Utility Week articles from September 2005

Utility Week archives from September 2005

WATER; Thames' chief steps down.(Bill Alexander resigns from RWE Thames Water)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... After 16 years with RWE Thames Water, eight as chief executive, Bill Alexander has announced he is to retire. He will be succeeded by Jeremy Pelczer, currently deputy chief executive of Thames Water and president of American Water. ...

WATER; Industry scheme to save resources.(water resource conservation programme)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... The water industry has set up Waterwise a five-year programme to encourage consumers, businesses and water companies to reduce water consumption. It has been funded by the water companies and is based in the same London building as water...

pan-utility; Utilities business lifts Balfour Beatty.
September 9, 2005... A strong performance from Balfour Beatty's utilities business helped the construction group boost pre-tax profit to [pounds sterling]52 million in the six months to July 2005, up from [pounds sterling]44 million in the same period last year...

PAN-UTILITY; Watchdog chairmen named.
September 9, 2005... The government has appointed a pair of private sector executives to head two new regulation watchdogs. The Better Regulation Commission (BRC) - the re-named Better Regulation Task Force - will be chaired by Rick Haythornthwaite, former...

TELECOMS; C&W snaps up Energis to bolster its UK presence.
September 9, 2005... Corporate telecoms network operator Cable & Wireless (C&W) bought privately-owned operator Energis last month for nearly [pounds sterling]600 million. The acquisition was the latest move by C&W to consolidate its position in the UK as the...

ENVIRONMENT; Campaign big names join forces on climate change.(demonstrations by environmental groups to curb climate change)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Eighteen UK environmental groups, including some of the country's leading campaigners, have formed a coalition called Stop Climate Chaos which last week pledged to mobilise its membership to press the government to slash Britain's greenhouse...

electricity; Czech power firm takes on coal mine.
September 9, 2005... Czech power company CEZ has submitted a bid for the government's 55.8 per cent stake in brown-coal mine Severoceske Doly (SD). The government offered CEZ exclusive talks on SD, arguing it made strategic sense for CEZ, which already owns a...

TELECOMS; Deutsche profits soar on US growth.
September 9, 2005... German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom has reported a half-year net profit of e1.95 billion, up 61.5 per cent on the same period in 2004. The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were up 5.3 per...

ELECTRICITY; Drax and UKCoal settle six-month contract row.(Drax Power )(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Drax Power and UK Coal settled their six-month row over coal deliveries last month. The mining company had made a force majeure claim on the grounds that geological problems at two of its pits stopped it fufiling its contract with Drax - owner...

WATER; Dublin in stink over odour nuisance.(sewage treatment plant odour control bill)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Dublin city council faces a huge compensation bill after a group of householders threatened to seek a High Court injunction to restrain the nuisance of foul smells from a recently commissioned [pounds sterling]200 million sewage treatment plant...

electricity; Dutch to scrap grid fee burden on competition.(energy market new financial guarantee rules)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Dutch energy regulator DTe plans to improve competition in the country's energy market by scrapping the payment of financial guarantees to companies owning electricity grids. At present, market entrants with no grid have to pay higher...

ENERGY; British Gas in double energy saving pitch.
September 9, 2005... British Gas has launched two initiatives designed to reward customers for using less energy. The offerings have surfaced a month after the energy giant announced it was linking-up with Ceres Power to develop the world's first,...

energy; Suez faces challenge to Electrabel buyout.
September 9, 2005... by Simon Jones The Suez buyout of its energy subsidiary Electrabel has met unexpected last-minute opposition in Belgium. Last month, Electrabel's board backed parent firm Suez's takeover bid for the 49.9 per cent of shares it does not...

ENERGY; Eon puts cash into pensions.
September 9, 2005... German energy giant Eon plans to spend e5.4 billion of its cash to fund pensions in a bid to head off investor calls for an exceptional dividend. The group announced the measure - which it expects to complete next year - as it unveiled...

ENERGY; Eon UK circles ScottishPower.(acquisition planning)
September 9, 2005... by Trevor Loveday Powergen owner Eon UK has come clean over its interest in ScottishPower, saying it was "considering its options regarding a possible takeover offer" for the company. In a short and unusually frank statement,...

Drought? Blame the people.(caravan energy efficiency legislation)(Eon UK cooling tower reservoir clean up ends in fish conservation project)
September 9, 2005... Here follows wit and wisdom of claimants to the throne of the late, lamented orange-hued Robert Kilroy-Silk, former leader of the Veritas Party (number 371 in a very occasional series). In the running is one Carl Faulkner who has recently...

