Utility Week articles from October 2005

Utility Week archives from October 2005

ELECTRICITY; Unplanned outages spoil picture for British Energy.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Losses from British Energy's troubled Heysham 1 and Hartlepool plants were expected to increase by 50 per cent and its life-extended Dungeness B station has had an unplanned outage. In its first quarterly figures since restructuring in...

ELECTRICITY; Nuclear sell-off talk sparks safety fears.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... by Roger Milne Nuclear workers have voiced fears that the likely privatisation of nuclear generator British Nuclear Group (BNG) threatens safety standards at many of its facilities in the UK. "There cannot be a Hatfield at Sellafield,"...

ELECTRICITY; Ramblers urge inquiry to stop power line.(Ramblers Association in Scotland)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The Ramblers Association in Scotland (RAS) has urged the Scottish Executive to hold a public inquiry into plans for an overhead power line between Beauly, west of Inverness, and Denny, west of Falkirk. The 220km scheme, led by Scottish and...

WATER; Court of Justice censures Belgium for pollution.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The European Court of Justice has censured the Belgian government for failing to abide by European Union legislation requiring it to protect its water supplies from farm pollution. In a comprehensive ruling on a case that has run for 11...

TELECOMS; Cable tie at last in [pounds sterling]3bn deal.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Cable companies NTL and Telewest this week announced their long-awaited merger, with NTL agreeing to take over Telewest for [pounds sterling]3.4 billion. The merger will create the second-largest residential telecoms company in the UK...

GAS; Key long-term import deal with Norway kicks in.
October 7, 2005... The UK's first long-term gas import contract has started on schedule, with [pounds sterling]4 billion-worth of gas set to arrive from Norway over the next ten years. The contract, between Centrica and Statoil, has underpinned the...

WATER; Lambing link leads to chop in crypto cases.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... A [pounds sterling]300 million investment in water treatment works by United Utilities, coupled with "maternity leave" for sheep, has helped end the springtime peak in cases of gut disease caused by cryptosporidium in north-west England. A...

MULTI-UTILITY; Takeover Panel delays d-day for East Surrey.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Uncertainty over the fate of investment group Terra Firma's bid for East Surrey Holdings looks set to remain unresolved for a few more weeks. The Takeover Panel was widely expected to rule by the end of last month whether Terra Firma...

eNVIRONMENT; Aviation to take share of emissions burden.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... by Roger Milne Moves to include aviation - a major emitter of carbon dioxide - in the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have been well received by generators, who have called for the transport sector to share the cost burden...

ENERGY; Eon buys heating installer.(City Technical Services )(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Energy group Eon UK has moved into the domestic gas central heating installation business with the purchase of City Technical Services (CTS) for an undisclosed sum. Eon said the move was a natural extension of its existing maintenance and...

GAS; Ruhrgas faces court over contract terms.
October 7, 2005... by Simon Jones Germany's anti-cartel authority is planning legal action against leading German gas supplier Ruhrgas after talks broke down over the authority's demand for changes to long-term gas supply contracts with municipal utilities....

Trade talk turns to Teletubbies.
October 7, 2005... The Russians were in town this week or, more correctly, London was the venue for a meeting of the European Union-Russia Permanent Partnership Council on Energy. One of the events was a round table between EU industrialists and some of their...

ENERGY; Builder scoops 22% of Fenosa in e2.2bn deal.(Union Fenosa S.A.)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Spanish building giant ACS has bought a 22 per cent stake in Spain's third-biggest power utility, Union Fenosa, from Santander Central Hispano (SCH)bank for e2.2 billion. ACS was understood to have beaten a e2 billion competing bid led by...

MULTI-UTILITY; Grid says UK should offset US woes.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Favourable results from UK gas capacity auctions, coupled with a full period contribution from its mast business, will counter difficulties in the US for network giant National Grid, the company said in a pre-close statement this week. For...

ENERGY; Fuel poverty helpline will not appear on bills.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The helpline being set up by the UK's six main energy suppliers for people suffering from fuel poverty is to go against the wishes of consumer watchdog Energywatch by not advertising itself on bills - to avoid attracting the wrong people. ...

Narrowing horizons for telecoms.(voice over internet protocol usage consequences)
October 7, 2005... No-one can dispute that creating a national broadband network for Britain is a good thing, and BT's 21st Century network will bring undoubted benefits in the form of high-speed internet access for the masses. But as is often the case with new...

