Utility Week articles from October 2003

Utility Week archives from October 2003

PAN-UTILITY; Utilities poised to boost marketing partnerships.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Utilities are strongly positioned to benefit as affiliate partners and will grow their marketing expenditure on affinity ventures by 2005, according to recent market research. Utilities currently allocate 18 per cent of their marketing...

WATER; Aquafin loan to help Belgium clean up its act.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Belgium's poor record on disposing of wastewater should be improved in future with the European Investment Bank (EIB) lending a further e75 million to Aquafin, the company managing treatment in Flanders. The funds are part of a 2002 pledge...

GAS; BG fires up in India and the Middle East.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... BG Group has unveiled significant developments in its overseas activities in India and the Middle East. In India its local subsidiary won government approval for schemes to increase production levels from the Panna-Mukta oil and gas fields....

ENERGY; BT calls the tune on energy saving.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... A government report calling on industry to break the link between growth and environmental damage has praised telecoms giant BT for working with employees to reduce energy consumption and cut [pounds sterling]16 million a year from its fuel...

WATER; Pollution blamed for Baltic fish kill.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Germany, Sweden and Denmark must do more to prevent water run-off from their rivers and coasts adding excess nutrients to the western Baltic Sea, according to an international research project into the deaths of marine wildlife in 2002. ...

ELECTRICITY; British Energy strikes [pounds sterling]700m revamp deal.(restructuring package)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... by Trevor Dooley Eleven hours after the midnight deadline, British Energy emerged on Wednesday with a [pounds sterling]700 million restructuring package designed to ensure the long-term viability of the debt-stricken group - but one that...

ELECTRICITY; Nord Pool ups its power to probe.(Nord Pool Clearing to introduce Broker Agreement System)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... In a bid to curb concerns over transparency and inaccurate information, Nord Pool Clearing has confirmed plans to introduce a new Broker Agreement system from 1 December 2003. The initiative was demanded by Nord Pool's Market Surveillance...

TELECOMS; Telsource to sell 27% stake in Cesky.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Swiss/Dutch joint venture Telsource is to sell its 27 per cent stake in Czech fixed-line operator Cesky Telecom. The KPN-Swisscom tie-up will market the holding to private and institutional investors in a series of roadshows in New York,...

PAN-UTILITY; Utilities get help to set up charity trusts.
October 3, 2003... by Karma Ockenden A new outsourcing model has emerged to make it easier for companies to give financial aid to poor customers. A company called Charis was launched this week to set up and manage charitable trusts on behalf of...

ENERGY; Coal growth set to burn green gains.
October 3, 2003... Green campaigners this week warned that escalating coal-fired generation was threatening to derail the government's climate change strategy and wipe out the environmental benefits expected from the policy of 10 per cent renewable energy by...

ELECTRICITY; aas Danish power cut sparks row.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Elkraft System, east Denmark's largest power transmission operator, has criticised the actions of Swedish counterpart Svenska Kraftnat, after serious power outages hit north Denmark and south Sweden last week. Denmark's Industry and...

WATER; Firms seek Data Protection Act opt-out on debt.
October 3, 2003... by Karma Ockenden In its latest move to claw in revenue from customers who do not pay, the water industry is seeking an exemption to the Data Protection Act that would allow local authorities and utilities to pass on the occupancy details...

ELECTRICITY; Watchdog demands cash to stem 'market chaos'.(Energitilsynet)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Energitilsynet, Denmark's energy market watchdog, has issued a strong warning to the government that it faced 'widespread chaos in the energy marketplace' unless the agency was better funded. The regulator claimed it did not have adequate...

PAN-UTILITY; Customers 'at last ready for online bills'.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Utilities could save millions by sending out electronic bills to a ready and willing public, according to consultancy Detica. A Detica survey of 1,000 people representative of the UK population showed 60 per cent would find e-statements...

ENERGY; Eon subsidiary municipal bid hits FCO block.(Germany's Federal Cartel Office blocks Eon subsidiary EAM Energie's bid for 30% stake in Stadtwerke Eschwege)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Germany's Federal Cartel Office (FCO)has blocked Eon subsidiary EAM Energie's bid for a 30 per cent stake in Stadtwerke Eschwege. FCO president Ulf Boge warned that the big two suppliers' growing control of municipal gas and power sales...

TELECOMS; Ex-customer contact ban hits Eircom.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Irish telecoms regulator ComReg has extended from one month to three months the exclusion period for operators who attempt to contact customers who have switched to other operators, delivering a blow to fixed-line giant Eircom, which controls...

