Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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4 | 10th - 16th February 2017 | utILIty WeeK Anglian Water outlines 2017 investment plan anglian Water has revealed its invest- ment programme for the year ahead. £425m amount that will be invested in 2017/18. £5bn Part of a five-year commitment to maintain and improve services. £1.15 average household bill per day. £60m amount invested in leakage reduction. £1m amount invested to help vulnerable customers. 2.2% average bill increases have been kept at the level of inflation. story by NUMbErs Smart metering could topple the big six Seven days... T he pressure of capital investment in the smart meter rollout, coupled with increased competition from new market entrants, could bring an end to the dominance of energy incumbents, according to a new report. Large incumbents are "pay- ing to build a future they will struggle to profit from unless they are prepared to radically rethink how they do business", said a report on the UK smart meter rollout by consultancy EY published this week. The document claims a combination of regulatory com- pliance programmes and the demands of the smart meter roll- out are "sapping investment into future growth opportunities" at the big six, who shoulder most of the burden of installing smart meters. The risk this poses to their businesses is "massive" EY's Rob Doepel, one of the report's authors, told Utility Week. He said the price tag for the rollout could be "a lot more" than the earmarked £11 billion, and "at the same time suppliers are being hammered on price and competitiveness". Doepel also said of the smart meter rollout that "no other country in the world has chosen to do it in the way we have cho- sen – a way which is inherently expensive". He continued: "We've asked them to make that ridiculous investment, reduce costs for consumers, and innovate around products – for example, bundling and connected home. I am struggling to square the cir- cle. Something has to give." JG See analysis, p24 "It is a sleight of hand that the government and everybody else plays by saying 'the industry will pay for that'." Doug Stewart, chief executive, Green Energy, speaking about the smart meter rollout on ITV's Tonight programme National media Trafigura looks to reopen LNG terminal Swiss commodity trader Trafigura is looking to reopen an import terminal for liquefied natural gas in northeast England in the latest sign of how LNG is playing a grow- ing role in global energy supplies. Trafigura, one of the largest energy traders, is investing in the Teesside LNG facility as gas increases its share of UK energy markets, with the fuel competing with renewables to replace heavily polluting coal. Financial Times, 6 February National Trust faces fracking legal suit A gas company is threatening legal action to force the National Trust to allow fracking tests. Ineos Shale may adopt a rarely used clause in mining legislation that can compel landowners to permit drilling. The National Trust refuses to allow any tests for fracking, a procedure to extract energy from rocks which, critics say, risks harm- ing the environment. The conflict has arisen at Clumber Park near Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The Times, 6 February EDF 'on a precipice' The French state group building Britain's new nuclear plant does not have the cash to dismantle its domestic reactors, according to an official study. A French parliamen- tary committee said EDF would need a public bailout to meet the cost of closing ageing power stations. The warning was issued aer unions expressed fury about EDF's plans to cut 3,900 jobs in France over the next three years. Economics commentator Jean- Marc Sylvestre said the group was on the "edge of a precipice" and faced a choice between privatisa- tion and bankruptcy. He described EDF's situation as a "catastrophe foretold". The Times, 6 February