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Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

As I understand it the issue is that generating capacity is at its margins during the current cold snap. The coal fired stations at Drax and West Burton have been fired up to warm standby. Since the demise of the CEGB there's been no long term planning for generation; the driver has been short term profit.

Part of the pitch for smart meters was that they can be used to incentivise reductions in peak demand. Not all supply companies are offering this deal. I have a smart meter bit I've not heard anything from So Energy about being paid to reduce demand.

What alternative do you suggest?

Rota cuts?

Turn off the Lights - Xileno

A friend of mine was on about this the other day. I'm not on a smart meter so didn't pay much attention but I believe it's entirely optional whether you want t participate.

When I lived in France they had a tariff where you got a reduced rate if you agreed to a certain number of single days (red days I think) where the unit price was a lot higher. You got advance notice of when they were going to happen and you just made sure those were the days you didn't put the washing machine on or do the ironing or vacuuming. No hardship there :-)

Turn off the Lights - gordonbennet

Handy way to recruit more to install smart meters.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

A friend of mine was on about this the other day. I'm not on a smart meter so didn't pay much attention but I believe it's entirely optional whether you want t participate.

When I lived in France they had a tariff where you got a reduced rate if you agreed to a certain number of single days (red days I think) where the unit price was a lot higher. You got advance notice of when they were going to happen and you just made sure those were the days you didn't put the washing machine on or do the ironing or vacuuming. No hardship there :-)

The problem with this 'paid-for rationing' is that it mainly benefits the well-off who can afford to do washing, ironing, tumble-drying etc on a different day / time, but not the less well-off who cannot, especially those of us living in flats where we are not allowed to run noisy washing machines and certain types of driers (condensing type) because they will disturb the neighbours overnight.

Not a problem if you live in a semi or preferably big detached house far enough to not annoy the neighbours when they are running or disrupt your own sleep.

A close member of my own family (who is well off) is getting PV panels and a battery wall so they could easily take advantage of this type of plan. I couldn't, not least because of living in a flat, but also because there's not sufficient space to install 'smart' meters in the communal electrical cupboard. Little chance to install PV panels and battery packs either - cost and space.

'Environmentalism - rob the poor to (further) enrich the wealthy. Lovely. Back to candles and wood-burning presumably - that'll be great for health and the environment. Awaiting the banning of gas stoves coming up next, which isn't a conspiracy theory as it was 'tested' as a policy just a few weeks ago, just like so many that most object to but have amazingly got on the statute book in recent years.

Turn off the Lights - FP

As I understand it, there are no government plans to phase out gas hobs. There may be at some point - who knows? If gas boilers are on the way out, gas hobs will probably follow at some point.

How any of this fits the narrative of "rob the poor to (further) enrich the wealthy" I'm not sure. The alternative to gas hobs is electric induction hobs, which are more efficient. I can't imagine any government is going suddenly to ban all domestic consumption of gas, rendering the mass purchase of electric hobs necessary, however.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

As I understand it, there are no government plans to phase out gas hobs.

This is the 'conspiracy theory' argument put by some recently against those of us who have posted such comments.

There may be at some point - who knows? If gas boilers are on the way out, gas hobs will probably follow at some point.

This is the it's a conspiracy theory, but if it isn't, it would be a good idea so why shouldn't we adopt it? argument.

BTW - a US senior civil servant brought this plan up recently. It more than 'did the rounds' in the MSM and I'd put good money on it being discussed before and during the recent WEF Davos summit and elsewhere.

How any of this fits the narrative of "rob the poor to (further) enrich the wealthy" I'm not sure. The alternative to gas hobs is electric induction hobs, which are more efficient.

Induction hobs cost a LOT more to buy than gas hobs, they require you to replace all your pots and pans with compatible ones (they have to be ferrous metal, not copper / aluminium as most are). Ferrous metal pots and pans are far less thermally efficient at spreading the heat evenly across their surfaces than those others.

Whilst electric hobs are more efficient than gas ones (they lose less heat around the side of the hob as not flame/exhaust gas), the cost of electricity to the consumer has historically been around 3x as much as gas, an even accounting for induction, they still are more expensive to run than gas.

The same applies to air source heat pumps where the real-world average efficiency (including domestic hot water generation, something proponents conveniently leave out in their COP figures) being far nearer to 2 than 4. Plus, of course, such tech (ground source heat pumps much more expensive) is far more costly to install, between 4 and 10x as much.

There's zero chance in there being sufficient qualified installers / maintainers to do all this work (including hobs) in time for the new build deadlines. Not even close. Sounds familiar? Its a very similar sitiuation for EV building, charging and batteries.

I can't imagine any government is going suddenly to ban all domestic consumption of gas, rendering the mass purchase of electric hobs necessary, however.

Why? They did for ICE cars and gas boilers - they just brought forward bans for new cars from 2040 to 2035 to 2030 in a very short time, probably because their WEF paymasters told them to. How many other significant changes (including hugely scaling back farming, starting in Holland, including forceably buying farms) like this suddenly were foisted upon us all, 99% without ANY voter choice? Staremer has just promised Davos to stop any more drilling in the North Sea.

Remember any of thes 'policies' in the 2019 manifestos? Nope.

Who are those most pushing these policies? Rich billionaires with significant investments in 'green' tech and 'alternative foods' (bugz4food, lab gown non-meat, etc), and like with their 'amazingly lucky' COVID response 'investments', ahem, I mean 'donations' (that make big profits for them) who all are prominent WEF members and none who are elected by voters.

Turn off the Lights - FP

I really don't think there is any point in my commenting further. People can draw their own conclusions.

Andy has his point of view. I disagree with it.

What I object to is presenting what are merely theories, opinions and speculation as facts.

Turn off the Lights - Bolt

an even accounting for induction, they still are more expensive to run than gas.

Not actually, I have an induction hob and its far more efficient than a standard electric hob as it only heats the food and is faster, the only reason a saucepan gets hot is because the food does as heat travels.

there is also a limit to the amount of electricity a combined electric stove and induction hob can use at once and is limited to 5kw controlled by the cooker unit, instruction manuals tell you that

I bought induction as it was the same price as an electric cooker at the time and has proved to be cheaper to run than electric hobs on there own, as they are on for less time heating up.

so an induction car charger I would have thought would be faster at charging and safer than any cable charger

Turn off the Lights - bathtub tom
I have an induction hob and its far more efficient than a standard electric hob as it only heats the food and is faster, the only reason a saucepan gets hot is because the food does as heat travels.

Are you sure? I've just read the following: An induction hob works similarly to an electric hob, but it has coils beneath its surface that induce electrical current to generate heat in the pan or metal object.

Turn off the Lights - Bolt
I have an induction hob and its far more efficient than a standard electric hob as it only heats the food and is faster, the only reason a saucepan gets hot is because the food does as heat travels.

Are you sure? I've just read the following: An induction hob works similarly to an electric hob, but it has coils beneath its surface that induce electrical current to generate heat in the pan or metal object.

Works for me anyway and yes I know how they work, part I got wrong was the heating part as the s/steel pans need a encapsulated base for heat transfer, something all my pots and pans have had for years which I didn`t give a second thought to, but without the mixed metal base as Andrew pointed out and apologies for misleading they wouldn`t work

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy
I have an induction hob and its far more efficient than a standard electric hob as it only heats the food and is faster, the only reason a saucepan gets hot is because the food does as heat travels.

Are you sure? I've just read the following: An induction hob works similarly to an electric hob, but it has coils beneath its surface that induce electrical current to generate heat in the pan or metal object.

Works for me anyway and yes I know how they work, part I got wrong was the heating part as the s/steel pans need a encapsulated base for heat transfer, something all my pots and pans have had for years which I didn`t give a second thought to, but without the mixed metal base as Andrew pointed out and apologies for misleading they wouldn`t work

Like with people asking 'should i change from ICE to an EV' or 'should I change my gas boiler to a heat pump', it's a big fat 'no' unless and until the old one is very near or at the end of it's economic / useful life.

The problem is that even assuming all the best case scenario savings from usage, the payback period is very high and often comes with significant ancilliary costs which the vast majority of people would have to pay for to be able to make the new gizmo / tech work as intended.

Some, like EVs are far more effective if your home can be fitted with a 7kW+ charger, and many (mine inclued) obviously cannot. A home heat pump is similarly a poor selection because I live in a flat as I've spoken about before.

