Utility Week

4 | 8TH -14TH JUNE 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Enel buys 73% of Eletropaulo for $1.5bn Italy's state-controlled energy group Enel snapped up 73 per cent of the shares of Brazil's power company Eletropaulo for $1.48 billion, formally ending a heated bidding war with Spain's Iberdrola. The deal will make it the largest electricity generator of Latin America's largest country. The offer was formalised aer Eletropaulo's shareholders, which include the investment arm of Brazil's development bank BNDES, accepted the offer last week. Financial Times, 5 June Green energy will hurt global economy The global economy is heading for another sharp downturn triggered by the bursting of the "carbon bubble" as cheap renewable energy causes a collapse in demand for fossil fuel, Cambridge University research has concluded. Mass unemployment could lead to politi- cal unrest and the rise of populist leaders in countries with big oil and gas industries, the study said. It predicted that oil companies' vast reserves of fuel would become "stranded assets" before 2035, hav- ing been sharply devalued by the rapid shi to electric cars and wind and solar power. The Times, 5 June Plastic pollution to be tackled in Wales Walkers on the Wales Coastal Path will be alerted to places offering free drinking water under a plan to tackle plastic waste. The 870-mile route has been chosen for the first stage in a drive to make Wales a "refill nation". Towns, villages and traders will be urged to join in, with refill points identified by stickers and an app. Communities and businesses with free drinking water available will be invited to take part in the scheme over the next 12 months. BBC News, 5 June STORY BY NUMBERS National media Water firms defend CEO pay from union attack W ater companies have defended the pay of their chief execu- tives, saying they deliver for customers, aer the GMB union branded nine water chiefs "fat cats". Figures released by GMB this week revealed that water bosses "trousered" £58 million in "salary, bonuses, pensions and other benefits" over the past five years. The union called for the industry to be taken back into public ownership. GMB placed Severn Trent's chief executive, Liv Garfield, top of what it dubbed the water industry's "fat cat league". It said she took home a "stagger- ing" £2.4 million in 2017, 50 per cent more than for 2013. A spokesperson for Severn Trent, said: "Our priority is to perform for our customers, and our performance on customer ODIs [outcome delivery incen- tives], which are the measures that matter most to our custom- ers, has been strong. "Remuneration for our execu- tives is based on a range of chal- lenging performance targets and is in line with pay at companies of a similar size." United Utilities was listed as having "splashed out" £2.3 mil- lion on its chief executive, Steve Mogford, last year – an increase of 49 per cent since 2013. A company spokesperson said: "The vast majority of Steve Mogford's remuneration is linked to the delivery of stretch- ing targets aimed at further improving customer service, operation delivery and environ- mental performance. "In 2017, his total remunera- tion was approximately half the average for a FTSE 100 CEO." Michael Roberts, chief execu- tive of Water UK, responded to the GMB's campaign to rena- tionalise water by saying water companies had invested huge amounts in the sector. "If the water industry was owned and run by the govern- ment in England, it is far from obvious that it would be a prior- ity for ministers, given the pres- sures they face," he said. KP Data security confidence Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal in March, Utility Week conducted an exclusive survey in association with Harris Interactive into whether con- sumer perception about utilities had been affected. 47% are now more nerv- ous about installing smart technology in their homes. 61% The 18-24 age bracket is most apprehensive about smart tech after the scandal. 49% are more nervous about installing an energy app on their phone. 44% are just as likely to share their data with utilities. 29% Percentage more reluctant now to share data. "To assume that Swansea is redundant, given the plan for investment in Wylfa, is very short-sighted" Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey says it would be "outrageous" if the government decided not to go ahead with Tidal Lagoon Power's £1.2 billion project in Swansea Bay. Huge investment in the sector since privatisation

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