Utility Week articles from February 2002

Utility Week archives from February 2002

GAS; Research cuts lop 120 jobs at Advantica.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Lattice research and training subsidiary Advantica Technologies has shed 120 UK jobs after its near sole customer and stablemate, Transco, cut its research budget ahead of its regulatory price controls. According to Advantica chief...

telecoms; Kingston rebounds as alternative darling.(Kingston Communications (Hull) PLC)(finance in the telecommunications services industry)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... by Richard Orange As the prospects of Energis (a former darling of the so-called alternative telecoms operators) faded this week, two rivals outshone expectations - Kingston Communications and Thus. Kingston outstripped City forecasts...

Going Dutch.(BT Group PLC selects Ben Verwaayen for chief executive position)
February 2, 2002... BT Group's new chief executive, Dutchman Ben Verwaayen, has just started work as the successor to Sir Peter Bonfield. News of his appointment has not been exactly greeted with rapture - Ben who? being the general reaction. Equally, no-one...

GAS; Centrica bags Canadian base to double up.(Centrica PLC acquires Enbridge Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Centrica is set to more than double the customer base of its Canadian operations with the acquisition of the home and business services business of Canada's Enbridge. Enbridge has about 1.3 million customers. It leases water heaters and...

MULTI-UTILIties; Lloyds TSB poised for home services move.(Lloyds TSB Group PLC seeks joint venture)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... by Paul Garrett High-street bank Lloyds TSB is poised to launch into what it calls the 'life services' market. But industry sources have ruled out Centrica as a utility partner in the venture. Npower and TXU were tipped as...

Service issue.(finance, customer service and the electric utilities)
February 2, 2002... The UK gas and electricity markets are becoming increasingly competitive, with dangerous consequences for the profitability of supplying the energy needs of the residential market. Not only are prices frequently being undercut to gain market...

Keep it zipped.(marketing regulations enforced in energy industy)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Tolerance with non-compliance with the Data Protection Act dried up at the end of last year . Caroline Egan says it's time for utilities to shape up. For a long time now, utilities have ignored data protection compliance at their peril....

ELECTRICITY; Innogy tops market share.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Innogy tops the domestic electricity supply market share league with 19 per cent, according to the latest annual review from the Electricity Association. It took the lead after a run of aquistions in which it bagged Yorkshire Electricity...

Direct talking.(Electricity Direct)(electric utilities management)
February 2, 2002... Since catastrophe humbled the once mighty Enron, glamour and bombast have fallen out of fashion in the energy world, which makes Electricity Direct something of a company for its times. Glamourous it ain't. Housed in two...

TELECOMS; Forecast blunder puts Energis on the ropes.(financial crisis at Energis PLC)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... by Stephanie Joanna Energis finance director Bill Trent this week came under mounting pressure to quit after bungled revenue forecasts left the company pondering emergency cost-cutting and pleading with lenders not to call in loans...

ENERGY; Doorstep anti-fraud push launched.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... consumer watchdog Energywatch this week launched a major campaign to combat fraudulent direct marketing of domestic energy. Ann Robinson, chair of Energywatch, said it was time for energy companies to 'clean up their act'. At the launch of...

GAS; BG bags bargain in Enron India deal.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... BG Group has completed its purchase of the Indian oil and gas business owned by defunct energy trader Enron - with a US$38 million ([pound]26.6 million) knock-down on the price. Last October BG was expecting to pay $388 million for the...

ENERGY; Teesside owners open to Enron flak.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Most of the [pound]700 million owed by Enron's European trading arm is tied up in a power purchase agreement with Teesside Power, leaving Teesside's US and European owners heavily exposed, according to City sources. Innogy paid Enron...

Women, wit and teddy fears.(energy industry in the UK)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Should we expect black, white or even technicolour smoke soon from the headquarters of the Electricity Association? The great man understands that a shortlist of three for Philip Daubeney's successor has been drawn up. And for the first...

WATER Farming vision for the environment.(Policy Commission's report)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The water industry has welcomed the more prominent role spelt out for the environment in the Policy Commission's report The Future of Farming and Food, published on Tuesday. The report made a strong case for altering the current mismatch...

MULTI-UTILITies; Npower seals Ideal Home sponsorship.(Daily Mail Ideal Home Show)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Npower, Innogy's retail business, has signed a sponsorship deal with the Daily Mail Ideal Home Show, the largest annual consumer home show in Britain. The energy business will become 'title sponsor' of the event for an undisclosed sum,...