Stainless steel pans are fine (I use them because they last longer than ordinary non-stick pans and aren't too bad on that score either), but they aren't as good as aluminium and especially copper (bottomed) pans because their heat conduction isn't as good. The 'full-on' ferrous (cast iron) pans are best for indcution but suffer from the same heat transfer issues as stainless steel. They are also expensive and heavy - not so good for OAPs.

Whilst it only affects a few, induction cannot be used (as far as I'm aware) by people with pacemakers, for obvious reasons. As I say, a lot of this really depends upon the circumstances.

It should be noted that people wanting all three might need to check their incoming electrical supply, given they all require significant extra electricity consumption - and often at full load at the same time of the day. Heat pumps aren't good at generating hot water at 60degC and need purely resistive electric booster elements to get the rest of the way. For a bigger home, that is a significant amount of juice.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Stainless steel pans are fine (I use them because they last longer than ordinary non-stick pans and aren't too bad on that score either), but they aren't as good as aluminium and especially copper (bottomed) pans because their heat conduction isn't as good.

Does it matter if they are not as good as head conduction as the induction hob heats the water directly and not transferring heat through the pan as such?

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

Does it matter if they are not as good as heat conduction as the induction hob heats the water directly and not transferring heat through the pan as such?

An induction hob works by 'inducing' eddy currents in magnetic metal - it does not heat water directly, microwave ovens do that. That is why stainless pans are little use, as stainless steel is only feebly magnetic (try it). Pans on an induction hob must have a thicker base than usual and be magnetic enough to respond to the electric field emitted below the glass plate. Any food will not get hot unless the pan base gets hot first !!

Turn off the Lights - bathtub tom

An induction hob works by 'inducing' eddy currents in magnetic metal

Didn't old cable driven speedos work by spinning magnets inducing eddy currents in an aluminium disc?

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

An induction hob works by 'inducing' eddy currents in magnetic metal

Didn't old cable driven speedos work by spinning magnets inducing eddy currents in an aluminium disc?

No idea - you may well be right.

Turn off the Lights - Crickleymal

You can drop a magnet down a copper tube and the eddy currents will slow it down.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=N7tIi71-AjA

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

I have an induction hob and its far more efficient than a standard electric hob as it only heats the food and is faster, the only reason a saucepan gets hot is because the food does as heat travels.

Bolt, an induction hob is not a magic transferor of energy in the way you describe (I've said this before). You cannot use stainless steel pans on an induction hob because only thick magnetic steel will absorb the energy to heat the food. If the food absorbed it directly you would be able to use a glass dish or anything else. It is not like a microwave oven, tho I suppose it appears to work similarly.

In any case if the food got hot, so would the pan containing it !

Turn off the Lights - Brit_in_Germany

No idea when you got this 'information' from. Stainless pans work fine, and copper cored ones are even better.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

No idea when you got this 'information' from. Stainless pans work fine, and copper cored ones are even better.

Not on an induction hob - unless an awful lot of people have been conned into dumping their stainless pans when they switched to an induction hob. Some suitable pans may be stainless but must have a magnetic base. I haven't heard of copper-cored pans ?

Edited by Andrew-T on 25/01/2023 at 10:52

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

No idea when you got this 'information' from. Stainless pans work fine, and copper cored ones are even better.

Not on an induction hob - unless an awful lot of people have been conned into dumping their stainless pans when they switched to an induction hob. Some suitable pans may be stainless but must have a magnetic base. I haven't heard of copper-cored pans ?

Just to clarify my earlier comments - mine rinitially efer to the usefulness of each pan material, not for use with induction. Induction needs pans with a high ferrous iron content. Many stainless steel pans (mine included) are not as 'hefty' as from years gone by and thuse don't have the large iron content needed for effective use with induction.

Some 'ordinary' pans (i.e. not used for induction) can be ceramic, aluminium or stainless steel and have a core (inner layer on the base) of A N Other material, e.g. copper, to give better heat conduction but are more robust and easier to clean.

You are correct about the ferrous magentic properties needed and the not-so-good abilities of stainless steel compared to iron.

Turn off the Lights - maz64

As I understand it, there are no government plans to phase out gas hobs.

Induction hobs cost a LOT more to buy than gas hobs

You can buy single ring portable ones for under £50 (doubles <£90) if you want to give them a go eg. www.amazon.co.uk/IsEasy-Portable-Induction-Cooking...W

Turn off the Lights - Bolt

The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

seems that way and some peoples attitudes seem to be put up with what you've got and shut up.

you`d think in this high tech day and age all these problems would be easily sorted, instead we have to put up with a grid system that should have been updated a long time ago, knowing electric cars are coming.

instead we wait until they are round the corner before anything remotely looking like they are doing something to update the grid and housing to accommodate electric cars, though it seems to be the way England works wait till the last minute to do anything!

Turn off the Lights - Adampr

So just a few of those tiresome actual facts:

  1. Nobody has banned ICE vehicles
  2. Nobody has banned gas boilers
  3. The load on the grid is less than it has been in the past

Turn off the Lights - madf

As I write Grid demand is 42.5GW (12.00am 24/1/23) Gridwatch

My "Last Year " Gridwatch charts for January 2022 had a peak demand - AVERAGE of c 38GM

Now one spike does not make an average but...

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

As I write Grid demand is 42.5GW (12.00am 24/1/23) Gridwatch

My "Last Year " Gridwatch charts for January 2022 had a peak demand - AVERAGE of c 38GM

I'm guessing but we've got a cold spell affecting the most populous part of the UK.

What were January temperatures last year?

Turn off the Lights - Adampr

Interesting summary here:

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&a...d

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

As I write Grid demand is 42.5GW (12.00am 24/1/23) Gridwatch

My "Last Year " Gridwatch charts for January 2022 had a peak demand - AVERAGE of c 38GM

Now one spike does not make an average but...

...and I bet that blimmin' all is being generated by wind and solar at the present.

Maybe we should all move to the southern hemisphere for half the year and they come here for 'our' summer...

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

..and I bet that blimmin' all is being generated by wind and solar at the present.

I'd imagine solar was not too bad actually (given the day length).

Any UK system needs a contingency for those few days when wind doesn't blow. But that's not a reason to write off the 40% or so wind can generate under normal conditions.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

..and I bet that blimmin' all is being generated by wind and solar at the present.

I'd imagine solar was not too bad actually (given the day length).

Any UK system needs a contingency for those few days when wind doesn't blow. But that's not a reason to write off the 40% or so wind can generate under normal conditions.

Sun strength (never mind duration) in winter in the UK is far lower than from late Spring to ealry Autumn, because it's far lower in the sky and thus its power is significantly attenuated by light/heat having to travel through far more atmosphere.

Wind is normally far lower in amount / intensity in winter as well, not zero, but not much for the most part. Unfortunately the wind turbines also have upper limits on wind speed (and its not that high either, apparently) and thus are just as much out of action due to 'high' wind speeds in spring and autumn as due to no / little wind (as for the past week in my neck of the woods).

Not so bad in historically more windy areas in Scotland, etc. Problem is they despoil the view in very picturesque areas and require significant maintenance and mined materials.

Turn off the Lights - expat
Maybe we should all move to the southern hemisphere for half the year and they come here for 'our' summer...

Not practical for most people but great for those that can. I went to the tropics for a couple of winters and I know others who do. I was told by one person that the saving on his UK winter heating bill paid for a big part of his months in the tropics.

Turn off the Lights - skidpan

What were January temperatures last year?

North Midlands, January 17 to 23rd 2021

Average Max day time 7.3 degrees

Average Min night time 1.1 degrees

Average sunshine hours 4.1

North Midlands, January 17 to 23rd 2022

Average Max day time 4.5 degrees

Average Min night time -2.2 degrees

Average sunshine hours 5.4

So a bit colder but sunnier.

Turn off the Lights - Xileno

Back in the 1980s a retired couple the family knew would have Christmas in the UK and then fly out to southern Spain and rent a place for a few months, returning in the Spring. I remember them saying that part of the cost was offset by not having heating costs in the UK.

Turn off the Lights - skidpan

I remember them saying that part of the cost was offset by not having heating costs in the UK.

Surely they would have to leave the heating on in their own property when they were absent not only to keep the place dry but normally its an insurance T & C.

