Except high valuations are in theory good for ratepayers, because they lower cost of funding for capital spend? Again, fair to question if it’s too much capital, going in the wrong places, inadequately scrutinized/benchmarked…but the small fraction of this that goes to ROE -is that the real problem?

..clearly years of continued inflating of the rate base is massively impactful on size of customer bills. But whether the profit margin charged on top of that is an incremental 6% or 9% - not so much?

Think you highlight some obviously bleak examples of regulatory capture and misaligned incentives, but I’m not sure the focus on ROE and link to valuations is logical. Utility P/B ratios have gone up much less than the wider market past 15 years. Higher valuations cost new investors, not customers..

Feels like tactically, physically, confidence-wise, understandable he’s not there yet, but for me surprising/disappointing thing has been how technically bad his passing is? Like why is the execution so bad even when the decision-making is good

Totally agree

Totally agree with you the system distorts incentives and is not good for energy transition. Skeptical the focus on affordability gets us there. The grid needs money, way more than can be funded by a haircut to private utility margins

Quite possibly what they’re pursuing. But still not clear if the problem is that they’re under-investing or over-investing (inflating rate base) or if the funds are adequate but going to the wrong place, or a 9% ROE is too generous in a state where the water utility already packed up and left…

“Everything” is a stretch, but the general idea that 1) energy supply needs investment and 2) the majority of this is going to have to come from higher customer bills, is far from outlandish

Shameful the way she was hounded out, but rate hikes = more grid investment. Their ROE is down and well below national average. Bad for affordability, but bad for climate?

I get the impression with him that he’s very emotionally pro-Ange (spurs fan, adopted Aussie) such that he feels the need to overcorrect for impartiality, towards/beyond the Talksport consensus

Adjusted for avoidance-due-to-strike it’s probably lightly positive? But your statement still stands

Catching up with this today having also just read that a water desalination plant in Texas is costing 10x equivalents in the Middle East…unfortunately it’s not just transit, it’s all public infrastructure

Unrealized investment gains in FCF?

This one is the worst. For some reason correct Portuguese is the line that will never be crossed

The new fullback has to be Cirkin or KWP

Mostly it’s just that everything you named is pretty incompatible with session culture? The dovetail in clerkenwell is there for Belgian, mikkeller round the corner for better keg craft. Or try earl of Essex in Islington. Thornbridge Jaipur is the only real English IPA left, worth a try