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UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH MAY 2016 | 3 Leader Ellen Bennett This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Tom Greatrex, chief executive, Nuclear Industry Association 11 Policy & Regulation 11 | News Decc won't quantify smart meter success 12 | Utility Week Lobby The Conservatives one year on 15 | Analysis Nigel Hawkins assesses the effect of Brexit on utilities 17 Finance & Investment 17 | News 'Mischief making' will not derail Hinkley 18 Operations & Assets 18 | High viz Scottow Moor Solar's solar farm, Scottow Enterprise Park 19 | Pipe up The nature of work is changing, and employers must understand and adapt to this new world now 20 | Market view Ending the dearth of accurate information on roadworks 21 | Market view No future energy scenarios indicate that more gas infrastructure is necessary 22 | Special report Utilities are dependable rather than dynamic, but is it time to be more entrepreneurial? 27 Customers 27 | News UU supports plan to ease pressure on grid 28 | Market view Smart meters reduce customers' carbon footprints and bills – there's a great story to tell 30 Community 31 | Disconnector Networks could play a key role in kick-starting storage Will they or won't they? Distribution network operators (DNOs) are seeking a change in the way they are licensed to let them play in the emerging energy storage market. Storage is currently classi- fied as a generation activity, for no particular reason other than an accident of history. It's an accident that prevents them from owning and operating storage assets, because they are not allowed to hold a generation licence. The answer seems clear: designate storage as a separate licensed activity, and license DNOs to own and operate it. Authoritative voices, including the National Infrastructure Commis- sion, have been calling for just such a move. So the industry was surprised and disappointed last month when Ofgem associate partner Andy Burgess appeared to rule it out. He told MPs: "Our principle is network companies shouldn't own or operate storage… If you want competitive markets to develop, you need to keep regulated monopolies out of them." That seems pretty clear. But as we report this week (news, p11), energy minister Andrea Leadsom has insisted that while it's "busi- ness as usual" for the moment, creating a separate licence is still on the table, pending the coming consultation on smart systems, and pointed to the existing legislation, of Byzantine complexity, that does allow DNOs to use storage within certain boundaries. This lack of a clear direction from government and Ofgem sug- gests it is well worth companies' time to lobby hard in the coming consultation. The stakes are high. As a key part of the wider agenda for a more flexible, or smart, power system, energy storage is critical both to the system of the future and DNOs' changing role within it. As system operators, DNOs are arguably best placed to lead the widespread adoption of energy storage and its integration into the existing system. If they are sidelined because of their monopoly distribution role, they come a step closer to a bleak future in which they are le with a limited, traditional role as all the more dynamic and flexible ele- ments of distributed systems are stripped away. They must be allowed to play. Ellen Bennett, Editor ellen.bennett@fav-house.com GAS 20 | Market view Big data and roadworks 21 | Market view No need for more gas infrastructure WATER 11 | News Industry supports flooding rule 27 | News Affinity improves developer services ELECTRICITY 6 | Interview Tom Greatrex, chief executive, Nuclear Industry Association 17 | News Scottish Power signs windfarm contract 18 | High viz Scottow Moor Solar's solar farm ENERGY 11 | News Ofgem 'needs power to effect change' 11 | News Ministers 'must back carbon budget' 15 | Analysis Brexit would have serious consequences for energy utilities 17 | News Dong's oil and gas 'earnings to drop' 17 | News Iberdrola's UK profits fall by 7% 27 | News Ofgem mulls further action on PPM tariffs 28 | Market view Smart meters should benefit all consumers Knowledge worth Keeping Visit the DownloaDs section of Utility week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Wipro: Innovation in UK: utilities a state of the Nation report http://bit.ly/1SZrGDs Citrix: How utilities can improve both customer service and opera- tional efficiency http://bit.ly/1OcXgGq