Utility Week articles from December 2004

Utility Week archives from December 2004

ELECTRICITY; Security is worth paying for.(electricity bill payers)
December 10, 2004... Despite the political storm that blows wh After the decision by energy regulator Ofgem to allow power distributors to track inflation by raising prices, a recent survey has found that nearly two-thirds of electricity bill payers said they...

WATER; No extra cash to help poor pay their water bills.
December 10, 2004... by Karma Ockenden Consumers last week accused the government of adding insult to injury by announcing paltry help for the poor on the back of rising water bills from April. After nine months considering what to do to help poor...

WATER; Agbar reins in capital outlay by 18 per cent.(Agbar )(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Spanish water group Agbar will lower capital expenditures by 17.8 per cent to e1.64 billion by 2006 from e2 billion amid the delayed accounting of some projects. 'We are not reducing investment,' secretary general Jose Vila said the...

TELECOMS; Broadband use soars in UK households.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The number of households in the UK surfing the internet at high speed increased 117 per cent to 11.5 million people in the 12 months to October 2004. According to research from Nielsen/NetRatings, the number of people surfing the internet...

ELECTRICITY; British Energy warns of threat to asset life.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... by Roger Milne Troubled generator British Energy has admitted that a potential technical problem in its oldest plants could make them uneconomic and unsafe to run for their expected 35-year lifetimes. The company has conceded for the...

TELECOMS; Orange follows Vodafone with 3G.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... French-owned mobile telecoms operator Orange has launched third generation (3G) mobile services in the UK and France. Orange said it was offering four handset models in the UK and would expand that to six before Christmas. The company said...

TELECOMS; BT moves on Italian and EU business markets.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... BT has taken over loss-making Italian telecoms company Albacom for a minimum of [pounds sterling]80 million. The move was part of BT's strategy of developing a pan-European presence. BT already owned a 26 per cent stake in Albacom, which...

ELECTRICITY; Bulgaria gets a e34m clean-up loan.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development last week awarded a e34 million, 11-year loan to Bulgaria's largest thermal power station, the 1,450MW Maritza East 2 plant, to finance the fitting of sulphur dioxide stripping facilities to...

WATER; Welsh Water the best to work for, say suppliers.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The unusual outsourcing and partnering arrangements at Welsh Water have paid dividends on the supply chain front, with suppliers and contractors ranking the not-for-profit outfit the best water company to work for. Welsh Water scored on...

EDP.(Energias de Portugal growth)
December 10, 2004... by Trevor Dooley Energias de Portugal (EDP)has more than three-quarters of Portugal's generation capacity and 99 per cent of distribution and supply for the country's 5.8 million customers. EDP is nearing the end of its long-term purchase...

eLECTRICITY; Renewable minnows get long-term project backer.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... A new player has entered the small, onshore UK wind sector offering project finance to developers and communities interested in funding such schemes. Through a deal with investment manager Climate Change Capital, Geotrupes Energy said it...

Conference set to make the right connections.(Utility Week one-day Connections Conference)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The clock is ticking: the UK is committed to delivering a carbon revolution, starting with 10 per cent of electricity demand by 2010 met from renewable sources. This will involve a transmission and distribution system configured to cope with...

GAS; Ofgem unveils new regime for connections.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Ofgem has proposed a new regime for connections performance, which sets overall and guaranteed standards of performance. At the same time, the watchdog has proposed revoking the 2004 enforcement order on National Grid Transco's connections...

Judicious review.
December 10, 2004... Following its indicative price proposals last September, Ofgem has now published its final determinations for the 12 distribution companies in England and Wales and their two counterparts north of the Border. The new pricing formula is due to...

The big fix.
December 10, 2004... On the 29 November, Ofgem published its final proposals for the electricity distribution price control review. This document draws together all the strands of the review conducted over the past two years into a package of measures that best...

ENERGY; Brussels set to block Portugal energy merger.
December 10, 2004... The European Commission was this week expected to block the proposed merger of Portugal's Energias de Portugal (EDP) and Gas de Portugal (GDP). The decision, expected after Utility Week went to press, would be the first merger vetoed by...

You must have the right address.
December 10, 2004... Sometimes, you just can't Adam and Eve it, can you? Disconnector was amazed to learn recently that housing bosses on Tyneside are resorting to court action in order to carry out vital safety work on central heating systems. It transpires...