WATER; Service level bar should rise.(customer service rated for water utilities)
October 7, 2005... by Steve Hobson Water companies in England and Wales have again bunched up near the top of regulator Ofwat's 2004/05 Overall Performance Assessment (OPA) league table, sparking renewed calls for changes to be made to the way customer...

Carbon capture and storage.
October 7, 2005... Carbon capture and storage (CCS) could increase electricity generation costs by between o1 and o5 per kilowatt hour, according to a major study just published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report notes,...

ELECTRICITY; Norway wants merger to deter foreigners.(labour led government initiatives for foreign bids)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Norway's newly elected Labour-led government wants to promote a merger between regional power companies Ostfold Energi, Akershus Energi, E-CO Energi and Energiselskapet Buskerud in a move to stave off foreign bids. "Labour has been in...

PAN-UTILITY; Poor software testing puts brand reputations at risk.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... IT managers in utilities have admitted many software systems fail almost as soon as they are installed - putting the company reputation in jeopardy - because of inadequate testing during development. In a survey by LogicaCMG of IT managers...

ENERGY; War of words over price threat to manufacturers.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Major industrial energy users have clashed with the government over official statistics that appear to undermine their claims that they face the highest energy prices in Europe. According to the latest data compiled for the Department of...

PAN-UTILITY; PwC warns about danger of US accounting model.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Financial reports could become more opaque if UK firms continue the shift towards US-style accounting, warned Glyn Barker, head of assurance at consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Barker said that to comply with the International...

Tunnel vision to ; ease sewer spills.(sewer systems to control contamination of rivers)
October 7, 2005... The question of how to modernise London's sewers to meet the demands of the 21st century raises huge challenges. Victorian engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette designed and built a system to handle the city's sewage, but only a limited amount of...

WATER; Severn Trent laboratories in US give bad reaction.
October 7, 2005... Water and waste group Severn Trent has forecast a slide in profit at its laboratories as "difficult market conditions" in the US took their toll at the half year. In a close period statement ahead of first-half results, Severn Trent said...

ELECTRICITY; Eon launches scheme to sell sector to kids.(Central Networks career oriented scheme )(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... by Zoe Grainge Eon-owned power distributor Central Networks has launched a pilot scheme aimed at inspiring young people to consider the electricity sector as a career. The company, a partner in Utility Week's Solve the Skills Crisis...

TELECOMS; Brussels set to open spectrum to trading.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The European Commission is to stage a legislative review that could create a pan-European Union radio spectrum market, with telecoms firms competing with other users for frequencies. The Commission has called for the liberalisation of...

ELECTRICITY; Statkraft mulls forced asset sell-off.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Norway's competition authority, Konkurransetilsynet, has warned state-owned Statkraft that it may be forced to divest Trondheim Energiverk to reduce its dominant position in electricity generation and distribution in central Norway. ...

WATER; Ulster misses bills deadline.(billing and customer contact system reformed)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Northern Ireland's Water Service has missed its own October deadline for ordering a billing and customer contact system needed for the controversial introduction of water charging. It has shifted the deadline to the end of November. ...

MULTI-UTILITY; United expects 10% profit rise after price increases.
October 7, 2005... Multi-utility United Utilities has forecast a rise in operating profit of 10 per cent for its water and power networks in the six months to 30 September compared to the same period last year. Profit will be boosted by price increases under...

ENERGY; Vattenfall signals end to run of acquisitions.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... by Oliver Adelman Swedish energy group Vattenfall last week signalled it would rein in acquisitions to focus on building new generation plant. Nevertheless, it said it might consider a bid for UK energy group ScottishPower. Speaking at...

ENERGY; Disposals bolster Viridian.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Property sales will keep profits at Northern Ireland energy group Viridian "broadly comparable" to those of last year, when the bottom line was also helped by property disposals. In a pre-close statement, the group said it expected results...

Safety for sale in nuclear sell-off?(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The safety implications of British Nuclear Fuels' (BNFL) sell-off of British Nuclear Group (BNG) figured large in national newspaper reports. "No Hatfield at Sellafield" was The Guardian's lead quote from Mike Graham of union Prospect,...

WATER; New customer champion chief.(Consumer Council for Water)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The new independent Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) has appointed the current Ofwat director of competition and consumer affairs, Tony Smith, as its chief executive. CCWater replaced WaterVoice as the water customer representative on...

