Utility Week articles from April 2006

Utility Week archives from April 2006

Features.(partners to develop Russia's giant natural gas)
April 7, 2006... Arctic conditions: Gazprom has its pick of partners to develop giant gas field Gazprom will this month announce its chosen partners to develop Russia's giant natural gas Shtokman field in the Arctic, which is estimated to contain 3,500 billion...

WATER Severn poised to demerge waste management arm.(Severn Trent)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Waste management business Biffa is to be demerged from Severn Trent, the parent of Severn Trent Water. It will be listed by the end of the year. Severn Trent chief executive Colin Matthews said his review since joining in February 2005 had...

Features.(Brief article)(Calendar)
April 7, 2006... THE 6 April Final day of international solar cities congress, Oxford Final day of managing rural diffuse pollution conference, organised by Sepa/Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh 7 April Combating climate change with...

PAN-UTILITY Government slammed on sustainable homes failure.(Environmental Audit Committee)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) last week slammed the government for a "fundamental lack of urgency" in developing sustainable homes. In a report, the EAC accused the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) of a "reluctance to...

ENERGY Brussels raps market sloths.
April 7, 2006... by Trevor Loveday The UK's energy sector emerged virtually unscathed from a clampdown by the European Commission on European Union member states who had infringed directives on energy. Trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson welcomed the...

GAS Competition stutters into life.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Despite next year's full implementation of the European Union's gas directive, competition will be "modest" for the immediate future, according to a comprehensive assessment by market intelligence company Datamonitor. Its report concluded...

EleCTRICITY Support for nuclear energy warmer in eastern Europe than it is in the west.(costs of nuclear waste disposal )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Support for nuclear plants is greater in central and eastern Europe than in western Europe, British energy analyst Steve Thomas said last week at a nuclear energy conference in Prague. According to Thomas, a key reason for wider support for...

ENERGY Endesa forks out [euro]1bn to block takeover bid.(Endesa to pay bond to secure Gas Natural)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... by Ivan Castano Spanish power group Endesa has agreed to pay a [euro]1 billion court bond to secure the suspension of Gas Natural's [euro]22 billion takeover bid. A Madrid court asked Endesa to pay the bond to cover possible damages...

ENERGY Enel goes quiet to ponder Suez asset moves.(Enel proposed merger Suez)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Italian energy group Enel went to ground this week to consider its next move in response to the proposed merger between Gaz de France and its compatriot Suez. Enel had been on the verge of making a bid for Suez to establish a presence in the...

Tall tales and made-up stories.(cut emissions)
April 7, 2006... Disconnector was rather underwhelmed by this year's crop of April Fools' Day hoaxes, but was rather taken by the one that filled eight pages of the Estates Gazette, a weekly from the same stable as this august magazine. It was the tale that...

News.
April 7, 2006... You've survived the mud and those notorious toilets, now bring back some more pleasurable memories by watching the new film of the Glastonbury Festival experience and indulging in the latest ice cream courtesy of Ben & Jerry's. It is loaded...

GAS Gazprom strides into Europe.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... by Simon Jones and Keith Nuthall Russian gas giant Gazprom has stepped up its activity in seeking access to European markets. Last week, it pressed German energy group Eon for a better deal over German access to its Siberian gas fields. It...

GAS Germans snub new access regime.(BGW)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... German gas association BGW has confirmed that no private customers switched supplier on 1 April when the new network access model agreed between energy regulator BNA and the gas industry went live. The admission has added to criticism of...

ENERGY Grid throws out watchdog's targets.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... National Grid has rejected regulator Ofgem's 2006 cost targets for its power transmission operations. This first ever rejection of the annually reviewed incentives came after the company decided the targets were too tight. Ofgem's target...

Features.(water banking)
April 7, 2006... Environment secretary Margaret Beckett earned more brickbats than bouquets when the government's climate change programme was finally delivered some nine months later than planned last week. Her department is in the lead, but the exercise is a...

News.(British Nuclear Group)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Licence to print money The successful bidder for British Nuclear Group, now up for sale, will become the owner of all the nuclear site licences for Britain's ageing Magnox nuclear stations. These licences could prove valuable in the event...

GAS Fixed deals would have saved 14%.(British industry paid the highest price)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... British industry paid about 14 per cent more for gas than it needed to during the winter just gone because many companies abandoned fixed-price contracts and bought gas on the day-ahead market, energy consultants have claimed. Risk...