Turn off the Lights - Xileno

I don't remember the full details, too long ago. They may have left it on low (frost setting). I know their daughter who lived a few miles away used to pop in regularly to check on things, pick up the post etc. My father used to take their car out every few weeks - no hardship as it was always a newish Mercedes of some sort.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Remember the days when the package holidays started in Spain. The companies would heavily discount and offer the likes of 6weeks for almost the cost of the flight just to keep their hotels ticking over. My parents used to regularly take advantage to escape the winter usually after Xmas

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Some consumers have been refunded as little as 39pand others a bit more. I suppose if you closed down your mansion for an hour you might get near the £20 that the National Grid was bandying about. Those operating a private cannabis farm in their loft may have saved a little bit but the whole thing seems hardly worth the effort for the majority unless of course you are ultra green

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

Some consumers have been refunded as little as 39pand others a bit more. I suppose if you closed down your mansion for an hour you might get near the £20 that the National Grid was bandying about. Those operating a private cannabis farm in their loft may have saved a little bit but the whole thing seems hardly worth the effort for the majority unless of course you are ultra green

I suspect the trick is to do what my BIL is likely to with their new PV array and tesla powerwall will probably do - charge it up when the sun does shine, then discharge it (in the home and export at times when the utility firms will pay you to 'not use' if that gets higher rates) when it's good for them from a monetary pov.

They also have a plan to change over in the longer term to (likely) air source heat pumps for heating / DHW (big house) which means they will be using a lot of electricity, as well as for big TVs, PCs, cooking, etc, etc.

All those £s adds up, especially if your paid a reasonable rate to export.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Some consumers have been refunded as little as 39pand others a bit more. I suppose if you closed down your mansion for an hour you might get near the £20 that the National Grid was bandying about. Those operating a private cannabis farm in their loft may have saved a little bit but the whole thing seems hardly worth the effort for the majority unless of course you are ultra green

Was it not only turning off for an hour in the day that you were talking about in the original post? Think you are referring to the Demand Flexibility Scheme they were trailing:

Demand Flexibility Service | National Grid ESO

Not sue why someone running a cannabis farm would save any money though as you have to turn things off to save not keep them on.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Yes that is what this post is all about cutting your electric at peak times to earn money. So the chap running a cannabis farm would save money if he turned the lights of for the qualifying period. I was being a bit sarcastic about the scheme!

Turn off the Lights - galileo

Yes that is what this post is all about cutting your electric at peak times to earn money. So the chap running a cannabis farm would save money if he turned the lights of for the qualifying period. I was being a bit sarcastic about the scheme!

Since when did cannabis farmers stop bypassing the meter?

Turn off the Lights - mcb100
‘ As I understand it the issue is that generating capacity is at its margins during the current cold snap. The coal fired stations at Drax and West Burton have been fired up to warm standby. Since the demise of the CEGB there's been no long term planning for generation; the driver has been short term profit.’

The coal fired power stations have been stood down again.
We’re currently at 48% gas and 2% coal for today’s electricity, nationally.
Turn off the Lights - Brit_in_Germany

The quote is wrong anyway. Ofgem has the role of ensuring a secure energy supply.

Turn off the Lights - bathtub tom

I understand the point isn't about saving the individual money (although there is a small incentive), but about saving the planet! I contributed in a small way and have earned a £4 reduction on my energy bill, almost 10% of what I spent in the pub.

Which, ironically, had no heating because their boiler had broken down.

Edited by bathtub tom on 26/01/2023 at 22:45

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

I understand the point isn't about saving the individual money (although there is a small incentive), but about saving the planet! I contributed in a small way and have earned a £4 reduction on my energy bill, almost 10% of what I spent in the pub.

Which, ironically, had no heating because their boiler had broken down.

More like saving the grid. The fact that your boiler was not working is probably why you saved so much! Seriously you must have a large consumption to save £4 in an hour

Turn off the Lights - bathtub tom

More like saving the grid. The fact that your boiler was not working is probably why you saved so much! Seriously you must have a large consumption to save £4 in an hour

Perhaps my high energy consumption's due to my indoor cultivation. ;>)

I'm with octopus and this was their fifth or sixfth energy saving period. Not my boiler that broke, it was the pub's.

Turn off the Lights - galileo

I see from a report in the Telegraph that a group of 7 meters in Chelsea have an average consumption in excess of 50,000 kwh per year.

Normal annual domestic consumption is of the order of 2000 to 3000 kwh .

Some of these Chelsea power addicts may be 7 bedroom, 7 bathroom mansions with 12 metre pools, gyms etc. (maybe escalators to and from the servants quarters?)

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

I see from a report in the Telegraph that a group of 7 meters in Chelsea have an average consumption in excess of 50,000 kwh per year.

Normal annual domestic consumption is of the order of 2000 to 3000 kwh .

Some of these Chelsea power addicts may be 7 bedroom, 7 bathroom mansions with 12 metre pools, gyms etc. (maybe escalators to and from the servants quarters?)

Maybe the greenies should be targeting the rich private jet-setters first before going after the masses. After all, it IS about setting a good example and not being rank hypocrites. Yeah, right.

A supposedly 'eco-friendly' (but very well-off [we were obviously paying them too much]) property manager we once had for our housing development boasted how green he was, including what his annual carbon footprint was, mainly because he owned a Tesla (back before they became 'fashionable).

I wiped the smile off his face when my calculated annual figure was far less than his despite me running (and working, so commute included) an ICE car. Running a big house with lots of electronic gadgets combined with fancy holidays abroad ,etc, etc really adds up on the carbon footprint front.

Those virtue-signalling celebs who 'offset' their huge carbon footprint by (for example) planting loads of tree won't help one bit to reduce our energy supply issues, especially with so much of the problems they cause coming from flying (them and products) all over the globe.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

I see from a report in the Telegraph that a group of 7 meters in Chelsea have an average consumption in excess of 50,000 kwh per year. Normal annual domestic consumption is of the order of 2000 to 3000 kwh .

The usual assumption might be that a cannabis plantation was hidden somewhere, but I guess those who run such things probably bypass the meter somehow.

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

What do you think should be done instead?

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

What do you think should be done instead?

I think the Gov should draw a line under most of this green nonsense and get realistic before it bankrupts the country. It is a sad state when a large percentage of the country cannot afford to heat their homes. And seeing as this is a motoring forum the same goes for the stupid rush to go EV when most people just cannot afford to and what is rapidly becoming a farcical situation with the charging situation.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

What do you think should be done instead?

I think the Gov should draw a line under most of this green nonsense and get realistic before it bankrupts the country. It is a sad state when a large percentage of the country cannot afford to heat their homes.

One of the biggest reasons for the rise in electricity and gas prices is the price of gas...if the government had got into being green much earlier more could have been done...more solar/wind generation and replacing the aging nuclear reactors would have meant we were a lot more protected from the price rises and have less pollution in the UK - would that not have been a good thing?

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

What do you think should be done instead?

I think the Gov should draw a line under most of this green nonsense and get realistic before it bankrupts the country. It is a sad state when a large percentage of the country cannot afford to heat their homes.

One of the biggest reasons for the rise in electricity and gas prices is the price of gas...if the government had got into being green much earlier more could have been done...more solar/wind generation and replacing the aging nuclear reactors would have meant we were a lot more protected from the price rises and have less pollution in the UK - would that not have been a good thing?

It appears from the day to day reporting that the National Grid does not have enough capacity without relying on France and Norway. I wonder what the price of gas that it is burning to give us 50% of our electric is compared to the price the consumer is paying for its gas. It has apparently "warmed " up on standby 2 coal fired power station. Why for h don't they put them on line when we are in the doldrums of high pressure, it would be a drop in the worlds oceans as far as any Co2 and pollution. The consumer every one of us rich or POOR as been stuck with standing charges of some £273 before we even switch on the light. We are all still stuck with VAT at 5% on our bills which is a nice earner with our bills being so high, off setting the £400 per household which ends in March. Today there have been reported power cuts from Birmingham to Cornwall. The not so well off are paying a high price for this green policy

Turn off the Lights - Adampr

The coal fired power stations don't work for free - you have to buy the coal. Running them up wouldn't reduce anyone's bills.

