Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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UTILITY WEEK | 19TH - 25TH MAY 2017 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | People & Opinion Featuring a view from the top from Phil Foster, managing director, Love Energy Savings 8 Policy & Regulation 8 | News Industry hits back at Labour's water plans 10 | Lobby What will an energy price cap look like, and how long will it last? 13 | Opinion The energy market is not broken, so let's stop claiming that it is 15 | Utility Week Live The top transformers influencing the utilities sector 21 Finance & Investment 21 | News Flow Energy owner puts brakes on sale 24 Operations & Assets 24 | High viz Anglian Water's charm offensive with 360° cameras 25 | Expert view Haven Power 27 | Market view Water companies must grapple with tough trade-offs between different stakeholders 28 Customers 28 | News Engie enters domestic market with rollover pledge 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 15 | Utility Week Live The top transformers influencing the utilities sector WATER 8 | News Industry hits back at Labour's water plans 24 | High viz Anglian Water's charm offensive with 360° cameras 27 | Market view Water companies must grapple with tough trade-offs between different stakeholders ELECTRICITY 4 | News National Grid hits pause on Moorside connection 25 | Expert view Haven Power ENERGY 10 | Lobby What will an energy price cap look like, and how long will it last? 13 | Opinion The energy market is not broken, so let's stop claiming that it is 21 | News Flow Energy owner puts brakes on sale 28 | News Engie enters domestic market with rollover pledge 21 | News £43m for low-carbon infrastructure Pitney Bowes: Make self service smarter and more engaging http://bit.ly/2nAa2rC GORE: New Arc Rated Foul Weather Protection http://bit.ly/2ot3xrO Knowledge worth Keeping Visit the DownloaDs section of Utility week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Is this the end of Moorside? A new twist in the unhappy tale of NuGen's ambition to build a new nuclear plant at Moorside in Cumbria has unfolded. Utility Week discovered this week that National Grid is shelving its celebrated transmission link project for the plant amid fears that NuGen's lonely shareholder, Toshiba, will implode under financial stress. The move makes sense given the circumstances. The outlook is increasingly gloomy for Moorside with even the project's most opti- mistic supporters admitting the plant is unlikely to be commissioned until 2030. Others see bigger question marks over the feasibility of the project – especially aer the current contracts for difference (CfD) auction reveals just how cost-competitive offshore wind has become, driving ever more demanding cost expectations onto the nuclear industry. But although National Grid's move is logical, it will not have been taken lightly and it is disruptive – not just for the Grid, but for Electricity North West too. The regional distribution company has significant reinforcement work planned on the back of the transmis- sion link and this delay will frustrate its attempt to plan resources – a prospect that chief executive Peter Emery told Utility Week last year is already challenging. There's also an outside risk for National Grid that while the link project is put on hold, Ofgem finally progresses with the introduc- tion of competitive tendering for onshore transmission contracts. If a tender was issued for the project, would National Grid win it? • Meanwhile, frustration in the energy retail sector is reaching new heights. The prime minister has made it clear that the "tough" and "muscular" market interventions alluded to over recent months will indeed mean a price cap – to be administered by Ofgem. Anxi- ety over the financial consequences for companies, as well as the impact on customer detriment, are rife, and Labour's promises to re-nationalise both energy and water utilities have added fuel to the fire. We are experiencing a watershed moment for the sector. One that will be causing executives and investors, long dedicated to leverag- ing competition for the effective delivery of essential services, to fun- damentally question their willingness to continue with their travails. Jane Gray, Deputy Editor, janegray@fav-house.com Leader Jane Gray