Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 23RD - 29TH SEPTEMBER 2016 | 31 Community Money down the drain Much is written in the press railing against "entitled" millennials who are always complaining about how much tougher their lives are than their parents', just because there are no decently paid jobs, or company pensions, or a ordable houses. Whingers. Okay, so maybe they have to pay forty grand for a degree, but at least they get all the water they want. You want to see what a tough life looks like? Go to Kunming Health Vocational College in Yunnan province, China. Because of a local drought and consequent e orts to save water, each student there has been given an elec- tronic card to which is assigned a monthly allocation of 3,000 litres of water. The card must be swiped to use the toilet, and if they get ˆ ush-happy and go over their quota, they have to pay extra. OŠ cials were quoted in the China Daily saying that the allo- cation was more than suŠ cient and should discourage "exces- sive ˆ ushing". Which begs the question, at what point is a ˆ ush excessive? You've got to pity the poor Kunming student who goes for a holiday in Singapore, which famously Œ nes its citizens if they walk away from a public convenience without ˆ ushing. And people in the UK get upset by Big Brother snooping on their recycling. As Discon- nector is wont to observe, it can always be worse. Much worse. Gold standard Olympic spirit It's been a fantastic Olympics and Paralympics for GB this year, with sackfuls of medals at both contests. But the story that will stick in Disconnec- tor's mind from the games is that of Kenyan Olympic athlete Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon, who won a gold medal for her country at Rio in the women's 1,500m. Faith hails from the village of Ndabibit in Nakuru County in Kenya, but no-one there saw her medal triumph – not even her parents – because the village lacked basic amenities such as electricity and running water, and has done since the area was settled 40 years ago. The day až er her astound- ing performance on the track, however, her father, Mr Samuel Koech Kipyegon, was located by Kenyan journalists and made an emotional plea to Kenya's president, Uhuru Kenyatta, to connect the village to the power grid "so that I can see my daughter running and winning medals for Kenya". Nine days later the village had a power supply and Mr Koech Kipyegon had a large ˆ atscreen TV ready to connect, courtesy of Samsung. Member of Parliament BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) has received a good amount of sneering for having an unlovely and unpronounceable acro- nym, but things could have been worse, it turns out, and for a previous Labour adminis- tration they almost were. Labour MP Alan Johnson recounts a tale from až er the 2005 election when Tony Blair asked him to be trade secretary, except that the DTI (as it was then) was to be renamed the Department of Productivity, Energy, Industry and Science. Johnson didn't like the name but waited until four days later before broaching the subject with Blair at No 10. He relates the tale: "'Anything else?' Tony asked as he prepared to call it a day. 'Yes, there was one other thing,' I said boldly. 'Why has the name of my department been changed to PEnIS?' There was silence." In the event, the name plaques on the door weren't changed and the moniker DTI lived on for another couple of years. 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 Offi ce. 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 Paul Massara @paulmassara If May govt wants a fairer society they should put Eco into taxation and not on electricity bills. Less regressive. Henry de Zoete @HZoete This week SSE & Eon launched v cheap deals that their existing customers CANNOT take. Disgraceful. CMA investigation led to this. HaveIGotNewsForYou @haveigotnews Government approves Hinkley Point deal with China and France, despite last minute offer from Channel 4. Caroline Lucas @CarolineLucas The biggest white elephant in British history given the green light. An absurd decision on every level. #Hinkley David Schneider @davidschneider Apart from the danger, paying over the odds, handing infrastructure to China and the fact it won't work, I can't see a problem with Hinkley. Mick Twister @twitmericks Theresa, at quite a late hour, supported more nuclear power; Apparently minor, concerns about China, resolved by the Tory kowtower. #Hinkley Simon Moore @SMoore1984 Presumably everyone saying £92.50 is too high a strike price will be OK with that being a cap for offshore wind, tidal, solar & the rest... William Marchant @richonlyinname It simply isn't true to say that risk is solely borne by EdF and its investor partners. It unambiguously isn't. 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. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the editor, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk

• Cover