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UTILITY WEEK | 30TH JUNE - 6TH JULY 2017 | 19 This week Wessex buys Flipper switching service Innovative energy tariff comparison and switching platform acquired by water company Wessex Water has bought utility price comparison company Flipper, and vowed to invest heavily in the business. Flipper launched in January 2016 and claims to offer an "innovative and hassle-free" way for residential customers to save money on their energy bills. Unlike a traditional price comparison website, it automatically compares tariffs regularly to ensure customers are always on the best deal. Wessex Water said the acquisition underpins its commitment to help ensure customers get value for money, and offers them an easier way to manage their utility services. The company said it has "exciting plans" for developing the service. David Elliott, Wessex Water's director of strategy and new markets, said: "Both Wessex Water and Flipper have the same vision: to ensure customers are provided with excellent and affordable services. We have exciting plans for further developing Flipper that ensures customers don't overpay for utility services." Flipper chairman Nigel Evans welcomed the deal, adding: "Today marks a major milestone for Flipper and a huge vote of confidence in our innovative and disruptive business model to transform the energy market. Under the deal, Wessex Water has committed to invest significantly in the business. This will enable us to rapidly grow customer numbers in energy. We will also look to respond to the feedback from Flipper customers and expand our automated switching service to other household bills." LV ENERGY Vattenfall snaps up iS upply Energy Wind energy giant Vattenfall has entered the UK domestic energy market by buying independent energy supplier iSupply Energy. Vattenfall chief executive Magnus Hall said the acquisition reflected the strategic importance of the UK for the company. "We are in Britain to grow," he said, "and our acquisition of iSupply Energy strengthens our energy business in northern Europe." Originally a specialist in wind power, Vattenfall has recently diversified into PV and battery storage as well as business to business energy retail. iSupply serves around 120,000 electricity and gas customers in the UK and has around 170 staff. It will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Vattenfall. GAS Centrica to sell off two gas plants Centrica has agreed to sell its Langage and South Humber combined-cycle gas turbine plants for £318 million. The deal is part of the group's strategy to shi investment into customer-facing businesses, while seeking opportunities for flexible peaking plants, storage and distributed energy, and reducing its focus on large-scale baseload generation. The plants in Devon and Lincolnshire have a combined capacity of 2.3GW and will be sold to the UK subsidiary of the Czech utility firm EPH. The sale is subject to EU merger clearance and is expected to be finalised in the second half of this year. EPH already owns the Lynemouth and Eggborough power stations. ELECTRICITY Interconnectors get cap and floor OK Ofgem has given preliminary approval for three new interconnectors to France, Germany and Norway to operate under the cap and floor regime. The regulator says all three could deliver "significant" benefits to UK consumers through lower electricity prices. The regulator will make a final decision in September on the Grid Link, Neu Connect and North Connect interconnectors. Five other interconnector projects have been approved in principle by the regulator. Another proposed interconnector between the UK and France is also being developed outside of the cap and floor framework. According to Ofgem, the completion of all the projects would bring the UK's total interconnector capacity to 17.9GW. Flipper monitors customers' post-switch bills Stock watch EDF SHARE PRICE, ONE-DAY 22 Jun 23 Jun 26 Jun 27 Jun EDF SHARE PRICE, FIVE-DAY EDF shares plunged almost 3 per cent the day aer the French nuclear regulator's report on the reactor that EDF is building at Flamanville was leaked to Reuters. The review concluded that the reactor's cover will need replacing within several years of its scheduled start-up in 2018. The reactor design is being used for the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset. Aer closing Monday at €10.08, EDF stocks dropped to €9.71 by mid-aernoon on Tuesday. 10.1 10.0 9.9 9.8 9.7 9.6 10am noon 2pm 4pm Finance & Investment 10.1 10.0 9.9 9.8 9.7 9.6