UK Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds opposes a £10bn rescue plan for Thames Water, citing undue burden on consumers. The plan, which would see creditors take over the company, faces criticism for 15 years of underperformance and pollution. Calls for nationalisation are growing.
UK Environment Secretary has reportedly objected to a £10bn rescue plan for Thames Water, citing undue burden on consumers. The plan involves creditors injecting cash and taking over the company, potentially avoiding fines for sewage leaks. This development pushes the troubled utility closer to public ownership.
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, is reportedly planning to bring swathes of UK utilities, including water and energy, back under public control if he becomes prime minister. The decade-long project aims to improve performance and reduce consumer bills, potentially mirroring models in Berlin and Paris. Critics warn of significant taxpayer costs, while Burnham has pledged to adhere to existing borrowing rules and not raise income tax, VAT, or national insurance.
A blocked main caused a wastewater overflow in Island Bay, Wellington, affecting 5 properties with faeces and sanitary products, prompting cleanup efforts by Wellington Water.
Thames Water creditors warn temporary nationalisation would delay turnaround. Labour's Andy Burnham calls for public control of utilities, sparking investor concerns and a fall in water company shares.
Two civilians killed, eight injured in Ukrainian attacks on Kherson Region
As communities push for publicly owned electricity, private utilities may be deploying dark money and local front groups to stop themThe utility industry is quietly dispatching a network of front groups to thwart the growing push for public power across the US – a push that comes amid mounting frustration over sky-high utility bills, electric outages, a slow transition to clean energy and private utilities’ soaring profits.Communities from Ann Arbor, Michigan to San Diego, California and St Petersburg, Florida are exploring municipalizing their grids to join the country’s approximately 2,000 public power companies. Continue reading...
US companies boosted payrolls in April by the most in over a year, the latest evidence of stabilisation in the labour market. Private-sector payrolls rose 109,000 in April after a revised 61,000 advance in the prior month, according to ADP Research data out on Wednesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 120,000 increase. More than half of the hiring advance was due to health services and education. Trade, transport and utilities payrolls also increased....
United Utilities share price jumped 11% after the water company announced an £800m share placing with Future Fund and Atlas as cornerstone investors. Ofwat's regulatory settlement a year ago has proven more generous than initially thought, particularly for companies not incurring heavy pollution fines. UU now targets 10-11% return on equity and seeks to spend an additional £2.5bn on infrastructure, potentially adding £10 to household bills. Severn Trent rose 7% in sympathy, with both companies at all-time highs.
Piazza Affari limita le perdite a -0,06% mentre le Borse europee restano negative in attesa della Fed e della Bce. Timori per inflazione da greggio in rialzo, Nexi e Stm brillano.
A review by the Energy and Policy Institute reveals that CEOs of the nation's top 51 utilities received a 16% pay raise to an average of $12.3m last year, even as customers faced utility bill increases of up to 40% since 2021 and 13m power shutoffs nationwide. The analysis found 38 CEOs received raises collectively worth $82m, with American Electric Power's Bill Ferhman receiving the largest increase at $23m to $36.6m. Customers have paid over $5bn for CEO compensation since 2017, while utility prices remain a key driver of continuing inflation.
