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UTILITY Week 6th May 2016

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UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH MAY 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 332507, e: peter.bissell@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 2015 Membership subscriptions: UK £637 per year. Overseas £749 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332507 Vote In… or Bambi gets it The EU debate is hotting up nicely, thinks Disconnector, as both sides try to out-do each other with claims of the dire consequences of either leaving or remaining in the European Union. In such a crowded field of shrieking hysterics it takes a special kind of genius to stand out from the crowd. Step forward Ed Milliband. The younger Milliband brother has kept a low profile since leading the Labour party's disastrous general election campaign, but he's decided to break cover and add his voice to the In cam- paign, saying a vote to leave the EU would threaten the very existence of the planet. Yup, you heard that right. He has joined forces with environment secretary Liz Truss, Green party leader Caroline Lucas and former Lib Dem minister Sir Ed Davey to claim that EU membership is "central" to the UK's efforts to tackle environmental problems and that the "global habitat" will suffer if we leave. They say that problems as diverse as ivory poaching, commercial whaling and illegal logging could all get worse if Britain loses the "added clout" of being in the EU. Blimey. So not only will the UK's economy be le in tatters and Putin le free to send his tanks into eastern Europe, but more elephants will die too. At the time of going to press there was no news of bags of puppies being drowned in canals, but then we've still got two months of campaigning le to go, so perhaps they're saving the best till last. All things to all men The Leave campaign, of course, rails against Project Fear and the pettiness and shallowness of the Inners. What about the real issues, they cry? Indeed, what about them. The latest leaflet from Ukip was, well, very Ukip-ish about the reasons we should get the hell out. Apart from getting our democracy back and curbing mass immigration, it demanded that we "stop build- ing huge windfarms", and, er, "invest in sustainable energy". Hmm. That doesn't make an awful lot of sense, but then, does that matter? If you're not a Ukipper, you're probably not listening, and if you are, you probably don't care. Life's a beach Nigel Farage and his crew of swivel-eyed loons, as David Cameron once called them, are forever banging on about costly rules and regula- tions from Brussels that cost the honest yeomen of this country a fortune while Johnny Foreigner just ignores them, so Disconnector was heartened to learn that we're getting a bit more French about it when it comes playing by the rules. The beaches in Lyme Regis, Dorset, and Staithes, North Yorkshire, were both classi- fied as "poor" last year under guidelines set out in the Water Framework Directive. So this year the government has "de- designated" them as bathing waters. That's one way of ensuring all our beaches meet environmental standards. Sorted. Thanks for dropping in Nothing quite says "thanks for coming" better than being presented with a cake made to look like poo, or that seems to be the thinking of the PR team over at Yorkshire Water, who baked up some "poo cupcakes" to share with visitors to their visi- tor centre last week, mark- ing the fact that they have welcomed 100,000 visitors since the centre opened in 2003. The company kindly Tweeted a photo of said cakes (shared here), though sadly there were no follow-up photos of visitors' reactions when pre- sented with a tray of them. Disconnector William Marchant @richonlyinname Bad news for Hugh Swathes of Scotland, who may be fracked. Leave Hugh alone, you monsters. #dontfrackhughswathes Bernie Sanders @SenSanders Climate change is a global crisis. We've got to move in a bold way to transform our energy system. We have to do it yesterday. Cornwall Energy @spectrumvoice Former shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint argues CMA has "ducked" its responsi- bility to protect bill payers. Aodh @Aodhbc Fine Gael are so wedded to keeping #irishwa- ter that it's as if they or friends of theirs hope to buy it in future at a knockdown price. Lewis Coakley @LewisCoakley I wonder how many houses we could give free solar panels to instead of Hinkley Point. Fuku- shima seems to be getting worse. Not good. Friends of the Earth @wwwfoecouk Naughty governments get coal. cyntia @jbcyntia152 These energy saving light-bulbs are rip-offs. They take just as much effort to screw in as the ordinary ones. Audrey Davis @AudreyInBigD @Heritage Saving the plant is not a utopian dream. I need to live 70 years on this earth. I want clean air and water. #SaveOurPlanet Michael Mazengarb @MichaelM_ACT We didn't build as much renewables as needed, but because we saw it coming, everything is actually "on-track". Vicky Prior @QueeniePrior Horrifying irony that the left now want to close coal mines. I'm all for being green but this is awkward. don85375 @don85375 The majority of these politicians are invested in green energy and subsidise it with tax dol- lars so they can't lose and get richer. Top Tweets

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