Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t JoNova; Coming soon to the USA? Nuclear, coal, gas, hydroelectricity – every significant form of electricity generation except renewables allows people to have electricity when they want it, in the quantity they want.
How much could YOU earn for turning off your oven and TV? How families could be PAID up to £6 to ‘ration’ electricity at peak times (including nearly £3 for shutting off electric car chargers)
The measures come amid spiraling energy costs made worse by war in Ukraine
Households with smart meters could be paid £6 per kilowatt-hour not used
The National Grid is looking at expanding the measure which is now under trial
By TOM PYMAN FOR MAILONLINE and ARCHIE MITCHELL FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 21:44 AEST, 28 June 2022 | UPDATED: 21:51 AEST, 28 June 2022
Hard-pressed British families can save as much as £6 by turning off key appliances for two hours in the evening – and could be paid to do so under plans being considered by the National Grid.
Consumers with smart meters will be offered the payment to slash their usage during peak times in the winter and try and cut the risk of nationwide blackouts.
National Grid sees the plans as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way to keep the lights on than paying fossil fuel power plants to increase production.
The firm responsible for transmitting and distributing electricity and gas is scrambling to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has led to Russia restricting energy supplies to Europe.
The proposals could see households paid up to £6 for each kilowatt-hour they avoid using at peak times. That compares with the 28.34p homes pay per kilowatt-hour, enough to power a 100 watt lightbulb for ten hours.
National Grid ESO trialled the proposals with Octopus Energy customers this year and is now looking to offer the scheme to millions of households.
MailOnline has analysed the cost of running some key household appliances for two hours during the periods that were trialled – 00:00-02:00, 09:00-11:00 and 16:30-18:30.
…
Energy rationing would not have happened if Britain maintained coal capacity and developed shale gas reserves. Rationing would not have been necessary if Britain had focussed on reliable zero carbon energy, nuclear power – nuclear power plants, which are completely insulated from fuel supply price shocks, because they only have to be refuelled every two years.
After this failure, does anyone in Britain still think Bojo’s push for more renewable energy is a good idea? Imagine what living in an energy rationed society will be like next February? Imagine the horror of finally caving in, switching on your heater – only to have the lights and heat go out, after the grid collapses under the weight of demand from other other families just like yours, who reached for the switch at the same time as you, because they could no longer stand the cold.
There might still be time to fix this before winter – but the British government has to act now, the British government has to stop wasting time and resources on useless green energy and get out of the way of entrepreneurs who are trying to develop onshore British unconventional petroleum resources. The government must open the floodgates to made in Britain energy, or it will be the British people who will suffer, starting with the innocent, elderly and vulnerable, six months from now.
via Watts Up With That?
June 29, 2022