GAS; UK customers pay [pounds sterling]10bn for European gas-oil link.(gas market analysis report)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Limited liberalisation in the Continental gas market could cost the UK gas customer as much as [pounds sterling]10 billion in 2006, according to a study out this week. The study by industry forecaster Global Insight, sponsored by Centrica,...

GAS; Gazprom did make an approach to Centrica.
September 9, 2005... by Rumyana Vakarelska Russian gas giant Gazprom has approached energy retailer Centrica with a view to bidding for the UK firm. A source close to the Russian company told Utility Week that it had expressed an interest in acquiring...

ELECTRICITY; International to sell Australian plant for [pounds sterling]100m.
September 9, 2005... The venture between electricity producer International Power and Japanese group Mitsui, together with Contract Energy, has agreed to sell its Valley Power peaking plant in Victoria Australia to Snowy Hydro for [pounds sterling]100 million. ...

WATER; Irish waste water slammed.
September 9, 2005... An Irish government department has slammed the state of wastewater services in the Republic, and called for better data provision and more network investment. A report by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government...

electricity; Eon UK fires up Killingholme again.(power station service reopens)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Eon UK has returned its 900MW Killingholme power station to full service. It is believed this is the first time a gas-fired plant has been completely reactivated after an extended period of closure. The Lincolnshire station was withdrawn...

GAS; Transco mulls appeal over [pounds sterling]15m safety fine.(gas explosion accident penalty suit)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... by Roger Milne National Grid was due to decide this week whether to appeal against the judgement and a UK record fine of [pounds sterling]15 million for a breach of safety regulations after its Transco subsidiary was convicted of a gas...

ELECTRICITY; Wire burial plan is Olympian.(J. Murphy and Sons Ltd. to replace powerlines )(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... One of the UK's biggest power undergrounding projects is significantly closer following the announcement of the contractor chosen for the first phase of the [pounds sterling]200 million scheme. More than 50 transmission and distribution...

The price of safety.(Transco PLC safety penalty)
September 9, 2005... The [pounds sterling]15 million fine handed down to Transco as a result of a gas explosion that killed four people in Lanarkshire should send shock waves through all privatised utilities. The level of the fine was more than seven times the...

Barking up the wrong tree.(Office of Gas and Electricity Markets regulations)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Sir, Roger Milne is, I am afraid, barking up the wrong tree ("The dog that failed to bark", Utility Week, 12 August) when he suggests that Ofgem has been nobbled by the offshore industry over network code proposals by Energywatch to increase...

eLECTRICITY; Magnox clean-up not linked to new plant.
September 9, 2005... by Roger Milne Proposals to accelerate the clean-up of the UK's oldest nuclear stations are not motivated by the government's need to find sites for replacement reactors, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)has insisted. The...

WATER; Residents get legal aid in stink battle with Thames.(Thames Water PLC odour control programs)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... A group of Hounslow residents has won legal aid for its long-running battle with Thames Water over odour from the firm's Mogden sewage treatment works. Neil Stockdale, a partner at the residents' solicitors, Hugh James, said: "The case...

Special help for green power.
September 9, 2005... Without an adjustment to transmission charges for renewable generators on the Scottish islands of Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles no transmission-connected renewable generation is likely to develop on them. The government is...

electricity; Norway to boost capacity.
September 9, 2005... The construction of more natural gas, wind and hydro power stations is expected to increase Norway's electricity output by around 30 per cent on 2003/04 levels by 2005/06. Norwegian power generation reached 87.4TWh during the first six...

TELECOMS; Ofcom curbs BT charges for wholesale services.
September 9, 2005... Communications regulator Ofcom has placed a cap on some of BT's wholesale prices, limiting the amount it can charge for some key telecoms products. Last month, Ofcom published its new Network Charge Controls for BT's narrowband products....

WATER; Water regulator's review gets top marks in review.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Water regulator Ofwat has been praised for the way in which it carried out its 2004 periodic review in the independent review of the process by former National Power chairman John Baker. The 2004 periodic review was described as a "major...

WATER; Sector anxious about self-lay guidelines.
September 9, 2005... by Steve Hobson Revised regulatory guidelines that let developers choose a contractor to install water meters in housing and other construction projects has sparked concern in the water sector. The new guidance from water regulator...

