Utility Week

Community Monkeys are having a gas Utilities may be pretty lamen- table at PR sometimes, but at least they can sleep easy in the knowledge that they are not as bad at it as Volkswagen, which seems determined to win the Tin Ear Award for offending the public's sensibilities. Volkswagen, you may recall, came to the public's attention recently when the US authori- ties caught it bang to rights fiddling emissions data from its diesel vehicles – a scandal that spread to Europe, decimated its share price and had some seri- ous commentators pondering the company's future. Since that low point in 2015 the company has effected a remarkable turnaround to re-establish its reputation – and its finances. It therefore could probably have done with- out the revelation that it has been testing its latest diesel technology by locking monkeys in cages and exposing them to diesel fumes for two hours at a stretch. The message the company was trying to get across (the monkey lives!) has been com- pletely overshadowed by the whole tortured-monkey-in-cage narrative. Thomas Steg, head of exter- nal relations and government affairs at the company, who green-lighted the experiments, has fallen on his sword and resigned. Disconnector can only won- der what the company might do for an encore. Hurling kit- tens at windscreens, perhaps, or bashing puppies on the head with windscreen wipers. The hard sell Energy companies are going to need plenty of mates like Volkswagen if they are to get any respite from the pitiless eye of the Daily Mail. Its champion- ing of heroic refusniks standing firm against having a smart meter foisted upon them has run out of steam of late, what with the stubborn refusal of evidence to emerge of their doing harm. So last week its hack alighted on a new angle to stir the righteous anger of readers with the claim that salespeople are earning commission of £50k a year for bullying house- holders to take smart meters. If there's one thing that sickens the heart of a hard- working Brit, it's the inflated salary of another Brit. As it turns out, the paper's research was based not so much on what salespeople were actually earning from people having smart meters installed, but the fact that a recruitment agency was claim- ing "you could earn £1,000 a week!" if you met your targets in such a position. This seems a suspiciously round figure to Disconnector's jaundiced eye. The probability seems not that householders are being mis-sold smart meters, but that salespeople are being mis-sold jobs selling them. Face time Sick of your life? Then why not let someone else live it for you. This is the idea proposed by Japanese researcher Jun Rekimoto at the recent EmTech conference. He has developed a special screen that can be strapped to a person's face, which allows them to live on the user's behalf. The ChameleonMask goes one step further on the idea of "telepresence", where a screen of the user is placed on a remotely piloted robot, so a user can be present without being physically present. Rekimoto's innovation is to use a human instead, which he claims is more readily accepted by other people as being a surrogate for the user. Disconnector cannot help but ponder the irony that in the future one of the few remaining jobs le to human beings will be as stand-ins for robots. All you need to do is sub- stitute AI for the user, and you have closed the loop. 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; Associate editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@ 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; Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Reporter: Clare Ruel, t: 01342 332069, e: clareruel@fav-house.com Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Sales executive: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; 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. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2016 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 UTILITY WEEK | 9TH - 15TH FEBRUARY 2018 | 31 Simon Evans @DrSimEvans Big changes afoot in UK car market as EVs + hybrids up 25% while diesels down 25%. *Unscientific extrapolation klaxon* If this trend continues, diesels will fall below EV/ HEV by 2022! William Marchant @richonlyinname 27m homes in Great Britain. 450 have SMETS2 meters enrolled in the DCC. Keep pushing chaps, we're nearly there. MyGridGB @myGridGB In another major milestone the carbon intensity of British electricity was below 300gCO2/kWh in January 2018. That's the only time that's happened in the first month of a year. Expect further such "records" over 2018. Nick Molho @NickMolho .@UCL_energy report shows there are many reasons behind higher UK industrial electricity prices. Making them more competitive requires a range of solutions from + investment in #onshorewind & power trading with EU to helping industry with network costs Matthew Knight @SoutherlyBreeze Overall cost of electricity networks remarkably similar in UK, DE, FR, IT. Split of costs between domestic, businesses and largest industrial users significantly different Gareth Miller @garethmillerCE A fair bit of "new" build embedded plant squeezed into the T-1. Recips and DSR. Some are plant that had agreements for later years but built earlier to benefit from higher triads & bonus revenue in earlier CM year. The ADE @theADEuk "How do we make #heatnetworks work for investors and customers? We found that these issues are two sides of the same coin." Greg Jackson @g__j Ofgem handle energy supplier insolvency well, but the insurance policy is paid for by their competitors. Bonkers that prudent companies have to compete with rivals who sell below cost, and then pick up the pieces. Paul Massara @paulmassara Time for much better stress testing as ultimately consumers still pick up the bill. Top Tweets

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