Utility Week

"Increasingly fictitious debates over whether we have sufficient capacity in the market, that the lights are going to go out and if we need to build lots of new gas-fired stations" Shadow energy secretary Alan Whitehead lists the consequence of poor visibility of distributed generation. UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH NOVEMBER 2017 | 5 ENERGY SSE and Innogy in talks about merging retail SSE and Innogy have started talks about merging their supply businesses into a new, separate company. Both firms have published stock market updates stating that negotiations are "well advanced". SSE said it was "mindful of the requirements of customers and the concerns of employees" and would disclose the outcome of the talks "as soon as they are concluded". In the meantime, the company "will not be comment- ing further on any aspect of the discussions". It added that any deal would be "subject to the customary regulatory approvals, and approval of the transaction by SSE plc shareholders. The combined business would be listed and SSE would demerge its shares to its shareholders." The statements follow reports earlier this week that both SSE and Innogy were considering selling their supply businesses to enable them to focus on networks and renewables. A 250-metre long "monster" fatberg that was blocking an east London sewer has been cleared after a nine-week "battle", Thames Water has confirmed. The 130-tonne congealed mass of fat, oil, grease, nappies, wet wipes and other sanitary products was discovered beneath Whitechapel in September. Thames Water engineers had expected the process to take three weeks but the Victorian sewer was more badly damaged than anticipated. 25GW Amount of flexible capacity set to be exceeded by 2030, according to Aurora Energy. See p13. £62m Price paid by Centrica for Europe's leading demand response aggregator – REstore. "People with smart meters installed have had an overwhelmingly positive experience and have been saving money" Claire Maugham, director of policy at Smart Energy GB, defends the rollout of SMETS1 meters. Half of all big six customers are thinking about switching supplier A survey by Opinium research, commissioned by renewable energy sup- plier Pure Planet, found 50 per cent of customers on a big six tariff said they were planning to switch as the government moves to cap energy price increases. More than half (51 per cent) of British Gas customers surveyed said they were planning to leave aer its decision to increase prices earlier this autumn. For Scottish Power the figure was 54 per cent and for EDF 53 per cent. Saving money (83 per cent), better customer service (26 per cent) and environmental concerns (21 per cent) were the biggest drivers. Company Percentage considering leaving British Gas 51 EDF 53 Npower 44 Eon 51 Scottish Power 54 SSE 49 Ovo 24 First Utility 47

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