Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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4 | 13TH - 19TH NOVEMBER 2015 | UTILITY WEEK National media Public backs Green Deal replace- ment A poll by the Energy and Cli- mate Intelligence Unit has revealed the majority of the British public is eager to see subsidies given to programmes that reduce energy waste. 84% support subsidies for energy waste- cutting policies 79% support subsidies for insulating homes 77% support subsidies for cutting energy waste in power transmission 60% British properties are more than 50 years old 80% houses will still be standing in 2050 Tierney quits as Irish Water boss A recruitment process is due to be- gin in the coming months to replace John Tierney as boss of Irish Water. The embattled managing director is to retire at the end of his three-year contract in April. A spokesperson for the company said it had "abso- lutely no idea" what the terms of Mr Tierney's retirement package would be, but they would "ultimately be in the public domain". "This is October and we are talking about something in April," she told the Irish Independent. Tierney's retirement aer 39 years of public service was con- firmed in a brief statement. Irish Independent, 9 November US extends support for nuclear projects The US Department of Energy has unveiled a $12.5 billion loan guar- antee solicitation to spur innovation and growth in the nuclear power sector. The funding will be used by projects that involve development of advanced nuclear reactors, small modular reactors, uprates and upgrades at existing facilities, and front-end nuclear facilities. Energy Business Review, 9 November India aims to meet renewable energy targets early The Indian government will push to achieve renewable energy instal- lation targets two years early, as it looks to enact more aggressive policies to promote development of renewable energy infrastructure. India has set a target to have 100GW solar power, 60GW wind energy, 10GW small hydro power, and 5GW biomass-based power pro- jects operational by March 2022, but its energy minister recently stated that the government will try to achieve this target by 2020. Clean Technica, 9 November STORY BY NUMBERS National Grid's Bonfield: 'I'm not going anywhere' Seven days... "The time is right to move on" Steve Johnson is to leave his role as chief executive of Electricity North West early next year. "It is going to be challenging" Energy Secretary Amber Rudd admits the government doesn't have the right policies in place for transport and heat to reach the 2020 targets, but says she'll change that. More, p13. N ational Grid finance director Andrew Bonfield has ruled out an early exit from the company aer company veteran John Pettigrew won the chief executive role last week. Both Bonfield and Pet- tigrew were tipped as early front-runners to succeed Steve Holliday in the top spot next summer, and investors raised concern that Pettigrew's success might prompt the well-regarded Bonfield to resign. But following the company's strong financial results released on 10 November, Bonfield confirmed his commitment to National Grid, and the com- pany's commitment to its US business activities. "I am committed to National Grid in the long term. I'm not going anywhere and I expect to remain here for a number of years to come," he told Utility Week. He also confirmed the com- pany's commitment to its regu- lated business in the US, where it has recently filed a request for a higher revenue return from its Massachusetts activities. Bonfield said the company was confident it would get most of what it asked for in the com- ing weeks. "It's difficult to see a set of circumstances in which we would pull out of the US," Bon- field said, adding that it offers some of the highest growth in the company's business areas, and a strong yield. Meanwhile, the company is in the early stages of disposing of its gas distribution assets, with the "usual suspects" likely to show interest, Bonfield said. National Grid intends to sell a stake in the four gas distri- bution networks rather than separate the assets, Bonfield said, because there were "syner- gies which benefit customers" in keeping the assets together. JA More on National Grid, p6, p15