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Does Utility Week publish a forward features list?

Yes. Our planned features for 2009 are listed below. Only one feature per month is pre-planned so get in touch with the features editor if you have ideas for other editorial features.

Utility Week 2009 features list

30 January - RENEWABLES
The government has set out a strategy to meet the tough targets on renewable energy set by the EU. Will we make it? Who will be the winners and the losers as our electricity industry is restructured? As the government rethinks its subsidy regime, what will it mean for energy companies - and for water utilities, both a big energy user and a significant renewable energy generator? What happens if the EU's higher target - up from 20 per cent to 30 per cent, if others join the carbon revolution - becomes a reality?

27 February - SECURITY
Protecting the UK's critical utility infrastructure from physical attack has long been recognised as a priority, but the problem of internet security is a more recent concern. How can utilities function in today's interconnected world without exposing themselves to unacceptable risks?

27 March - STAFF AND SKILLS
Human resources special including knowledge management, coping with the ageing workforce, training, management aspects of mobilising the field force and outsourcing to fill the skills gap.

24 April - HEAT STRATEGIES
After many years of focusing renewable "energy" strategies on electricity, and false starts on addressing the heat market, the government has "renewable heat" back up the agenda. What does that mean for utilities? What is the support available - will we have a renewable heat obligation? What is the potential and where are the technologies? And what will it mean for utilities, both in producing renewable heat and selling it as a customer product?

22 May - SMART METERING
2008 finally saw the government take the key decisions that will see a national roll out of smart energy meters. But many questions remain to be answered: What metering and comms technology will be used? How will the masses of meter data be handled? Will retailers exploit smart meters to come up with innovative tariffs? Will smart meters bring in new entrants to the energy market? Can the water industry keep pace with the smart revolution?

19 June - PROTECTING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
The events of 2007 did not just show how vulnerable some of our utility infrastructure is to flooding. It also revealed for the first time how our networks interconnect - not just those, like substations, under the industry's control but other networks such as communications and roads where we are at the mercy of others' priorities and public actions. A new approach to resilience is required. What are utilities doing to prepare? Are we up to speed on the most urgent actions - and do we even know what they are?

24 July - BILLING
Utilities depend on regular cash flow from customers to keep functioning, so reliable, accurate billing is vital. So why does utility billing seem to go wrong so often? Are large SAP systems in which billing is part of an integrated ERP system the way ahead or are there better ways to bill? Will all billing worries be resolved by smart metering or will suppliers' problems only be made worse by a huge rise in meter data volumes?

25 September - INTERCONNECTION
The UK is no longer an island: our one power link with France will be joined by connections with the Netherlands and Ireland, with others in prospect. Add grids for offshore wind and we could finally become fully part of the European electricity market. Meanwhile our gas market is changing as gas arrives from new pipelines. Who is planning what connections? What does this mean for security of supply, for managing the market and for prices? Are we prepared for our energy industries to be driven by global forces?

23 October - WATER FUTURES
With PR09 just around the corner, we look at the industry's plans for 2010-15 and beyond and examine how it will deal with major challenges such as: Leakage - is ELL still relevant to a sustainable future? What effect will the Water Framework Directive have in AMP5? Will customers continue to put up with rising bills? Will the Cave review competition finally get moving?

20 November - ASSET MANAGEMENT
With money tight and climate change still a priority, utilities have to find ways of doing more with less. Rigorous asset replacement and maintenance strategies are essential to extracting maximum productivity and value from the massive investments still being made in assets. We look at the latest developments including: Using GIS to track and monitor assets; selecting and applying optimum maintenance strategies; are utilities making the most of fieldforce mobilization; is multi-skilling the answer to manpower shortages?

Utility Week 2009 supplements

13 February - CONSUMER DEBT
Feedback and follow up from Utility Week's 2008 debt management conference. Lessons on both tackling the causes of customer debt and on how best utilities should manage and mitigate it.

15 May - UTILITY ENGINEERING
The spring edition of Utility Week's sister title. This will provide an update on the latest developments in technology and engineering in the water, gas and electricity sectors.

5 June 2008 - IT/Software
Utility IT best practice and innovation - central information systems, IT for customers (billing, customer relationship management, complaints handling etc) and IT for assets (enterprise asset management, enterprise resource planning, field force enablement etc).

11 September 2008 - UTILITY ENGINEERING
The autumn edition of Utility Engineering, providing even more information on the hands-on side of utility operations.

Utility Week will not publish on January 2 and 9, July 31, August 14, 21 and 28 and December 18 and 25.

How much are UK utilities investing in new infrastructure?
England and Wales' 22 privatised water and sewerage companies are investing £3.4 billion in the current five year price review period 2005-10. Much of this investment is in waster water treatment and is driven by European Union environmental legislation aimed at improving the quality of river and sea water. Still in public ownership, Scottish Water is planning to invest an additional £2 billion in the next four years while Northern Ireland's Water Service is in the middle of a five-year, £1.1 billion investment programme.

The four electricity and gas transmission companies which own Britain's high-voltage networks and the high pressure gas transportation system are expected to invest around £5 billion in the five year price control period 2007-12.

What do the water and energy regulators do?
When the UK's utilities were privatised in the late 1980s, the aim was to introduce unregulated competitive markets where possible. This has been done in energy generation and retailing, where there are no longer price controls and the free market sets prices and capacity. This means prices can vary wisely depending on supply and demand, and gas prices have risen sharply over the last two years as Britain's gas supplies dwindle and we become more reliant on imports. In energy transmission and distribution, however, it would be impractical to introduce competition as this would require duplicating the existing networks or pipes and wires, and these remain regulated by Ofgem, which sets prices charged for access to the networks every five years.
The water companies remain regional monopolies, though competition for large water users taking over 50 megalitres a year was introduced in December 2005. They are regulated by Ofwat, which also sets prices every five years. Average household water and sewerage bills in England and Wales will rise by £46 or 18 per cent to £295 a year between 2005 and 2010. Despite this price rise, water companies will invest more than they receive from customers.

What are the main utility regulator and trade bodies in the UK?
Regulatory bodies in the UK are:
Energy: Ofgem www.ofgem.gov.uk
Water: Ofwat www.ofwat.gov.uk
Environment: Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk
Drinking water quality: Drinking Water Inspectorate www.dwi.gov.uk
Scottish water: Water Industry Commission for Scotland www.watercommissioner.co.uk
Northern Ireland energy: Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation www.ofreg.nics.gov.uk

Other links
Trade associations
Water companies: Water UK www.water.org.uk
Energy distribution: Energy Networks Association www.energynetworks.org
Power generation: Association of Electricity Producers www.aepuk.com
Energy retailers: Energy Retail Association www.energy-retail.org.uk