Utility Week

4 | 26TH JANUARY - 1ST FEBRUARY 2018 | UTILITY WEEK STORY BY NUMBERS Seven days... National media Cape Town slashes wa- ter use amid drought The South African city of Cape Town will slash residents' water allowance to 50 litres a day from next month amid fears that it could become the world's first major city to run out of water. The city had reached a "point of no return", Mayor Patricia de Lille said. Cape Town, a popular tourist destination, has been hit by its worst drought in a century. Ms De Lille warned the city risked reaching "Day Zero" on 21 April, when taps in homes could run dry. BBC News, 18 January Engie: business 'repo- sitioning' complete Isabelle Kocher, chief executive of Engie, says a "fundamental reposi- tioning" is complete at the start of a critical year for the French energy company. "It's [now] more about the pace of growth," said Ms Kocher, who took over the group in 2016. "Fundamentally we have done the most important part in terms of repositioning. And we have been extremely clear on the businesses we intend to make a difference on." Engie has gone through significant changes since Ms Kocher took charge, becoming as she did the first French female chief executive in Paris's CAC 40 stock market index. Financial Times, 23 January Australia wrestles with coal advocacy The Minerals Council of Australia has stepped up its advocacy for coal power despite its biggest member, BHP, saying it will leave the group unless it shis its stance to become technology-neutral. The MCA pub- licised a report by the Coal Industry Advisory Board calling for govern- ments to commit similar resources to carbon capture and storage as renewables. The report was written by representatives of some of the world's biggest coal miners. The Guardian, 23 January Labour renationalisation plans would cost £142bn T he Labour party's water and electricity nationalisa- tion plans could cost up to £141.65 billion, according to a right wing think-tank. A study assessing the opposi- tion's nationalisation plans, car- ried out by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), estimates that bringing the energy sector back into public ownership would cost £55.4 billion. This figure is based on the costs of nationalis- ing the transmission and distri- bution networks, which Labour pledged in last year's general election manifesto to bring back into public ownership. Renationalising water com- panies would cost an additional £86.25 billion. Combined with the costs of bringing back Royal Mail and private finance initiative contracts into public ownership, the combined bill for Labour's pledges would be £176 billion, equivalent to around 10 per cent of the UK's national debt. The CPS said this figure also equates to nearly 20 years of UK defence equipment budgets or the cost of building 2.93 million council houses. Nationalisation of the entire energy industry, including the big six suppliers, would cost £185 billion. Adding the suppli- ers, the total nationalisation bill would be £306 billion, according to the CPS. And, the report concludes, renationalisation would deliver few benefits or economies to UK consumers. It says UK household energy bills are around the average for western Europe and lower than in Germany and Ireland where state intervention is much greater. It said: "There is little evi- dence to suggest that consumers have anything to gain." Instead, the report said, consumers would benefit more from greater competition in both energy and water. DB Energy tops households' conecerns UK homeown- ers are most concerned about energy-related issues, a survey by HomeServe has found. The top three issues concerning homeowners are energy-related, and the biggest is being overcharged. 71% of customers worldwide were satisfied with their utility company. 67% would recom- mend their utility provider. 25% of gas providers were viewed as more engaged. 49% of customers use online search facilities to solve issues. 70% of people in the UK have heard of home emergency cover. "The new water retail market needs the oxygen of visibility" Speaking at Utility Week's Water Customer Conference, MOSL director Steve Arthur said more could have been done to raise awareness of water market opening.

• Cover