ENERGY; Adviser slams fuel poor plan.
December 10, 2004... by Roger Milne The government's own advisers have savaged the latest action plan to combat fuel poverty in England as lacking the resources and the direction needed to deliver results. The criticism came from the Fuel Poverty Advisory...

ENERGY; Germany's regulation deal poised for failure.
December 10, 2004... by Simon Jones Germany's main political parties this week looked unlikely to agree a compromise deal on changes to the proposed energy law. Opposition parties have a blocking majority in the Upper House, and all-party talks within a...

ELECTRICITY; German watchdog under fire over results delay.(EON Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Eon chairman Wulf Bernotat has accused Germany's monopoly watchdog, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO), of delaying an admission of failure to uncover market abuse in its current investigation into grid charges. 'The FCO has failed to find...

EDFgoes after UK.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Electricite de France (EDF) is keen to attract UK investors to the company's [pounds sterling]27bn flotation, details of which are due in the next two weeks. It will provide them with the opportunity to become shareholders in the group which...

And the winner is.(Office of Water Services has given ground to the water companies)
December 10, 2004... Exactly who the real winner is from Ofwat's PR04 final determination is not immediately clear. What is clear is that the City was cock-a-hoop at the news that Ofwat has given ground to the water companies. The brokers piled into water stocks...

WATER; Mid Kent sale could fire up merger debate again.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... German bank West LB's move to sell Mid Kent Water could reignite the water merger debate. The bank was clearing out assets acquired by its principal finance unit, including its 49.9 per cent stake in Mid Kent. Among potential buyers is...

eLECTRICITY; Brussels set to probe UK atom liability body.(Nuclear Decommissioning Authority)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Ministers were putting a brave face on the decision by the European Commission to launch a full-scale inquiry into the government's plans for a Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to take on decommissioning liabilites. The Commission...

TELECOMS; Bank bags NTL broadcast arm for [pounds sterling]1.27bn.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The UK's largest cable company, NTL, has sold its broadcast towers business to an Australian consortium led by Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG) for [pounds sterling]1.27 billion. The deal sent NTL's shares on Nasdaq up 5...

WATER; Northumbrian ups bond issue.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... With a 'more acceptable' determination from Ofwat, water firm Northumbrian Water has issued a [pounds sterling]100 million increase to its [pounds sterling]250 million Eurobond to beef up its capital programme funding. Managing director...

ELECTRICITY; Industry and unions unite against closure.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... by Gerard O'Dwyer The Swedish government's decommissioning programme for its nuclear plant has met united industry and union opposition. Prime minister Goran Persson is experiencing a growing discontent within the ruling Social...

T.(analysis of Mike O'Brien energy policies)
December 10, 2004... Dead on cue at 6 o'clock in the evening the lights in Mike O'Brien's office in the Department of Trade and Industry start to dim. It is not a sign of an impending power cut but a deliberate energy saving ploy. The minister is quick to point...

GAS; OMV bids to raise e1bn.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Austrian oil and gas group OMV has unveiled plans to raise e1 billion through a share capital increase and a bond issue to finance its expansion in central and eastern Europe. The money raised will also refinance the group's acquisition of...

Abalancing act.
December 10, 2004... Last week I announced the price limits for water companies in England and Wales for the next five years and Ibelieve my final determinations strike a balance. They will enable water companies to meet the needs of customers and of the...

This time it's personal.(curricula vitae)
December 10, 2004... While it is generally acknowledged that between 70 and 80 per cent of jobs are never advertised, those that are demand a focused approach from applicants, particularly for more senior roles. CVs are used by recruiters to identify those who...

War of words; over water bills.
December 10, 2004... Ministers have conceded they are between a rock and a hard place over rising water bills, particularly in south west England. Backbenchers Linda Gilroy and Candy Atherton want Prime Ministerial action. The Labour MPs, whose constituencies...

WATER; Eni lets water out for e85m.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... A consortium of Genoa multi- utility Amga and Turin-based water distributor Smat have paid E85.1 million for a 67 per cent stake in Eni water subsidiary Acque Potabili. Eni rejected a E80 million offer for Acque Potabili from the same...

