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UTILITY Week 13th November 2015

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UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH NOVEMBER 2015 | 31 Community Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellen. bennett@fav-house.com; News editor: Jillian Ambrose, t: 01342 332061, e: jillian.ambrose@ fav-house.com; Associate insights editor: Mathew Beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathew.beech@ fav-house.com; Assistant editor (insights): Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: jane.gray@fav-house. com; Research analyst: Vidhu Dutt, t: 01342 332026, e: vidhu.dutt@fav-house.com; Reporters: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080; e: lois.vallely@fav-house.com and Lucinda Dann, t: 01342 332083; e: lucinda.dann@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Richard Powell, t: 01342 332062, e: richard.powell@fav-house.com; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, t: 01342 332077, e: sarah.wood@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amanda.barnes@fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership subscriptions: UK £577 per year, overseas £689 per year, t: 020 8955 7045 or email membership sales manager Paul Tweedale: paultweedale@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Printed by: Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Published by: Faversham House Ltd, Windsor Court, Wood Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 1UZ 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2014 Membership subscriptions: UK £577 per year. Overseas £689 per year. Email: paultweedale@fav-house.com Top Tweets Caught in a web Sometimes we are struck by misfortune and there's nothing we can do about it; at other times, you can't help but feel we should have seen it coming. Disconnector muses thus on hearing of a drugs bust by the New South Wales police in Aus- tralia. When the boys in blue (or whatever colour they favour in NSW – taupe?) raided an industrial estate on Chalmers Crescent in Sydney, they found exactly what they expected: hundreds of cannabis plants. But the police were more taken aback by the Gordian knot of electricity cables and gang-junctions that in effect turned the drugs factory into a firetrap. It was a miracle the place hadn't gone up in smoke and the two blokes arrested at the scene were fortunate it was the police who found them rather than the undertakers. The police carted away cannabis plants that, once harvested, would have netted the perps more than two mil- lion dollars, so it's not as if they couldn't have afforded an electrician to set them up with a proper supply. Maybe the fact that they were also stealing the electricity from a nearby sub- station made them reluctant to hire a professional sparky. Whatever. Disconnector hopes that once they get out of jail (which won't be for some time – they take drug enforce- ment seriously in Australia), the two would-be drugs king- pins take health and safety a bit more seriously in their next criminal enterprise. Property with a sea view As it happens, if our Oz dope heads want to establish a criminal empire with aspira- tions to last any length of time, they may want to think about abandoning Sydney altogether. Why? Because according to researchers from pressure group Climate Central, most of the city will be under water by 2100, along with 1,800 other towns and cities around the world. That's right. Climate Central has modelled what would happen if we fail to limit global temperature rises to 2C and temperatures rose by, say, 4C. They predict this would mean sea levels rising by 38, which would have a devastating effect on 21 of the world's major cit- ies, including Sydney, New York and London. Perhaps falling victim to a biblical deluge is the only thing that will finally bring London property prices under control, but Disconnector concedes that it will be a hollow victory if properties are at last afford- able but also at the bottom of the sea. Phil and Kirsty were right: location, location, location. In your face! When it comes to global warm- ing, it's the older generation who have got us into this mess, but Disconnector is not convinced that the younger generation have the chops to get us out of it. They may be impressively computer literate and comfort- able with sophisticated modern communications, smartphones, apps and the rest of it, but research commissioned by the National Accident Helpline has established that 60 per cent of youngsters aged between 16 and 24 admit having injured themselves by dropping a smartphone on their face while reading. Forty-three per cent of them have walked into a lamp- post, wall or other immovable object while staring at their phones. It doesn't bode well in terms of their levels of foresight and intelligence. For the record, other notable causes of accidents last year were getting chillies in your eyes and being hit in the face by a popping prosecco cork. If you're seriously worried about global warming causing sea levels to rise, it might be sensible simply to move to higher ground. Disconnector Alan Whitehead @alanwhiteheadmp National Grid calls up DSBR to cover plant breakdowns: good for keeping the lights on but bad omen for Govt long-term energy (non) strategy. tom_watson @tom_watson "This has been an extreme day" as national grid pay £2500 per megawatt hour when they're used to paying £60. PeterMannionMP @PeterMannionMP The new Shadow Shadow Cabinet – break glass and deploy in case of emergency (h/t "@CarolineFlintMP") #Corbyn Solarcentury @solarcentury Would you rather pay £1 to power your home on clean solar energy or £33 for already delayed and over budget Hinkley nuclear? UberFacts @UberFacts Germany was the first country ever to imple- ment Daylight Saving Time in order to save energy during WWI. William Marchant @richonlyinname SSE boss tells #EL2015 it's broadly happy with 16 of the CMA's 18 proposed remedies. I think we can guess the gruesome twosome. Natalie Bennett @natalieben Further huge cuts in environment, transport, communities – depts that should be sup- porting low, carbon modern infrastructure. Disastrous Stefano Gelmini @gelmo1981 Shell out of the Arctic, Keystone's dead, Exxon's being investigated & the world's heading for largest drop in coal use ever. Not a bad year Chatham House @ChathamHouse Replacement of coal with gas should be the urgent priority. Don't let great be the enemy of good #EuropeChoices Magpie's View @MagpiesView As winter sets in and gas usage increases National Grid looks to sell a majority of its shares. I wonder how undervalued will they be?

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