MULTI-UTILITY; Pennon buys into energy from waste.
September 9, 2005... South West Water parent company Pennon has expanded its waste management subsidiary Viridor with a deal to build and operate an energy from waste plant at Colnbrook near Slough. Viridor has struck a joint venture deal with Grundon Waste...

electricity; RWE hits back over 'profiteering' charge.
September 9, 2005... by Simon Jones RWE chairman Harry Roels has written to Germany's environment minister, Jurgen Trittin, accusing him of playing politics over the country's soaring power prices. In a letter leaked to the German press, Roels said...

ENERGY; German duo in cartel probe.
September 9, 2005... Germany's competition authorities have launched an investigation into alleged abuse of market dominance by utility giants Eon and RWE. Bundeskartellamt has asked the two companies to submit statements addressing the allegations by the...

PAN-UTILITY; Robinson back on the energy consumer beat.
September 9, 2005... The former chair of consumer watchdog Energywatch, Ann Robinson, has been appointed director of energy consumer policy with independent comparison and switching service uSwitch. The part-time job (around two days a month) will bring...

electricity; Enel close to sealing Slovenske deal.
September 9, 2005... Slovakia's finance minister, Ivan Miklos, has given his provisional support to Enel's investment plan for dominant Slovak electricity generator Slovenske Elektrarne, heading off calls for the sale to be relaunched. Enel won the tender for...

ENERGY; Scots slide on new rules.(Scottish Power PLC regulatory compliance costs)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... ScottishPower reported a 6 per cent fall in group pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2005, to [pounds sterling]114 million. The company blamed new international reporting rules that increased finance costs and wiped out what would have...

Companies change, but physics doesn't.
September 9, 2005... As the new gas distribution networks begin to emerge, blinking, into the daylight, one can't help but remember a similar multiple birth that took place in those far off days of electricity privatisation. According to folk legend, the fledgling...

ELECTRICITY; Spain steps up its targets for clean energy supply.
September 9, 2005... The Spanish government has approved a green energy strategy for the country which is designed to ensure a significant increase in the amount of wind generation capacity by 2010. Under the plan, the amount of wind power is set to reach over...

GAS; Ulster price rise proposal sparks consumer concern.
September 9, 2005... Charity Help the Aged has called on the Northern Ireland government to step in after it emerged that the province's gas supplier, Phoenix Natural Gas, was pondering increases in domestic bills of much as 25 per cent. Phoenix was in talks...

GAS; Warwick plans storage in Yorkshire.
September 9, 2005... Independent energy firm Warwick Energy plans to convert its gas field in Yorkshire into a gas storage operation. Gas from the field has been used to fire a power station on the site since 1997. The field at Caythorpe near Bridlington...

Speculation season.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... The summer "silly season" - when journalists and City traders alike are desperate for news - saw shares in Centrica briefly leap 8 per cent as takeover talk again swept the Stock Exchange. Centrica has been the subject of such speculation...

WATER; Duo fined after errors kill fish.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Severn Trent Water and United Utilities were fined a total of [pounds sterling]32,000 last week for separate incidents that endangered and killed wildlife after prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency. United was fined [pounds...

ENERGY; No rush over nuclear, says Wicks.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Nearly one-third of Britons believe that nuclear energy is the answer to combating global climate change, according to research from online switching and comparison site uSwitch.com. The poll, conducted earlier this summer, showed regional...

ENERGY; Npower extends long contract trial.
September 9, 2005... RWE Npower last month extended its regional trial of a long-term fixed price gas and energy efficiency package to its existing electricity customers in the West Midlands. In March the company became one of the first suppliers to take...

eNERGY; Energy savings trial proves a damp squib.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... by Roger Milne The trial to allow suppliers to tie in consumers beyond 28 days in return for energy saving services has proved a damp squib. In private, energy regulator Ofgem has warned that there has been too little activity for a...

eLECTRICITY; Fault takes shine off nuclear plant plan.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... by Roger Milne British Energy this week had to shut down two of its advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs) after uncovering technical problems. The blow looks certain to take the shine off the company's imminent announcement that it is...

WATER; Abstraction charge hikes could hit 10 per cent.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Water abstraction licence fees could rise by 10 per cent a year over the next four to five years, according to proposals by the Environment Agency. This could cost the water industry in England and Wales more than [pounds sterling]82 million....