Turn off the Lights - Xileno

I'm not sure about Norway but the UK exports electricity to France via the interconnectors when they need it and we have spare. So it's a two-way flow. Seems highly sensible to me. The French grid has been under more stress than usual due to nuclear maintenance.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

I wonder if the French have asked their citizens to turn off their lights, we all know how helpful they are. I wonder what the staff in the coal fired stations are doing all day if they are not generating, moving the coal from one pile to the other?. All " reasonable"" energy companies are moving those who cannot pay onto prepayment meters which in itself is a retrograde step and they have no chance of any rebates to the switch off scheme. They are lucky if they can switch on and stay that way and are paying more. Surely the advent of the switch off scheme is an admission of a failing grid dressed up as appearing green. Can you imagine the "fun" people must be having resetting all their timers and cooker clocks when switching off, drives me mad when there is a power cut. I very much doubt if we will ever see the fuel bills that we had last winter for all the excuses that we are given now for the high prices that we are paying. We should NOT be picking up the bill for failed energy companies. The whole free market was flawed from the outset and directors made millions and walked away.

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

I wonder if the French have asked their citizens to turn off their lights, we all know how helpful they are. I wonder what the staff in the coal fired stations are doing all day if they are not generating, moving the coal from one pile to the other?.

I've no idea what the French are doing to incentivise their consumers to reduce usage. Whatever it is it'll primarily benefit their own folks as it's only a few percent points of their capacity going, either way, over the interconnector.

Keeping a coal fired generating station on standby will mean kit, much of it old and life expired, requires constant activity. Probably needs nearly the same staffing as when actually generating.

I agree that moving indebted customers to prepay, where they may self disconnect, is a scandal. Only time before there's a tragedy when alternative heating/lighting leads to a house fire.

The cashback offer we're discussing is about reducing peak demand, usually in the early evening when people are cooking etc. Not a time when many EVs are on charge.

That we need to do so is, as pointed out upthread, the result of the way privatised electricity companies went for cheap solutions, sweated assets and dividends ahead of investment.

I'm still wondering what your alternative is to keep the lights on during exceptional demand in a cold snap.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

"""I'm still wondering what your alternative is to keep the lights on during exceptional demand in a cold snap."""

Well may I suggest that industry and the high street are targeted at peak demand. Also it may be a good idea to ban EV charging at peak after all these vehicles seem to have an insatiable appetite for electric in this cold weather.

A spokes person for a company leasing EVs is suggesting EV users do not use the vehicles heating in cold weather but to rely on seat heating and steering wheel heating. What a load on nonsense, fancy not being able to cope without these luxuries.

Also I read but do not know how true but some football clubs are leaving their floodlights on 24hours a day to help the grass grow. The truth is that people with money to spare are not the least be interested in saving electric.

Just how much pollution and emission does burning gas in a power station cause and why is their talk about banning gas boilers for heat pumps which are run by electric I would love to know how you can get 20degrees C out of an air source heat pump in this weather. If you live in Scotland you can get an heat pump for £499 apparently, a bit of a difference to some £15-£25k quoted How do they do it?

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

"""I'm still wondering what your alternative is to keep the lights on during exceptional demand in a cold snap."""

Well may I suggest that industry and the high street are targeted at peak demand. Also it may be a good idea to ban EV charging at peak after all these vehicles seem to have an insatiable appetite for electric in this cold weather.

A spokes person for a company leasing EVs is suggesting EV users do not use the vehicles heating in cold weather but to rely on seat heating and steering wheel heating. What a load on nonsense, fancy not being able to cope without these luxuries.

Also I read but do not know how true but some football clubs are leaving their floodlights on 24hours a day to help the grass grow. The truth is that people with money to spare are not the least be interested in saving electric.

Just how much pollution and emission does burning gas in a power station cause and why is their talk about banning gas boilers for heat pumps which are run by electric I would love to know how you can get 20degrees C out of an air source heat pump in this weather. If you live in Scotland you can get an heat pump for £499 apparently, a bit of a difference to some £15-£25k quoted How do they do it?

Must be a poor quality and/or very low output unit for £499 in my view.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Just how much pollution and emission does burning gas in a power station cause

Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels total about 34 billion tonnes (Gt) per year. About 45% of this is from coal, about 35% from oil and about 20% from gas.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

"""I'm still wondering what your alternative is to keep the lights on during exceptional demand in a cold snap."""

Well may I suggest that industry and the high street are targeted at peak demand. Also it may be a good idea to ban EV charging at peak after all these vehicles seem to have an insatiable appetite for electric in this cold weather.

I expect most EV charging is done overnight.

Turn off the Lights - Crickleymal

. Can you imagine the "fun" people must be having resetting all their timers and cooker clocks when switching off, drives me mad when there is a power cut. I very much doubt if we will ever see the fuel bills that we had last winter for all the excuses that we are given now for the high prices that we are paying. We should NOT be picking up the bill for failed energy companies. The whole free market was flawed from the outset and directors made millions and walked away.

They're switching their own lights off, not the company switching the power off, so the clicks won't be affected.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Can you imagine the "fun" people must be having resetting all their timers and cooker clocks when switching off, drives me mad when there is a power cut.

You are just meant to reduce usage during peak hours eg not using a tumble dryer - not turn off the main electricity supply to your house.

Who should pick up the bill for a failed energy company? If one fails...the government ensure that you don't loose your supply and someone else takes you over...if they did not then there may not be a company that wants you...and then you would have no power. Would you want that safety net taken away.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Can you imagine the "fun" people must be having resetting all their timers and cooker clocks when switching off, drives me mad when there is a power cut.

You are just meant to reduce usage during peak hours eg not using a tumble dryer - not turn off the main electricity supply to your house.

Who should pick up the bill for a failed energy company? If one fails...the government ensure that you don't loose your supply and someone else takes you over...if they did not then there may not be a company that wants you...and then you would have no power. Would you want that safety net taken away.

Some consumers did in fact turn off items on standby and some chose to sit in the dark.

Only right that customers of failed energy companies were transfer to a company that could or would take them. What is not fair to the rest of us is the transfer of the failed debt to the consumer and the costs of the transfer. I believe Bulb picked up some £ 1.6 billion to accept failed consumers from us the tax payer.

With regard to the failed companies they bought energy forward that they could not pay for. It was rather stupid of the wholesale suppliers to these firm to supply the energy and they are the ones who should have the pain of not getting paid. How could some of the failed firms have had decent credit assets to take on such commitments? They did not. The customers of these failed energy companies have been bailed on tariffs that they have no control over and the whole market is in a mess.

I have read today that Shell Energy is thinking of pulling out of this market.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

<< The not so well off are paying a high price for this green policy >>

So you don't see any point in reducing emissions for the long term. Whenever money starts to talk, pain today is always more important than pain next week. I suppose that is the normal way of the world.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

What do you think should be done instead?

I think the Gov should draw a line under most of this green nonsense and get realistic before it bankrupts the country. It is a sad state when a large percentage of the country cannot afford to heat their homes.

One of the biggest reasons for the rise in electricity and gas prices is the price of gas...if the government had got into being green much earlier more could have been done...more solar/wind generation and replacing the aging nuclear reactors would have meant we were a lot more protected from the price rises and have less pollution in the UK - would that not have been a good thing?

Replacing ageing nuclear power stations yes, expanding nuclear significantly, yes, but no to solar/wind in terms of subsidised commercial generation - as I've said before, it never delivers on its green or generation promises, despoils the landscape and is rapidly bankrupting the nation by making huge profits (despite the tech now supposedly being 'mature') only via huge subsidies over long contratcs.

PV electricity generation at local level (not solar farms, which also take awy vital farmland as well as despoil the landscape) should have been embraced wholeheartedly but wasn't by all political parties.

Homes, offices and especially (all, not just new build) large footprint buildings such as warehouse, factories, sports and shopping centres, schools, etc should have been actively encouraged via tax breaks and initial favourable feed-in tarriffs (targeted at large producers and the less well off, including for social housing to benefit the landlord and tenant) to have POV panels fitted and mandated for all suitable new builds, including facilitation of good access for maintenance / upgrades over the lifetime of the buildings.

Add to that we could've had a world-leading PV panel production set up and perhaps even similar for other viable green tech, rather than poorly thought-out, late-to-the-party ones like that battery production facilitiy that went bust and presumably will be sold to some foreign (likely Chinese or Musk) buyer where the UK barely benefits.

This would easily negate the need for any solar farms and would democratise the whole process, whereas now it just further enriches the rich and powerful / influential and hostile foreign regimes like China.

I just read a report also that the (US) organisation behind the 'ban natural gas and boilers' plan that has been 'doing the rounds' at influential governmental level (I guarantee it was discussed away from the media spotlight at Davos) was funded, yes, you've guessed it, by a cabal of billionairre businessmen (guess which is at the top of the list - you'll only need one to get it right) pushing for this whilst actively investing in a big way in certyain 'green' tech and other new laws to ban X or Y in order to make them even richer and more powerful at everyone else's (apart from their cronies and a few 'loyal' supplicant politicians) expense.

