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» Innocent times
Japanese interest in the UK new-build nuclear market is nothing new. The fact that Hitachi has bought out Horizon should surprise no-one and Toshiba is in the frame.
Back in the 1980s, on the first day of the Sizewell B inquiry, two Japanese gentlemen turned up and asked for a copy of one of the k...
» Get that stuff orf moi land!
Farmers are necessarily no-nonsense types, more tolerant of the sort of farmyard faecal odours that would have townies reaching for the smelling salts. But even they have to draw the line somewhere, and for organisers of the 139th Wayland Agricultural Show in Norfolk that line was having raw sewage ...
» Now you see him, now you don't
Journalists have to move quickly these days if they are to get their man. Last Tuesday one of Disconnector's pals on Utility Week was invited, by a reputable consultant, to interview the chief of one of its client utilities: John Mullins at Bord Gais. By Thursday the man had quit. We are quite sure ...
» UW on politics: time for MPs to investigate Ofgem?
If a week is a long time in politics then fifteen years must be, I guess, an eternity. Well that is the length of time which has elapsed since a Commons select committe held a root and branch inquiry into energy regulation and more specifically the role of Ofgem and its performance.
» UW on politics: time for MPs to investigate Ofgem?
If a week is a long time in politics then fifteen years must be, I guess, an eternity. Well that is the length of time which has elapsed since a Commons select committe held a root and branch inquiry into energy regulation and more specifically the role of Ofgem and its performance.
» UW on politics: is the in-fighting between Decc and the Treasury over?
A week later than originally expected the Government has announced its decision on RO banding. Today was the last date that ministers could have made the requisite parliamentary statement until September when the Palace of Westminster is back in business. The Commons is in recess. Peers are just abo...
» The best laid plans...
» Nuclear batteries
» Be careful what you ask for...
EDF Energy last week sent out a heartwarming letter to its London customers in the pages of free paper The Metro. In it, chief executive Vincent de Rivaz confessed that the company had "fallen short of our high standards while we have been implementing new IT systems". Pledging it would be "back amo...
» Butt boost
Park Mead Primary School, in the village of Upper Dicker, East Sussex, has been given a boost towards water-efficient growing thanks to two water butts donated by South East Water. Pupils will use the water butts in their environmental garden. Drop on!
» All for one?
Things are getting ever so slightly tetchy between SSE and its fellow big six suppliers.
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» No tap room a the Inn
A pub manager has received an apology from a water company after a water bill blunder cost his pub 5,000 in lost takings.
» Best feet forward:
Keen runner Annie Dougall (pictured here with fellow competitors Gavin Lambert and John Pickup), a water meter administrator for the Sembcorp Bournemouth water-only company, is set to take part in her seventh London Marathon this weekend and should raise a tidy sum for a local charity. As the compan...
» Going to sea in a barrel
» Hats off to an ill-judged photo opportunity!
» The meat of the argument
The great man notes that green energy developer extraordinaire Dale Vince has been on the end of more media ribbing following the news that he, a deeply committed vegan, has taken red meat off the menu for both the players at Forest Green Rovers at Nailsworth and supporters of the club. Steak and ki...
» Between a Roc and a hard place…
» Expensive visitation
Recently, MPs have been getting hot and bothered about the fact that 1.85 million from the international development budget was spent on the pope's UK visit last September.
» Dong shows power in a nicer way
» Gregory goes to Frankfurt (I hope)
» Great work if you can get it
The great man is much taken with the news that a former policeman working for Pembrokeshire County Council's public protection division has reported a sighting of a "puma or panther-like" animal in countryside six miles north of Haverfordwest, near Treffgarne.
» NIW duty is in the eye of Holder
The train crash that is the current life and times of Northern Ireland Water (NIW) continues to enthral and bewilder in equal measure.
» Chaps chops:
These seven likely lads at Balfour Beatty Solutions' head office in Sheffield have been busy growing fine upper lip hair (some more successfully than others) for November, the charity that campaigns each year to raise funds for men's cancer charities. Team spokesman Simon Rhodes said: "There's been...
» Royal seal:
Two bright sparks - James Goldfarb and James Gibb - show the Earl of Wessex watt they've learnt on a Duke of Edinburgh electrical skills initiative supported by Scottish Power at Stow College in Glasgow.
» Seatbelt Sheriff:
Two junior road safety officers are sworn to safety by the Seatbelt Sheriff at a recent event for schools hosted by Drax Power near the coal-fired behemoth.
» Creative juices:
An historic Victorian pump house in Dorset used by Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water is to host a theatre production next year. Gill Horovitz (right), a co-founder of Wimborne Community Theatre (WCT), seals the deal with BWHW's MD Roger Harrington. WCT has been devising productions at unusual locat...
» Message in motion:
Origin Creative Design has developed designs for United Utilities water tankers to deliver key messages. See more of the designers' work at: www.creativematch.com/viewNews/?99593
» Feet first for Thames Water!
In what the company claims is a breakthrough for the UK utility sector, Thames Water engineers are being issued with anti-skid over-shoes to stop them slipping on ice patches this winter. The shoes, developed for people who work in ice houses or maintain ice rinks, have little studs on the bottom th...
» Blast from the past:
Power station staff who have been round the block can be forgiven if they had a frisson when they saw this poster for the latest Harry Potter film. Yes, those cooling towers behind Ron Weasley belong to the now defunct High Marnham coal-fired power station, which was used for some location shooting.
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