ENVIRONMENT; UK engineer in Chinese green city project.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... The world's first city designed from the ground up to be sustainable is to be built in China by a partnership of Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) and UK engineering firm Arup. The project was designed in part by China to...

electricity; German heavy users demand grid rebates.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... by Simon Jones Germany's new combined energy and telecoms regulator has begun an investigation into the grid fees charged by the country's electricity companies. The inquiry by the Federal Network Agency (BNA) was sparked by a demand...

electricity; CDP threatens to walk away from Terna deal.(Cassa Depositi e Prestiti)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... State-controlled financial group Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) said it would mount a legal challenge to the terms imposed by Italy's competition authority on its purchase from Enel of a 29.9 per cent stake in national grid company Terna. ...

eNERGY; Fuel poverty warning as bills increase.
September 16, 2005... by Roger Milne Campaigners warned ministers this week that escalating energy prices are hitting vulnerable households hardest, forcing up to one million into fuel poverty. The warning, from fuel poverty charity National Energy Action...

ELECTRICITY; Drax Power ponders bid by US duo.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Drax Power - owner of Europe's biggest coal-fired power station, the 4GW Drax in Yorkshire - has received an unexpected [pounds sterling]1.9 billion cash offer from a consortium of two US investors - energy company Constellation Energy Group...

ENERGY; Enel pledges dividend hike.
September 16, 2005... Italian energy giant Enel last week pledged to raise dividends by 16.6 per cent over the next three years as it reported first half-year results slightly ahead of expectations on the back of decreased depreciations and other non-cash items. ...

ENERGY; Will Eon get away Scot-free?
September 16, 2005... by Trevor Loveday and Zoe Grainge Eon's prospects of making a success of its investment were it to follow its declared inclination to make a bid for ScottishPower are debateable, but the regulatory obstacles may not be as difficult to...

That's not a reactor that's art.(Eon UK celebrations)(Ricky Demarco art collection show near nuclear power station)
September 16, 2005... Last week, Eon UK's Killingholme power station came out of mothballs, an event that clearly called for the red carpet treatment and general celebrations. The amount of food served at the reopening left something to be desired - perhaps the...

electricity; Fortum will invest e700m in Nordic Grid.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Finland's Fortum has said it will invest e700 million in the Nordic Grid by 2011. The Nordic Grid project aims to establish a single, closely interconnected transmission network between Norway, Sweden and Finland. A Reliability...

energy; Gas Natural bid finds favour.
September 16, 2005... Two years ago Gas Natural failed in by Rumyana Vakarelska Spain has indicated that it favours the creation of a "national energy champion", after last week's e22.5 billion hostile takeover bid by the country's leading gas group, Gas...

water; Denmark pays the highest water charges.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Denmark has the highest water charges of any Western economy, according to the latest annual survey of global water costs by NUS. The consultancy, which specialises in advising companies on how to cut their utility bills, found that Danish...

gas; Russia and Germany agree e4bn pipeline.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... by Rumyana Vakarelska Germany this week signed a framework agreement with Russia for a controversial $5 billion (e4 billion) gas pipeline between the two countries. However, should Germany's Social Democrats lose the 18 September general...

GAS; Tanker plan to revive Scottish LNG storage.(liquefied natural gas )(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Transco has announced that it will, after all, be offering special storage capacity at its Glenmavis strategic liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Scotland after it decided to deliver LNG by road tanker from Wales. The facility was not...

GAS; Transco will not dispute blast fine or judgement.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Transco has decided not to appeal against either the judgement or the record [pounds sterling]15 million fine handed down by the Scottish High Court after it was convicted of breaching safety regulations that resulted in an explosion in 1999...

It's too late for Brussels to take a tough line on mergers.
September 16, 2005... As autumn comes, it seems the number of UK players who might be around to compete on the global stage is heading the same way as the leaves on the trees, with only a few left to drop. One of Germany's two utility giants - Eon - is...

ELECTRICITY; Plant margin set to slide below 21 per cent in 2006.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... The margin of power generation capacity over maximum demand this winter will be 21.2 per cent, down from 24.6 per cent last year. A further fall is predicted next year, according to National Grid's seven year statement update. In its...

Supply margin improves.
September 16, 2005... The return of power traders to their desks after the summer holidays saw forward electricity prices resume their upward trend, though they ended August well below the peaks seen in July. After meandering between [pounds sterling]47-50/MWh...

ENVIRONMENT; Ministers launch green fines review.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Ministers have launched a major review of the effectiveness of current measures for enforcing environmental regulation. The level of fines, widely considered too low, will be under scrutiny, as will the possibility of bringing in standard...

