Utility Week

UTILITY Week 25th November 2016

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UTILITY WEEK | 25TH NOVEMBER - 1ST DECEMBER 2016 | 31 Community Sinking feeling Just a month or so to go and we can finally draw a line under 2016. And good riddance, says Disconnector. Revolutions may be for continentals and Americans, but not for us level- headed Brits. Fortunately, as Christmas approaches there are signs that we're getting our mojo back. Dodgy entrepreneurs are still finding enough credulous parents to make it worth their while setting up Winter Won- derlands in muddy fields; rail- way operators are back to being surprised that leaves fall off trees in autumn; and the con- stant lament about our nation's inability to repair potholes is thrown into splendid relief by pictures of the Japanese sorting out a massive sinkhole and reopening the affected road in ten days flat. That's more like it: there's nothing we Brits like more than a bit of breast-beating about how rubbish we are, unless its fuming in outrage at foreigners suggesting we're anything other than pretty bloody brilliant at everything. Hitting the roof Of course, it's anyone's guess how things will develop from here. True, the urban liberal elites are on the back foot right now – what with the Rust Belt in the US and the angry shires of England sticking it to the man – but the mob can be a fickle friend, as Trump and his new BF Nigel Farage will doubtless discover in time. So even while The Donald is threatening to tear up Amer- ica's climate change agree- ments, another billionaire, Elon Musk, is marching double-time into an emissions-free future. With Tesla he has the cars and batteries. With SolarCity – a solar installation company that last week unveiled solar tiles that Musk claims do away with the need to bolt solar panels on to your roof – the whole roof can be solar-powered. The company wasn't getting into specifics about prices, but it did claim that a roof laid with solar tiles would be cheaper than a conventional roof with solar panels. Several styles of tile are available and they do at least address one of the glaring drawbacks of solar panels: their ugliness. What we have no way of knowing right now is whose vision of the future will prevail: Trump's, who means to keep the home fires burning – with coal – or Musk's, who would do away with the combustion engine altogether. While Trumpland is in the ascendency right now, it would be a brave man who put his money against the weird and wonderful Mr Musk, who, unlike Mr Trump, actually is a successful entrepreneur. It's a shame For the launch of his solar tiles, Musk chose the set of US TV show Desperate Housewives, decking out some of the famous homes in the street with them. On the other side of the globe in Australia, Sodastream was trying something similar, shooting an advert on a set used in Game of Thrones to rec- reate Cersei Lannister's walk of shame. In the TV show, Cersei was stripped naked and forced to walk the streets of King's Landing while a kind of high priestess followed her wailing "shame" while crowds pelted her with rotten vegetables. In Sodastream's faithfully recreated parody, Cersei's place is taken by a young chap whose shameful behaviour is that he's just bought some sparkling water in plastic bottles – the idea being that plastic bottles are bad. The technical achievement of the ad is undeniable (check it out on YouTube – they even recruited some actual Game of Thrones actors to recreate their parts), but it somehow already feels strangely old-fashioned. We kind of don't do shame any more. 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: Nigel Searle, t: 01342 332009, e: nigelsearle@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@ fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, 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 332057 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 Good Energy @GoodEnergy Fantastic to see that the Paris climate deal has been ratified by the UK! Jonathan Rowson @Jonathan_Rowson A reminder that climate change is not a binary win/lose problem but an ongoing better/worse phenomena. Trump is a setback, but game goes on. Waterwise @Waterwise 'Conserve water even if you are on the banks of a running stream' #water quotes ECIU @ECIU_UK Trump expected to cut NASA's climate change research budget in favour of moon travel NI Water @niwnews Winter-proof your home. Insulation is essential in helping to prevent water in pipes from freezing Lucy Symons @lucyesymons What a privilege to visit 100% renewable Iceland. If you can't be what you can't see, Iceland is welcome inspiration William Marchant @richonlyinname Sometimes when it looks like a duck, walks like a duck & quacks like a duck, it isn't actually a duck. SSE says no SVT price rise pre April. George Painter @gpainterbristol If there was an Oscar for "Wettest Bottom Third Of A Pair of Jeans", I would definitely be a nominee #rain #Bristol #flood A Spokesman Said @spokesmansaid Energy bills are going up faster than Ed Balls' heart rate dancing the jive David Sterling @maturefinancier So this stupid the smart meter rollout is going to reduce my energy consumption & bring me cheaper bills how? Top Tweets

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