ELECTRICITY; Parliament backs cuts in atom cash.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... The European Parliament has passed a resolution backing environmentalists in their call to cut government funding for nuclear power. The parliament has endorsed demands that the 1957 Euratom treaty - which made the creation of a strong...

Cold comfort for expensive ads.(British Gas' Creature Comforts advert )
October 3, 2003... The great man has no idea how much British Gas spent on that Creature Comforts advert directed by animator Nick Park. But Disconnector suspects it did not come cheap. It was obviously all about branding. So it came as a bit of a surprise...

ELECTRICITY; Opened market hurting Finnish businesses.(Small and medium-sized companies paid 'significantly less' for supplies prior to deregulation of electricity market than in 2002 and the first half of 2003)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... A new national cost-competitiveness report from TT, the Finnish confederation of industry and employer groups, has concluded that the country's small and medium-sized companies paid 'significantly less' for supplies prior to deregulation of the...

Power struggle.(France appears to be less reluctant to open up its energy markets )
October 3, 2003... France's reputation as one of the more reluctant European countries to open up its energy markets seems to be changing, according to a report from Prospex Research. This reveals that real competition is beginning to emerge in electricity, and...

ENERGY; Germany forges plan for emissions trading.
October 3, 2003... by Simon Jones At talks hosted by chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the German government and energy industry have hammered out the framework for the country's future emissions trading scheme. The meeting heard proposals from Green...

ELECTRICITY; Rivals lobby for block on Eon's Graninge bid.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Swedish power companies have petitioned the European Commission to block the planned acquisition of Graninge by Eon-controlled Sydkraft, arguing it would stem competition. Sweden's Oberoende Elhandlare, the independent power sector body,...

WATER; Brussels plans stiffer groundwater rules.(European Commission)
October 3, 2003... by Keith Nuthall The European Commission has drawn up a sweeping directive aimed at protecting the European Union's groundwater reserves. The proposed ruling would force member states to establish and police locally sensitive pollution...

ENERGY; Europe's pipes, wires and plant bill will top [pounds sterling]1,000bn.(investments needed to replace capacity)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Amid repeated blackouts across Europe, an international energy watchdog warned last week that the European Union needed to invest more than [pounds sterling]1,000 billion on its energy industries, half of it to replace dwindling capacity. ...

Are you being served?(consumer sovereignty)
October 3, 2003... It is almost ten years since the UK's power market was deregulated for industrial and commercial customers, and therefore buyers have had ample time to realise that their purchasing decisions have a vital part to play in the development of a...

Insurance jobs.(health and safety culture at utilities will lead to fewer claims)
October 3, 2003... There are a number of issues that have led to the widely reported costs rises of between 50 and 200 per cent in employers' liability insurance premiums over the past couple of years. While utilities may have to resign themselves to the fact...

ELECTRICITY; Line fall triggers Italian blackout.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... The latest in a string of catastrophic power cuts around the globe hit most of Italy's 57 million people on Sunday. The blackout was attributed to a cascade of transmission power trips, triggered by a single fault. A similar series of events...

Missing links.(power blackouts)
October 3, 2003... It seems to be the year of power blackouts. First New York, London, the Midlands, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and then last weekend an electricity failure that shut down all of Italy. Inevitably, people are looking for links. In fact, the...

TELECOMS; MMO2 risks loss of [pounds sterling]170 million BT deal.
October 3, 2003... by Zo Grainge Europe's fifth-largest mobile operator, MMO2, stands to lose nearly [pounds sterling]166 million in revenue if its former owner, BT, does not renew its contract to carry its business mobile traffic. The fixed-line company...

ELECTRICITY; YTL lines up to bid for Midlands' network.
October 3, 2003... by Trevor Dooley As Scottish and Southern Energy withdrew its [pounds sterling]1.1 billion bid for power distribution business Midlands Electricity, new bidders have emerged. Malaysian infrastructure giant YTL and Powergen are considered...

TELECOMS; Czechs ponder keeping major stake in Cesky.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... The Czech government may sell only a minority stake in Cesky Telecom, the dominant fixed-line operator, or just the company's mobile phone arm Eurotel, if no buyers for the state's entire 51 per cent stake emerged. A cross-ministry working...

River quality gains stabilise.(briefs)
October 3, 2003... New figures show that although most UK rivers are of good or fair quality, the rapid improvements in chemical and biological quality seen since 1990 are beginning to stabilise. River water quality is one of the government's 15 headline...