WATER; Upgrade deal winner announced.(Dalriada Water )(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Northern Ireland regional development minister Shaun Woodward has named Dalriada Water as the selected bidder for the Alpha Public-Private Partnership project to upgrade water treatment facilities in the Province. Dalriada is an umbrella...

WATER; Ulster denies delay over charges signals doubts.(Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... The Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development has postponed the introduction of water charges for one year to April 2007, but insisted the delay did not signal it was having second thoughts on making the Water Service self-financing....

eLECTRICITY; National policy aids windfarm appeal victory.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... An independent planning inspector has granted permission for a windfarm in the Yorkshire Dales on the grounds that the turbines were needed to meet "national policy" on green energy and the "urgent" need for further renewable development in the...

electricity; Invest in network upkeep, warns Norway's regulator.(Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate )(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Norway's energy market regulator NVE has issued a stern warning to the country's network operators warning of penalties and possible restrictions to their operating licences if they fail to invest in maintenance. NVE wants to see regular...

ELECTRICITY; Eon edges towards new build.
September 16, 2005... by Steve Hobson Eon UK has applied for consent to build a 1,220MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant at Drakelow in Derbyshire. However, the company said the [pounds sterling]350 million investment would proceed only if the...

TELECOMS; Cap on BTcharges set to boost broadband uptake.(British Telecommunications PLC)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Communications regulator Ofcom this week proposed capping BT's wholesale rental charges for broadband lines. It proposed a ceiling of [pounds sterling]81.85 a year on what BT could charge third parties, to be reviewed in December 2007. Last...

WATER; Firms better spend forecast.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Water companies spent [pounds sterling]17.7 billion on gross capital investment between 2000 and 2005, down nearly [pounds sterling]2 billion on expectations, according to the latest figures from water regulator Ofwat. Ofwat's financial...

Ecofin's Carine Salvy.(Npower appoints Gordon Parsons)(British Nuclear Fuels PLC appoints Lawrie Haynes)(United Kingdom. Office of Telecommunications appoints Stephanie Liston )
September 16, 2005... Gordon Parsons has been appointed as managing director of Npower, part of RWE Npower. Parsons was previously sales and marketing director with Npower and has 15 years' commercial experience of the retail electricity industry. Stephanie...

ELECTRICITY; Scots plan to boost wave and tidal.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Scottish ministers have signalled that they plan to change the green energy support regime north of the border in a bid to boost the development of wave and tidal generation. Deputy first minister of Scotland Nicol Stephen told a conference...

Time to discuss the future of regulation.
September 16, 2005... The water industry has published significant proposals* for changes to water and wastewater services regulation. Following careful collection and analysis of company views over the past year, a set of ideas has emerged that will be the basis of...

eLECTRICITY; China and EU plan zero carbon plant.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... The European Union and China have agreed to co-operate on the development of a demonstration "zero carbon" fossil fuel power station by 2020. The project should provide solid data about the technical feasibility and economic viability of...

MULTI-UTILITY; Investors back Suez moves.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... French multi-utility giant Suez last week reported a 12.8 per cent rise in net profit for the first half of 2005 to e1.5 billion, boosted by growth at its European energy operations as its major shareholders backed the group's plan to take...

ScotPower's fate fails to move hearts.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... The resumption of normal services after the summer break started with a bang when Eon issued a statement saying it was considering a cash bid for ScottishPower, while the Glasgow firm announced its own night of the long knives. Even the...

WATER; Outsource boom promised.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Europe's water suppliers were told this week that they should market their specialist knowledge in industrial water and wastewater treatment because a trend to outsource such services was gathering pace among users. Consulting group Frost...

ENERGY; Wicks stresses key role for Russia.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2005... Energy minister Malcolm Wicks this week stressed Russia's importance for UK and European energy supplies. In his comments to European business leaders in Moscow, Wicks said that, in working to liberalise its energy markets, the European...

eLECTRICITY; British Energy claims output is set to rise.(Brief Article)
September 23, 2005... by Roger Milne British Energy's nuclear output over the next two years should increase slightly compared with its performance last year, the company insisted last week. During 2004, the generator's fleet of advanced gas cooled reactor...

TELECOMS; BTwins [pounds sterling]21m deal to grow MoDe-learning capacity.(British Telecommunications PLC)(Brief Article)
September 23, 2005... The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded BT a [pounds sterling]21 million contract to extend its e-learning capacity for the armed forces to 300,000 users. The system will be Europe's largest distance-learning project and the first secure...