Posted on 10/06/2012 12:01:20 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
In its strongest ever warning, Ofgem said there may have to be “controlled disconnections” of homes and businesses in the middle of this decade because Britain has not done enough to make sure it has enough electricity.
The regulator's new analysis reveals the risk of power-cuts is almost 50 per cent in 2015 if a very cold winter causes high demand for electricity.
It predicts Britain will face power shortages because old coal and oil plants are being forced to shut down under the European Union’s environmental regulations. This will partly be replaced by wind farms, but they are less reliable and can only generate electricity in the right weather conditions.
Ofgem believes the lack of spare power generation “could lead to higher bills”, which are already at record high of £1,300 per year.
The report will be a blow to Ed Davey, the new Energy Secretary as sweeping reforms in the new Energy Bill will come too late to avoid the squeeze in 2015–the year of the next election.
Whitehall sources said there is very little the Government can now do to avoid the risk of black-outs in the middle of the decade.
It will take around three or four years to build any new gas plants and it would be very difficult to build more coal plants under European rules.
“It may be that we will sail through the danger period without any problems,” the source said. “But if things do start to go wrong, we may be in trouble.”
Alistair Buchanan, chief executive of Ofgem,said Britain's energy system is struggling under the pressure of the “unprecedented challenges” of a global financial crisis, tough environmental targets and the closure of ageing power stations.....
....."industrial demand will be disconnected first, then household demand if the former is not sufficient".....
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
The wind industry, in short, is currently the single greatest threat to rural Britain. It's corrupt, greedy, ruthless, cynical, mendacious and hideously unjust. And the reason it's currently getting away with murder is that Coalition policy is allowing it to get away with murder. This has to change and it CAN be changed. So herewith some advice to David Cameron......."
this is malfeasance in office and justification to sack the entire government. seriously this will kill a lot of people because of government ineptness.
I wonder to what extent they use compact fluorescent bulbs and Energy Star appliances?
Power revolutionized industry and living standards - the combustion engine, lighted factories, sewing machines, tractors to harvest (more land could be planted) - our national security (military) runs on energy....on and on..
The green Nazis are de-developing human advancement.
They themselves are de-evolved beings, like the Morlocks in the first version of The Time Machine..
They themselves are de-evolved beings, like the Morlocks in the first version of The Time Machine..
They themselves are de-evolved beings, like the Morlocks in the first version of The Time Machine..
They themselves are de-evolved beings, like the Morlocks in the first version of The Time Machine..
They themselves are de-evolved beings, like the Morlocks in the first version of The Time Machine..
The US is not far behind Britain in this respect. We may even be ahead.
The EPA is forcing the power industry to close many old coal fired electric plants.
These old plants were used for extra power during peak demand periods. But these old plants are small and inefficient compared to modern plants and so it is not cost effective to retrofit them with pollution controls to meet new pollution regulations.
So the US is just a heat wave away from rolling black outs. The EPA uses fear mongering about air pollution killing people all based on unsubstantiated statistical analysis. Well there is nothing theoretical about heat waves killing people with out air conditioning. Some one stuck in their home during a blackout with out the AC may die.
Also scarcity of a commodity makes the price go up. The unavailability of these older plants means they are not available to generate power when needed for their owners. This means their owners must buy replacement power at market rates when the rates are highest. This means power may be priced out of the ability of some consumers to pay. That means some people will not run their AC when they need it and some of those people will die.
This is what ObamaMugabe wants for us...He envies what the EU and UK greenies have pulled off
Panel installer SolarCity files for $200 mln IPO [Elon Musk of Tesla Elec cars]
Bump! to Post #13.
I’ve been to England on several occasions. If you travel around in the fall or winter...what you tend to find is that the hotel/motel rooms are unheated until you check into the room...so it take an hour or two after you walk into the room for it to be “warm”. I doubt if it ever gets above 70 degrees, and most likely sits near 65 degrees for most of the time.
You tend to notice everyone is dressed in sweaters and wool. Most pubs are heated to the bare minimum. I think because of the enormous cost already for electricity or heat...they’ve done just about everything to just get by.
The British are a hearty people and probably could scrap by for a couple of days where power was only twelve hours a day, but they’d likely blame it on some political party in the end.
Windmills of your mind ping.
It is over 33,000 MW of plant closures.
Some of the plants being closed run into several hundred megawatts per unit being shut down.
Some are natural gas fired, rather than coal.
Drove through Canada recently and there are wind turbines everywhere. What an absolute blight on the landscape.
...and toilets that splash, clog, and don’t move enough water through pipes so that sewers back up; washing machines that leave clothes beat up and still smelly; dishwashers that take 3 hours to run a cycle so that people end up washing more dishes by hand; detergents that don’t clean; and engines ruined by ethanol that pollutes more than gasoline.
Unless these whackos are stopped, we will all be living the caveman lifestyle - short, dirty, and cold.
Sorry, but these plants could not have been used only during peak demand periods. Boiled water plants, all external combustion plants are boiled water, take a minimum of three days for the smallest plants to five to seven days for the largest to get linked up to the grid and producing power. This start-up delay is why coal is almost solely used for base load generation. Peaking for peak demand is generally supplied by gas turbines and hydro, due to their rapid start-up (under 24 hours) and quick response.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.