Gas Natural.(Company Profile)
October 3, 2003... by Nigel Hawkins Gas Natural has established itself as Spain's leading gas company, where it is the major supplier and distributor - it also operates in Latin America. In total, Gas Natural has 8.4 million customers, of whom 4.3 million...

International Energy Group.(Company Profile)
October 3, 2003... by Zo Grainge Guernsey-based gas connections and liquefied petroleum gas supplier International Energy Group (IEG) said at its half-year results that the company has a secure platform from which to expand by both organic growth and...

ELECTRICITY; Co-operation is key to better nuclear safety.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Stronger co-operation will be the key to ensuring the safe operation of Europe's ageing nuclear power stations, according to the conclusions of a key meeting of European specialists. The meeting of experts from from European Union member...

GAS; Italian regulator tells CGM to open to rival.(Compagnia Generale Metandotti)
October 3, 2003... by Simon Jones The Italian energy regulator has ordered regional gas distributor Compagnia Generale Metandotti (CGM) to open its pipelines to rival operator Energas. The ruling followed a complaint by Energas, one of the country's...

Lib-Dems seize green high ground.(Liberal Democrats' party conference)
October 3, 2003... Last week it was the Liberal Democrats' opportunity to occupy the political centre-stage as the party conference season kicked-off in earnest. Lib-Dems leader Charles Kennedy MP was keen to position the party as the successor to the Tories...

ENERGY; RWE Gas exits restructure.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... RWE has broken off talks with RWE Gas municipal shareholders about the subsidiary's merger with the group's RWE Energy arm. The group restructuring will go ahead without RWE Gas. The new division, which now will be formed from RWE Net, RWE...

WATER; Farming pollutants douse rapid rise in river quality.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... The rapid improvements in river water quality that characterised the 1990s have started to stall, the Environment Agency has warned. In its latest report on river quality, the agency said 54 per cent of rivers in England and Wales contained...

ELECTRICITY; Green backers left with most of TXU bill.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... The government has walked away from compensating participants in its renewable energy programme who are set to lose up to two-thirds of a [pounds sterling]24 million shortfall in the scheme caused by the bankruptcies of two electricity...

A matter of fact.(utility marketing, customer retention strategies)
October 3, 2003... Utilities are under ever-increasing pressure to keep customers. Base your retention strategies on hard data and they will succeed . By Chris Duncan. The utility sector's marketing has a challenge. Faced with competitive deregulation and an...

Streets ahead.(road and street works rules for utilities)
October 3, 2003... Last April, Keith Vaz's Road and Street Works (Notice and Compensation) Bill failed to get past its second reading. The proposed Bill would have required utilities to give notice to dwellings and businesses adjacent to the relevant highway of...

TELECOMS; Court decision ends telecoms sales fees.
October 3, 2003... by Keith Nuthall Governments across Europe face the prospect of revising the way they charge companies for telecoms licences, after a ruling against Italy by the European Court of Justice. The court decided that European Union...

TELECOMS; Thus on track despite rivals' woes.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Alternative telecoms operator Thus said it was on track to meet expectations for full-year revenue and underlying profits growth after a strong first half-year performance. Thus said it was confident of meeting its fourth-quarter target for...

PAN-UTILITY; Centrica leads value league.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... A measured approach to acquisitions was key to home services giant Centrica being the 'clear winner' in terms of value, according to an analysis of European utility value by Deloitte Consulting and investment bank UBS. The analysis came as...

MULTI-UTILITY; Veolia may look at UK after US sale.(Veolia Environnement)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2003... Veolia Environnement may turn next to its UK water portfolio as it continues to unravel the cost of its previous acquisition policy. Announcing a [pounds sterling]1.5 billion first half year loss, Veolia wrote down by [pounds sterling]1.6...

ELECTRICITY; New plant drive after Italian blackout.
October 10, 2003... by Simon Jones and Gerard O'Dwyer Italy's worst peacetime power outage last week has forced industry minister Antonio Marzano to introduce an 'anti-blackout' decree clearing the way for urgent construction of new power plant. The...

ELECTRICITY; Nuclear past favoured over renewable future.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... by Trevor Dooley As an exercise in dislocated logic, last week's government decision not to bail out the Renewables Obligation buy-out fund was positively contorted. The fund is a key to encouraging companies to invest in green power...

electricity; Installation faults caused blackouts.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Protection equipment that was incorrectly installed or had malfunctioned caused the blackouts in London on 28 August and Birmingham on 5 September, according to a preliminary report from energy regulator Ofgem. Ofgem said the outages were...

