Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 27TH OCTOBER - 2ND NOVEMBER 2017 | 5 WATER Interserve faces six-figure bill for flooding incident Construction firm Interserve has "agreed in principle" to pay around £180,000 for the costs of recovery work following a flooding incident in North Yorkshire in November last year. The firm is expected to foot the bill after its "inadequate work" in the North York Moors led to eight homes being flooded and motorists being stranded in their vehicles after a period of heavy rainfall. Two people had to be rescued in the village of Sleights, near Whitby, on 21 November 2016 when a large volume of water washed down Blue Bank. A report by North Yorkshire County Council revealed the cascading water caused 600 tonnes of material sitting alongside the A169 to be swept down the hill into the village. The surface water resulted in the A169 into Whitby being closed for five days, with highway officials called in to clear it from homes and gardens. The report said: "Widespread and substantial rainfall fell over North Yorkshire, with localised storm conditions persisting particularly in the east of the county during the evening. While high rainfall was experienced, the volumes were not remarkable compared to a typical November." "Where is the serious investment in looking at how we get the electrification of heating, if that's the route that we go down, in the cheapest possible way?" Former secretary of state Ed Davey calls for greater public investment in heat innovation. Severn Trent has pledged to replace 2,200 vans, cars and tankers with alternative fuel vehicles within ten years, as part of its commitment to green energy. Its light commercial vehicles will start the process, with its first fully electric vans hitting the roads next month. The first batch of four Nissan e-NV200 electric vans will have a range of 170km and a charge time of 30 minutes. The company said it plans to convert its entire fleet "as soon as possible". Pictured is Liv Garfield, chief executive of Severn Trent, in one of the new vehicles. £1.7bn The contribution Drax Group makes to the UK economy each year, according to research commissioned by the company. Nottingham was named the UK's leading city for energy innovation in Huawei's annual Smart Cities Index, while Bristol and London were identified as the UK's overall top smart cities. The index tracks city initiatives to bring smart solutions to economic, social and environmental challenges, measuring both strategy and execution. The best performing cities are categorised as "lead- ers", while cities with less mature smart city agendas are classed as "contenders", "challengers" and "followers". Nottingham top for energy innovation Bristol London Source: Navigant Research Execution Strategy UK Smart Cities Index 2017 Followers Challengers Contenders Leaders Sheffield Belfast Cardiff Exeter Reading Liverpool Manchester Glasgow Nottingham Milton Keynes Leeds Birmingham Peterborough Oxford Edinburgh Newcastle Cambridge Aberdeen

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