ENERGY; Budget to offer little new on climate change.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Despite the government's insistence that climate change was a key issue, last week's pre-Budget report provided few new initiatives to deal with it. Utility Week understands that ministers were planning to keep their powder dry on issues...

Framework direction.
December 10, 2004... With the publication in November and December of Ofgem's and Ofwat's final proposals for electricity distribution and water, the companies in these sectors face crucial decisions. Should they accept their respective proposals and get on with...

WATER; Ofwat eases pressure on industry but customers hit.
December 10, 2004... Water companies were left better off at the expense of customers in Ofwat's final price decisions for 2005-10, announced last Thursday. The regulator unveiled rises limited to 4.2 per cent a year on average, less than the 6.2 per cent...

gas; Watchdog barks over charges hike.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Consumer body Energywatch has demanded that energy regulator Ofgem should block ScottishPower's decision to increase the standing charge for gas customers on independent gas transporter networks. Over 130,000 customers were involved, many...

WATER ; Water exchanges mooted to make up for shortfalls.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Spain has set out a new national water policy under which water exchanges are to be established to improve the use of surplus capacity. The exchanges would auction under-used resources such as those resulting from concessions dating back...

ENERGY; Italian cost compensation gets Brussels' green light.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Grants given by the Italian authorities to its energy sector to cover stranded costs that liberalisation made near impossible to recover have been approved by the European Commission as compatible with legislation on state aid. The...

ENERGY; TXUEurope creditors win payout of [pounds sterling]1.7bn.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... by Trevor Dooley The administrators of energy group TXU Europe announced last week that the company's creditors, mainly UK generators, will share a [pounds sterling]1.7 billion payout. At the front of the queue will be Drax Power,...

TELECOMS; Telecom Italia launches e20bn TIM buyback offer.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Telecoms operator Telecom Italia was this week set to finalise a e20 billion buyback of the 44 per cent of mobile subsidiary Telecom Italia Mobile that it does not already own. The deal would enable it to take advantage of the mobile company's...

ELECTRICITY; Spanish renewables beat nuclear output.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... by Ivan Castano Renewable generation accounts for 23 per cent of Spain's installed capacity, outstripping the contribution made by nuclear power at 13 per cent, Spanish grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE) has revealed. ...

ENVIRONMENT; Emissions caps boost gas and wind power in Spain.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Gas and wind generation in Spain have received a boost under the country's carbon allocation proposals, just announced, which set out how the country plans to implement the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. The country's so-called...

On the brink of change.
December 10, 2004... The international community has just begun two weeks of meetings in Buenos Aires to review the UN treaty on global warming. The meeting in the Argentine capital is known officially as COP 10 and marks the tenth anniversary of the entry into...

ONE.(Interview)
December 10, 2004... minute interview Name Steve Powlay Age 44 Company LogicaCMG Job title Managing director UK Energy & Utilities, leading the business group providing business and IT consultancy, systems integration and...

TELECOMS; 3 hits 80% target ahead of schedule.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Third generation (3G) mobile telecoms operator 3 said it has rolled out its high-speed network to cover 80 per cent of the population, beating the regulatory deadline by three years. The company, owned by Hutchison Whampoa, said it had...

TELECOMS; ART orders termination fees slash.(Autorite de regulation des telecommunications)(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... French telecoms regulator ART has ordered three mobile operators in the metropolitan markets in France to cut their termination charges on a 'multi-year price reduction glide path'. Orange France, SFR and Bouygues Telecom will be required...

PAN-UTILITY; Companies missing a reporting trick.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... With new European Union laws to tighten up company reporting standards on the horizon, utilities are missing the opportunity to market themselves better through their annual report, which is set to become a more costly exercise. In a...

WATER; Bristol profits slump by 10%.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... BristolWater Group reported a 10 per cent slide in operating profit at its water business. The loss was attributed to regulatory price controls for the six months to September 30. The company warned that results for the second half of the...

ELECTRICITY; British Energy loss triples as lost output takes toll.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Struggling generator British Energy added to its woes this week, reporting a threefold slump in pre-tax losses after outages at two plants took their toll. And the troubled plant make the company's prospects for the second half of the year...

