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UTILITY WEEK | 29TH APRIL - 5TH MAY 2016 | 3 Leader Ellen Bennett This week 4 | Seven days 6 | People & Opinion 9 Policy & Regulation 9 | News Irish Water set for a takeover by the state 10 | Market view Adopting Investor Confidence Project standards 11 | Market view Liberalisation of energy markets has brought systemic instability 12 | Event Roundtable on competitor challenges in the water market 15 Finance & Investment 15 | News Ecotricity buys ailing solar panel business 17 | Analysis The quest for dividend growth will focus on utilities 18 Operations & Assets 18 | High viz SgurrEnergy 20 | Analysis What the utilities industry will look like by 2030 22 | Market view Digital technology is a huge opportunity for utilities 23 | Market view Managing the risks to supply 24 | Market view Prepare for accounting and customer services challenges 25 Customers 25 | News Which? calls for CMA follow-up review 27 | Analysis Industry reaction to the CMA's proposed remedies is mixed 28 | Market view The customer is the priority when it comes to smart meters Community 31 | Disconnector Changes at the top for network operators And so the world of networks bids a fond farewell to Steve Johnson, outgoing chief executive of Electricity North West, with this week's news that his replacement, Peter Emery, has been appointed and will take up the reins on 17 May. Johnson will be a hard act to follow. Under his leadership, the network has punched well above its weight, both in terms of innova- tion and in regulatory performance. It also performed notably well in times of stress, such as the 2013 Christmas storms, when it escaped the censure handed out to some of its fellows. Johnson has a wide and varied background in utilities, including stints in water and contracting at United Utilities and Morrison's, and chances are, we haven't seen the last of him. Let's hope not. Emery, meanwhile, who joins from generation giant Drax, will bring an interesting perspective to the DNOs' top table, particularly given his hands-on experience of the ill-fated White Rose carbon capture and storage project. There will be similar insight on the other side of the regulatory fence, with Jonathan Brearley, architect of Electricity Market Reform during his time at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, about to take up the reins of network regulation at Ofgem. As networks position themselves for an expanded role overseeing a more flexible power system, such broader perspectives seem both timely and useful. Ofgem's recent disappointing decision to rule out allowing DNOs to own and operate storage, revealed by Utility Week last week, might be a good place to start the discussions. • Interesting news from Ofwat this week, with Cathryn Ross's hint that the regulator's endgame is to completely deregulate prices in the non-household retail market. It's perfectly logical – a competi- tive market implies free prices and it would solve the thorny issue of the margin, generally considered to be too low to create active competition in the nascent market. But it's significant that this is the first time it's been said. With household reform and upstream reform both looming on the horizon, water companies can look forward to enjoying a new kind of freedom – with all the challenges and oppor- tunities that entails. Ellen Bennett, Editor ellen.bennett@fav-house.com GAS 17 | Analysis The quest for dividend growth WATER 9 | News Irish Water set for a takeover by the state 12 | Event Roundtable on competitor challenges in the water market 20 | Analysis What the utilities industry will look like by 2030 ELECTRICITY 15 | News Ecotricity buys ailing solar panel business 22 | Market view Digital technology is an opportunity for utilities 23 | Market view Managing the risks to supply ENERGY 10 | Market view Adopting Investor Confidence Project standards 11 | Market view Energy market liberalisation has brought instability 24 | Market view Prepare for accounting and customer services challenges 25 | News Which? calls for CMA follow-up review 27 | Analysis Mixed reaction to CMA's proposed remedies 28 | Market view The customer is the priority Knowledge worth Keeping Visit the DownloaDs section of Utility week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Wipro: Digitisation and the Internet of Things http://bit.ly/1LbI3Jt Achilles: How can utility suppliers get noticed by big industry buyers? http://bit.ly/1KaByWW