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UTILITY WEEK | 9TH - 15TH OCTOBER 2015 | 5 "That might be one of those things I regret saying in later life" Taxpayers' Alliance's research director Alex Wild urges the government to cut the warm home allowance now – because by the next election those affected "won't be around" to vote against the government, or just might have forgotten. Lord Adonis to lead Osborne's infrastructure drive Chancellor George Osborne has appointed a Labour peer to lead plans for a National Infrastructure Commission, which aims to drive growth in the transport and energy sectors through a 'depoliti- cised' body. Osborne told the Conservative party conference last week that Labour's proposed NIC plans will move forward under the Conserva- tive government, with Labour's former transport secretary, Lord Adonis, at the helm. Adonis is expected to resign the Labour party whip to take up the position. According to reports, Osborne is expected to pledge to "shake Britain out of its inertia" by estab- lishing the body to drive develop- ment in the UK's key infrastructure projects. He will also give an extra £5 billion in this parliament for major schemes. Adonis said, "Without big improve- ments to its transport and energy systems, Britain will grind to a halt. Major infrastructure projects like Crossrail and building major new power stations span governments and parliaments. I hope it will be possible to forge a wide measure of agreement across society and poli- tics on key infrastructure require- ments for the next 20 to 30 years." The plans for the NIC were a key part of the Labour party's election manifesto and were first proposed by former Labour leader Ed Mili- band the year before. ENERGY Utility Week, in association with the Energy Networks Association, held a fringe event at this year's Labour party conference in Brighton. Pictured from left are Utility Week editor Ellen Bennett; Audrey Gallacher, director of energy, Citizens Advice; Alan Whitehead, shadow minister for energy and climate change; Basil Scarsella, chief executive of UK Power Networks; and Matthew Wright, chief executive of Southern Water. The event was used to launch a utilities policy positioning paper, produced in association with Bain & Company, which is available to download at utilityweek.co.uk £14,193.65 The annual electricity bill for the Department of Energy and Climate Change last year, paid to its supplier EDF Energy. 2023 The year by which all the UK's coal plants will be closed, according to reports on the government's planned announcement ahead of the Paris climate talks to be held later this year. The UK's energy system loses more than half of its generated power from source to end user at a cost of £9.5 billion a year, according to new research led by the Association for Decentralised Energy. Although some energy loss is inevitable, the UK's grid is one of the least efficient in Europe, with potential savings of more than £3 billion if the government takes action. UK energy grid is one of Europe's least efficient