Utility Week

Community Feelgood factors Glorious sunshine! It's amazing what a difference a bit of sunny weather makes to people's dis- position in this country. Earlier this month some parts of the country were still getting snow, as well as a seemingly never- ending stream of bad news. An abrupt turnaround on the weather front saw the entire country basking in sun- shine (hotter than Barcelona at times, apparently) and sud- denly our worries are melting along with the mist. Brexit has been relegated to the inside pages, as have any developments in the Salisbury nerve agent attack, which was perpetrated either by Russia or MI6, depending on whether you're getting your information from the BBC or Russia Today. The war in Syria appears to have ended – because there's no coverage of it any more. Even baby-faced North Korean bad guy Kim Jong-Un has resolved to give up his role as pantomime villain and promised to talk peace with South Korea and the US. And to cap it all off, Kate Middleton gave birth to another royal heir, a boy, and on St George's Day no less. It's just as well the name George has already been taken or we would inevitably have had a Prince George born on St George's Day and Ukip sup- porters up and down the coun- try would have spontaneously combusted out of sheer pride. Direct action on pollution Of course, there's got to be a limit on the effective range of British positive thinking (that's not a phrase Disconnector uses oen), and the great man suspects that the line must stop short of the Philippines, judg- ing by the reaction of president Rodrigo Duterte to pollution on the beaches of the idyllic island of Boracray: he's ordered the entire island to be closed for six months, effective this week. Duterte has railed against the island's hotels, restaurants and other businesses, accusing them of dumping sewage into the sea and turning it into a "cesspool". It was a national disgrace and harming the Phil- ippines' international reputa- tion, he declared without irony. Duterte, readers may recall, is famous for his no-nonsense approach to tackling the coun- try's drug epidemic – sending death squads out on mopeds to execute drug addicts. He's also said to have stabbed someone to death when he was 16. So, perhaps it's unsurpris- ing that he's taken a similarly direct approach to sorting out pollution. The environment ministry estimates that 195 businesses and some 4,000 residential customers are not connected to the sewer network and dump sewage into the sea. Rather than trying to find out what's going on, Duterte is sim- ply shutting the island down until they sort themselves out. Michael Gove can only be looking on with a wistful sigh. Fishy business Lest we get too pleased with ourselves for the relative sophis- tication of our sewage system, it wasn't so long ago that we pumped sewage out to sea, and raw sewage still flows into the Thames during heavy rain, hence the Tideway Tunnel. And no matter how many information initiatives are run by water companies, people still flush all sorts of household items down the toilet. Last week a worker for Southern Water pulled a piranha fish out of a sewer in Chichester. Fortunately it was dead, but that's hardly the point. It's unlikely the thing swam down there, so someone flushed it down the loo, which is an obvious health hazard and drain obstruction. While "out of sight, out of mind" works okay for bad news, too many people apply the same principle to their toilet. 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; Business development manager: 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 2017 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 | 27TH APRIL - 3RD MAY 2018 | 31 National Grid Control Room @ NGControlRoom GB electricity at 6:00pm: gas 35.3%, wind 27.4%, nuclear 18.7%, imports 6.7%, biomass 5.6%, solar 3.7%, hydro 1.3%, storage 0.9%, other 0.3%, coal 0.0%, national demand 36.4 GW. CCWater @WaterWatchdog These results echo our own research – we want the water industry to step up its efforts to engage with customers to ensure awareness of the non-domestic retail market does not stagnate. Over half of SMEs "unaware" of water competition – Utility Week. Energy UK @EnergyUKcomms The Commission for Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances has today published a call for evidence to gather views from as broad as possible a spectrum of stakeholders. Deadline for responses is 30 May 2018. Read more http://bit.ly/2HbiqIz Mongoose Energy @MongooseEnergy Our five-year agreement with @BritishRen is a first of its kind. They will bring expertise in operations and maintenance to 14 of our #solar projects. Great news for @HECEnergy! @EnergyLiveNews #SolarPower #Renewables #CommunityEnergy Claire Perry @claireperrymp Britain ran for a record 54 hours and 50 minutes without #coal power throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, great progress as we continue #poweringpastcoal Carbon Tracker @CarbonBubble At 11pm tonight, the UK will set a new record, having run 48 hours continuously with no #coal-powered generation in the UK electricity mix… expected to last a further 24hrs. Citizens Advice @CitizensAdvice We found 140,000 households in the UK struggled to keep their gas or electricity meters topped up in 2017. We want energy suppliers to bring in measures to make sure people stay connected. Top Tweets

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