Talent spotting.(business management)
April 7, 2006... One of the biggest revelations to hit businesses in recent years is that managers are not born but made. By deploying the right balance of development opportunities and talent management, companies can groom high-fliers and take them to the...

Plain sailing: new offshore planning regime welcomed by the industry.(regulations in energy management)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Renewable generators have given a cautious welcome to proposed new legislation designed to give greater coherence to the management of the UK's marine waters. Last week, the government published a consultation paper setting out likely measures...

WATER Collect rain instead of using bans, says union.(hosepipe bans )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... by Janet Wood The GMB union has said that hosepipe bans in south east England "could have been avoided" if water companies had collected more rainwater. It also said more reservoirs were needed. According to the GMB: "The rainwater is...

News.(European Commission action against sewage discharges in london)(Scottish Executive plans to cut carbon emissions )(emissions of carbon dioxide rise )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Sewage warning The European Commission is to take action against the UK over sewage discharges in London, Torbay, Whitburn and Kilbarchan that it says breach the urban wastewater directive. The UK has two months to respond, or the...

Features.(Aquavitae)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... GAS This winter's gas price swings have resonated through the energy industry, causing electricity prices to soar. But it has not been all bad news: who are the winners and who are the losers? INTERVIEW Mike Samorzewski says that while...

ELECTRICITY Offshore wind calls for cash.(regulations)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... by Roger Milne As the government published its long-awaited connections regime for offshore wind generation, the industry warned this week that more help was needed if offshore wind power's potential was to be realised. Uncertainty about...

Features.(utilities)
April 7, 2006... The case for human rights in corporate responsibility programmes has never been stronger. Utility Week reported earlier this year on the work done by National Grid through the United Nations to deliver a set of proposals for businesses to...

Sticking to carbon targets.(surveys)
April 7, 2006... Environment secretary Margaret Beckett last week put a brave face on the administration's difficulties in meeting its greenhouse gas reduction targets. Ministers have been making it clear for months that the 20 per cent target by the end...

Stick around.(forecasts)
April 7, 2006... What is the "future of utilities"? Speakers at a recent conference of the same name were asked how important were people to utilities' future, and for James Smith, chairman of Shell UK, there was no hesitation. He said: "Staffing is the most...

News.
April 7, 2006... Reservoirs in the pipeline Proposed location Company Broad Oak Southern Water/Mid Kent Water/ Folkestone and Dover Water Services Clay Hill South East Water Havant Thicket Portsmouth Water South West Oxfordshire...

Keep it in the family.
April 7, 2006... Much has been made of the skills crisis in the utilities sector [degrees] and for good reason. The situation is deteriorating during a period when utilities face some of the biggest challenges for a generation [degrees] the need for massive...

ENERGY SSE latest in list of price increasers.(Scottish and Southern Energy)(gas tariffs increase)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) last week raised its prices for domestic customers [degrees] upping gas tariffs by 16.5 per cent and power bills by 9.4 per cent. It pledged to hold its new prices until at least the start of 2007. The...

WATER Scottish Water may face major treatment upgrade.(Scottish Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Scottish Water may have to provide additional treatment at up to 82 wastewater treatment works discharging into rivers identified as being "at risk", according to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). SEPA's four-yearly...

eNVIRONMENT Carbon trading plans put squeeze on generators.(national allocation plans )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... With three months to go until the deadline, the first draft national allocation plans (NAPs) setting out emissions allowances for the second phase of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme have begun to surface. Sweden, the...

Show mea.(skills shortages )
April 7, 2006... UK skills shortages have hogged the business news headlines for more years than many human resources managers care to remember. The latest quarterly Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), produced by Cranfield School of Management, reveals that...

Features.(price rates of utilities)
April 7, 2006... The latest headline-grabbing utility price hikes affected all UK energy customers, but the country's fuel poor are among the hardest hit. This consumer group is disadvantaged further by the premium associated with the prepayment metering that...

WATER Southern faces heavy fines.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... by Janet Wood Southern Water faces fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover for breaching standards on customer service over the past year, in performance failures that had "significantly damaged" customers' interests, Ofwat has announced....

ELECTRICITY Statkraft eyes Montenegro.(joint ventures)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Norwegian power group Statkraft has entered a strategic long-term collaboration with Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) to engage in jointly funded hydro power generation projects in Montenegro. The firms are expected to issue a joint development...