Conspiracy theory it ain't, this time only taking a matter of days and weeks to being denied to 'it's a good thing'.

Oddly enough, the price of gas has dropped so much and yet the price cap (a ridiculous socialist idea, just shows how weak and stupid the Tories were for doing what Labour and other left wing parties 'demanded') remains high.

The same goes for petrol, and another report this morning proved that the retailers have doubled their margin over the last year or so on petrol and by 50% on diesel, which is why prices have not fallen anywhere near as much as they should've done (or as quickly) in recent months.

Apparently (according to the report) they have done so because governments made veiled threats of windfall taxes on them, so in return for keeping prices artificially high, governments get a lot more revenues from sales taxes and don't have to endure clap-back from voters for the fuel suppliers passing on windfall taxes directly to the consumer.

What a lovely world we live in.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

"""Oddly enough, the price of gas has dropped so much and yet the price cap (a ridiculous socialist idea, just shows how weak and stupid the Tories were for doing what Labour and other left wing parties 'demanded') remains high.

The same goes for petrol, and another report this morning proved that the retailers have doubled their margin over the last year or so on petrol and by 50% on diesel, which is why prices have not fallen anywhere near as much as they should've done (or as quickly) in recent months.""

Surely the above must be the prime cause of 11% inflation. It is certainly not wages as these are struggling to keep pace

Turn off the Lights - Crickleymal

Wage demands always follow inflation so when the Tories claim high wage demands will fuel inflation they're lying (again)

Turn off the Lights - Brit_in_Germany

Good to see that this forum has access to top-notch economists.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

Wage demands always follow inflation so when the Tories claim high wage demands will fuel inflation they're lying (again)

Don't see how you work that out. Pretty well all price increases are caused by someone's wages somewhere, except for 'overheads'. When wages go up, prices have to follow, so the inflation lasts a bit longer.

Turn off the Lights - Crickleymal

Wage demands always follow inflation so when the Tories claim high wage demands will fuel inflation they're lying (again)

Don't see how you work that out. Pretty well all price increases are caused by someone's wages somewhere, except for 'overheads'. When wages go up, prices have to follow, so the inflation lasts a bit longer.

Prices go up for many reasons, war in Ukraine for instance or COVID or OPEC deciding to put their prices up. Then inflation rises and people want higher wages. Public sector workers wages aren't the cause of inflation either.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

What do you think should be done instead?

I think the Gov should draw a line under most of this green nonsense and get realistic before it bankrupts the country. It is a sad state when a large percentage of the country cannot afford to heat their homes.

One of the biggest reasons for the rise in electricity and gas prices is the price of gas...if the government had got into being green much earlier more could have been done...more solar/wind generation and replacing the aging nuclear reactors would have meant we were a lot more protected from the price rises and have less pollution in the UK - would that not have been a good thing?

Replacing ageing nuclear power stations yes, expanding nuclear significantly, yes, but no to solar/wind in terms of subsidised commercial generation - as I've said before, it never delivers on its green or generation promises, despoils the landscape and is rapidly bankrupting the nation by making huge profits (despite the tech now supposedly being 'mature') only via huge subsidies over long contratcs.

Solar/Wind generation despoils the landscape...are coal/gas power stations enhancing it? Something that emits less pollution is not always going to look pretty.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

""olar/Wind generation despoils the landscape...are coal/gas power stations enhancing it? Something that emits less pollution is not always going to look pretty.

The power stations and for that matter the nuclear ones are few and far between. You have acres and acres of Windfarms on land and sea. They are on eyesore to many and are killing birds. You then have the resources and minerals generating pollution and CO2 going into the making and position of these things usually in that environmentally stuff called concrete. And then there is the ongoing land and sea maintenance of these things all very green and non polluting ,I don't think.

As for solar a much better bet in the right place. Unfortunately this has become another big money earner for land owners. Large areas of good agricultural land is being given over to site some of these ""farms"" they call them. And once the panels generate the electric large banks of environmentally batteries are needed to store the energy... All not so green as some would like one to think.

There is a ""battle"" going on near where I live to site a solar farm on an SSSI to appease some major company. I wonder who will win

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

""olar/Wind generation despoils the landscape...are coal/gas power stations enhancing it? Something that emits less pollution is not always going to look pretty.

The power stations and for that matter the nuclear ones are few and far between. You have acres and acres of Windfarms on land and sea. They are on eyesore to many and are killing birds. You then have the resources and minerals generating pollution and CO2 going into the making and position of these things usually in that environmentally stuff called concrete. And then there is the ongoing land and sea maintenance of these things all very green and non polluting ,I don't think.

As for solar a much better bet in the right place. Unfortunately this has become another big money earner for land owners. Large areas of good agricultural land is being given over to site some of these ""farms"" they call them. And once the panels generate the electric large banks of environmentally batteries are needed to store the energy... All not so green as some would like one to think.

There is a ""battle"" going on near where I live to site a solar farm on an SSSI to appease some major company. I wonder who will win

Making say a wind turbine is not likely to not emit any pollution or use any resources. Why would it? Generating wind power emits much less pollution even when taking into account maintenance.

Just some info about birds:

'As wind energy has grown in popularity, reports of birds killed by wind turbines have become more common. Few studies have investigated the phenomenon, but estimates suggest that between 10,000 and 100,000 birds are killed by turbine blade strikes annually in the UK.

That’s a lot, but it’s worth noting that approximately 55 million birds are killed in the UK each year by domestic cats. Nevertheless, research suggests there may be ways to make wind turbines safer for wildlife. For example, a small-scale study in Norway found that painting one of the wind turbines blades black, reduced bird deaths by 70 per cent.'

Turn off the Lights - Bolt

Making say a wind turbine is not likely to not emit any pollution or use any resources. Why would it? Generating wind power emits much less pollution even when taking into account maintenance.

there was talk of making turbines inside the tall tube where the wind turbine can work at lower speeds and produce electricity even when the wind is not blowing as hard, basically a wind tunnel, where several turbines could be used instead of one large one but making more electricity

they are less likely to cause harm to wildlife and shed blade materials which has been a problem with wind turbines, so it should be a win win with these new turbines, miniature versions are being put on roofs for household use which appear to work well without looking like an eyesore, I`m surprised no one came up with the idea a long time ago

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

The power stations and for that matter the nuclear ones are few and far between. You have acres and acres of Windfarms on land and sea. They are on eyesore to many and are killing birds. You then have the resources and minerals generating pollution and CO2 going into the making and position of these things usually in that environmentally stuff called concrete. And then there is the ongoing land and sea maintenance of these things all very green and non polluting ,I don't think.

In England (a bit different in Scotland) recent wind power development has been offshore. Not many acres on land recently. Sure there are huge arrays in (say) Liverpool bay. Can you provide a reputable source that the CO2 etc from or in their production is a significant downside, even before counting the payback in CO2 free electricity. Right now, under the influence of normal Atlantic weather systems - one on place another on the way - 46% of our electricity is coming from wind and around 14% from gas. Even solar, and it's only January so the sun is weak, is contributing 6%.

As for solar a much better bet in the right place. Unfortunately this has become another big money earner for land owners. Large areas of good agricultural land is being given over to site some of these ""farms"" they call them. And once the panels generate the electric large banks of environmentally batteries are needed to store the energy... All not so green as some would like one to think.

Again, is there any reputable source for the suggestion that 'good' agricultural land is being used? Arrays round here are on fields that struggled to grow more than the odd crop of rape, other years they were fallow.

There is a ""battle"" going on near where I live to site a solar farm on an SSSI to appease some major company. I wonder who will win

NIMBY battles are everywhere.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

Is it fair that because of short comings in the national Grid that some consumers will actually be paid to switch off lights and appliances at peak times, Surely the people who choose not to or cannot comply because they do not have a smart meter are subsidising those who do? What a crazy system and its called Demand Flexibility Service. The older I get the more it seems that I am heading backwards to the 19th century.

What do you think should be done instead?

I think the Gov should draw a line under most of this green nonsense and get realistic before it bankrupts the country. It is a sad state when a large percentage of the country cannot afford to heat their homes.

One of the biggest reasons for the rise in electricity and gas prices is the price of gas...if the government had got into being green much earlier more could have been done...more solar/wind generation and replacing the aging nuclear reactors would have meant we were a lot more protected from the price rises and have less pollution in the UK - would that not have been a good thing?

