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UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH SEPTEMBER 2017 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | Interview Nick Ellins, chief executive, Energy & Utility Skills 11 Policy & Regulation 11 | News Ofgem begins review of network charging 12 | Lobby The cost of energy review 16 | Analysis Who will be the next boss of Ofwat? 19 Finance & Investment 19 | News Brexit curtailing EIB funds for UK energy 21 | Analysis Verastar on the acquisition trail 22 Operations & Assets 22 | High viz Yorkshire Water's Knostrop sewage treatment works 23 | Expert view Allpay on how the energy industry can support vulnerable customers 24 | Analysis Is gas generation needed for peaking plants to meet heat demand? 26 Customers 26 | News Fears raised over rogue battery sellers 27 | Market view What we can learn from the US 28 Markets & Trading 28 | Market view First impressions of the non- domestic water retail market 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 24 | Analysis Is gas generation needed for peaking plants to meet heat demand? WATER 16 | Analysis Who will be the next boss of Ofwat? 21 | Analysis Verastar on the acquisition trail 22 | High viz Yorkshire Water's Knostrop sewage treatment works 26 | News United Utilities and DWI dismiss health complaints 28 | Market view First impressions of the non- domestic water retail market ELECTRICITY 11 | News Ofgem begins review of network charging 26 | News Fears raised over rogue battery sellers ENERGY 6 | Interview Nick Ellins, chief executive, Energy & Utility Skills 12 | Lobby The cost of energy review 19 | News Brexit curtailing EIB funds for UK energy 23 | Expert view Allpay on how the energy industry can support vulnerable customers 27 | Market view What we can learn from the US CGI: Demand side flexibility in UK utilities http://bit.ly/2qOgC0R 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 Leader Ellen Bennett The energy review needs retail expertise It's 1 September and back to school – but term time has already started for the members of Dieter Helm's cost of energy review, who have been given a startlingly short turnaround time of less than three months to review the entire energy chain and, apparently, fix it. That's a big task for anyone – just ask the Competition and Mar- kets Authority, a body set up for just this purpose, which spent more than two years reviewing the energy retail market alone, resulting in a considered and weighty set of conclusions that have apparently been chucked out the window by ministers determined to score a point in the never-ending row over energy prices. And it's not just the timescale that raises eyebrows. Helm is inarguably an expert – so much so that his views are well aired, and widely known. There's even a website you can visit to read his in- depth papers on all aspects of the market, and his recommendations for fixing it. What is he going to learn in less than 12 weeks that will change his already well-informed mind? If the answer is nothing, then ministers could have saved the public purse the cost of yet another review and simply spent a few hours reading his website. Finally, there are Helm's fellow panellists. They're a great clutch of names – though as Jane Gray points out on p15, the degree of influence they'll have over Helm's final report is unknown. But surely there's something missing? Nick Winser's inclusion is encour- aging and provides an expert on the network business; Richard Nourse's appointment has caused comment, but it at least brings an investor – albeit a specialist renewables investor – into the fold. But if the cost of energy review is to take an informed, thoughtful and impartial overview of the market, it would seem sensible to have an individual with deep knowledge of the energy retail industry on the panel. Of course, a current chief executive wouldn't be appropri- ate but there are plenty of former company leaders who would fit the profile. Tony Cocker, for example, or one of the clutch of energy Big Beasts who just put their names to the excellent Forum for the Future report looking at the future of the market. The inclusion of such a member on the panel would make it seem more of a review and less of a witch hunt. But then, perhaps they wouldn't give the right answers. Ellen Bennett, Editor, ellenbennett@fav-house.com