News.(National Grid auctions)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Gas peddle: National Grid is holding its annual auctions of storage capacity at four of its liquefied natural gas facilities: Avonmouth (pictured), Dynevor, Glenmavis and Partington. Last week's first round attracted nine bidders, four of which...

PAN-UTILITY Union says tighten terrorist screening.(GMB union )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... The GMB union will this week press National Grid to address its concerns over terrorism, after it emerged that one of six alleged terrorists on trial at the Old Bailey was employed by a utility sector contractor used by the company. The...

PAN-UTILITY Close shaves: trading statements from across the sector.(National Grid Energy transmission)
April 7, 2006... National Grid Energy transmission giant National Grid has forecast operating profit growth boosted by "significantly lower financing costs" for the year to 31 March. It said earnings per share would be "well ahead" of last year. US volume...

energy Ex Ofgem man takes Ulster watchdog job.(Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Iain Osborne, formerly director of consumer markets with Ofgem, was named this week as the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation (NIAER). In 2004 Osborne was seconded from Ofgem to work in Brussels on the...

ENERGY Drive to sell off Vattenfall.(Conservative Alliance)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Sweden's new Conservative Alliance has listed Vattenfall among the state-owned companies it wants to privatise if the political grouping is successful in being elected to government in September and ousts ruling prime minister Goran Persson's...

Clean bill of health?(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Global warming has taken the chill off attitudes to nuclear power in recent months, as the media has explored the environmental benefits of the technology once vilified by greens. But a reality check reared its head last week as the Nuclear...

WATER Trio fined for sewage spills.(water pollution)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... English water companies have paid more than [pounds sterling]55,000 in fines and costs after four convictions in magistrates courts in the space of ten days for polluting rivers and an estuary with sewage. All the cases were brought by the EA....

News.
April 7, 2006... Wind boon: Northamptonshire's first windfarm opened last week at Burton Wold, near Kettering. The ten-turbine, 20MW scheme was funded by private equity fund Mistral Wind Farms in partnership with, and managed by, Platina Finance. It claims to...

Smash and grab.(Aquavitae licensing for water supply)
April 14, 2006... Samorzewski: "There has to be a mechanism in place for fair pricing" Here's a question for you: who said the following? "Competition has been slow to take off and there are still elements of a monopoly frame of mind among water companies."...

News.(Centrica to open office in Stavanger)(Scottish Trades Union Congress to promote energy policy that is stable)(power barrage case across the river Severn)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Centrica digs in Centrica has announced plans to open an office in Stavanger, Norway, where its subsidiary Centrica Energi will spearhead the group's increasing involvement in gas exploration and production off Norway. Scots seek...

News.
April 14, 2006... New direction Three non-executive directors have joined chairman Chris Mellor on the board of Northern Ireland's Water Service. John Ballard, a consultant on environmental issues, commercial lawyer Rose Hynes, and Ruth Thompson, former...

ENERGY EU leaders boost budget for cross-border networks.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... European Union political leaders have agreed a 7.5 per cent increase in the budget for the next round of Trans-European Networks (TENs), taking it to [euro]7.2 billion to cover projects for energy and transport. The increase adds [euro]500...

ELECTRICITY Centrica signs coal price deal with Drax.(energy supply deal)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Growing confidence in coal-fired generation was highlighted this week with the signing by energy supply group Centrica of a five-year contract for power from Drax Power [degrees] owner of the 4GW coal-fired plant at Drax in West Yorkshire....

ELECTRICIty Devon biomass generator plan thrown out.(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Proposals for the UK's largest-ever biomass power station [degrees] a 27MW project on a disused airfield [degrees] have been thrown out by a local planning authority in Devon. Peninsula Power, the consortium of local businessmen behind the...

Features.
April 14, 2006... THE 14 April Deadline for submissions to the government's energy review 16 April Publication date for Commons Environmental Audit Committee report on Keeping the lights on: nuclear, renewables and climate change 18 April...

News.(nuclear plant liabilities management by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority )(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Transfer ruled in Last week, the European Commission ruled that the transfer of nuclear liabilities from state-controlled British Nuclear Fuels to the NDA, established about a year ago, did not breach European Union rules on state aid....