Replacing ageing nuclear power stations yes, expanding nuclear significantly, yes, but no to solar/wind in terms of subsidised commercial generation - as I've said before, it never delivers on its green or generation promises, despoils the landscape and is rapidly bankrupting the nation by making huge profits (despite the tech now supposedly being 'mature') only via huge subsidies over long contratcs.

Solar/Wind generation despoils the landscape...are coal/gas power stations enhancing it? Something that emits less pollution is not always going to look pretty.

How about not putting words into my mouth Alan? Please show me when I said that. I said that nuclear power stations were the main way forward. Besides, other conventional fossil fuelled ones are far smaller in terms of footprint per GWh of electricity produced than are required for solar farms and wind turbines.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Solar/Wind generation despoils the landscape...are coal/gas power stations enhancing it? Something that emits less pollution is not always going to look pretty.

How about not putting words into my mouth Alan? Please show me when I said that. I said that nuclear power stations were the main way forward. Besides, other conventional fossil fuelled ones are far smaller in terms of footprint per GWh of electricity produced than are required for solar farms and wind turbines.

You said a negative for wind/solar is that they despoil the landscape, I'm not sure why that would need to be an issue when fossil fuel power stations are hardly seen as pretty. Not putting words into your mouth - you are seeing things that are not there.

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

I just read a report also that the (US) organisation behind the 'ban natural gas and boilers' plan that has been 'doing the rounds' at influential governmental level (I guarantee it was discussed away from the media spotlight at Davos) was funded, yes, you've guessed it, by a cabal of billionairre businessmen (guess which is at the top of the list - you'll only need one to get it right) pushing for this whilst actively investing in a big way in certyain 'green' tech and other new laws to ban X or Y in order to make them even richer and more powerful at everyone else's (apart from their cronies and a few 'loyal' supplicant politicians) expense.

Come on, spill the beans, who is in this cabal of billionaires?

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

I just read a report also that the (US) organisation behind the 'ban natural gas and boilers' plan that has been 'doing the rounds' at influential governmental level (I guarantee it was discussed away from the media spotlight at Davos) was funded, yes, you've guessed it, by a cabal of billionairre businessmen (guess which is at the top of the list - you'll only need one to get it right) pushing for this whilst actively investing in a big way in certyain 'green' tech and other new laws to ban X or Y in order to make them even richer and more powerful at everyone else's (apart from their cronies and a few 'loyal' supplicant politicians) expense.

Come on, spill the beans, who is in this cabal of billionaires?

Here we go again. Trying to get the thread stopped by the mods like you did the other day when your side of the argument got show up once again as made of straw?

It might be useful if you actually made a genuinely constructive point for a change, one using actual facts. perhaps you should expand your reading list to more than just the Grauniad and BBC 'News'. You might learn something.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

Come on, spill the beans, who is in this cabal of billionaires?

Here we go again. Trying to get the thread stopped by the mods like you did the other day when your side of the argument got show up once again as made of straw? >>

Andy, you don't like answering straight questions, do you ? Respond by asking another, only faintly connected. How do you know the mod(s) will stop the thread ?

And Alan has no need to put words in your mouth, as there are plenty enough there already :-)

Edited by Andrew-T on 29/01/2023 at 14:34

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

Come on, spill the beans, who is in this cabal of billionaires?

Here we go again. Trying to get the thread stopped by the mods like you did the other day when your side of the argument got show up once again as made of straw? >>

Andy, you don't like answering straight questions, do you ? Respond by asking another, only faintly connected. How do you know the mod(s) will stop the thread ?

And Alan has no need to put words in your mouth, as there are plenty enough there already :-)

I might give an answer if I thought that the person asking it didn't know what my/the answer is, especially as exactly the same question was asked in that other thread that was stopped just a few days ago.

So why did Alan respond at all - just to lie because he can't help himself? Stop gaslighting and (as Brompt) bring something to the debate rather than do you best to get it shut down - again.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

So why did Alan respond at all - just to lie because he can't help himself? Stop gaslighting and (as Brompt) bring something to the debate rather than do you best to get it shut down - again.

You are not being gas lighted - you should read up and see what is actually means. I've not lied to you either.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

So why did Alan respond at all - just to lie because he can't help himself? Stop gaslighting and (as Brompt) bring something to the debate rather than do you best to get it shut down - again.

You are not being gas lighted - you should read up and see what is actually means. I've not lied to you either.

Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

So why did Alan respond at all - just to lie because he can't help himself? Stop gaslighting and (as Brompt) bring something to the debate rather than do you best to get it shut down - again.

You are not being gas lighted - you should read up and see what is actually means. I've not lied to you either.

Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?

No, I would not.

Can you explain what gas lighting means and in what it's occurred to you? I really can't see how but happy to see your explanation.

Turn off the Lights - focussed

Bromptonaut said:-

"Come on, spill the beans, who is in this cabal of billionaires?"

It wasn't difficult to find.

The ten richest green energy billionaires in 2021.

1 - Elon Musk $180.6 billion Tesla space-ex - USA (probably worth less today)

2 - Robin Zeng $31.5 Billion - lithium ion batteries - Hong Kong

3 - Huang Shilin $14.2 billion - lithium ion batteries - China

4 - Li Zhenguo $9.7 billion - solar wafers and modules - China

5 - Pei Zhenhua $ 8.3 biliion - lithium ion batteries - China

6 - Aloys Wobben $6.9 billion - wind turbines - Germany

7 - Denis Sverdlov $6.8 billion - electric vehicles - Russia

8 - He Xiaopeng $6.4 billion - electric vehicles - China

9 - Li Ping $6.4 billion - lithium ion batteries - China

10 - Lin Jianhua $ 6.0 billion - solar panel components - China

www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2021/04/22/the-1...3

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

Here we go again. Trying to get the thread stopped by the mods like you did the other day when your side of the argument got show up once again as made of straw?

It might be useful if you actually made a genuinely constructive point for a change, one using actual facts. perhaps you should expand your reading list to more than just the Grauniad and BBC 'News'. You might learn something.

I have NEVER tried to get a thread closed. Rather, I am consistently hoping to further the discussion.

Given your previous posts I'm going to take a wild guess that one of the billionaires is Bill Gates. Further, a more neutral evaluation will show money being donated to anti global warming action.

The link to Natural Gas and boilers in the UK is, I'll wager, tenuous.

What alternative do you suggest to the Graun and BBC? I'm a regular reader of the Spectator's website and catch Times Radio's breakfast and drivetime shows as often as Today/PM.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 29/01/2023 at 16:02

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

Here we go again. Trying to get the thread stopped by the mods like you did the other day when your side of the argument got show up once again as made of straw?

It might be useful if you actually made a genuinely constructive point for a change, one using actual facts. perhaps you should expand your reading list to more than just the Grauniad and BBC 'News'. You might learn something.

I have NEVER tried to get a thread closed. Rather, I am consistently hoping to further the discussion.

Given your previous posts I'm going to take a wild guess that one of the billionaires is Bill Gates. Further, a more neutral evaluation will show money being donated to anti global warming action.

So why ask a question you already knew the answer to, especially one on a (now closed) thread from 2 days or so ago you and others were asking similar worded questions at the same time so knew what the reponse was.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/165309/ev---charge...s

The link to Natural Gas and boilers in the UK is, I'll wager, tenuous.

Ok - how much? Bear in mind how many other similar things that were originally cast as 'ridiculous' (now aka as 'conspiracy theories), 'no plans for' (classic politico speak for yes but we won't admit it until you can't do anything to sotp it as we make it too difficult to stop it happening) only to be adopted as a 'fait accompli' not long after.

Shame you hadn't done this on other issues in the news over the past 3 or so years - I would've been able to afford a new car with my winnings.

What alternative do you suggest to the Graun and BBC? I'm a regular reader of the Spectator's website and catch Times Radio's breakfast and drivetime shows as often as Today/PM.

Sure you you pay to sub to the (MSM) conservative Speccie. Like the Telegraph (owned by the same people and share a lot of staff), which you haven't exactly liked over the years.

Turn off the Lights - Adampr

I have to say I'd assumed that the leader of the canal was going to be Elon Musk, who is infinitely more sinister than Bill Gates.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

I have to say I'd assumed that the leader of the canal was going to be Elon Musk, who is infinitely more sinister than Bill Gates.

