Utility Week

UTILITY Week 11th September 2015

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Efforts by water companies to clean up water courses across England have seen the lamprey, a prehistoric fish, return to the country's rivers for the first time since the 1800s. The Environment Agency has worked with Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent and other water companies to improve the water quality of the rivers Ouse, Trent, Don and Derwent. It has also fitted lamprey tiles, which have cones that allow the fish to use their sucker-like mouths to anchor themselves as they swim upstream to their spawning grounds. UTILITY WEEK | 11TH -17TH SEPTEMBER 2015 | 5 Crypto hits UU aqueduct plans United Utilities (UU) has been forced to shelve plans for its main- tenance project at the Haweswater Aqueduct in the fallout of the cryptosporidium crisis. UU had to redeploy some of the 450 staff earmarked to work on the scheme to deal with the "major incident", which saw more than 300,000 customers being forced to boil their water for a month before restrictions were fully lifted last weekend. The resolution of the crisis came too late for the project to continue as originally planned, and UU confirmed a 12-month delay just two weeks before work was due to start. UU has started paying compensa- tion to customers affected by the boil notice and expects to pay out around £15 million. For more on the share price impact, see p19 WATER Smart Energy GB, the consumer engagement campaign for the smart me- ter rollout, has revealed that 84 per cent of customers with a smart meter would recommend one to others. The campaign's second smart energy outlook, compiled from more than 10,000 interviews with British consum- ers between May and June this year, also reveals that 79 per cent believe their energy bills are accurate, compared with 59 per cent without. Smart meters come highly recommended Attitudes towards energy: smart meter customers versus those without smart meters £100m Southern Water has secured a bumper European Investment Bank loan to help fund improvements to water supply and wastewater treatment in its region "Crude and simplistic" Former Labour MP and shadow energy minister, Tom Greatrex, on Jeremy Corbyn's energy policy. See p11 "Deeply saddened" Eggborough Power chief executive Neil O'Hara as he considers closing the plant in March next year 10% Firmus Energy has cut its gas prices by 10 per cent in the greater Belfast area ➟ 10,000 customers a month Nottingham City Council hopes to grow the not-for-profit Robin Hood Energy, which launched this week as the first council-owned energy supplier since privatisation Those without Those with a smart meter a smart meter I think my energy bill is accurate 59% 79% I understand my energy bills 56% 75% I think I have the information I need to choose the right energy tariff 53% 72% I think I pay the right amount for the energy I use 55% 69% I trust my energy supplier(s) 46% 66% I'm not concerned about running up a big energy bill (without realising it) 36% 51% I trust all energy suppliers 30% 36% I think I have the information I need to choose the right energy supplier 9% 12%

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