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utILIty WeeK | 26th February - 3rd march 2016 | 31 Community Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: ellen bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellen. bennett@fav-house.com; Assistant editor (insights): Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: jane.gray@ fav-house.com; Associate insights editor: mathew beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathew.beech@ fav-house.com; Deputy news editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080; e: lois.vallely@fav-house.com; Networks correspondent: Lucinda dann, t: 01342 332083, e: lucinda.dann@fav-house.com; Reporters: Saffron Johnson, t: 01342 332050, e: saffron.johnson@fav-house.com and Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tom.grimwood@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 enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332 507, e: peterbissell@ 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, east Grinstead, West Sussex rh19 1uZ 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2014 membership subscriptions: UK £637 per year. Overseas £749 per year. contact: Peter bissell on: 01342 332 507 Top Tweets The silence is deafening So, Centrica became the last of the big six energy suppliers to announce a cut to its domestic gas tariff this winter. If it was expecting a round of applause, its final "ta-daaaa" fell a bit flat, because most of the audience had le the building. Those in the media who noted the move at all greeted it with a slow hand clap. Too little. Too late. And anyway, a paltry sum. The Guardian hit upon the clever wheeze of not report- ing the percentage cut at all. "British Gas and EDF cut gas prices by £31 a year", it trumpeted with derision. It is interesting to ponder what the reaction would have been had they all put prices up by 5 per cent. Somehow Disconnector feels that the media collec- tively would have been a lot more interested and the sums involved would no longer have been dismissed as too small to bother about. Oh well. Aer the 24/7 roast- ing the sector has been given over the past few years, maybe indifference can be chalked up as a win. Cut and dried If utilities are given an unfair hearing in the popular (and not so popular) press, then at least in the main they are le to get on with their work unmolested – save for metal thieves some- times swiping copper cabling from substations (and some- times not getting electrocuted in the process). Spare a thought for the water board in Delhi, India, which had to call for military help aer protesters seized a key canal supplying the city with water, resulting in 10 million of the city's 17 million residents having their water supply cut off. Week-long protests and riots in the state of Haryana had already le roads and railways blocked and buildings set ablaze. Twenty people died and the army was deployed with orders to shoot to kill. Last Monday the leaders of the protests called off their action when the government capitulated to their demands (related to the allocation of government jobs), but it will take a week to fully restore Delhi's water system. The episode could prove a grim foretaste of things to come. Perhaps health secretary Jeremy Hunt would be a little more amenable to negotia- tion with junior doctors if they ditched the placards and blocked off London's water supply instead. Ridiculous, of course. But what about Eco protestors? Animal rights warriors? Political activists of any number of persuasions? In our ultra- urbanised world, protest movements around the globe may soon come to realise that if you want to push a point with people who live in cities, look to their utility provision. It adds a whole other dimension to the idea of resil- ience. Hedging your bets Unfortunately, resilience is not a key element in the, er, ambi- tious plans of Belgian architect and eco-visionary Vincent Callebaut. He has proposed building a futuristic village of garden towers (pictured) that would incorporate thousands of homes, shops, restaurants and all the rest, and actually produce more energy than it consumes. "Agricultural by-products are turned into methane that generates energy, which is then re-injected into homes in real time," he says. Called the Hyperions, the six 36-storey structures would be made entirely from natural materials, including the build- ings' skeletons, which would use wood rather than steel. And where does Mssr Cella- baut propose building his brave new world? Why, in Delhi, of course. Disconnector Ofgem @ofgem Latest data shows there were 6 MILLION energy switches in 2015 – up 15% on 2014. #shoparound @energyshopping GE Water @GE_Water 71% of the world's population may experience a form of #waterscarcity at least once a year. Stefano Gelmini @gelmo1981 Ouch. UK joins Poland and Saudi Arabia in "must try harder" group on @EY_UKI clean energy market outlook. Theresa Griffin MEP @TheresaMEP We're stronger when 28 states collectively tackle big energy and address energy poverty. #EUref Inenco @Inenco #Sterling jarred as #EU #brexit campaign intensifies, bullish for UK #energy prices. Grant Thomas @GrantAThomas As the circus of a Brexit referendum begins, let's not forget that if we installed more renewable energy we'd not be so reliant on anyone. Roger Helmer @RogerHelmerMEP Memo to Cameron: Prices should come DOWN after #brexit: no common external tariff; no perverse Brussels energy policies. Ann Robinson @AnnRobinson8 Ofgem's figures show energy switching has gone up from about 11% to over 12%. Good but not good enough when massive savings can be made. William Marchant @richonlyinname Network outperformance that has more to do with poor parameterisation of price controls than tremendous on-the-ground performance isn't new. The Climate Group @ClimateGroup To tackle climate change "we need more powerful, economical solutions – we need an energy miracle", says @BillGates