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Community That caps it all It used to be said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. To that list can be added the fact that energy suppliers will never get an even break. It was former Labour leader Ed Miliband who championed the idea of a cap on energy prices. It was crowd-pleasing twaddle as Ed sought to ingratiate himself with voters at the last election. Now the price cap is back, but this time from the leader of the Conservatives. The reason behind the cap is simply that energy is too expensive – although no-one is suggesting capping the price of a Mercedes using the same logic. And all of this is against a background of "disengaged" consumers, for which read "not interested". It's a strange world that energy companies operate in where they are upbraided for not offering cheaper deals to consumers who aren't inter- ested in cheaper deals. Everyone likes a good moan That said, just because people aren't interested in signing up to a cheaper deal doesn't mean they're not interested in moaning about it. That's certainly the assumption of the press, who love to have a pop. Several papers ran the story last week of a Uswitch report claiming consumers had overpaid their bills to the tune of £1.3 billion because of estimated readings and direct debit surpluses. No-one is interested in the sums owed to energy suppliers because of unpaid or overdue bills, of course. That would spoil the story. It does occur to Discon- nector, though, that as more and more smart meters are installed, energy will become pay-as-you-go and energy companies will lose most of the spare cash sitting in customers' accounts. Bad debtors, of course, will be ever with us. We don't need another hero Energy companies get a bad press. That's just the reality of the world we live in. Likewise bankers. They are just people we love to hate. To that list can be added the broad category of "all politicians", although there is one politician in particular who garnered a brand toxicity all their own: Tony Blair. Despite being one of the most successful Labour leaders ever, his name has become a byword for cynicism and spin. Because of that, the news that he has decided to "re-enter politics" in some, albeit unspecified, way to head off a hard Brexit is unlikely to strike fear into the hearts of the swivel-eyed loons. Indeed, Brexiteers don't seem to need opponents in order to feel fear: despite the fact that the political class and the media have rolled over and accepted the inevitability of quitting the EU, the hunt to identify Remoaners and those seeking to "sabotage" Brexit is as fierce as ever. On that front, at least Blair could do something useful and offer himself as target practice. Some not-so- good news Another group with a bad brand (so far as many people are concerned) are Jehovah's Witnesses. They are the folks who turn up at your door unin- vited with the "good news". Well, not in Russia they don't – at least not any more. Russian president Vladimir Putin has banned the entire church as an "extremist" organisation. Blimey. That seems a bit strong to Disconnector. The great man can only assume that Vladimir's favourite supper must have gone cold while he was trying to shoo a couple of them away from the Kremlin. 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; Reporter: Josh Downes, t: 01342 332102, e: joshdownes@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Kevin Pearce, t: 01342 332116, e; kevinpearce@fav-house.com; Business development executive: Nigel Searle, t: 01342 332009, e: nigelsearle@fav-house.com; Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e; sophieabbott@ fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@fav-house.com. 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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 William Marchant @richonlyinname I wonder why new entrants would come out in favour of a relative price cap. No, don't help me. I'm sure I can figure it out. Jeremy Leggett @JeremyLeggett UK lights may go out because of Brexit and Juncker finds May "delusional" (Guardian today). Surely time to get the #solar and batteries in. John Moffitt @JohnRMoffitt #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming: Expect #Trump to continue his lie that "nobody really knows" if climate change is happening. #TheResistance Sasja Beslik @SasjaBeslik Brexit or no Brexit, the business case for renewables is clear. #Vattenfall #renewables Ricky Davila @TheRickyDavila Coal being "clean" isn't reality. Climate Change is reality. #climatemarch #ClimateChange Lucy Lee @LucyrhiannonLee Domestic #WaterRisk – this year the UK has received 1/2 the rainfall it would usually have by mid April Oliver Panthsdown @ckv916 We just need a water company to mention "hosepipe ban" and it will be the wettest summer in years... Scientists for EU @Scientists4EU UK Govt "failed to consider the potentially severe ramifications of its Brexit objectives for the nuclear industry." Mr. Drinks On Me @Mr_DrinksOnMe With great power comes great electricity bills. Fact @Fact 1.6 billion people – a quarter of humanity – live without electricity. Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 5TH - 11TH MAY 2017 | 31