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Community My boss doesn't understand me Working for the government can be a pretty thankless task, especially if you happen to find yourself in the energy depart- ment. No one wants that as their chat-up line at a dinner party. But at least you have the respect of your colleagues and your bosses. They know you do an invaluable job, right? Spare a thought, then, for the poor sods who've dedicated their working lives to the US Depart- ment of Energy. Their new boss is a certain Texas governor nominated by Donald Trump, called Rick Perry. Perry ran for the Republi- can presidential nomination himself in 2011 and he was something of a firebrand in a "drain the swamp" fashion. Among his signature policies was a promise to scrap the US Department of Energy. Disconnector would love to be a fly on the wall on Perry's first day when he collects all his senior civil servants together and has to give them a motivational talk about the important job they're all doing. Energy bills out of control Oh dear, oh dear. The smart meter rollout has hardly begun in earnest and already is garnering some unwanted head- lines, in this case a soware glitch that hit SSE customers, causing their smart meters to inflate the amount they owed by up to 3 million per cent. It didn't take long for the resulting photographs showing smart meters with balances of thousands of pounds to make their way on to Twitter, with predictably acerbic comments. One of the householders affected, Jane Allen, says that when she glanced at her in- home display on Sunday it said that she had used £36,448.29 for the week. The usual sum would be around £30. She was quoted telling the BBC: "My worry is that they are going to try and get that sort of money out of my bank." She said she called SSE who assured her "not to worry". SSE assured customers that no-one would be charged for the error, but that's hardly the point – the PR damage has already been done. Surely it's not beyond the wit of soware boffins to incorporate an algo- rithm that registers when the numbers are going off the scale and defaults the meter to read- ing "error" or some such? It's Gaz and Leccy the great man feels sorry for. They are the ones who have been telling people that smart meters will let them get their energy bills "under con- trol". They must be feeling pretty foolish now… Hanging on his every word In case you thought it was only the authoritarian populists of the right who came up with simplistic solutions to complex problems, news emerges of the latest antics of president Alexander Lukashenko, the long-serving leader of Belarus. Lukashenko has noted that unemployment in the country he has ruled with an iron fist for more than 20 years is high, but rather than look too deeply into why wealth and enter- prise are eluding his impover- ished realm, he has decided that people who don't work are "parasites", and so has enacted a "Law Against Social Parasites", which levies a tax of $200 on anyone who hasn't worked for at least 183 days in any one year. It certainly puts austerity into some sort of perspective. In the UK you may be ignored and neglected if you're poor, but even George Osborne never sug- gested poverty should be taxed. Disconnector Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Deputy 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; Deputy news editor: Jamie Hailstone, t: 01342 332050, e: jamiehailstone@fav-house.com; Senior reporter: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@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 £669 per year. Overseas £781 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 Brian L Kahn @blkahn Wind power surpassed hydropower as the biggest source of renewable energy in the U.S. for the first time ever in 2016 Cam_Walker @Cam_Walker Beer drinkers who like the planet, take note: Coopers brewery chairman Glenn Cooper is attacking renewable energy targets... keewa @keewa China will be 100% renewable before the US even gets past 25% 350 dot org @350 Despite what Trump says, much of the rest of the world is stepping up -- renewable energy is booming Grayson Riggan @grayson_riggan Trump is so obsessed with creating jobs and he's ignorant to the fact that investing in renewable energy would create so many. SAD! #es161 William Marchant @richonlyinname Consumers overwhelmingly know they can switch. & they've been prodded so many times to do so the prodders have repetitive strain injuries. CMO Kerala @CMOKerala South Indian states facing biggest drought in 115 years. Yet, export continues when produc- tion does not meet domestic demand. The Big Deal @BigDealEnergy Eon latest Big 6 energy company to announce price rise. Roughly £100 increase for millions of customers #Big6fail UKOOG @UKOOGroup UK CO2 #emissions at lowest level since Queen Victoria, mostly thanks to gas replacing coal generation Northvolt @northvolt Ability to store energy crucial to free energy generation and distribution from coal, oil and natural gas. Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH MARCH 2017 | 31