Trouble at Energis.(profit warnings)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The shock in the industry generated by last week's profit warning from Energis was 'palpable', according to the Sunday Telegraph. The news that the company was at risk of breaching the terms of its overdraft, was a 'bolt from the blue' and...

GAS; Transco price wrangle goes to the wire.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Lattice Group and Ofgem were due to hold top-level eleventh-hour talks over Transco's upcoming price control this week, which could delay final agreement over the planned new regime. Chris Bolt, director of regulatory affairs with...

Enron's ; tentacles.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The fallout from Enron's collapse continues to occupy column inches and airtime as the people implicated in its demise spread from the White House to accountant Arthur Andersen. Now the contamination has spread to Downing Street. This week...

Norway makes the connection.(Letter to the Editor)
February 2, 2002... Sir: We read with interest the article on electricity interconnectors (Utility Week 18 January). As the transmission system operator for Norway, and the joint partner with National Grid in the proposed North Sea Interconnector (NSI) project, we...

PAN-UTILITY; Big predators will make a meal of mid-cap utilities.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The utility world is set to be populated by global giants and small local companies worth less than US$1 billion ([pound]700 million) because mid-cap stocks will be gobbled up or will merge, according to consultancy Accenture. Large...

ELECTRICITY; Ministers clash over UK's need for nuclear.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... by Roger Milne Government ministers directly involved with the energy review are at loggerheads over the role of nuclear power. Energy minister Brian Wilson, chair of the review's steering group, and environment minister Michael...

TELECOMS; Mobiles count their blessings.(market share statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2002... Mobile telecoms firms entered their latest round of customer number squabbles this week. For the year ended 31 December 2001, Orange said it had 12.4 million UK customers, up 2.6 million on last year. Vodafone claimed 13.2 million UK customers,...

ELECTRICITY; Green power requires major Neta changes.(New Electricity Trading Arrangements )(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Major changes to the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (Neta) are vital if the government is to achieve its higher targets for renewable generation, according to a leading energy sector lawyer. One of the main obstacles to renewable...

Kelda Group.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
February 2, 2002... by Richard Orange Kelda Group has a triple focus: expansion into the US water sector, waste management, and improving service and efficiency at its regulated water utility, Yorkshire Water. In June 2000, Kelda became the first UK water...

ELECTRICITY; USinvestors rally to halt Grid share drop.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... by Richard Orange US investors have rallied behind National Grid's acquisition of Niagara Mohawk (NiMo), with a high proportion choosing National Grid shares over cash, saving the UK transmission operator from the 'share flowback' problems...

WATER; aand customers couldn't handle it.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Water customer champion the Ofwat National Customer Council (ONCC) has warned that domestic and small business customers are not ready for retail competition. It weighed up whether the long-term benefits were worth the cost and disruption...

Enron fallout casts shadow.(Teesside Power)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Until recently the Enron saga hardly registered on the political radar, save in terms of regular questions about the government's take on the ownership of generator Teesside Power. Now the saga has begun to resonate. Last week the PM...

ELECTRICITY; Moyle link greens the emerald isle.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Scottish & Southern Energy has signed a ground-breaking major power purchase contract with Eirtricity, Ireland's leading independent supplier of green energy. The deal makes the Irish supplier the first company to import power into the...

WATER; Severn Trent wins in Italian water reshuffle.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Birmingham-based Severn Trent Water has won a [pound]500 million deal to run water and wastewater services for a 250,000 people in Terni, north of Rome. The Italian water sector is undergoing major restructuring - moving from a highly...

Profit warning rocks Energis.(energy industry stocks)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... by Trevor Dooley Last week was a rocky one for National Grid. As the major shareholder in Energis it was exposed to the single most spectacular share slide of the past seven days.And a few questions were raised about the outcome of its...

WATER; Government cools on water competitiona.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... by Karma Ockenden The government has lost the political will to open up the water market to competition and is set to disappoint those eager for change when it publishes its competition proposals shortly. Sources close to the...

TELECOMS; BT price cuts 'predatory', say rivals.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... BT's rivals have called on telecoms regulator Oftel to block the company's plan to cut wholesale broadband prices, accusing BT of 'predatory' pricing in its bid to hang on to its monopoly of broadband infrastructure. Operator Bulldog said...

