Utility Week

Community A light that illuminates No-one likes to be outshone, and that goes double if your name is Donald Trump. His famously outsized ego means that he hates not being the centre of attention, even if the only attention going is driven by derision. Step forward energy secretary Rick Perry, the Trump appointee brought in to bang the drum for coal. Perry is seemingly bent on out-Trumping Trump for ill- thought-out remarks, at least judging by his appearance at an open press event to discuss energy policy last week, where he appeared to suggest that fossil fuels could help reduce the instance of sexual assault in Africa. His logic seemed to be that people get up to more wicked stuff in the dark, so young girls would be safer if they had electric lights, powered by American coal. "From the standpoint of sexual assault," Perry said. "When the lights are on, when you have light that shines, the righteousness, if you will, on those types of acts." It seems that for Perry, the "light" is not just a metaphor for the Lord but has a literal link too. If you think Perry is just some outsider weirdo of the sort favoured by Trump, think again. He is a three times elected governor of Texas and was himself a Republican presidential nominee in 2016. It is interesting to specu- late, in an alternative universe where Perry is the president, what job has he given to Trump? Have you left a tap running? At one time or another we've all le a tap running, but a man in the northern German city of Salzgitter took this to another level when it was discovered that he had delib- erately le all the taps in his apartment running for a year. It only came to light when he also blocked up all the drains as well, causing "mas- sive damage" to the apartment building, according to local press reports. At the point that water started pouring through the ceiling and he barricaded him- self in his flat, the police were called and had to use pepper spray to subdue him, enter the flat and turn the taps off. Police said the 31-year-old, who also had his toilet running non-stop, is thought to have used 7 million litres (1.85 mil- lion gallons) of water over the past year. He was hauled off to a psychiatric hospital for an evaluation, leaving many of his neighbours homeless and his landlord with a huge water bill. The power of bitcoin Regular readers of this column will know that Disconnector is fascinated by bitcoin, the untraceable digital crypto cur- rency much beloved by wrong 'uns the world over. Strangely for a coin that has no physical existence, a bitcoin has a huge carbon footprint. This is because they are pro- duced by powerful computers "mining" the digital algorithm that produces them. Crypto currency analyst Alex de Vries has worked out that with the price of a bitcoin now north of $7,000, it would be profitable for bitcoin min- ers to burn through 24TWh of electricity annually to mine them. That's about as much as Nigeria, a country of 186 mil- lion people, uses in a year. This averages out to 215kWh for each bitcoin transaction, more than enough to run a house, and everything in it, for a week. On a larger scale, De Vries' index shows that bitcoin miners worldwide could be using enough electricity at any given time to power about 2.26 million homes. 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 William Marchant @richonlyinname First Nottingham council with Robin Hood Energy, then Derby with Ram Energy. I'm waiting for Hartlepool to launch Monkey Hanger Energy. Laura Sandys @Laura_Sandys Consumers will be strong drivers of energy revolution. Not necessarily as active players: through new intermediaries. @jjeh102 @EnergySysCat Emma Pinchbeck @ELPinchbeck Unabashed Claire Perry fan. Talks about low-carbon growth plan and sector deal for offshore and says we are part of a "yes we can" moment. Nick Mabey @Mabeytweet Narrative of "broken energy market" deliberately ignores success of climate policy in slashing bills & tech costs. Tom Steward @Steward_T Ofgem's latest targeted charging review paper is certainly innovative – against both #fuelpoverty and #energyefficiency. Sarah Merrick @SpeakSarahSpeak Why it's such a travesty zero-carbon homes policy was cut few years ago. Locking in emissions + higher bills. Such a waste. Richard Nourse @RichardHCNourse Yes. Let's hope that @PhilipHammondUK understands stimulating economy does not mean damaging environment as per @George_Osborne Nina Skorupska @NinaSkorupska Somehow cannot get Government to join- the-dots 4 new homes to be affordable & #fit4future #zerocarbon. paul massara @paulmassara SSE and Npower in merger talks – well bigger doesn't make better David Watson @davidwatson__ Argument: Chance to strip costs out & market SSE services to larger base. Innogy get rid of loss-making BU and SSE reduce risk exposure. Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH NOVEMBER 2017 | 31

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