MULTI-UTILITY EDF Energy and Thames venture wins MoD deal.(Ministry of Defence)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... A joint venture between EDF Energy and Thames Water has won a deal to provide multi-utility infrastructure for the Army and their families as part of what the venture has described as the Ministry of Defence's biggest accommodation upgrade...

multi-utilitY EDF eyes merger spin-offs.(Electricite de France)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Electricite de France (EDF) has confirmed its interest in acquiring Belgian assets of Suez and Gaz de France (GDF) if the firms merge. "The merger of GDF with Suez obliges EDF to increase its efficiency, but it may also lead to disposals...

ENVIRONMENT Five EU states panned for emissions trade failures.(European union)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... The European Commission has warned five European Union countries over their failure to set up a key element of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta and Poland were rapped by the Commission over...

Sort yourself out, and don't cuss!(Toxic building waste from the river that killed lots of fishes )
April 14, 2006... The biter bit. Or red faces at the Environment Agency, which is now waiting to be sentenced for polluting a river. You may want to read that again, but Disconnector has not perpetrated some awful journalistic blunder. The fact remains, the...

WATER Brussels raps beach dodgers.(Apply the directive to several thousand bathing waters)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... by Keith Nuthall attempts by governments to circumvent extra pollution clean-up costs imposed by the revised European Union Bathing Water Directive have sparked 11 separate legal actions by the European Commission. The Commission has...

ENERGY Gas Natural to up bid for Endesa with rights issue.(Help finance its hostile takeover bid)
April 14, 2006... Spain's biggest gas utility, Gas Natural, said last week it would make a [euro]602 million rights issue to help finance its hostile takeover bid for Spain's largest electricity utility, Endesa. It also indicated that it would increase its offer...

On a high?
April 14, 2006... In February, Eon's UK subsidiary, Powergen, announced a whopping [degrees] and controversial [degrees] 24 per cent increase in gas prices. Earlier in March, Eon reported its full-year results for 2005. As expected, the numbers were formidable....

GAS Proposal holds mains chance.(Gas connections to householders)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... by Roger Milne Ambitious proposals to reach fuel poor households currently without access to mains gas are to be trialled in two areas of England, it has emerged. They will involve either new connections to the gas grid or the use of...

ElectricitY Germans unveil [euro]70bn investment strategy.(Energy Infrastructure to Germany)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... by Simon Jones Germany's electricity suppliers pledged last week at an energy summit chaired by chancellor Angela Merkel to spend [euro]70 billion on new plant and networks over the next six years. The industry has earmarked [euro]30...

Green blues.(Renewable energy using turbines)
April 14, 2006... Renewables currently generate 13.3 per cent of the world's primary energy supply. Increasing this share to 16 per cent by 2030 could cut carbon dioxide emissions by 16 per cent. The UK has its part to play in this. The UK mainland has the...

ELECTRICITY Renewables are neither too costly nor unreliable.(Cost effectiveness of renewable energy)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Suggestions that the intermittency of wind power and other renewable generation renders them too costly and of limited use are not borne out by studies, according to a research report published last week. The government-backed UK Energy...

News.(Bidding for new facilities)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Liquid market: last week's second round of auctions for storage capacity at four of National Grid's strategic liquefied natural gas facilities attracted seven bidders, all of whom were successful. The average price bid was 99p/therm, some 20p...

Features.(Protecting their energy markets)
April 14, 2006... So the European Commission has reached the end of its tether and 17 European Union member states felt its wrath last week over their foot-dragging in opening up their energy markets. Even the swot of the class [degrees] the UK [degrees] was not...

Features.
April 14, 2006... For the record: the Treasury has announced that it has now spent all the proceeds from the windfall tax levied on utilities at the end of the 1990s. The tax generated [pounds sterling]5.2 billion for the government's flagship New Deal...

WATER Hosepipe bans loom for three more firms.(Hosepipes causes problems for fish and wildlife)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... The Environment Agency has advised three more water companies that a hosepipe ban may be required in their areas, but it fell short of calling for immediate restrictions. The agency said it had changed the status of South Suffolk and the...

ENERGY Price rises will continue into 2007, report warns.(Energy budget)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... The continuation into 2007 of the three-year rise in energy prices is "very much an inevitability rather than a possibility", according to a recent report by market analyst Datamonitor. "The sheer magnitude and frequency of recent wholesale...