GAS; Spain's Natural solo in race for Greek stake.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Spain's biggest gas company, Gas Natural, has emerged as the sole bidder to buy 35 per cent of Greek counterpart Depa in a deal valued at e260 million. Greek finance minister Nikos Christodoulakis said the Spanish company was the only...

WATER; Court raps Dutch over nitrate control.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... The European Court of Justice has ruled that the Netherlands has not taken strict enough measures to control excessive nitrate levels in water supplies from agricultural sources. High nitrate concentrations in surface waters cause damaging...

PAN-UTILITY; Firms can save [pounds sterling]40m by axing paper bills.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Utilities could instantly save [pounds sterling]23 million by sending electronic rather than paper bills, according to document specialist Pitney Bowes Docsense. The company said teaming electronic payment with bill presentment was...

TELECOMS; Brussels calls for online government.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... The European Commission has called on member states to ensure trans-national interoperability as they roll out their e-government networks. In its paper, The Role of eGovernment for Europe's Future, the Commission praised Sweden and...

eNERGY; Emissions trading will increase prices.
October 10, 2003... by Roger Milne Pan-Europe emissions trading could push up wholesale electricity prices in the UK by as much as 63 per cent in seven years, investment bank UBS has warned. However, the bank's analysis of the European Union scheme,...

ELECTRICITY; Eon ups Czech wires stakes.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... German multi-utility Eon last week acquired stakes in two Czech electricity distributors, formerly held by Czech power group CEZ and Austria's Energie. Eon now owns 85.5 per cent of south Moravia's JME and 84.6 per cent of south Bohemia's...

ELECTRICITY; Fenosa moots cutting debt.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Spanish power company Union Fenosa will outstrip debt repayment targets this year if it sells its 5 per cent stake in Spain's number two oil company Cepsa to Santander Central Hispano (SCH). The bank has bid e1.2 billion for 16 per cent of...

We have come for your petsa.
October 10, 2003... Disconnector was gob-smacked to hear of the following gem from the wacky world of Russian utilities. It's definitely a case of 'lock up your pets'. Boris the cat and Ivan the dog (even Natasha the budgerigar) have reasons to be worried. ...

The benefit ; of foresight.
October 10, 2003... The past 15 years have seen the UK water sector journey through a period of great change, experiencing privatisation, restructuring, cost cutting and regulation. Many of those experiences have been good, and the sector is stronger and better...

ENERGY; Sydkraft must wait for decision on Graninge.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... by Gerard O'Dwyer The European Commission has delayed its decision on Sydkraft's e1 billion bid for Graninge, Sweden's fourth-biggest power company. The Commission's investigation has been broadened to hear submissions from competition...

GAS; Surcharge plan to boost rural links.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Independent Gas Transporters (IGTs) have been given a fortnight by Ofgem to decide whether they accept a proposed new regulatory regime which introduces a relative price control for the first time. If IGTs are unhappy they will be able to seek...

GAS; Iberdrola bags Algerian pipe stake.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Spanish power utility Iberdrola has bought the 12 per cent stake held by Italian rival Eni in Algerian gas pipeline company Medgaz for an undisclosed amount. The move will help Iberdrola in its stated ambition to get a 20 per cent market...

WATER; Northumbrian interim bid to raise ratings.
October 10, 2003... by Karma Ockenden As Anglian Water announced it was to join United Utilities and Northumbrian Water and apply to water regulator Ofwat to be allowed to increase prices ahead of the next review, Northumbrian Water has asked the watchdog for...

Preparing for ET day.
October 10, 2003... This week's Utility Week Emissions Trading conference in London brings us in contact with a range of organisations not normally associated directly with utility issues. Yes, there are delegates from the likes of Innogy and Transco. But there...

TELECOMS; Mobile sector poised for fierce price war.
October 10, 2003... by Trevor Dooley The UK mobile sector was this week gathering momentum for an all-out price war before Christmas, prompted by newcomer Hutchison 3G. According to the country's biggest retailer of mobile telephones, Carphone Warehouse,...

ELECTRICITY; SSE to play the market with Medway Power.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) expects to increase its income from the balancing market, following its acquisition of the remaining equity in Medway Power. SSE is to pay [pounds sterling]90 million to become sole owner of Medway and its...

British Energy restructures.
October 10, 2003... British Energy has agreed the terms of its proposed financial restructuring with its principal creditors and the government, in the shape of the Department of Trade and Industry. The so-called creditor restructuring agreement has also been...

