Utility Week

Community It's not me, it's you In the Trumpian multiverse we now inhabit, you've got to work hard for a headline – even if you're the president of the United States himself. Well, Disconnector is pleased to report that Donald has scored another 11 on the scale of "You've got to be kidding me". Even as the Feds close in over collusion with Russia, the prez is madly tweeting away, last week retweeting fake videos disseminated by UK racist hate group Britain First. When Theresa May complained that he was "wrong to do so", he doubled down by telling her off (via Twitter, of course) for "focusing on him" instead of the real problem, which is Islamic terrorism in the UK. In a rare win for the prime minister, the timidity of her response was such that it earned her an impersonation in a sketch on US comedy review show Saturday Night Live. On the basis that the only bad publicity is no publicity, it's got to be good news for UK plc as we traipse around the place looking for trade deals. Most Americans see us through the prism of that photo of Boris Johnson suspended below a zip wire, so the addition of the Maybot to the pantheon of national stereotypes foreigners can draw from can only be a positive step. Objection handling Talking of national stereotypes, whatever happened to the Italians being easygoing? They're supposed to be a good-natured but generally inefficient bunch who love their food but take an inordi- nate amount of time to actually get anything done. Well, that doesn't sound like the citizens of Melendugno, many of whom have been vig- orously protesting against the building of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, which they claim will necessitate the uprooting of swathes of ancient olive trees. Last week the central government decided it'd had enough and declared the entire area a "red zone". This uses a Mussolini-era law to put an entire town under lockdown while it forces through a gas pipeline against the wishes of the local community. Activists say police swooped in the middle of the night and barred people from leaving their homes, blockaded streets, and fenced off olive farms. "Some locals have been expelled and cannot access Melendugno... for the next three years," resident Sabina Giese was reported as saying. It sounds like a terrible way to go about winning hearts and minds, but top marks for the "can-do" attitude. Doubtless Cuadrilla can only eye events in Italy wist- fully as it ponders its next fracking foray in Surrey. Escape artist Of course, some national stereo- types are well-deserved. Take the Belgians, for instance, who always seem… well, a little off. The great man ponders thus on learning of Belgian perfor- mance artist Mikes Poppe, who attached himself to a 3m chain buried in a block of marble in the courthouse of the city of Ostend. He ate, slept, washed and drew while chained, working to liberate himself by chiselling away the stone. The block of marble was supposed to represent "the burden of history". In the event, a soer stone might have been a wiser choice because 19 days later he was still chipping away and eventu- ally had to be cut free with the aid of angle grinders. Poppe nonetheless declared the performance a success. "This block was symbolic of history, the history of art, which I am trying to free myself from. I discovered that this is not possible. It is a burden which I must always carry," he said. 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; Content editor: Alice Cooke, t: 01342 332102, e: alicecooke@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: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@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 Open Energy Market @OpenEnergyMkt #UK #Energy #News Ministers are expected to back the first generation of small nuclear power stations in Britain with tens of millions of pounds this week. Abdifatah Ahmed @Abdiahmed1983 Twelve projects aimed at creating local, green energy solutions funded £2.6m by Scottish govt. Incredible how this will transform the rural community and create jobs. John Baldwin @baldwingas £17bn smart-grid boom from energy networks looks fantastic for local gas generation plants....we have the gas grid, we are making Biomethane, for those occasions in the UK without sun, we can generate locally with Biomethane delivered via the gas grid. Urs Bolt @UrsBolt If #Bitcoin mining keeps increasing at this rate, it will consume all the world's #electricity by February 2020. But hey, we're living on a #HighEnergyPlanet. We need the most #energy dense sources, always on. inov8ive @inov8ive1 IMHO £290m for tidal is a drop in the ocean compared to the subsidies for fossil fuels, also "no new low carbon electricity levies until 2025" unacceptable. Evergreen Energy @EGEnergyUK Google already purchases more renewable energy than any other corporation, but now it has agreed to 4 new contracts that will add 536 megawatts of wind power to its energy portfolio. Rachel Reeves @RachelReevesMP I have called on @CMAgovUK to investigate the proposed SSE/Npower merger. The energy market is not working for consumers and the merger risks making it worse. Carolyn Parrs @womenofgreen Great news for the future of energy! Renewables accounted for almost two-thirds of net new power capacity around the world in 2016. #Renewable #CleanEnergy #ActOnClimate #Solar Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 8TH - 14TH DECEMBER 2017 | 31

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