ENERGY; British Gas user exodus may double.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... British Gas could lose a further one million customers during 2005/06. The analyst warning came as the energy giant revealed that this year's domestic price rises have prompted more than 900,000 to leave the supplier. Industry analyst...

TELECOMS; BT loses CAT appeal against winback ban.(Competition Appeals Tribunal )(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... by Zoe Grainge BT has lost its appeal against a ruling last year preventing BT Retail from pursuing an aggressive winback campaign to stop customers transferring to rival operators. The Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) dismissed BT's...

ELECTRICITY; Iberdrola keeps largest market share.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Spain's second-biggest power utility, Iberdrola, has taken the lead in the newly liberalised electricity market, according to Spanish energy watchdog CNE. CNE said in report last week that during 2004 Iberdrola would maintain the 38 per...

Redress to impress.(quality customer service an overview)
December 17, 2004... When a business offers a brand to its customers it extends a promise that should be exciting, memorable and, most importantly, deliverable. Keep your promise, and you can have every expectation your customers will be delighted to commit...

WATER; Water minnow mulls price hike referral.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Having had its proposed average increase in prices cut by almost 75 per cent to a mere 0.5 per cent a year, water minnow Dee Valley Group was left considering a Competition Commission referral after the regulator's recent final determination on...

ENERGY; Dong/Elsam merger agreed at last minute.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... by Gerard O'Dwyer Danish utilities Elsam and Dong have hammered out a merger after months of negotiation and after last-minute hurdles threatened to scupper a deal. Denmark's finance minister, Thor Pedersen, has been widely credited...

ELECTRICITY; EDF increases EnBW holding by 5%.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... French state-owned power utility Electricite de France (EDF) has raised its stake in German energy group EnBW from 34.5 per cent to 39 per cent via a capital increase, amid growing resentment of its interest in the firm from German authorities....

ENERGY; One-stop advice network launched.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Ministers have committed [pounds sterling]10 million over the next three years to the development of a one-stop shop offering what is claimed will be the most comprehensive energy advice yet for consumers. The advice will cover home energy...

TELECOMS; Mobile companies face roaming questionnaire.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... European mobile telecoms network operators are to be sent a questionnaire by the European Regulators Group (ERG) for electronic communications, with the approval of the European Commission, to assess the viability of regulating mobile roaming...

Green ; cross code.
December 17, 2004... In recent years, Britain has witnessed a boom in mobile telecommunications infrastructure. Indeed, many landowners have shared in what has been something of a mobile phone mast bonanza. Financial rewards were to be had for permitting the...

ENERGY; Ruhrgas is excluded from tighter controls.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... TEXT: by Simon Jones The draft energy law that has been drawn up by Germany's economics ministry would exclude leading supplier Ruhrgas from tighter controls on network charges. Eon, along with other national gas distributors such as...

Chocolate can be bad for you.(chocolate radioactively contaminated following the fire at Windscale')
December 17, 2004... Dedicated readers of Hansard, the official version of parliamentary proceedings, may have been intrigued recently by a rather surreal exchange involving energy minister Mike O'Brien. O'Brien was asked to make a statement on 'radioactive...

ENVIRONMENT; 'Spot' fines proposals gathering momentum.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... by Roger Milne Moves to establish a system of penalties for categories of environmental offences, including breaches of discharge consents and over-abstraction of water are gathering ministerial support, Utility Week has learnt. ...

GAS; Storage companies reject best practice guidelines.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... European energy regulators have voiced 'disappointment' at the negative reaction of gas storage companies to proposals for good-practice guidelines. The industry rejected the voluntary guidelines despite their being subject to considerable...

GAS; New GDF chief rejigs firm's top brass.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... French state-controlled gas giant Gaz de France has reorganised its senior management and created a new corporate structure around four operational branches, ahead of partial privatisation set for next year. New chairman and chief executive...

WATER; Ministers stick by rateable values.(Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee's new pricing mechanism)(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... The government has snubbed the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee's plea for a new pricing mechanism to improve the link between water bills and the amount used. Replying to the committee's report on water security and climate...

BE hit for six.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... In the six months to the end of September, British Energy's losses were reported to have 'ballooned' (The Independent), 'soared' (The Guardian), increased 'three-fold' (The Daily Telegraph), 'more than tripled' (The Times) and were generally...

