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UTILITY WEEK | 2ND - 8TH SEPTEMBER 2016 | 31 Community Neighbourhood watch A lot of store has been put on the ability of smart meters to instigate behavioural change and encourage us all to use less energy, but before the rollout has even begun in earnest many are expressing doubt that the (very expensive) programme will deliver. People initially curb their consumption as they see the meter ticking, or so the argu- ment goes, but soon revert to established patterns when they get bored. People just don't have the attention span. US energy company Peco Energy Co has come up with a more aggressive way of encour- aging people to save energy: by shaming them. This year it will send out energy reports randomly to 400,000 of its 1.6 million customers telling individual households how their energy consumption compares with similar-sized properties in their neighbourhood. Every three months cus- tomers will get a notification telling them how much above or below the neighbourhood average they are, and how much money they are saving or wasting as a consequence. Apparently, behavioural psychologists say that humans are more likely to modify their habits when they are held up to a "social norm". Ingenious, thinks Discon- nector, although with people in the UK already skittish about data privacy it might be wise to wait a while before trying energy-shaming over here. Nuclear power is not a game While Peco is trying psy- chology, Horizon Energy has employed video games programmers to try and sell its vision – in this case the envi- ronmental benefits of a nuclear plant at Wylfa in Anglessey. The game comprises a three- dimension rendering of the proposed Wylfa Newydd plant while a player rides around on a roller-coaster collecting points by scooping up kilowatt- hours in the form of lightbulb- shaped tokens. It all tries to be very "down with the kids", but Disconnec- tor is not sure how many of the little terrors are going to be interested in pootling around collecting tokens. It's sad to say, but Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario belong to gentler times. Today's video games have the budgets of Hollywood blockbuster movies and feature well realised environments in which characters are blown to bits or torn limb from limb in lovingly rendered graphics. If Horizon wants to appeal to kids, it might fare better off with "Wylfa: Black Ops", where the player has to zoom around in a Humvee picking off jihad- ists with a sniper rifle before they activated their suicide vests. Mind you, if you're trying to promote a nuclear power sta- tion, you probably don't want to focus people's minds on terrorism. Cats will inherit the earth Disconnector was much taken with the headline: "LNG tanker saves cat". The tale related to the Stena LNG vessel Clear Sky, which encountered a dri- ing boat north off Brazil and rescued the occupants. It was only while trying to ascertain how a cat had man- aged to sail a boat in the first place that Disconnector learnt that the cra was actually being manned by French cou- ple Pablo Tatulli and Marion Lacan, who owned a cat. They had been driing for four days aer their engine failed before the Clear Sky bowled up. It is unsure whether the captain made sure they had a cat on board before he agreed to pick them up. For the record, the cat sur- vived – Disconnector assumes its owners did too. Disconnector Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Acting editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: janegray@ fav-house.com; Insights editor: Mathew Beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathewbeech@fav-house. com; News editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Networks correspondent: Lucinda Dann, t: 01342 332083, e: lucindadann@fav-house.com; Reporters: Saffron Johnson, t: 01342 332050, e: saffronjohnson@fav-house.com and Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Richard Powell, t: 01342 332062, e: richardpowell@fav-house.com; Business development executive: Richard Powell, t: 01342 332062, e: sarahwood@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@ fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332507, 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, 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 Ann Robinson @AnnRobinson Don't make too many assumptions about pause/delay in energy projects. Govt. needs to recalibrate anyway in light of devs. over last few years. Richard Lloyd @RichardJLloyd First energy, now banking. Weak inquiries by the CMA that leave it to consumers to change uncompetitive markets. Time to change the CMA. Jenny Banks @BanksJenny So after weeks of exciting speculation BEIS is to be pronounced "bays" apparently. Graeme Littlejohn @littlegrumpyG One reason why BEIS can't be pronounced 'bays' is I find it impossible not to say it in voice of General Melchett. Henry de Zoete @HZoete Big 6 putting cheap deals on comparison sites and not allowing existing customers to take them is a disgrace. CMA has encour- aged this. Barry Gardiner @BarryGardiner New National Grid forecasts show: 1.High growth of clean energy 2. High cost of Tory failure to tackle power crunch. Energy Saving Trust @EnergySvgTrust "Green" #biofuels are worse for the environ- ment than petrol, a landmark new study has found. #biofuel #fuels #energy William Marchant @richonlyinname We think of a move from a small number of large power stations to a large number of small ones as the future. But it's also the past. Top Tweets Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. 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