PAN-UTILITY; Centrica tops utilities for media plaudits.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Richard Orange Centrica has stolen the utility show in a study of national media coverage in 2001, followed by former stablemate BGand Scottish & Southern Energy (S&SE). Centrica came 37th in the PressWatch league table, which...

ELECTRICITY; Offshore wind plant struck off by lightning.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... The consortium behind Britain's sole offshore windfarm is due to meet 'shortly' to decide how to pay for the cost of replacing a damaged blade which has crippled the 4MW windfarm at Blyth, 1km from England's north east coast. A lightning...

Information leak.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... In a climate of increasing environmental awareness, companies in all sectors of industry are being forced to improve their environmental policies and adopt a more proactive approach to risk management in terms of pollution. Polluters are...

ELECTRICITY; Power players slate report on small plant.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Trevor Dooley A group of heavyweight players in the small generators' power market have put their names to a letter slamming the recently published pan-sector working group report proposing ways to enable small plants to improve their...

eNVIRONMENT; Firms queue to join emissions trade scheme.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... The government's ground-breaking downstream emissions trading scheme looks set for a successful launch in April after initial fears that too few companies would participate. Last week ministers revealed that 46 organisations had signed up...

eLECTRICITY; Enron creditors look for price control help.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Roger Milne Energy regulator Ofgem has been contacted by electricity distribution companies seeking modifications to their price controls because of major debts incurred as a result of the demise of energy supplier Enron Direct. ...

Enron, the motion picture?(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... It had to happen. Disconnector has recently been sent, under plain wrapper, copies of an early 'treatment' of what promises to be the Hollywood blockbuster to end all Hollywood blockbusters. Yup, perma-tanned agents and grizzled producers...

GAS; Ofgem reins back balancing plans.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... Ofgem has reined back its plans for a radical overhaul of the gas balancing regime after industry-wide objections to earlier proposals to change from the current daily arrangements to an hourly basis. This week the regulator published...

ENERGY; Atom research tops spend list.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... The nuclear industry gets the lion's share of UK government spending on energy research and development, Friends of the Earth (FoE)claimed last week. The pressure group accused ministers of 'starving' renewable energy research after...

ELECTRICITY; Grid to axe 350 jobs as costs bite.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... National Grid has unveiled plans to axe 350 jobs over the next few months. The transmission grid owner and operator said that, as duplication of services emerged, a staff reduction programme would be rolled out. In the past, job cuts have...

High noon at NTL.(reports of acquisition bids by John Malone)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 15, 2002... According to both the The Business and the Observer, John Malone, 'America's biggest cable media tycoon', may be about to come riding to the rescue of Barclay Knapp. The NTL wagons have been surrounded by Indians, with the Observer...

ELECTRICITY; LEboosts green generation.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... French-owned London Electricity (LE) has extended its renewable energy portfolio with two separate investments together worth ?6.5 million. The Electricit? de France subsidiary has bought Northern Electric's wind power business for ?3.5...

GAS; Transco job cuts risk safety, warn unions.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Roger Milne Unions representing thousands of Transco staff now facing redundancy warned this week that the Lattice Group pipeline arm risked breaching statutory safety duties because of the proposed job cuts. Last week Lattice...

GAS; Lattice profits drop 7 per cent.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 15, 2002... Lattice Group last week reported a 7 per cent fall in operating profits - the top end of City expectations - when it announced its results for 2001. Operating losses in the group's telecoms operations increased almost fivefold to ?123...

Stretching the brand.(Datamonitor study of utilities)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... How far can you stretch a brand, even the biggest of them? As someone once famously asked, if Ford decided it was going to sell bread, would you buy it? New research from market analyst Datamonitor indicates just how far utilities can...

WATER; Sewers verdict could spark claims deluge.(Thames Water case)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Roger Pearson Water companies are reeling in the wake of an Appeal Court decision that could land them with massive new liabilities costing billions of pounds to safe-guard against flood risk. The potential cost to Thames Water -...

PAN-UTILITY; Best utilities will get back to basics.(Merrill Lynch and Co. rating)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... Utility prospects for 2002 are good, but the star performers will be the ones who get back to basics and sweat their assets, according to investment bank Merrill Lynch. There are fewer 'trip wires' for utilities in 2002 than in 2001:...

