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UTILITY Week 19th June USE

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4 | 19TH - 25TH JUNE 2015 | UTILITY WEEK National media Switching hits 1.5m for 2015 Last week, Energy UK revealed the latest electricity customer switch- ing data, supplied by Electralink. 1.5m electricity customers have switched in 2015 251,318 number of switches in May 25% fall since April 60% drop since March 417,394 switching rate in March 65,052 number of elec- tricity accounts gained by inde- pendents in May 26% share of switches by independents in May Divorce growth from greenhouse gases The world needs a "peaceful divorce" between economic growth and the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, a leading energy econo- mist has said – but this will happen only if a UN climate conference in December sends a strong signal that governments are serious about tackling global warming. Fatih Birol, incoming executive director of the International Energy Agency, said the conference in Paris would be "the last chance to put the energy sector on the right course". In an interview with The Guardian, he added: "If we do not get a strong signal from Paris, this [reform of the energy sector] will take a very, very long time to put right." The Guardian, 15 June BP: global demand for energy 'slowing' Growth in global demand for energy has slowed to levels not seen since the late 1990s, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy, which said global energy consump- tion "slowed sharply" to just 0.9 per cent in 2014. BP said slow growth for energy demand was largely due to China's economy moving away from "energy-intensive sectors". BBC News, 10 June California faces largest water cuts in its history California state regulators have or- dered farmers and others to reduce their water consumption, with the largest cuts in the state's history. The State Water Resources Control Board ordered more than 100 water rights holders to stop all pumping from three major waterways in one of the country's prime farm regions. Agriculture experts say the cuts will have little immediate impact on food prices, with the growing of some crops to shi to regions with more water in the short term. The Independent, 14 June STORY BY NUMBERS B usiness Stream is plan- ning a further assault on the English non-house- hold market, having won a con- tract for three House of Fraser stores, including its Oxford Street flagship, and opening the door to an acquisition. Speaking to Utility Week aer the announcement of the House of Fraser contract, chief execu- tive Johanna Dow signalled the company's interest in buying the non-household retail arm of any English incumbent water com- pany looking to exit the market, which opens in 2017. She said such an acquisition "is definitely something that is on the radar", adding that the company was "perusing a num- ber of different opportunities for market entry into England post-2017". Dow said the lack of clarity over exactly how the market would look meant "nothing can be ruled out" and that Business Stream was "always looking for additional opportunities on how we might enter that market and establish a bigger footprint". A number of incumbent water companies are expected to exit the market, to focus on their wholesale and household businesses. These will seek to sell their non-household busi- ness. Ofwat is due to publish a consultation on market exit later this year. As part of the House of Fraser deal, Business Stream will install automated meter readers into ten stores in England, fol- lowing a successful deployment at its stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow. These will provide 15-minute meter readings and help to identify any leaks. MB Business Stream eyes English acquisition Seven days... 12.6% the market share of the smaller and independent energy suppliers "I want to know that carbon capture and storage really works before we make that commitment…" Prime minister David Cameron on setting a 2030 decarbonisation target

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