CENTRICA, the owner of British Gas, will court fresh controversy next week when it reports annual profits of about £2 billion and an increase to its dividend while steadfastly refusing to cut household electricity prices.
Chief executive Sam Laidlaw is expected to justify the profits by giving details of a multi-billion-pound investment programme that the company plans for the coming years in renewables, nuclear and gas production and storage.
He will also be grilled by investors and analysts over his determination to complete the controversial £3.1 billion acquisition of a 25% stake in the nuclear operator British Energy from its French owner EDF Energy.
Since the deal was struck last year, power and gas prices have collapsed, making what was a generous top-of-the-market deal look even more costly. A minority of investors and some analysts have called for Laidlaw to abandon the deal or negotiate a lower price. EDF and Centrica have said they hope to close the deal by the end of next month, and Laidlaw is expected to reiterate his support for it this week.
full article
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Friday, 20 February 2009
Green charger hits high street
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE is about to launch an ECO CHARGER that it says "reduces the amount of energy needed to power a mobile phone more than any other on the market".
It's a bold claim but for starters this has one advantage. While other chargers continue to zap electricity from the plug if left in the socket with no phone attached, this automatically switches itself off as soon as the handset is fully juiced or unhooked.
CPW reckon this can save the UK approximately 217 million kWh of electricity per year, the equivalent to the annual energy consumption of almost 66,000 households.
If you're like me, then you'll be guilty of leaving the plug in the mains with the switch on and no mobi at the other end. We all do it, so any move to help reduce that standby-drain has to be welcomed.
Andrew Harrison, UK CEO at The Carphone Warehouse, said: "Increasingly, concern over global climate change is becoming top of everyone’s agenda, and that’s why I’m thrilled that we’re now able to offer a device that will not only will save our customers money, but help them to be energy efficient too."
Out in the chains 820 stores from March 3, it will cost £22.99. Customers can get £10 off when bought with a handset.
That's a small price to pay for saving the planet but then it'll be a lot easier to save the cash and just remember to switch off the socket and take out the charger!
full article
It's a bold claim but for starters this has one advantage. While other chargers continue to zap electricity from the plug if left in the socket with no phone attached, this automatically switches itself off as soon as the handset is fully juiced or unhooked.
CPW reckon this can save the UK approximately 217 million kWh of electricity per year, the equivalent to the annual energy consumption of almost 66,000 households.
If you're like me, then you'll be guilty of leaving the plug in the mains with the switch on and no mobi at the other end. We all do it, so any move to help reduce that standby-drain has to be welcomed.
Andrew Harrison, UK CEO at The Carphone Warehouse, said: "Increasingly, concern over global climate change is becoming top of everyone’s agenda, and that’s why I’m thrilled that we’re now able to offer a device that will not only will save our customers money, but help them to be energy efficient too."
Out in the chains 820 stores from March 3, it will cost £22.99. Customers can get £10 off when bought with a handset.
That's a small price to pay for saving the planet but then it'll be a lot easier to save the cash and just remember to switch off the socket and take out the charger!
full article
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
An eco-dream of a house
It's the house that decades of design and centuries of building have been leading up to... but it takes its inspiration from the Middle Ages.
Strange as it may sound, this home of the future, designed for his family by architect Richard Hawkes, is wedded to the past.
Its very framework is based on a medieval design, known as timbrel vaulting, which can be seen in the dome-shaped roof.First used in 1382 in Spain, this method uses thin bricks to create a lightweight,
durable building.
The arch is less than 5in thick, so wastes no material. Gravel and soil on top, in which flowers will be planted, help weigh the self-supporting frame down, stabilising it.
Not only does the structure do away with the need for materials such as concrete, which are energy intensive to make, it also allows the building to retain heat.
And in his quest to save power, Mr Hawkes again found traditional methods were best.
He used locally-sourced, old-fashioned clay tiles, in place of brick, as they were more energy efficient.
full article
Monday, 16 February 2009
Warm Front branded unfit for purpose
Warm Front, the Government's flagship fuel poverty scheme, has come under attack for squandering public money, with contractors accused of charging high prices for poor standards of workmanship.
Times Money has been inundated with complaints about the scheme, which gives grants of up to £2,700 to make the most vulnerable households energy-efficient. Readers have reported paying more than £3,000 in top-up fees - required when the cost exceeds the maximum grant - for boilers that do not work.
Warm Front was also criticised last week in a National Audit Office (NAO) report for “inefficient targeting of resources”.
Mervyn Kohler, of Help the Aged, says: “We are receiving thousands of complaints about Warm Front. Not only are customers being let down, but there also appears to be little accountability over how public money is spent. The organisation is unfit for purpose in its current form.”
The Government has poured almost £2.4 billion into Warm Front to help the 5.4 million households in fuel poverty, where one tenth or more of income goes on fuel bills. It relies on a contractor, eaga, to administer the scheme and manage the 139 sub-contractors responsible for installing heating and insulation systems.
But many customers complain that they have to agree to eaga's choice of supplier and equipment to obtain the grant, even if the boiler selected is unsuitable or the work appears to be overpriced. Many also say that complaints about unsatisfactory work can take months to resolve.
Times Money reader Malcolm Field, 56, applied to Warm Front for a new boiler on behalf of his 80-year-old mother. The total cost was £3,300, so his mother was asked to pay a top-up fee of £600. Mr Field, who lives in Chertsey, Surrey, says: “The contractor took more than a week to fit the boiler and its work was appalling. We called it out six times because the system failed. Eventually, 18 months later, a new pump was fitted and it now seems to work. My brother was a plumber and says that the work should not have come to more than £1,500. These contractors are lining their pockets with the Government's and pensioners' money.”
full article
Times Money has been inundated with complaints about the scheme, which gives grants of up to £2,700 to make the most vulnerable households energy-efficient. Readers have reported paying more than £3,000 in top-up fees - required when the cost exceeds the maximum grant - for boilers that do not work.
Warm Front was also criticised last week in a National Audit Office (NAO) report for “inefficient targeting of resources”.
Mervyn Kohler, of Help the Aged, says: “We are receiving thousands of complaints about Warm Front. Not only are customers being let down, but there also appears to be little accountability over how public money is spent. The organisation is unfit for purpose in its current form.”
The Government has poured almost £2.4 billion into Warm Front to help the 5.4 million households in fuel poverty, where one tenth or more of income goes on fuel bills. It relies on a contractor, eaga, to administer the scheme and manage the 139 sub-contractors responsible for installing heating and insulation systems.
But many customers complain that they have to agree to eaga's choice of supplier and equipment to obtain the grant, even if the boiler selected is unsuitable or the work appears to be overpriced. Many also say that complaints about unsatisfactory work can take months to resolve.
Times Money reader Malcolm Field, 56, applied to Warm Front for a new boiler on behalf of his 80-year-old mother. The total cost was £3,300, so his mother was asked to pay a top-up fee of £600. Mr Field, who lives in Chertsey, Surrey, says: “The contractor took more than a week to fit the boiler and its work was appalling. We called it out six times because the system failed. Eventually, 18 months later, a new pump was fitted and it now seems to work. My brother was a plumber and says that the work should not have come to more than £1,500. These contractors are lining their pockets with the Government's and pensioners' money.”
full article
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