Moving on up.(mobile telephony)
February 15, 2002... 1. Business mobile take-up will accelerate The mindset towards mobile telephony is now standard across all global regions. North America's perspective of mobile changed after the key role it played in enabling communication with those...

Energis.(includes financial statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 15, 2002... by Sumi Sastri Energis is in a lonely position and analysts do not see a short-term solution to the debt-ridden, alternative carrier's problems. The company's credit rating is in jeopardy as it missed its 2002 sales targets by 5 per...

ELECTRICITY; Green auction sees massive price hike.(United Kingdom electricity price increases)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 15, 2002... Average green power prices from the latest auction under the existing Non Fossil Fuel Obligation scheme have more than doubled in the past six months. The auction, organised earlier this month by the Non Fossil Purchasing Agency, resulted...

TELECOMS; Malone linked to a bid for NTL.(John Malone)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 15, 2002... Growing rumours that Liberty Media owner John Malone is ready to buy a major share in a European operator triggered a link with debt-ridden cable company NTL and a possible merger with Telewest. The struggling cable operator was said to...

ELECTRICITY; 'Gas pipe will not up power prices'.(Northern Ireland's Office for the Regulation)(of Electricity and Gas)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... Northern Ireland energy regulator Ofreg has refuted claims from some politicians that the construction of the north-west gas pipeline linking County Meath with County Donegal will have a significant impact on electricity bills. The...

ENERGY; Keep it simple to go green.(speeches to Strategic Planning Society meeting)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... A leadinggovernment advisor has criticised official energy policy, saying money would be better spent on cheap, energy efficiency schemes rather than costly new 'green' technologies. John Chesshire, of the Science and Policy Research...

WATER; Scots allocate [pounds sterling] 840m to green spend.(Water Environment and Water Services Bill)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... Ambitious proposals from the Scottish Executive to safeguard the country's water environment are set to cost some ?840 million. The executive has published plans to manage waters according to catchment area and to control all activities...

WATER; Scots face price hikes with more to follow.(Scotland water price increases)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Karma Ockenden Customers in the east and west of Scotland will be hit by a series of price rises as Scotland's water industry struggles to meet environmental and quality demands and prepares for competition. Water industry...

Tough trading set to continue.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Trevor Dooley As high-tech stocks caught a chill on Wall Street, so technology, media and telecoms stocks in London got a cold. The only exception was BT, which took on a new-found healthy glow. Meanwhile, International Power felt the...

WATER; Poor planning poses supply threats.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... A number of areas are at risk of a water supply deficit because water companies have not made adequate provision for resources, the Environment Agency (EA)has warned. In its annual review of water company resource plans, the EA said most...

ELECTRICITY; MPs warn of higher 'green' energy costs.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... by Roger Milne Parliament last week fired a broadside at government energy policy with a warning that the cost of meeting the current target for renewables by 2010 could prove much more expensive than ministers anticipated. This...

REGULATION; DTIbacks regulatory task force tips.(United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... The government this week backed the recommendations made by the group set up to establish ways to improve UK utility regulation. In a statement, the Department of Trade and Industry said:'The government will today encourage utilities...

ELECTRICITY; Fate of Teesside stake with banks.(company securities value)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 15, 2002... Enron's 42 per cent share in Teesside Power, recently valued at ?250 million, may become worthless if the original project financiers call in their loans, according to sources close to talks on the power station. Industry sources said that...

PAN-UTILITY; Customers don't trust UKutilities, says survey.(survey details)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... UK utilities inspire less trust in their customers than their counterparts on the Continent, according to research by market analyst Datamonitor. There were definite limitations to the products and services UK customers would consider...

Forced ; separation.(utilities conference review)
February 15, 2002... Last month, Water UK held a well attended conference which addressed the key issues in the sector. Inevitably, Philip Fletcher, as director general of Ofwat, was the keynote speaker. But, as he candidly admitted, he said little that was new....

WATER; Water-only firms top profit league.(report details)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... Water-only companies far outperform water and sewerage companies in terms of profit margin, according to research analyst The Prospect Shop. Six of the top ten companies ranked by pre-tax profit margin were water-only suppliers. South East...

A neat solution?(United Kingdom energy reform and regulation data)
February 15, 2002... The jury is out on whether Ofgem has got it right with its latest proposals for overhauling gas balancing . By Roger Milne. Twelve months ago the gas industry (including generators with gas-fired power stations) were up in arms about plans...