ELECTRICITY; Denmark gives wind power a lift.(Department of Energy )(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Denmark's struggling wind-turbine manufacturing industry has received a timely boost following a decision in principle by the Department of Energy (DoE) to assign special funding to meet the cost of replacing the country's old wind-generation...

energy; Abandon 28-day rule, declares Littlechild.
October 14, 2005... by Steve Hobson The rule that prevents energy retailers binding customers into contracts longer than 28 days should be scrapped, according to Professor Stephen Littlechild, electricity regulator between 1989 and 1998 and chief architect of...

ENERGY; Npower wins agency case.(RWE Npower)(South of Scotland Power )(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... RWE Npower has won a High Court battle to terminate its contract with South of Scotland Power (SoSP), a sales agency that had failed to make any sales for the energy supplier since November 2003. As a result of the agency's poor...

PAN-UTILITY ; Skills scheme cash jeopardy.(employability training)
October 14, 2005... by Zoe Grainge Future public funding for Ambition:Energy, the government's flagship welfare-to-work scheme for the utility industry, is in question after the end of the current pilot scheme. Government-controlled employment service...

eNERGY; Energywatch warns about 'dodgy' brokers.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Consumer champion Energywatch has issued a warning to small businesses about sharp practice by energy brokers. The warning surfaced after the watchdog's business service received hundreds of complaints from firms requesting help and advice. ...

ELECTRICITY; Bulgaria tells of atom plan interest.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Bulgaria has said that several western utilities are interested in financing and building the country's second nuclear plant. "A number of large firms have expressed interest, such as Italy's Enel, Germany's Eon, Greece's PPC and a Turkish...

ENVIRONMENT; Chiefs slate short-term carbon reduction target.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Industry leaders have criticised the government's 2010 carbon dioxide reduction target as "difficult" to meet and likely to distort energy policy because it could require "quick fixes". The charge was levelled by John Sunderland, president...

ENVIRONMENT; German dirty power plant under fire from greens.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Germany's generators operate five of Europe's "dirtiest" power stations, according to a survey by environmental group WWF, which also highlighted two lignite-burning plants in Greece in its list of the most polluting facilities. The WWF...

ELECTRICITY; Eon chief calls for carbon price cap.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... The chief executive of energy company Eon UK, Paul Golby, has called for measures to stop carbon dioxide prices in the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme rising to economically dangerous levels. In particular, Golby wanted a future...

WATER; 'Polluter pays' is cheapest.(industrial wastewater treatment more economical)(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... It is cheaper to levy polluters to cut wastewater-related emissions than it is to build new treatment plant, according to research by ecology watchdog the European Environment Agency. The agency concluded that the Netherlands' model of...

ELECTRICITY; CEZ bags Czech's largest lignite plant.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... The Czech government is selling a 56 per cent stake in the country's largest brown coal mine Severoceske Doly to the country's dominant power company CEZ for e306.2 million. The government decided in July to open exclusive talks on...

ELECTRICITY; Subsidy could help kick-start domestic CHP.(combined heat and power)(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Just [pounds sterling]10 million of public money could stimulate a thriving market in microgeneration within five years, according to EA Technology. It proposed council tax rebates as one method of encouraging sales. The consultancy said...

ELECTRICITY; Denmark to rein in wind spending in policy U-turn.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Denmark's power production base is strong enough to deliver surplus electricity up to 2015 without the need for additional investment in sustainable energy, Denmark's transport and energy minister Flemming Hansen told the Danish parliament's...

ENVIRONMENT; No fee change pledge from green police.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Most businesses in England and Wales should see almost no change in real terms next April in Environment Agency fees and charges, under proposals just published. The agency said its proposed 2.8 per cent price rise was under the 2.9 per...

Party poopers lack ambition.(apprenticeship scheme funding issue)
October 14, 2005... The great man has often moaned about bureaucracy gone mad. But here is a case of bureaucrats going mad. As regular readers may know, the so-called Ambition: Energy apprenticeship scheme has been a great success for utilities and the...

gas; Liberalisation has 'raised risk of gas cuts'.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Liberalisation of the gas market has made gas cuts more likely, according to management academic Philip Wright. He also said it has led to legal ambiguities, uncertainty and a lack of necessary investment. Competition has undermined the gas...

eLECTRICITY/ENVIRONMENT; Greens target British Gas over nuclear bill.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... by Roger Milne Powergen and ScottishPower generate the most carbon dioxide emissions for each unit of electricity supplied, while British Gas and EDF Energy generate the most nuclear waste per unit, according to an analysis published by...

multi-utility; National Grid rebranding spells the end of Transco.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... The name Transco is to be consigned to the dustbin as the multi-utility National Grid Transco rebrands nearly all its businesses with the National Grid name. The group said the move was in part a response to recent changes such as the sale...

