Utility Week

Community Left in the dark Donald Trump came in for a lot of criticism for his tardy response to hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico, an American territory that was devastated by Hurricane Maria on 20 September. Seventy per cent of the inhabitants on the island are still without power, despite the island's electricity company, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, signing a $300 million contract with a company called Whitefish Energy Holdings to restore the country's flattened power grid. The contract award has raised a few eyebrows, not least because when it was signed Whitefish comprised two people working out of an office in the small Montana town of Whitefish. Odder still was the revelation that Ryan Zinke, head of the US Department of the Interior, came from the same small town. For the record, Zinke swears he has "absolutely nothing to do with Whitefish". Separately, USA Today revealed that the head of the private equity fund behind Whitefish, Joe Colonnetta, was a major donor to Donald Trump's election campaign. It was all enough for the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, to kick up such a fuss that the director of the utility, Ricardo Ramos, said he would try to cancel the contract because of all the ill feeling that the bad press was generating… It's good to keep an open mind The new US ambassador to Canada, Kelly Cra, said in the first TV interview she gave that when it comes to climate change she believes in "both sides of the science". She also said that while Donald Trump's approach to climate change is different from the government of Canada's, both the US and Canada have the same goal: to "better our environment and to maintain the environment". Hmm. Disconnector seems to recall Donald having plenty to say about walls, Mexicans and email servers on the campaign trail, but not much about the environment. As it happens, the UN reported this week that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the world's atmosphere has reached a new high, and that it rose at record- breaking speed in 2016. World Meteorological Organisation secretary general Petteri Taalas declared that without rapid cuts in greenhouse gasses "we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century". So then, Kelly, we can expect a speech from your boss on the subject sometime soon, yes? Transparently better A new generation of see- through solar cell technology could soon be harvesting the massive energy potential of windows in buildings and cars, according to Michigan State University scientists writing in Nature Energy journal. "We will see commercial products become available over the next few years," said Richard Lunt, an associate professor of chemical engineering and materials science at MSU. "We are just beginning to hit performance metrics that make sense to scale up." The technology works by harvesting light in the non-visible spectrum, such as ultraviolet and near-infrared, while letting through light in the visible spectrum. The potential is huge, since it could replace conventional glass. There are still hurdles to be overcome, though, such as efficiency rating and cost. Nonetheless, it offers a little hope to those who think science has only one side. 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; Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Deputy news editor: Katey Pigden, t: 01342 332082, e: kateypigden@fav-house.com; Senior reporter: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Sales executive: Sidney Houliston, e: sidneyhouliston@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332009; Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e; sophieabbott@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@ fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Printed by: Buxton Press, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Published by: Faversham House Ltd, Windsor Court, Wood Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 1UZ. 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2015 Membership subscriptions: UK £669 per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the editor, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. 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 Paul Barnfather @eatlpb Wow, Dieter Helm's @beisgovuk Cost of Energy Review should be read by everyone in the industry. It's strong stuff. Dan Roberts @danroberts011 Helm review... some (not all) sensible diagnoses, plenty of pet ideas, fewer practical short-term plans, and a nice advert for Aurora! Jim Watson @watsonjim2 Dramatic cost falls for some techs wouldn't have happened without specific deployment policies Dieter Helm wants UK govt to phase out. Michael Liebreich @MLiebreich Helm's problem is he's a resource economist. Clean energy is all about industrial microeconomics, which he simply can't get his head around. Richard Black @_richardblack #CostofEnergy Review scores a "fail" with this academic – oh dear, @beisgovuk, have you been wasting our money on poor research? Jonathan Graham @enerjg Report by @Laura_Sandys on how smarter regulation would give better consumer value is a proper energy cost review! Richard Howard @UKenergywonk Question; is it safe to run applicances overnight? Current guidance suggests not – but this goes against smart/time of use tariff mantra. William Marchant @richonlyinname Ofgem's state of the market report is a good piece, solid and informative, but the absence of networks is an inappropriate omission. James Diggle @JimDiggle #CO2 jumps to levels not seen in 800,000 years… and yearly rise is 50% higher than previous Emma Pinchbeck @ELPinchbeck My granny is crying about the sad walruses impacted by climate change on #BluePlanet2 and I'm reminded how much we are all in this together. Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 3RD - 9TH NOVEMBER 2017 | 31

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