Green power posers posted.(United Kingdom energy report details)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2002... The waiting (and the avalanche of leaks, some more selective than others) should be over this week: the full text of the energy review report by the Performance and Innovation Unit is due out. Tony Blair signalled this during Prime...

PAN-UTILITY; UK utilities vulnerable to abuses overseas.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... by Karma Ockenden UK utilities operating abroad risk deterring investment, damaging their corporate reputations and losing money if they fail to take action to safeguard human rights, according to research by Amnesty International and the...

TELECOMS; BT lays claim to key web technology.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... BT has been criticised for pursuing what is widely seen as a hopeless case to prove it holds the patent for hyperlink technology, used to whisk internet users from one web page to another. BT has claimed that every hyperlink used on every...

MULTI-UTILITies; RWEleads in race for Innogy as rivals fade.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... by Sumi Sastri and Richard Orange As Innogy emerged this week as a takeover target, a trawl of leading suspects reduced the probabilities to a two-horse race, with RWE ahead of ScottishPower. An Innogy spokesman said the firm had...

TELECOMS; Broadband growth needs BTto split.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... The best way to bring Britain's broadband internet market up to par with the rest of Europe would be to split BT into separate infrastructure and retail businesses, according to a leading think-tank. The report, Broadband Britain from the...

TELECOMS; BT to cull one thousand call centre jobs.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... BT's network of 150 call centres is to be rationalised with the loss of about 1,000 jobs. The move to a smaller number of larger call centres will reduce the workforce to 15,000. This will reduce the telecoms group's annual call centre...

WATER; Legal loophole leaves a nasty smell.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... South West Water is ensconced in a wrangle over bad smells emanating from its Cattedown sewage treatment works after a legal loophole prevented the local council from taking enforcement action against the company. Residents of Cattedown,...

ENERGY; Enron's creditors kiss goodbye to 75 per cent.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... by Richard Orange Enron's European creditors may lose more than three-quarters of what the collapsed energy firm owes them, administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) warned last week. PwC partner Tony Lomas said Enron Europe's...

When Monopoly money's a gas.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... It's Monopoly time, or so it seems, in respect of gas costs. Assiduous readers of this esteemed organ will know that the energy regulator has been talking about a much more frequent balancing regime. What has not been clear to anyone...

GAS; Shippers cost balancing plan at ?3.5 billion.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... Reforming the gas balancing regime could cost as much as ?3.5 billion and confront customers with price rises of 3-5 per cent, energy consultancy Ilex warned this week. In a report on behalf of eight leading shippers, the Oxford-based...

GAS; Irish pipeline plan gets licence to go.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... Northern Ireland gas regulator Ofreg has granted Republic of Ireland's state-owned gas company Bord Gais a gas licence, allowing it to begin work on a ?100 million gas pipeline project in the province. Bord Gais said it was carrying our...

RWE eyes up Innogy.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... RWE, the German owner of Thames Water, is eyeing up Innogy, according both to the the Sunday Telegraph and The Sunday Times. An approach was made to chief executive Brian Count a few weeks ago, valuing Innogy at about ?3 billion. The Sunday...

WATER; Consolidation could cut customers' bills in half.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... Halving the number of companies that supply water in England and Wales would produce savings of ?5.7 billion, according to a report from consultancy Indepen. This could add up to cuts in average bills of 53 per cent in one year. In terms...

ENERGY; Windfarm project gets juicy support.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... Npower's application for consent for a 90MW offshore windfarm in North Hoyle, Wales, was accompanied by a show of support from more than 30 customers of Juice, Npower's green electricity joint venture with Greenpeace. They showed up at the...

ELECTRICITY; Regulation expert gives power to Ofgem's elbow.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... As allegations flew that Enron was instrumental in ramping up prices during California's power crisis in 2000, and only weeks after the UK energy watchdog failed again to secure powers to curb market abuse, a leading US regulation expert has...

Another one bites the dust.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... Innogy is Britain's biggest electricity supplier and the proud owner of the Npower brand. Npower sponsors that most English of institutions, Test match cricket. Now it seems highly likely that by the time you read this the whole lot will be...

ELECTRICITY; Ofgem backs off on abuse case bill.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2002... Energy regulator Ofgem has backed away from demanding that the two firms that defeated it in a Competition Commission probe should foot the ?900,000 bill for the investigation. Ofgem has decided that the ?887,106 cost of the probe into its...