News

Weekend press: Government to end ‘prepayment premium’

The government is to end the “prepayment premium” by picking up the additional costs of the meters from suppliers. Also in Utility Week’s latest round-up of the weekend papers, Ofwat seeks new powers to block excessive dividends to shareholders and Thames Water appoints financial advisors to help tackle its mountain of debt.

Bulb customer platform to be offered to other retailers  

Video: Young campaigners voice water efficiency concerns

CCC seeks successor to Lord Deben

Plans to more than double number of inland bathing sites

NIC head warns of infrastructure crisis in water

PPM customers asked for ‘frank’ feedback

Central heating use plummets as public seeks alternatives

Grid connection amnesty suffers from low uptake

Uptake of the National Grid’s connection ‘amnesty’ has been lower than expected, the company’s transmission chief has admitted. The deadline for customers to submit expressions for the amnesty has already been extended to the end of April but at the moment firms have shown little interest in giving up their connection offers.

Weeks left to spend remaining £95m boiler upgrade funding

Almost two-thirds of the £150 million boiler upgrade scheme (BUS) funding risks being lost at the end of this month. The remaining amount far outweighs the £43.6 million of BUS vouchers redeemed since the scheme was established in April last year. Any money left in the fund will be returned to government at the end of the month.

Testbed scheme boosts hydrogen for homes ambition

The government-backed Hy4Heat programme has successfully developed a series of prototype hydrogen-ready cooking and heating appliances. It has been deemed a success and paves the way for larger trials in real homes.

SPEN calls for fast-tracked planning regime

EDF confirms plans to extend life of two nuclear plants

EDF has confirmed that it will extend the lives of Heysham 1 and Hartlepool power stations by an additional two years. The two nuclear power stations in the north of England both marked 40 years of generation this year. They will now continue generating power until March 2026.

Ofwat: Innovative charging needed to tackle water poverty

ESO balancing reserve proposals rejected by Ofgem