Utility Week articles from August 2007

Utility Week archives from August 2007

Water'Alien' design derails key wastewater plant.(News)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... by Vibeka Mair Southern Water has suffered a setback in its three-year battle to secure planning permission for a [pounds sterling]200 million wastewater treatment works to serve Brighton and Hove in West Sussex. The government...

ENERGYB2B suppliers give thumbs up to Ofgem plans.(News)(business to business)(United Kingdom. Office of Gas and Electricity Markets)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Business energy suppliers have welcomed proposals from regulator Ofgem to stop suppliers using the "objection window" to offer lower prices to customers who are planning to switch to a cheaper rival. Ofgem wants to modify supply licences so...

Beyond the field.(Features)
August 10, 2007... Fieldforce automation can deliver benefits that go far beyond just better productivity, as Steve Hobson found out at a Utility Week/BT workshop Using modern communications technology to improve information flows to and from a utility...

News.(Scottish and Southern Energy's customer relations)(Sunpower bought intellectual property rights from BG Group)(BG Group's first half-year results for 2007)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Thames bids closing Veolia Environnement was reported to be the lead bidder to buy Thames Water Services for [pounds sterling]100-[pounds sterling]150 million. The official sale process has been under way since April, with discussions...

environment25 firms explore joint carbon capture plan.(News)
August 10, 2007... by Roger Milne Engineering consultancy Amec is to carry out a feasibility study into a ground-breaking proposal to collect carbon dioxide from a cluster of power stations and industrial facilities in Yorkshire and Humberside for storage in...

Go with the cashflow.(Features)(regulated water companies providing good returns for investors)(Office of Water Services)
August 10, 2007... How can 'boring' regulated water companies make such spectacular returns for investors? Hugh Kelly says, always follow the money Since 1996, the share prices of UK quoted water companies have increased by more than 400 per cent. By...

energyCentrica warns 2007 boom will fade.(News)
August 10, 2007... Centrica, the UK's biggest energy company, reported a better-than-expected set of interim results for the first six months of 2007 but warned that this performance was not expected to continue during the second half of the year. A...

Be warned.(Features)(Channel Islands Electricity Grid planning to ensure uninterrupted power supply)
August 10, 2007... To better cope with price volatility, the Channel Islands moved to buying its power flexibly, and that meant handling 'risk' . By Chris Bowden The economies of both Jersey and Guernsey are heavily reliant on the offshore financial services...

Eyes on the price.(Features)
August 10, 2007... According to Colin Skellett, customer ability and willingness to pay should inform everything a water company does, as he tells Vibeka Mair Colin Skellett is Wessex Water's longest-serving employee. He has seen the company's ownership move...

ELECTRICITYNew rules proposed on grid connections.(Features)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... by Janet Wood The arrangements for connecting new power stations to the grid could be changed to allow plant to get on line more quickly in return for disconnecting from the grid when it is congested. The proposal is one of several in...

News.
August 10, 2007... Pump action: Crossness Pumping Station in southeast London, once owned by Thames Water, has been named by the government's historical monuments adviser as one of the UK's top historic buildings at risk. English Heritage listed Crossness as...

Features.(Calendar)
August 10, 2007... THE 15 August Eon first half 07 results 12-18 August World water week, Stockholm 31 August EDF first half 07 results 4 September UCC energy buyers meeting, London REA wave and tidal technology...

News.
August 10, 2007... Pipe pose: former trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers gets down on his knees during a photoshoot in a huge new sewer scheme under construction by Northumbrian Water at Shiremoor on North Tyneside. He is the local MP. Is there no end to...

News.
August 10, 2007... Bank on it: two groups from investment bank Morgan Stanley raised nearly [pounds sterling]130,000 after completing WaterAid's 6 Peaks Challenge - climbing six mountains in Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man in 72 hours.

News.
August 10, 2007... Shaken but not stirred: visual evidence that Thames Water staff who took part in the company's annual raft race entered into the spirit of the James Bond-themed event with a vengeance. WaterAid benefited. It's intriguing that so many males...

Features.
August 10, 2007... Embedded benefits could be scrapped The contractual and charging arrangements under which electricity from distributed generators is exported to the transmission network need to be updated, according to Ofgem. The change could mean small...

ENERGYEC presses unbundling case.(Features)(European Union. European Commission)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... by Janet Wood The European Commission has started two new antitrust investigations into the energy sector and more could follow as it prepares to present contentious proposals, due in September, forcing energy companies to sell network...

GasReview could delay capacity auctions.(News)
August 10, 2007... by Roger Milne Upcoming long-term auctions of gas entry capacity to the high-pressure National Transmission System (NTS) could be delayed after Ofgem's decision to conduct a major review of the new baseline capacity figures and the regime...

ENERGYGermany stuck with rising prices.(Features)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Bernhard Heitzer, the incoming president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office (FCO), has warned that the new anti-monopoly laws being enacted next month are unlikely to stem the current wave of electricity price rises. "The government and...

PAN-UTILITYCountdown to disaster.(Features)(Calendar)
August 10, 2007... Last month, Gloucestershire was devastated by some of the worst flooding the UK has ever seen. How did Central Networks and Severn Trent Water cope? Steve Hobson runs down the timeline. Friday 20 July Parts of Gloucester see 120mm of...