WATER; Kelda welcomes review.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Kelda Group has shown optimism about continued outperformance at Yorkshire Water by welcoming Ofwat's price determination for 2005-10 as 'acceptable and balanced'. Yorkshire's performance for the six months to 30 September 2004 was solid,...

Oh, what ; a night.(Utility Industry Achievement Awards)
December 17, 2004... Anyone attending last Monday's Utility Industry Achievement Awards could not fail but be amazed by the fantastic spirit on display (see Awards, news pages 8 and 9 and Awards Review in the centre of this issue). Monday's ceremony formed a...

ELECTRICITY; Lords slams lack of nuclear waste policy.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Parliament has criticised the government over its lack of a policy on radioactive waste and insisted that consequent delays should not be used as a pretext for deferring decisions on the future of nuclear power. The criticism came from the...

Water world.
December 17, 2004... This year's edition of Masons Water Yearbook is as information-packed and valuable as all of its predecessors, but, for the techies out there, it has been produced on CD-ROM as well as in its traditional hard copy format. As usual, it...

TELECOMS; Minister calls for local policy on masts.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... The Housing and Planning minister Keith Hill said in Parliament last week that local authorities should consider developing local policies for the rollout of telecoms services. He added that applications for mobile telecoms masts would cause...

eNVIRONMENT; Four states fail to meet carbon trade deadline.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will get off to a hesitant start in January with four out of 25 participating states not involved initially. Brussels last week named the four laggards as Greece, Italy, Poland and the...

Kelda.(Kelda Group is the owner of Yorkshire Water)
December 17, 2004... by Trevor Dooley Kelda Group is the owner of Yorkshire Water, the winner of this year's Utility Industry Achievement Award Company of the Year. That accolade stands witness to the distance it has come since the dark days of hosepipe bans...

ELECTRICITY; MPs claim networks need better opex deal.(Book Review)
December 17, 2004... by Roger Milne Parliament this week warned that continuing regulatory pressure on power companies threatened network reliability. MPs also said they agreed with the industry that customers would be prepared to pay higher bills to reduce...

ELECTRICITY; Norway hydro report wants state control.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... A committee commissioned by the Norwegian Parliament to look at ways of retaining state control over hydro-electric power has proposed legislation that would empower the state to secure ownership of municipally owned hydropower stations after...

The nuclear family.(Standard Nuclear Performance Model to be adopted for improved plant productivity)
December 17, 2004... The world is ready for a nuclear energy renaissance. In fact, several countries, such as Finland, Turkey and the Russian Federation, have planned or are building new nuclear reactors as part of a balanced approach to meeting forecast energy...

Carbon target embarrassment.
December 17, 2004... Last week some of the administration's energy chickens came home to roost. Far from occupying the green high ground, ministers, starting with Tony Blair, had to concede that Labour's aspirational target of a 20 per cent reduction in carbon...

ENERGY; Kroes makes EUdebut by vetoing Portuguese deal.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... The European Union's new competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, has blocked the proposed merger between Portugal's leading electricity and gas utilities, Energias de Portugal (EDP) and Gas de Portugal. It is the first merger to be vetoed by...

TELECOMS; Alternatives back premium check.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Alternative telecoms providers have welcomed measures announced by communications regulator Ofcom to address problems with premium rate services. Mike Holliday-Williams, marketing director of One.Tel, said: 'Ofcom's recommendations...

WATER; Capital spending bill may need public cash.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... by Karma Ockenden The privatised water industry in England and Wales may need public funding to cope with the demands of the future. The assertion came from Jon Hargreaves, chief executive of publicly owned Scottish Water, at last...

WATER; Overseas work must change.(European water operators )
December 17, 2004... by Karma Ockenden In the face of crisis, European water operators must adopt new business models for their international work or face deteriorating profits, a leading player has warned. Speaking at The Economist water conference last...

Lay it on the line.
December 17, 2004... At the Network 2004 conference, Ofwat's Elaine Chatham started her presentation by saying: 'House-builders you can lay water pipes.' This is an important message for all developers of housing and commercial sites. It is also an important...

ELECTRICITY; EU may miss full open market target.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Doubts over whether a fully liberalised electricity market will be realised by the 2007 target were cast in a market assessment report published last week. Business information service Key Note warned that declarations of market opening...