coverage 15 | Market view Get smart now, don't wait until tomorrow 17 Finance & Investment 17 | News Pr14 sparks credit reviews by moody's 18 | Market view First cfDs give little cheer to new technologies 19 | Investor view martin Brough 20 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz EDF Energy's Sizewell B 21 | Pipe up Paul mullord 23 | Market view Prepare for water competition 24 Customers 24 | News Water firms criticise social tariff disjoint 25 | Market view a measure of satisfaction 26 Markets & Trading 26 | Market view Spare capacity costs National Grid £30m 30 Community 28 | International Women's Day 30 | Reader of the week Luis miguel alcedo, Opower 31 | Disconnector Green Deal was DOA – whose fault is that? "The next five years have all got to be about innovation… We're not going to get that from the big six, who have no interest in real energy efficiency. My biggest mistake was taking the big six at face value in the early years of this parliament when they said they were inter- ested in energy efficiency. Absolute rubbish. They are not." Strong words from climate change minister and one-time cham- pion of the Green Deal, Greg Barker, this week. But is his accusation fair? Barker is really making two claims. First, that the big six failed to embrace the Green Deal; second, that they are not interested in energy efficiency. These are two separate issues, and while the major energy companies may be guilty as charged on one, the second does not necessarily follow. Certainly, the big six did not greet the Green Deal with great enthusiasm. But could this be because they believed the politically motivated, Whitehall-designed scheme to be doomed from the start? The complexity of the payback mechanism, the government's half- hearted attempt at a national ad campaign, the 11th hour abandon- ment of the Golden Rule… The Green Deal was dead on arrival and it seems unfair to expect energy companies to shoulder the blame. The second claim, that the big retailers are not interested in energy efficiency, is harder to substantiate. Early adoption of smart meters, technologies allowing remote thermostat control – these suggest that at least some of the big six see the business opportu- nity. The companies are also on course to meet their 2015 Energy Company Obligation targets. Admittedly, these were watered down – but that was, again, a political decision. Perhaps the real problem is that competitive companies in an open market, answerable to their shareholders, are being expected to deliver policy objectives and then blamed when, for political reasons, they go wrong. See you at Utility Week Live Energy efficiency is just one of the many topics on the agenda at Utility Week Live at the NEC, Birmingham, on 21-23 April. With three free-to-attend seminar theatres on the show floor, as well as a sepa- rate strategic conference, the show will bring together more than 150 industry leaders, speaking in a programme brought to you by the editorial teams of Utility Week and our sister titles WWT and WET News. Register now at www.utilityweeklive.co.uk Ellen Bennett, Editor ellen.bennett@fav-house.com GaS 19 | Stock watch GDF Suez 25 | Market view how to measure customer satisfaction WaTEr 11 | News Water UK leads sewerage taskforce 17 | News Pr14 sparks credit reviews by moody's 21 | Pipe up Paul mullford 23 | Market view Prepare for water competition 24 | News Water firms criticise social tariff disjoint ELEcTrIcITY 15 | Market view Get smart now, don't wait until tomorrow 18 | Market view Pr14 sparks credit reviews by moody's 20 | High viz EDF Energy's Sizewell B 26 | News Spare capacity costs National Grid £30m 26 | News Spare UK-Belgium power link moves ahead ENErGY 6 | Interview David Smith, ENa 11 | News Energy policy stifles innovation, mPs warn 17 | News First full-scale tidal plans move ahead 19 | Investor view martin Brough Knowledge worth keeping Visit the Downloads section of Utility Week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Salesforce: how the cloud can help meet business objectives http://bit.ly/1EFZjlj Vodafone: machine- to-machine (m2m) Utilities Insights http://bit.ly/1BDpCGZ