Utility Week articles from September 2003

Utility Week archives from September 2003

TELECOMS; Bidders line up for Telefonica's Austrian 3G.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Mobilkom Austria, T-Mobile and Hutchison Whampoa may bid if Telefonica Moviles opts to sell its costly Austrian third generation (3G) licence. The Spanish operator is yet to announce officially whether it will sell the licence, hand it...

Raising the standard.
September 5, 2003... Energy companies have to face up to operating in a customer-focused environment. However, this has proven extremely difficult to get right, especially the billing of newly acquired customers. Quality management systems such as ISO 9001:2000...

TELECOMS; BT initiative set to take women to the top.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Fixed-line telecoms giant BT is holding a Women's Day on 9 September to target 200 of its senior women employees as part of a campaign to promote them to its top management. Women make up 24 per cent of BT's 104,700 employees and 20.1 per...

WATER; Water bills must rise to fund investment.
September 5, 2003... by Paul Garrett As water companies began issuing draft business plans for the next five-year price review period, Northumbrian Water has asked Ofwat for an interim determination to allow it to start raising prices from 2004. Managing...

ELECTRICITY; No axe to fall on CEZ chiefs.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Reports that executives at Czech electricity group CEZ faced the axe were quashed this week after an apparent U-turn by the state. The Czech National Property Fund (FNM), the state shareholder which owns 67 per cent in CEZ, had last week...

Total recall.
September 5, 2003... When Terminator star Arnold Schwarzeneggar turned down those who urged him to run for governor of California last year (because of filming commitments to Terminator 3) he was not, he assured them, turning his back on politics. 'I'll be back,'...

WATER; Ofwat policy faces debt mountain challenge.
September 5, 2003... by Karma Ockenden Regulator Ofwat may have to ditch its neutral stance on the capital structure of the water industry after the next price review, consultancy Oxera has warned. In a report out this week, Oxera said Ofwat would have to...

TELECOMS; Cost-cutting Cesky set to axe another 14% of jobs.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Cesky Telecom is to slash its workforce by another 14 per cent by the end of this year as part of a long-term cost-savings drive. The Czech fixed-line operator will dismiss 1,800 workers over the next four months, reducing the payroll to...

ELECTRICITY; Compensation row over storm payout system.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Consumer watchdog Energywatch has called for an overhaul of the compensation regime after energy regulator Ofgem announced that power distributors must pay a further [pounds sterling]260,000 to customers who lost supply during last autumn's...

PAN-UTILITY; Utilities casual about customer care.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Utilities were the worst-performing sector in a survey charting the commitment of human resources to customer service delivery. The survey, by database marketing company Total DM, showed only 5 per cent of utilities had dedicated database...

TELECOMS; Deutsche Telekom in e1bn Polish bid.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Deutsche Telekom has offered e1 billion for the remaining 51 per cent stake in Poland's biggest mobile operator, Polska Telefonya Cyfrowa (PTC). Deutsche Telekom chief financial officer Karl-Gerhard Eick said the cash bid was made at the...

TELECOMS; New rivals set to eat into Deutsche share.
September 5, 2003... by Simon Jones Germany's Deutsche Telekom is set to lose 'almost 20 per cent of the local call market to alternative carriers by year-end', according to Josef Brauner, head of the company's fixed-line division, T-Com. He claimed that...

ELECTRICITY; International Power close to deal on Drax.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... by Trevor Dooley Generator International Power forged ahead of a pack of bidders last week in the chase for a controlling stake in the struggling Drax power station. The final decision lies with the plant's creditors. The company was...

Edison.
September 5, 2003... by Nigel Hawkins Italy-based Edison is the country's second-largest energy group and is a major player in both the Italian electricity and gas markets. It dates back to the early 1880's when a power plant was constructed in Milan....

ELECTRICITY; EnBW moots closing Yello.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... The New chief executive of Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW) Utz Claasen wants to close the company's loss-making power retailer Yello as a separate entity and run the operation from its Karlsruhe headquarters. The closure would stem losses...

Guns, bombs and Cloughie.
September 5, 2003... This weekend protestors will be out in force objecting to an international weapons exhibition which opens in London's Docklands. Companies from all over the world who deal in military hardware and software will be strutting their stuff...

