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This week we profile Matthew Lundy, capital efficiency project manager with Northern Ireland Water and one of the Institute of water's Rising Stars of 2016. What was your first job? Graduate Civil Engineer assist- ing the CDMC at RPS, Belfast. How did you come to join your company? Aer one year working for a Melbourne water special- ist subcontractor, I made the decision to return home to Northern Ireland and put some of my skills back into the local economy. Aer completing a lengthy application pro- cess including aptitude test, interview and presentation I People & Opinion Utility Week community Rising Star Matthew Lundy, capital efficiency project manager with Northern Ireland got accepted on to the Northern Ireland graduate programme along with five others. How long have you been with them? I have been with NI Water for three years. What has been your best achievement since joining? Graduating (December 2014) from the MSc Construction and Project Management, which I studied part-time and was part- funded by NI Water. What preconception about your company did you find was most wrong? They carried out very little in- house design. Who would play you in the film of your life? Ewan McGregor. What's your favourite film and TV programme? Film is True Romance; TV is The Sopranos. What would you do if you ruled the world? Tax the 62 richest people more and ensure sanitation and clean drinking water for all. What's your favourite joke? A man walks into a bar with a roll of tarmac under his arm, and says to the barman: "A pint please, and one for the road." Do you have a message for the industry? As an industry we need to do a lot more to manage stormwater at source, if we are to move forward sustainably and reduce the likelihood of flooding in the future, features such as green roofs, permeable surfaces and water butts need to become the standard instead of the exception. This applies to rural areas too and the government needs to do more to incentivise customers, compensating farm- ers for allowing their fields to flood could save the economy millions as a result of reduced urban flooding in downstream catchments. The full imple- mentation of sustainable drain- age principles is long overdue. Find out more about the Institute of Water's Rising Stars programme at: www.institureofwater.org. uk/rising-stars UTILITY WEEK | 27TH MAY - 2ND JUNE 2016 | 7 Tackling tariff design Over the course of an eight year price control, distribution network com- panies will recover around £41.2 billion from consumers to provide the electricity and gas distribution networks - the pipes and wires that connect consumers' homes to the central transmission system. As a comparison, this is the same as the anticipated cost of the HS2 train line and a third more expensive than replacing Trident. The average consumer will pay £310 a year on network costs, around a quarter of their total energy bill. Because networks are monopoly businesses, there is little competitive pressure forcing these costs down. To read the full blog, visit: http://bit.ly/1qwdGUw From the blog Roseanna Cun- ningham has been appointed as Scotland's first dedicated Cabinet Secre- tary for Environ- ment, Climate Change and Land Reform. In a government reshuffle, Scot- tish first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the creation of the new post. The briefs were previously the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment – a now defunct post which was held by Richard Lochhead. The energy brief has been transferred to the newly cre- ated portfolio of economy, jobs and fair work, with Keith Brown appointed as the cabinet secretary. It was formerly the responsibil- ity of Fergus Ewing as the minister for business, energy and tourism, reporting to the finance and economy secretary. Paul Wheel- house has been appointed as the new minister for business, innovation and energy. APPOINTMENTS Morgan Wild, senior policy researcher, Citizens Advice, writes: Do you agree or disagree with the principle of introducing competition in the water and sewerage industry? England Yorkshire Wessex North West Thames Southern South West Midlands Northumbria Eastern 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70 80% 90% 100% Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Regional breakdown Source: CCWater 65% 18% 17% 66% 15% 19% 63% 18% 19% 69% 17% 15% 68% 18% 13% 68% 19% 14% 66% 16% 17% 59% 15% 26% 57% 21% 23% 65% 18% 18%