ELECTRICITY NI renewables boosted by changes to aid regime.(Northern Ireland)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Northern Ireland energy minister Angela Smith has announced changes to the province's Renewables Obligation regime designed to boost the amount of electricity generated from "green" sources. The changes include a widening of the scope for...

ELECTRICITY Ditch grid and ration carbon, says report.(Energy saving)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... by Janet Wood Energy generation is most efficient when it is done at community level, and energy markets should be structured to promote community projects and energy saving, according to a new report from the Green Alliance. In its...

Features.
April 14, 2006... INTERVIEW Ofwat's Philip Fletcher and Ofgem's Alistair Buchanan discuss the similarities and differences in their roles and look at where utility regulation is going WATER The implications of the Ministry of Defence's legal victory over...

ELECTRICITY Traders make bid to halt slide in liquidity.(Decline and fragmentation in market liquidity)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Power traders have launched an investigation to find out why liquidity is falling in UK power markets. The Futures and Options Exchange and its Power Trading Forum want to unearth how to reverse the decline. Paul Benyon, the chairman of...

ENERGY 'Dithering policy-makers increase blackout risk'.(Global energy industry to make investment commitments)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Governments and regulators are dithering over decisions that are vital for the global energy industry to make investment commitments, and power cuts could result, according to findings from a survey of global utility board members. Europe's...

Features.(Anglian's behaviour competency framework )
April 14, 2006... Anglian Water has undergone a number of strategic shifts in recent years, and in its 2005 report it emphasised its new focus on the "customer experience". Add to this the firm's withdrawal from international markets and stated aim of advancing...

MPs to pour cold water on nukes.(Member of Parliament)
April 14, 2006... This weekend, one influential group of MPs will pour some cold water on the prime minister's nuclear power aspirations, in the form of a report that will be seen as a reality check for those currently most bullish about the prospects for an...

News.(Plant production at European energy Exchange)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Germany's big four seek trust Germany's four leading suppliers have volunteered to release detailed plant production data at the European Energy Exchange. In a joint letter to economics minister Michael Glos announcing the move, Vattenfall...

News.(Lack of communications from scientists exploration)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... It's official: boffins baffle the public A detailed European Commission report on a key EU water research programme has concluded that the research scientists lacked the communications strategies to inform the public and industry of their...

EnergY Industry urges review to retain fuel diversity.(Fuel and fuel systems )(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... by Trevor Loveday Energy group Eon UK and electricity generator Drax Power have separately pressed the government to ensure a diverse mix of fuels is maintained in the UK's power production capacity in their submissions to the review of UK...

GAS Gazprom may not be reliable in the long term.(Gas industry will not be in the long run)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Gazprom will remain an important player in energy markets and it would be difficult for its European customers to find a substitute in the medium term, according to a new report from Standard & Poor's (S&P). The company's large reserves...

WATER Second Severn Trent probe on misreports.(Investigations of financial penalties )(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... by Janet Wood Severn Trent Water faces additional penalties from regulator Ofwat and could be the subject of another Serious Fraud Office investigation after it admitted the further misreporting of customer service data. Ofwat chairman...

News.
April 14, 2006... Clinical analysis: the Health and Safety Executive has begun consulting on its review of the safety assessment principles for nuclear sites to reduce risks as low as reasonably possible. The revised principles will be used by the nuclear...

Smart move?(Smart meters for energy consumption)
April 14, 2006... Next month, May, energy regulator Ofgem will publish its proposals for stimulating smart metering (though it often refers to it as "innovative metering"). The potential for smart meters to provide consumers with better information about, and...

Features.
April 14, 2006... In a test case brought by the Environment Agency against United Utilities earlier this year, the High Court ruled that four of its wastewater treatment plants were governed by the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 (PPC...

WATER Veolia sells its stake in Southern Water.(The Majority shareholders )(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... by Janet Wood Veolia has sold its 25 per cent stake in Southern Water to Southern Water Capital (SWC), the holding company that is the majority shareholder. Royal Bank of Scotland said the deal would leave its stake in the company...

WATER Welsh Water fined for killing fish.(Sewage leak killed fishes)(Brief article)
April 14, 2006... Welsh Water has been fined [pounds sterling]12,000 and ordered to pay costs of nearly [pounds sterling]9,000 after two recent court appearances where it pleaded guilty to two separate pollution incidents that killed more than 1,100 fish. ...