ENERGY; Grid forecasts easy ride to meet winter demand.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... There is little danger of consumers suffering electricity or gas shortages this winter, even in severe one-in-fifty conditions and despite an increasing reliance on gas imports, according to National Grid. The energy network company said...

ENERGY; Jargon on bills baffles customers.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Technical jargon and "needless or unwanted" information on energy bills has confused UK householders, according to recent research findings. The study done on behalf of switching website Uswitch.com revealed that 26 per cent of gas...

WATER; Fury as Thames hints sewage smell to stay.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... by Trevor Loveday West London residents locked in a legal battle with Thames Water over smells from its Mogden sewage treatment works have been enraged by an alleged admission by the water firm that its planned [pounds sterling]40 million...

Winter gas prices drop away.(energy supply environmental impact)
October 14, 2005... The panic over winter gas shortages seems to have abated, with forward energy prices continuing to fall in September. October 2005 Annual electricity prices hit [pounds sterling]46/MWh, its lowest level since late July, while summer 06 and...

ENERGY; Natural-Endesa spat hots up.
October 14, 2005... by Trevor Loveday and Ivan Castano Spain's leading power firm, Endesa, this week raised the temperature in its battle against a e22.5 billion hostile takeover bid by rival Gas Natural. The latter has threatened to sue its quarry for...

eLECTRICITY; Nuclear speculation; reaches new heights.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... by Roger Milne Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE)has denied speculation in an energy sector newsletter that it tried to create a utility consortium to finance a new-build nuclear programme. "That's news to us," an SSE spokesman told...

PAN-UTILITY; Industry risks losing the motivation.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Utilities are failing to satisfy the aspirations of their managers, who are generally hard-working, motivated and determined, according to a survey. Many utilities are bureaucratic and unsupportive rather than having the "empowering, open...

A better measure of customer service.(utilities customer service standards)
October 14, 2005... On the face of it, the publication of Ofwat's latest levels of service report was good news for customers. The regulator's existing incentive-based measures have been extremely effective at driving up overall service levels. Companies have...

WATER; Ageing plant threatens birds.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Water leaks and sewage pollution arising from years of under-investment in the water industry north of the Border are putting Scottish wildlife and wetland habitats at risk, conservationists claimed last week. The Scottish arm of the Royal...

ENERGY; ScottishPower to cut 450 jobs to save [pounds sterling]60m.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... by Vic Wyman ScottishPower is to cut its workforce of about 9,000 by 5 per cent within 18 months. The restructuring will save [pounds sterling]60 million a year. The 450 redundancies will include 270 in Glasgow in the next six months....

GAS; Bank declares pipes finance move success.
October 14, 2005... Scotia Gas Networks, the investment vehicle that bought two of the four gas distribution networks sold by National Grid earlier this year, has successfully carried out a [pounds sterling]2.2 billion refinancing, according to Barclays Capital,...

ELECTRICITY; Norway grid curbs outages.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... With indicators suggesting that Norway may have to resort to electricity imports to meet domestic consumer demand this winter, national transmission network operator Statnett is to restrict generators' scheduled maintenance outages. ...

ENERGY; Npower launches scheme to help the most vulnerable.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Energy supplier Npower this week launched an initiative to tackle fuel poverty, which includes training staff to identify elderly or other vulnerable people who are falling into debt and offer advice and support. Part of the supplier's...

Global warnings.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... The government is reviewing its climate change strategy at present but business leaders are unhappy about the targets for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases. The Financial Times reported the comments of John Sunderland, president of the...

WATER; Ulster spending up ahead of charges to customers.(Water Service )(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... The public sector Water Service in Northern Ireland increased investment by two-thirds in 2004/05 to make up for past underspending, according to its latest figures. The spending boost was behind the government's decision to start charging...

ENERGY; Italy hits networks with levy.
October 14, 2005... by Simon Jones The Italian government's budget proposals for 2006 include a windfall tax on the country's energy networks. Treasury minister Giulio Tremonto said he expected to raise up to e2.5 billion from the proposed tax between...