TELECOMS; FT tightens grip on Orange.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... State-controlled telecoms company France Telecom has said it will buy the 13 per cent of shares in its wireless unit Orange that it does not already own at an estimated cost of e7 billion. France Telecom has offered 11 France Telecom shares...

ELECTRICITY; Grid catches flak for Helsinki power cuts.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... by Gerard O'Dwyer Finland's energy regulator has demanded a 'full and transparent' account from public utility Helsingin Energia of a grid failure that caused a blackout in Helsinki on 22 and 23 August. The main grid operator and...

GAS; Ofgem ponders changes to entry auctions.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Ofgem has not ruled out changes to the regime of long-term entry auctions of gas capacity but has promised that modifications to the rules would not undermine the value of capacity already sold. The reassurance was given in a report just...

Blackout chaos.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... What plunged London into darkness last Thursday? Sabotage, under-investment, or a lack of generating capacity? The answer, it appears, is none of the above. A failure at a National Grid substation at Hurst was followed by a second 'freak'...

ELECTRICITY; Italy set to drop limits to avoid power cuts.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... by Martha Grace In a bid to stave off another wave of electricity cuts, the Italian government was poised this week to introduce emergency laws to relax environmental regulations on power stations. The emergency decree would enable...

The cost of cleanliness.
September 5, 2003... Once again the question of how much we are prepared to pay for a clean environment and how clean an environment we want or need has hit the headlines. As we report in our news section this week, Water UK held a press conference last week where...

On the production line.
September 5, 2003... The telecoms industry is at a unique point in its history. For the first time, the supply of services exceeds demand in the Western world. With the resulting downturn, operators are being forced to look at ways in which they can significantly...

ELECTRICITY; London crash adds to five-year high of faults.
September 5, 2003... by Trevor Dooley Last week's power failure on the National Grid, which immobilised the London Underground trapping commuters in tunnels, added to the second consecutive five-year high of power loss incidents for the grid's owner National...

TELECOMS; Matav deal tees up market opening.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Hungarian telecoms operator Matav last week paved the way for market opening with an interconnection agreement with Hungarotel Communications. Agreements have now been signed with all four of Hungary's concession-holder local operators -...

Cutting carbon needs trading.
September 5, 2003... The UK is on target to meet its domestic carbon reduction goal but success is dependent on Britain's involvement in the European Union emissions trading scheme (ETS) and an increase in the price of tradeable permits, according to the latest...

Colt.
September 5, 2003... by Zo Grainge Strong second-quarter results from pan-European corporate telecoms firm Colt Telecom in July have helped to improve trading sentiment across the UK telecoms industry, according to analysts. A summer trading rally saw...

Networking not working.
September 5, 2003... At about 16:10 Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday 14 August, automatic fail-safe relays operated by Independent System Operator (ISO) in the US state of New England detected anomalies in the current from the neighbouring ISO in New York....

ELECTRICITY; 'No need for more capacity'.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... An internal report from Vattenfall has forecast a stable electricity supply at competitive prices over the next ten years. Group chief executive Lars Josefsson said the figures supported the company's belief that Sweden had no need to...

ELECTRICITY; Fortum chief calls for single Nordic grid.
September 5, 2003... by Gerard O'Dwyer Fortum, the Finnish state-controlled power utility, has issued a challenge to Nordic governments to devise a 'common strategy' to support a more integrated pan-Nordic electricity marketplace. Group chief executive...

ELECTRICITY; Dry spell heats up power price.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... The combination of unprecedented low rainfall and heatwaves that struck Finland in July and August were forecast to push up electricity prices for domestic and industrial consumers this winter. 'The best indications are that prices will...

ELECTRICITY; Price fix charge by Danish grid firm.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Eltra, the largest grid system operator in western Denmark, has filed complaints with NordPool and the Danish energy regulator about 'possible price manipulation' and 'market irregularities' in July and August. 'We have spoken to...

TELECOMS; Orange ups forecast on strong interims.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... by Zo Grainge France Telecom-owned Orange this week raised its financial targets for 2003 after releasing better-than-expected first half-year results. Orange posted revenues of [pounds sterling]6 billion, up 6.9 per cent on the first...

Blackouts and dearer water.
September 5, 2003... The Hutton inquiry is not the only issue giving the administration and parliamentarians pause for thought as the Palace of Westminster swings back into action: the prospect of hikes in water bills and the threat of power cuts have both set...

