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INSIGHT: Editor’s week – Celebrations all round

It’s been an action packed week for utilities, with cause for celebration across the board. Ofgem and the power networks got a (nearly) clean bill of health from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which also gave a thumbs-up to South West Water’s takeover of Bournemouth Water. Meanwhile, as party conference season kicked off, renationalisation appeared to be off the agenda.

The CMA speaks

There were sighs of relief at Ofgem and the DNOs this week, as the CMA gave its verdict on RIIO-ED1, following challenges by British Gas and Northern Powergrid. Four of British Gas’s five grounds of appeal were dismissed and the supplier was left to foot the bill for the bulk of the legal costs.

The CMA had more good news in store for South West Water, with its provisional approval of the company’s proposed takeover of Bournemouth Water, despite a number of concerns set out by Ofwat.

Say what?

Energy companies could be forgiven for some confusion around the Labour party’s stance on renationalisation. Leader Jeremy Corbyn has publicly stated his support for renationalisation, but at the party conference this week, shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy insisted that she and her boss wanted to see the “democratisation” of energy instead. Any ideas what that means? Answers on a postcard please…

All change, please

As the rest of the industry celebrated, there was bad news for some at Ofwat this week. With PR14 safely wrapped up, chief executive Cathryn Ross took the opportunity for a clean sweep, binning two top jobs as she created four others.