Yeah, all that commitment to freedom of speech and tranbsparency at Twitter rather than someone who wants to add vaccines into our food to 'overcome vaccine hesitancy' whilst buying up farmland (and at the same time pushing for us [not them] to eat ze bugz) and smiles with his wife whilst talking in an interview about supposedly the worst pandemic in 100 years.

Musk is, IMHO far from perfect.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

I have to say I'd assumed that the leader of the canal was going to be Elon Musk, who is infinitely more sinister than Bill Gates.

Yeah, all that commitment to freedom of speech and tranbsparency at Twitter

That's what he wants you to think he's doing - but he does not like it when someone uses it against him - he was quite happy to close down the Twitter of the person that was showing where his private jet was even though it is free info open to anyone.

Turn off the Lights - focussed

Gates wants to blanket the earth with particles or aerosols that blanket the sun's rays from reaching the earth.

There is no way back from that if it results in a worldwide freeze and famines.

He should be closely watched and confined if he goes further with that dangerous experiment.

Sinister? Yes.

Turn off the Lights - Adampr

Gates wants to blanket the earth with particles or aerosols that blanket the sun's rays from reaching the earth.

There is no way back from that if it results in a worldwide freeze and famines.

He should be closely watched and confined if he goes further with that dangerous experiment.

Sinister? Yes.

Weird how he didn't make it into your list of people who are definitely Bond villains.

Anyway, what he actually wants to do (and is doing) is partly fund Harvard-led research into whether solar engineering is a good way to mitigate global warming or is likely to trigger something akin to a nuclear winter. That seems both useful and responsible to me.

Hate the man for making billions out of dodgy software and sharp practice, for having some kind of messiah complex or for being insufferably smug, but not because of things he hasn't done.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

I read today that the people on prepayment meters and those not paying by direct debit are paying up to £254 per annum on top their fuel bills It is a stealth charge and hidden somewhere in there bill. Most paying this way do not fully realise this and Ofgem say they are allowing this to go on for the next 2 years. Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

Turn off the Lights - Bolt

Most paying this way do not fully realise this

They do but not able to do anything about it.

Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

they should all be sacked for what good they are doing imo....

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

Most paying this way do not fully realise this

They do but not able to do anything about it.

Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

they should all be sacked for what good they are doing imo....

Indeed - I would estimate that the number of actual decent, honourable and talented/useful politicians working in parliament (of both houses) is around 10% of the total, and likely more of them (percentage-wise) in the Lords and who were already there prior to 1997.

They are nowadays often (including by me) called WEF puppets, given the useless output of both Houses over the last 20 years, especially the last 5-10. A million monkeys randomly tapping at keyboards would've produced better laws / results, and for a lot less money.

None of the mainstream (as in all currently in parliament and in the devloved governments/parliaments) are any good either. They (almost) all need to go, including all their own lackies and party hacks. Politics has become a principle, courage and talent-free zone. No wonder the CCP, big business and their 'umbrella organisation' have decided to unilaterally take over world affairs.

What's a surprise to me how many 'normies' are still shrugging their shoulders and saying 'what can I do?' or just voting as they've done for the last several decades.

Turn off the Lights - Brit_in_Germany

How much does it cost to care for a million monkeys per year?

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

How much does it cost to care for a million monkeys per year?

A lot less than 650 MPs and around 1000 Lords plus staff I'd imagine. No susidised 4 star restuarants and lavish flora in the atrium needed in Potcullis House for a start. Bear in mind that the likely bill to properly do up parliament will be in the order of £10Bn, possibly more.

Besides, they (the monkeys) don't need to be in the UK to do that 'work', do they?

Turn off the Lights - Brit_in_Germany

Well if the figure is not known, the rest of the statements collapse too.

Turn off the Lights - Crickleymal

How much does it cost to care for a million monkeys per year?

A lot less than 650 MPs and around 1000 Lords plus staff I'd imagine. No susidised 4 star restuarants and lavish flora in the atrium needed in Potcullis House for a start. Bear in mind that the likely bill to properly do up parliament will be in the order of £10Bn, possibly more.

Besides, they (the monkeys) don't need to be in the UK to do that 'work', do they?

The cost of MPs and the house of lords is a drop in the ocean. I'm quite left wing but I really don't see why people keep bringing it up.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

<< They are nowadays often (including by me) called WEF puppets, given the useless output of both Houses over the last 20 years, especially the last 5-10. A million monkeys randomly tapping at keyboards would've produced better laws / results, and for a lot less money. >>

More opinionated and prejudiced twaddle. Everyone knows this old cliché is nonsense but it still returns occasionally. All MPs were elected by about half, maybe more, of the electorate, so to a degree it is their fault. Before that, of course, it was the fault of the local party admin for choosing the 'best' candidate. Recent events show that subset to be particularly myopic in choosing the next PM, until they finally made the most logical choice.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

<< They are nowadays often (including by me) called WEF puppets, given the useless output of both Houses over the last 20 years, especially the last 5-10. A million monkeys randomly tapping at keyboards would've produced better laws / results, and for a lot less money. >>

More opinionated and prejudiced twaddle. Everyone knows this old cliché is nonsense but it still returns occasionally.

In your opinion. Not fact. If 'everyone' knew it, why would I and many others (including on this forum) say this? Why is it that as time goes on, so many such 'conspiracy theories', especially if the last 3 years, are being proven correct and the 'consensus' (a political term which has zero to do with science) completely bogus?

All MPs were elected by about half, maybe more, of the electorate, so to a degree it is their fault. Before that, of course, it was the fault of the local party admin for choosing the 'best' candidate. Recent events show that subset to be particularly myopic in choosing the next PM, until they finally made the most logical choice.

As opposed to wonderous job Opposition parties have done on that score. This is why I said that ALL mainstream parties need toi be given the boot. Besides, if Boris has stuck to the original 2019 party manifesto and not succumbed to the woke, green ideology of his other half, plus been scared into / forced by senior colleague and the media into doing as he did on COVID, we might be in a far better position.

As regards Truss being PM, you have to wonder who organised the confected 'market crash' to outs her, given they hadn't even passed any laws that would've affected anyone. And in my view, those directly behind that 'palace coup' are having their strings pulled by the same lot I mentioned before.

The same lot who want the Plebs to freeze to death in order to keep the rich nicely toasty warm and pleb free on the roads and in the skies.

I sense that the twaddle is coming from your keyboard, not mine. Amazing how those previously pretending to support the poor and disadvantaged now do so for the uber rich and powerful elites, where we've just experienced the biggest transfer of wealth and power from us Plebs to them ever. One has to wonder why.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

<< I sense that the twaddle is coming from your keyboard, not mine. >>

Well, that is no surprise to me at all. Nuff said.

<< In your opinion. Not fact. >>

I was referring to the hoary old remark about monkeys at keyboards, which you may agree is a cliché and can hardly be claimed as 'fact' or opinion. It might offer a parallel in this discussion, but we won't go there. :-)

I can't help wondering how you claim to know so much 'fact' about what goes on behind the political scenes, which it seems very few others have an inkling about. You really should get yourself elected.

Edited by Andrew-T on 31/01/2023 at 17:23

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

<< I sense that the twaddle is coming from your keyboard, not mine. >>

Well, that is no surprise to me at all. Nuff said.

Well it would, wouldn't it?

<< In your opinion. Not fact. >>

I was referring to the hoary old remark about monkeys at keyboards, which you may agree is a cliché and can hardly be claimed as 'fact' or opinion. It might offer a parallel in this discussion, but we won't go there. :-)

I was being ironic on that comment. ((facepalm)) It was showing how poor the crop of 21st Century politicians have been - on all sides. That you genuinely thought it was me trying to put across it as a 'verifiable fact'...well, oh dear.

I can't help wondering how you claim to know so much 'fact' about what goes on behind the political scenes, which it seems very few others have an inkling about. You really should get yourself elected.

Given your comments here and elsewher on current affairs, you don't appear to know what goes on in the real world, only what you are told by the mainstream media. Some of us actually worked relatively recently in the real world, including environments that involved national politics, so have more than a decent idea what really goes on.

That you appear to either blindly or deliberately, as well as uncritically believe 'The Message' leads me to think that perhaps you should refrain from putting yourself up for election. We have way to many of that type currently in parliament and town halls, and is why we are in the current parlous state we find ourselves in - both here and abroad.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

<< That you appear to either blindly or deliberately, as well as uncritically believe 'The Message' leads me to think that perhaps you should refrain from putting yourself up for election. We have way to many of that type currently in parliament and town halls, and is why we are in the current parlous state we find ourselves in - both here and abroad. >>

I wonder how you calculate my level of criticism or acceptance of this fabled 'Message'. I am a Times reader and watch some TV, but I don't usually put my feelings into long rants about it, there are better things to do. I don't vote Labour or Tory unless there is no better alternative.