Cash ; register.
September 5, 2003... European utilities are wasting e67 billion a year. What is more, to access this cash, the industry simply needs to employ its capital more wisely. Process inefficiencies - namely unbilled and uncollected debts from customers and early and...

MULTI-UTILITY; RWE plans major property clearout.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... RWE plans a major sale of property assets. The group's landmark headquarters in Essen and RWE Power's head offices in Cologne could be among the buildings up for sale, according to company sources. Union leaders fear such a move could...

ELECTRICITY; Green power changes mooted.
September 5, 2003... Moves to encourage the greater use of biomass for generating electricity have been outlined by the government as part of a provisional review of the Renewables Obligation (RO). This is the measure designed to make sure that by the end of...

WATER; Scottish pricing needs to be 'radically overhauled'.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Radical changes are needed to the charging structure for water and wastewater services in Scotland, including an extension of metering, according to a report for the Scottish Water Customer Consultation Panels. The report, by Heriot-Watt...

eLECTRICITY; DTI suppressed critical Neta report, claims generator.
September 5, 2003... by Roger Milne Whitehall has been accused of suppressing a report commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry that concluded that smaller generators were unduly penalised by the way the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (Neta)...

TELECOMS; Mobile lifts Telekom Austria.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Austria's biggest telecoms provider, Telekom Austria, reported underlying profit up 1.3 per cent in the second quarter. Wireless revenues grew while domestic fixed-line turnover fell as a result of competition and falling prices. Telekom...

Price-cut threat hits mobiles.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... by Trevor Dooley Price-cutting threats from the new kid on the block set mobile stocks cracking up. Meanwhile, jitters over the periodic price review dampened spirits in the water sector and an uncharacteristic glow came from the nuclear...

ELECTRICITY; Norway power players get tax relief pledge.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Norway's energy minister, Einar Steensnaes, has promised the country's hydro power operators tax relief to promote the development of small-sized hydro. 'We have prepared a draft proposal and we intend to discuss the issue in detail with...

TELECOMS; Tesco targets fixed-line market.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Supermarket chain Tesco has launched three new price plans with its Tesco Telecom arm to target fixed-line BT customers. Tesco Telecom, which uses Cable & Wireless's carrier pre-selection technology, is aiming to lure users of BT's Standard...

Questions, questions.
September 5, 2003... The government has now released its third consultation paper on implementing the Water Framework Directive in England and Wales. This includes responses to the second consultation paper, an updated partial regulatory impact assessment and, more...

GAS; Wingas poised to swoop on Belgian market.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Wingas, the joint venture between Russian gas giant Gazprom and German supplier Wintershal, has said it wants to win 10 per cent of the Belgian gas market by 2005. Contracts already agreed by local subsidiary Wingas Belgium will see it...

WATER; World Bank wants Irish water bills.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Water charges should be reintroduced in Ireland to cut costs and water wastage, according to the World Bank. A paper issued by the World Bank Group on Economic Incentives said the abolition of water charges in 1996 meant 'a generation of...

TELECOMS; Float costs reduce Yell to a whimper.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2003... Directories group Yell took a hit of [pounds sterling]77.3 million in its first quarter 2003 results for exceptional costs arising from its recent flotation. The costs associated with the float wiped out the company's 13.3 per cent...

WATER; AWG overseas sale nears as chief goes.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... by Paul Garrett The departure of the executive director responsible for AWG's international business has sparked speculation that the water group's international arm will begin to break up at the end of the month. Tony Eckford, who...

TELECOMS; Auna ponders law suit over tariff decision.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Spain's second-biggest telecoms company, Auna, is considering legal action against the government over its decision to freeze telephone tariffs next year and liberalise them in 2005. Auna has alleged that the move will benefit arch-rival...

TELECOMS; BT cuts debt to raise rating.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Fixed-line telecoms operator BT has offered to buy back up to 40 per cent of its outstanding 7.125 per cent notes, worth [pounds sterling]1.6 billion, maturing in 2011. The company said it was making the move to improve its investment...

ELECTRICITY; BritishEnergy US sale freed from deadline.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... by Trevor Dooley Debt-strapped British Energy's sale of its stake in US venture Amergen has been freed by the government from any deadline to prevent would-be buyers from forcing a distressed sale on the company. Under the original...