Features.
August 10, 2007... Keep it clean: St Helens Council has teamed up with ScottishPower to tackle graffiti disfiguring the Lancashire town. In a first-of-a-kind initiative, the local authority has joined forces with the energy company to keep electricity...

ELECTRICITYInt Power bolsters wind portfolio.(News)
August 10, 2007... Ireland-based wind asset-management company Trinergy was snapped up by generator International Power last week for [pounds sterling]586 million. The acquisition has made International Power one of the world's top ten windfarm operators,...

Features.
August 10, 2007... ENVIRONMENT Latvia joins rebels against ETS caps Latvia has joined the growing alliance of eastern European countries taking the European Commission to the European Court of Justice to challenge what they regard as miserly carbon...

Features.
August 10, 2007... Flooding prompts difficult questions, not easy answers Will British Rail ever live down its "wrong sort of snow" excuse for trains being delayed one winter? Was it the wrong sort of rain - those exceptionally intense cloudbursts seen in the...

ENERGYFive bidders line up for Leipzig sale.(Features)
August 10, 2007... Five groups are pursuing a 49.9 per cent per cent stake in German municipal utility Stadtwerke Leipzig (SWL) and have until the end of August to submit binding offers. The five bidders are Vattenfall, EnBW, Veolia, Electrabel and the Renova...

Features.
August 10, 2007... ENERGY Utility Week launches its campaign to persuade the government to halt the rollout of visual display meters and instead promote proper smart metering WATER A comparison of how different water companies tackle debt...

waterOfwat outlines plan to ensure stable prices.(Features)
August 10, 2007... Ofwat plans to reduce price volatility for customers by changing the price control mechanism for the 2009 price review (PR09). Signalling its approach to the October consultation on the methodology for PR09, the regulator suggested that a...

ENERGY12-week disputes 'too long'.(News)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Disputes between energy retailers and customers should be referred to the Energy Supply Ombudsman (ESO) after four weeks rather than 12, according to Scottish and Southern Energy chief executive Ian Marchant. Speaking at the launch of the...

GASNorth Sea link closed until September.(Features)
August 10, 2007... Emergency repairs to the Central Area Transmission (CATS) North Sea pipeline will keep the gas link closed until sometime in September, operator BP has warned. The pipeline carries gas from a cluster of North Sea gas fields to Teesside...

Features.(European Union's energy policy)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Keeping it together: nine go mad at the Commission A group of European Union economics ministers has joined forces to counter the Commission's push to force network unbundling on energy companies. Michael Glos and Jean-Luois Borloo,...

Parliamentarianspan climate bill.(Features)
August 10, 2007... Foot and mouth is the PM's most pressing issue but MPs and peers are seeing red over global warming Prime minister Gordon Brown must be worried that after floods and now pestilence in the shape of the foot and mouth outbreak his...

News.(forward electricity prices to rise if generators are to invest in new capacity)(Report)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... ELECTRICITY Forward prices fall 'below cost' Forward electricity prices will have to rise significantly if generators are to invest in new capacity, according to a report from consulting engineers PB Power. The latest edition of...

ELECTRICITYUK second in renewables index ranking.(News)
August 10, 2007... The UK has jumped from fifth to second place in the "all renewables" index of the quarterly Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index prepared by accountant Ernst & Young. The accountant said the Energy White Paper had "put renewables...

MULTI-UTILITYMobile sites sell-off nets SSE [pounds sterling]79m.(News)(Scottish and Southern Energy )(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Scottish and Southern Energy has raised [pounds sterling]79 million by selling the site assets of SSE Telecommunications (SSET) to The Wireless Infrastructure Company. The deal includes more than 220 tower sites used by mobile telecoms...

waterSewer transfers will cost customers more.(News)
August 10, 2007... by Vibeka Mair Water customers could pay more for the adoption of private sewers than estimates have suggested, according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater). CCWater chair Dame Yve Buckland said: "The water and sewerage...

ENERGYClip-on units a 'distraction'.(News)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Energy retail and consumer groups have united to oppose government proposals for clip-on real-time electricity display units to be made available free to all households from May 2008. The latest consultation on energy billing and metering...

EnergySpark Energy enters as rules are simplified.(News)
August 10, 2007... Supplier Spark Energy has become the latest market entrant to be awarded a domestic electricity supply licence. The Edinburgh-based company has already built a customer base in some of the UK's largest hotels and office complexes and a...

waterScottish Water rapped over spending delay.(News)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Scottish water regulator Wics has criticised Scottish Water for making a "slow start" in delivering its [pounds sterling]2.15 billion investment programme for the price review period 2006-10. Publishing Approach to Capital Expenditure, the...

News.(Wessex Water has been recruiting and training ex-offenders with some excellent results)
August 10, 2007... For the past two years, Wessex Water has been recruiting and training ex-offenders with some excellent results . ZoA' Grainge finds out more Give them a break Filling manual jobs on water and sewage treatment works is one of the more...

News.
August 10, 2007... GAS Regulator faces appeal bill of [pounds sterling]300k The UK energy regulator Ofgem is facing legal bills in the region of [pounds sterling]300,000 after the first energy licence appeal hearing before the Competition Commission, it...