ENERGY; Italy abandons windfall tax.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... The Italian government has abandoned plans for a windfall tax on network operators in the face of opposition from the energy sector and Italy's energy regulator. The tax - mooted in budget proposals for 2006 - has been replaced by cuts in...

PAN-UTILITY; Age influences job chances.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... Nearly one-in-three utility recruiters claim job applicants' chances of being employed or staff members' chances of promotion were influenced in some way by their age. The average in other sectors was just over one in five. The finding...

ENERGY; British Gas slated over ad.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... British Gas last week fell foul of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over advertising that prompted complaints from rivals Eon UK, ScottishPower, Npower, EDF Energy, Scottish and Southern Energy, the public and aggrieved gas fitters....

eNVIRONMENT; First overseas carbon credits for EU states.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... Italy and Finland have become the first states to be awarded certified emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol's so-called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The credits were issued for two hydro-electric projects in Honduras, which...

WATER; High-level group seeks to put stopcock on wastage.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... A new group of water sector big guns has trained its sights on households to encourage them to cut water consumption and use water more efficiently. Meeting last week for the first time, the Water Savings Group - an alliance of regulators,...

ENERGY; Brussels probes Danish gas-electricity mergers.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... The European Commission has launched an inquiry into gas-electricity mergers in Denmark that may block plans by state-owned gas firm Dong to control two generators and two suppliers. Dong wants to absorb Elsam and Energi E2, generators for...

ELECTRICITY; Drax dismisses [pounds sterling]2bn latest bid as too low.
October 28, 2005... by Vic Wyman Generator International Power and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui have joined two other declared runners in the race to buy Drax power station, with a [pounds sterling]2 billion preliminary offer that Drax has called too low. ...

WATER; Three get final warning.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... The European Commission has sent final warnings to Italy, Greece and Spain threatening legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over their not properly complying with the Water Framework Directive. The Commission said the states...

ENERGY; EDFmay be forced to divest.(Electricite de France )(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... The French government has invited foreign investors to take part in the sale of about 15 per cent of Electricite de France (EDF), which it hopes will raise e7 billion. Meanwhile, the delay in the flotation could force it to sell some of its...

ENERGY; UK lagging Europe on smart meter rollout.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... by Zoe Grainge Automated meter reading is essential in deregulated electricity markets, according to a leading European utilities consultant, but the UK trails other European Union countries in rolling out smart meters. Colette...

ENERGY; Unions cool off and return to table.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... EDF Energy was locked in pay talks with two trade unions this week, as the threat of industrial action appeared to have been averted for the time being. Prospect and Unison, whose members represent one-sixth of EDF Energy's 3,600...

ENERGY; Enel poised for expansion.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... As Italian energy giant Enel and Slovakian privatisation agency FNM agreed a e1.9 billion investment deal in Slovakia's dominant supplier, Slovenske Elektrarne, the Italian firm was forecast to speed up its expansion in the region. The...

WATER; Northumbrian sells consulting subsidiary.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... Northumbrian Water has sold its environmental and engineering consultancy Entec for [pounds sterling]30 million to a management-led team. Entec's managing director, Simon Armes-Reardon, commercial director Douglas Morton and finance...

Solar panels answer our prayers.(St Oliver Plunkett's Church uses solar panels)
October 28, 2005... Disconnector was intrigued to learn that a church in west Belfast is, ahem, looking to the heavens to provide heat and enlightenment (both literally and metaphorically) for its parishioners. St Oliver Plunkett's Church in Glenveagh Drive...

ENERGY; Parliament slams UK's energy-saving efforts.
October 28, 2005... by Roger Milne Parliament last week criticised the government for failing to promote energy efficiency effectively, particularly in homes. The criticism surfaced on the eve of Energy Efficiency Week, during which the Energy Saving...

GAS; Grid fined [pounds sterling]1m over fatal blast.(Brief Article)
October 28, 2005... National Grid's gas networks arm was last week fined [pounds sterling]1 million with [pounds sterling]134,000 costs after a gas explosion caused a man's death at a block of flats in Cavendish Mill, Greater Manchester. Ian Brady was one of...

Sometimes, you just need a bit of luck.(Drax Power)
October 28, 2005... As comebacks go, the turnaround in fortunes of Drax Power, owner of the mighty 4GW coal (and occasionally wood)-fired leviathan in North Yorkshire is definitely up there with Ali's return from the ropes in 1974's Rumble in the Jungle. It's...