TELECOMS; C&Waxes Jamaican jobs.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Troubled corporate telecoms company Cable & Wireless (C&W) has made 200 people redundant from its Jamaican fixed and mobile subsidiary. C&W said the redundancies arose as part of 'mergers of departments, business office rationalisation and...

eLECTRICITY; CEZ to cut domestic distribution charges.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Dominant Czech Republic electricity utility CEZ last week said it would cut domestic electricity prices next month by up to 5 per cent at five of the country's eight distributors it controls. The Czech energy regulator said it would look...

Page power.
September 12, 2003... A recent report by Mintel identified utilities as a significant part of the customer magazine market for the first time in 2002. Thirty titles are published in the sector, accounting for a 9 per cent market share of the customer publishing...

TELECOMS; Directory row as calls fall.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... A new entrant to the deregulated directory enquiries market has lashed out at telecoms regulator Oftel for misleading companies about the number of calls they were likely to receive. The criticism followed a decision by a separate directory...

TELECOMS; BT cuts broadband price further.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Fixed-line operator BT has been forced by telecoms regulator Oftel to cut the price of its Datastream wholesale broadband product by a further 50p a line. The move followed an Oftel probe into Datastream pricing, triggered by complaints...

PAN-UTILITY; Paper mountain wastes millions of pounds a year.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... UKutilities are wasting millions of pounds on inefficient document output and handling, according to a report from research organisation Danka Europe. And many companies do not even know where in their business wasteful document management...

GAS; Dong improves access deal for rivals.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... The transmission arm of Danish state energy group Dong has decided to offer rivals improved terms for entering the Danish market. The decision represents a U-turn by Dong, which owns and operates Denmark's gas grid. Under its revised...

MULTI-UTILITY; Elektrim court threat to block telecoms sale.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Polish multi-utility Elektrim has threatened court action to block the proposed e1 billion sale to Deutsche Telekom of its 51 per cent stake - held jointly with Vivendi - in Poland's leading mobile operator PTC. Elektrim chairman Piotr...

ELECTRICITY; German exports led to price rise, says Elsam.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... by Gerard O'Dwyer Danish utility Elsam has blamed an 'ineffectual' market model for power trading between Denmark and Germany for the sharp price increases that hit electricity consumers in western Denmark at the end of August and the...

ELECTRICITY; Spanish regulator sues power duo.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Spanish energy watchdog CNE has sued electricity utility Endesa and energy consortium Tarragona Power for failing to acquire environmental permits to build power facilities in Tarragona, northeast Spain, each with a capacity of 400MW. In...

Imagine.(future of UK energy industry)
September 12, 2003... What will the UK energy industry look like in 50 years' time? . Azfar Shaukat and Gill Ringland explore three scenarios. What will the UK's energy needs be in 2050 and how will they be met? At first glance this seems an impossible question...

Who turned the lights off?
September 12, 2003... Predictably, in the aftermath of the worst blackout in North American history, the blame game has begun. Industry investigators have pointed to FirstEnergy's Ohio grid as the possible origin of the troubles, although utility and grid...

ELECTRICITY; Finnish players plan fund for power cut handouts.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Finland's largest power utilities have agreed to discuss a proposal to establish a common fund to give refunds to customers who have suffered power cuts. The initiative was triggered by legislation enacted on 1 September requiring energy...

Don't tell Sid.
September 12, 2003... As the French tourist industry struggles, there has been a lot of public hand-wringing about the political and diplomatic problems facing the country. On the financial front, France is facing equally serious challenges. Last year's 3.1 per cent...

WATER; Berlin supplier sale gets green light.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Germany's cartel office has approved the sale of Eon water unit Gelsenwasser to the municipal utilities of Bochum and Dortmund. The Federal Cartel Office accepted that the sale would not limit competition in local or regional water, wastewater...

GAS; German network set for regulator overhaul.
September 12, 2003... by Simon Jones The German economics ministry has proposed a shake-up of the gas market, with a new regulator setting tariffs and calculating grid fees based on network zones. In a government report on the energy sector, economics...

