Utility Week

Community A slippery slope The cold snap currently grip- ping the UK is bad news for some utilities – especially the frontline staff digging the roads and scaling the poles. But it may at least offer some hope for the country's beleaguered energy suppliers, who despite concerted political attack over the past year have been wres- tling with miniscule margins and little room for error in their hedging strategies. For companies making "rip- off " profits, they don't seem to be making much money, and the bigger their exposure to the UK supply market, the less the financial whizz kids in the City fancy them, as anyone holding Centrica shares will be able to tell you. It may take more than some frosty mornings to repair their finances, though. A bracing minus 16 would be more like it, which was the temperature facing competitors in the Winter Olympics in South Korea this week. It was a revelation to Disconnector that mountains in Korea receive little natural snow, so the entire competi- tion is taking place on the artificial stuff. And judging by the first weekend of events, the site is not suited to aerial events either because of the high winds. The winner of the women's slopestyle snowboard was pretty much the one who managed not to fall over. Disconnector can only assume that if the folk behind the football World Cup are not going to let themselves be put off from holding the competi- tion in a Middle Eastern desert, the Olympics committee were damned if they were going to let gale force winds and an absence of snow stop them from staging the Winter Olym- pics up a mountain in Korea. Damn the flu Some places are more vulner- able to cold than others, of course, and some people too. It all depends on whether you've got the backing of Jesus – at least that is according to Gloria Copeland, one half of the hus- band and wife team behind the Kenneth Copeland Ministries mega-church and an adviser to – you guessed it – president Donald Trump. In a video promoting the ministry's "Miracles on the Mountain" healing event, Gloria rubbishes the idea of a "flu season" and tells the viewer you don't need flu vac- cines if you "inoculate yourself with the word of God". Explaining that Jesus took on the illnesses of man, she said it was up to the faithful to believe. "Just keep saying 'I'll never have the flu, I'll never have the flu'," she says. When it comes to believing in the power of positive think- ing, Disconnector reckons she could give Brexit secretary David Davis a good run for his money. Pole-axed Flu could be the least of our worries, at least if Daniel Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder, is right. He reckons the Earth's mag- netic poles are "on the verge" of flipping, reversing north and south, an event that would have devastating consequences for our heavily computer- dependent civilisation. His chief evidence is that the strength of the Earth's magnetic field has weakened by about 15 per cent over the past 20 years. Historically, the magnetic poles have flipped every 200,000 or 300,000 years. However, the last flip was 780,000 years ago. Before readers get too alarmed and decide to quit their jobs and run for the hills, Disconnector should point out that in geological terms, being "on the verge" of something still leaves us tens of thousands of years, which is plenty of time for us to finish off the planet properly ourselves. 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 | 16TH - 22ND FEBRUARY 2018 | 31 Matthew Knight @SoutherlyBreeze CCGT developers and supply chain worked hard to bid lowest prices ever but #CMAUCTION market design kept them out. CCGTs like thoroughbred race horses competing with greyhounds at a dog track. Thomas Edwards @TomHenryEdwards In the state aid decision on the #CapacityMarket DECC told EU they expected to be spending between £0.9bn and £2.6bn annually, but in 2021-22 only spending ~£520mn Adam Boorman @AdamBoorman Reading through the latest faster switching doc - looks like Ofgem have quietly dropped any pretence of next day switching - will only mandate for five working day switches... Hugh Taylor @RoadnightTaylor We are excited to be advising a corporate client on a potential 50MW battery storage scheme in the Home Counties. Dept for BEIS @beisgovuk @GregClarkMP @ClairePerryMP: Government intends new energy Price Cap Tariff Bill to be agreed before the summer so it starts protecting people from unfair energy tariffs next winter. Jonny Marshall @JMarshall_ECIU In 2012 around 100 MPs signed an anti- onshore wind letter to the PM. There are now more than 430,000 fuel poor homes in these constituencies, whose energy bills would fall if we built new onshore wind in the UK. Duncan Carter @Duncan_E_Carter Assuming switching rates fall after price cap comes in (as they have done with PPM cap) a sensible strategy for suppliers is to land grab before winter. Expect some good deals! William Marchant @richonlyinname Can only guess that Ofgem chose to bundle a bad news story - the PPM cap going up - with a good news one - 1m new customers getting a price cut - in the hope that the good would neutralise criticism of the bad. In the event, the good has been misinterpreted as amplifying the bad. Top Tweets

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