ScottishPower.
October 10, 2003... by Trevor Dooley A period of steadiness seemed a long way off only a year ago for Glasgow-based international energy group ScottishPower. After its acquisition of PacifiCorp, the business was rocked by its exposure to the Californian power...

GAS; Watchdog slams Phoenix over 11% price increases.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Northern Ireland supplier Phoenix Natural Gas has sparked a storm of protest from watchdogs after announcing price rises four times the rate of inflation. The hike of nearly 11 per cent hike was attacked by industry regulator and the...

GAS; UK-Norway treaty keeps link on track.
October 10, 2003... by Roger Milne Plans to supply the UK with a significant fresh source of gas via a new pipeline network connecting Britain with the huge Ormen Lange gas field off Norway have stepped up a gear. Last week energy minister Stephen Timms...

TELECOMS; Debt dispute thwarts Telekom bid for PTC.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... by Simon Jones A dispute between Elektrim and its bondholders has sunk Deutsche Telekom's bid for full control of Polish mobile operator Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC). PTC shareholders Elektrim and Vivendi Universal had signed a...

Unjust 17.
October 10, 2003... For the last 20 years of the 20th century, the issue of company pensions was generally low profile, complex and, frankly, rather drab. On a more general level, pensions were widely discussed, especially with respect to the old age pension...

ELECTRICITY; Planning problems of NFFO wind projects 'is a myth'.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... The claim that windfarms due to be developed under Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO) contracts have been halted by planning refusals is a myth, according to Brenda Boardman of the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute. She...

Energy bail-outs under scrutiny.
October 10, 2003... Ministers have been facing flak at the seaside and coping with difficult issues back in their Whitehall offices. Concern over Iraq and the Prime Minister's falling credibility cast shadows over last week's Labour Party conference in...

ENERGY; Disconnection must end, says watchdog.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Energywatch, the consumer watchdog, took its campaign on fuel poverty to the Labour Party Conference last week, where it urged the government to outlaw disconnections and called for funding to extend the gas network. Energywatch chairwoman...

ELECTRICITY; NordPool study scotches hopes of price decreases.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Nordic energy exchange NordPool has poured cold water on optimistic predictions of a fall in electricity prices over the next quarter. NordPool has forecast a long dry winter with reservoir levels only slightly higher than last winter. The...

TELECOMS.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... BT cuts phone rental fees by 25 per cent Fixed-line telecoms operator BTis to cut 25 per cent from its handset rental charges in a move that has headed-off a price cut enforced by telecoms regulator Oftel. The watchdog said it had not...

On the ROCs.
October 10, 2003... By setting a target of 10 per cent of electricity to be supplied from renewable sources by 2010, the Renewables Obligation was heralded as a 'cornerstone' of government policy to stimulate growth in renewable generation. Brian Wilson, minister...

WATER; South East is 'seed asset' in UK for Australian bank.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... The acquisition of South East Water by Australian bank Macquarie is likely to herald a further expansion into UK utilities. The bank bought South East Water from the French Saur Group for [pounds sterling]386 million. The bank described...

WATER; Scottish Water staff please nine out of ten.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Nine out of ten Scottish Water customers are satisfied with the service provided by the publicly owned water authority's customer relations team, an independent survey has revealed. Ninety per cent of customers described Scottish Water...

ENERGY; Blackouts put spotlight on security of supply worries.
October 10, 2003... The spate of blackouts that has hit the UK and Europe has made security of supply a key issue that will affect energy prices, according to consultancy Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGE&Y). In its latest European survey examining the effects of...

WATER; Split the burden of private sewers.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... WaterVoice has suggested a compromise on the question about who should take responsibility for private sewers and drains. It has suggested that water companies adopt private sewers and drains to the boundary of the property, while from the...

ELECTRICITY.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Shotton gives Gaz de France first UK station French gas giant Gaz de France has bought its first UK power asset, adding a 215MW plant at Shotton to its energy and gas trading business. The Shotton Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant...

WATER; Ofwat urged to recognise skills gap.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... Water industry regulation should be obliged to recognise the sector's growing skills shortage, last week's Labour Party Conference was warned. The call came from Peter Vass, head of the Centre for the Study of Regulated Industries at Bath...

ELECTRICITY; Slovak privatisation back on track.(Brief Article)
October 10, 2003... The Slovak government was this week expected to relaunch the stalled privatisation of 49 per cent in Slovak power generator Slovenske Elektrarne (SE). The move followed new interest in SE including approaches from Czech generator CEZ and...