ELECTRICITY; Weak prices in the US hit International Power hard.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... At the halfway mark of a 'challenging' year, generator International Power disappointed investors last week when it reported continuing damage from low US power prices. As it gained pole position in the race for control of Drax power...

TELECOMS; TIMstands alone as results jump.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Italian telecoms company Telecom Italia chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera has ruled out a buyout of mobile telecoms arm Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) along the lines of France Telecom's absorption of Orange. Telecom Italia owns 56 per cent...

Technology is the driver.
September 12, 2003... Over the past decade, the development of the energy sector in Britain and elsewhere has been shaped by competitive markets and the merger and acquisition activity that has gone with it, rather than by technological innovation. A new study...

eNERGY; Lib-Dems urge regulation shake-up.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... The Liberal-Democrat Party has called for the 'remodelling' of energy regulator Ofgem, with a new name and a new primary duty to promote sustainable development. At the same time the party has made the case for creating a new Whitehall...

ENERGY; Nordic mega-mergers face zero tolerance.
September 12, 2003... by Gerard O'Dwyer Fearing a return to anti-competition practices after the landmark liberalisation of electricity markets in 1990s, competition authorities in Finland and Scandinavia have sent out a clear warning that they will not...

WATER; Reservoir plan revived in Mid Kent strategy.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... A shelved plan to build a big new reservoir near Canterbury to deal with Kent's impending water supply crisis has been revived by Mid Kent Water. In its new resources strategy document Mid Kent said the reservoir, at Broad Oak near...

gas; Mol transmission sale OK.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Shareholders in Hungarian power group Mol have approved the sale of its majority stake in Hungary's gas transmission and systems management arm. A shareholders' meeting backed the widely expected sale of Mol's gas network, subject to the...

Co-firing rule changes afoot.
September 12, 2003... The government has proposed changes to the Renewables Obligation that will affect the present regime which allows coal-fired generators to burn some biomass and obtain 'clean power credits' under the so-called Renewable Obligation Certificates...

WATER; Bills to swallow 15% of income by 2010.
September 12, 2003... by Karma Ockenden Some disadvantaged customers could be forking out 15 per cent of their income on their water bills by 2010, according to the National Consumer Council. The shock statistic was cited by the customer watchdog as part of...

Wessex Water.
September 12, 2003... by Zo Grainge Wessex Water's draft investment plan submitted to the water industry regulator Ofwat in August indicates that household bills for its region will need to go up by just over 12 per cent above inflation between 2005 and 2010....

Cesky Telecom.
September 12, 2003... by Nigel Hawkins Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent separation of the Czech Republic from Slovakia, the incumbent Czech telecoms operator, Cesky Telecom, has had to undertake a major restructuring of the country's...

TELECOMS; Npower bales out of telecoms business.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... by Zo Grainge Energy retailer Npower has sold its telecoms business to Italian internet services provider Tiscali for between [pounds sterling]6 million and [pounds sterling]7 million, sparking speculation that other utilities are set to...

It's a small world.(gains from outsourcing call centers overseas)
September 12, 2003... Modern technology allows utilities to outsource call centres overseas . The gains can be formidable, says Matthew Vallance. The trend to outsource offshore is nothing new, but this year it has really come to the fore. Companies, under cost...

No more Mr Neutral Guy.(Oxford Economic Research Associates examines Ofwat policies on leveraged structures in water industry)
September 12, 2003... Should Ofwat change its 'studied neutrality' towards high gearing? . A recent Oxera report seeks to provide an answer. A report out this week from economic consultancy Oxford Economic Research Associates (Oxera) examines the implications of...

GAS; Ulster roll-out in court row.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Northern Ireland energy regulator Douglas McIlldoon has expressed surprise and concern that Phoenix Gas has decided to mount a legal challenge to his decision to award preferred bidder status to a rival gas supplier for the extension of the gas...

MPs make waves over Water Bill.
September 12, 2003... This week Parliament is back in earnest and on Monday MPs had an opportunity to have their say on the Water Bill, which received its second reading in the Commons after scrutiny in the Lords. As expected, the issue of fluoridation exercised...

ELECTRICITY; Portugal delays Iberian market liberalisation.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... The Iberian power market will be liberalised in July 2004, six months later than expected, at the instigation of Portugal. Spanish government sources said the move had forced it to postpone the free exchange of energy between the...