You will be glad to know that I have never had any intention to get myself elected, and have no plan to change that habit. But because of your clearly extensive knowledge of how (you imagine) the real world works, I thought you might be an ideal candidate to prevent all the chicanery you object to. But nowhere near my constituency, please.

Edited by Andrew-T on 31/01/2023 at 23:20

Turn off the Lights - Brit_in_Germany

The MRLP?

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

The MRLP?

Given how bad the current mainstream lot are, you wouldn't notice much difference other than likely a bit more honesty.

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

I read today that the people on prepayment meters and those not paying by direct debit are paying up to £254 per annum on top their fuel bills It is a stealth charge and hidden somewhere in there bill. Most paying this way do not fully realise this and Ofgem say they are allowing this to go on for the next 2 years. Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

I think most people know prepayment meters cost more - that's why most people don't want them.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

I read today that the people on prepayment meters and those not paying by direct debit are paying up to £254 per annum on top their fuel bills It is a stealth charge and hidden somewhere in there bill. Most paying this way do not fully realise this and Ofgem say they are allowing this to go on for the next 2 years. Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

I think most people know prepayment meters cost more - that's why most people don't want them.

you miss the point, millions without the means to pay or pay by direct debit are being forced into paying up to £5 per week for these meters. I hardly think that it costs the energy suppliers anything like this. It is high time the playing field was levelled not expecting the poor to pay more,

Also today it has been disclosed that when the gird is in high demand and asking for additional gas power the gas power stations are charging a very high premium on the gas. The owners of these gas stations seem to have the grid by the short and curlies as they have no where else to go. Another reason why we are all paying a high price

Turn off the Lights - Adampr

Lets try again. It's nothing to do with the people that own power stations.

A nice man called Vladimir has invaded Ukraine. Everyone got very cross and now won't sell anything to him. Because he can't things, Vladimir has decided not to sell gas to Europe.

A very rich country called Norway has plenty of gas for sale so is selling it to everyone that used to buy from Vladimir. Because everyone wants their gas and they don't have an infinite amount. Norway has increased the price of gas.

Some countries had lots of gas stored up for winter, but the UK didn't because it thought Vladimir was nice and would keep selling cheap gas for ever. That means the UK has no choice but to buy expensive gas from Norway. Sad faces all round.

The best way to make sure this never happens again is to use renewable energy. Renewable means that you only have to buy and maintain the equipment and you never have to buy fuel from mean old Vladimir or money bags Norway again.

Lots of people have suggested renewable energy would be a good idea for a long time. Lots of other people don't like new things and have suddenly developed an interest in bird watching so have said "No no no". That means we still need gas and have to pay whatever Norway wants.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

"""The best way to make sure this never happens again is to use renewable energy. Renewable means that you only have to buy and maintain the equipment and you never have to buy fuel from mean old Vladimir or money bags Norway again.

I agree, But what happens when the wind does not blow for days on end or in winter you hardly see the sun for days if not weeks. Yes the gas is available in the UK and their is a price that gas power stations are charging. However when the grid is ""struggling" and has to call on extra demand then it is paying a very high price for this top up.

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

I agree, But what happens when the wind does not blow for days on end or in winter you hardly see the sun for days if not weeks. Yes the gas is available in the UK and their is a price that gas power stations are charging. However when the grid is ""struggling" and has to call on extra demand then it is paying a very high price for this top up.

Why do people think that 'when the wind does not blow' is some sort of trump card?

Any renewables plan dependent on wind/solar needs backup. That could be natural gas, the price has fallen again after the market began re-jigging to accommodate the loss of supply from Russia or it could be something else. Hydrogen?

Gas has the advantage the generating stations using it can be started quickly and it can be stored either off-shore (eg the Rough Facility) or in our few remaining gasometers. Given the political will and investment more storage can be brought on line.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

With regard to meters does anyone recall the old coin meters pre decimalisation. They were usually under the stairs. The gas was fed using old pennies when there we 240 of them to a pound and a penny bought you a lot of gas. Similarly the electric was a shilling in the meter and when the money ran out you had no supply either left in the dark or no cooker. There was often a scramble to feed the meter in the dark. Each utility had a meter man who used to visit to empty the meter. He would count and bag the cash and if you were lucky you had a few coins back as a rebate.. He would then struggle off with a bag full of coins to the neighbours. These were the days when a single utility in your area would be your supplier, non of this jumping supplier and tariff nonsense. A few pence a day would be all you needed now you are lucky if you pay less than £10 a day.

In the old days off gas and coal fires there was a fiercesome thing called a gas poker. You would use it to start the coal fire to give it some umph It was a short tube with holes either side and a handle. You would shove it under the the kindling and light it.

Turn off the Lights - Bromptonaut

With regard to meters does anyone recall the old coin meters pre decimalisation. They were usually under the stairs.

In 1981/2 I lived in a shared flat. The gas meter was in the kitchen and took 50p coins. As we only used gas for cooking 50p lasted a long time.

The electric meter was under the stairs but the access to the understair cubby was in someone's bedroom. Had to creep in there (we were an all male share) more than once after the lights went out later in the evening. The room's occupant was on flexi-time and started work by Tower Bridge at 07:30 so retired correspondingly early as well.

Turn off the Lights - expat

With regard to meters does anyone recall the old coin meters pre decimalisation. They were usually under the stairs.

In 1981/2 I lived in a shared flat. The gas meter was in the kitchen and took 50p coins. As we only used gas for cooking 50p lasted a long time.

The electric meter was under the stairs but the access to the understair cubby was in someone's bedroom. Had to creep in there (we were an all male share) more than once after the lights went out later in the evening. The room's occupant was on flexi-time and started work by Tower Bridge at 07:30 so retired correspondingly early as well.

In the 60s I had a bedsitter in London. The landlady had installed coin meters in every room and had tuned them up so that the disk went round at hyper speed and your money lasted no time at all.

Gas pokers - I remember them and also coal fires where sometimes there would be a detonator left in the coal and you would suddenly get a huge bang in your fire. Later on we lived in the country and had a wood burning stove. Fine when you had lots of good dry wood. Not so good when the wood was a bit green. If it didn't light up but just smouldered you could put a heat gun to the air vent and that would really get it going. Wood stoves heated you twice. Once when you burnt it and the second time when you were out in the back garden chopping logs. And don't take shortcuts and use soft wood because it is easy to chop. It doesn't burn hot and it leaves creosote to block up your chimney. You need hard wood.

Turn off the Lights - Bolt

In the old days off gas and coal fires there was a fiercesome thing called a gas poker. You would use it to start the coal fire to give it some umph It was a short tube with holes either side and a handle. You would shove it under the the kindling and light it.

we never had such luxuries, outside 5 -6am chopping up wood to start the coke fired boiler and the same again for the front room coal fire, if damp they took ages for the flame to take on whatever newspaper or kindling you could find, never had a gas poker, though my grandparents did and never had problems with damp wood

our dining room electric wall fire was too expensive to use and took an age to heat up when it was used, didn`t have double glazing then and even the window sill froze during the winter, surprising what you remember as a child

Turn off the Lights - Bolt

However when the grid is ""struggling"

I suspect it will carry on struggling for years to come as we get more EVs on the road, and renewables are not being made fast enough to cover the amount of electricity we will need, come to that the cables wont be capable either so more power reductions will be needed over the years to cope....

looks like its going to be a messy transition to all EV cars.

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

I read today that the people on prepayment meters and those not paying by direct debit are paying up to £254 per annum on top their fuel bills It is a stealth charge and hidden somewhere in there bill. Most paying this way do not fully realise this and Ofgem say they are allowing this to go on for the next 2 years. Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

I think most people know prepayment meters cost more - that's why most people don't want them.

I can remember 50p electricity prepay meters used in holiday camps. 50p didn't get much either, and that was nigh on 40 years ago. All they seem to do nowadays is say that 'electricity (and other things, like towels) is included' in the price, but all they've done is bump the rental prices up a LOT.

Turn off the Lights - gordonbennet

I read today that the people on prepayment meters and those not paying by direct debit are paying up to £254 per annum on top their fuel bills It is a stealth charge and hidden somewhere in there bill. Most paying this way do not fully realise this and Ofgem say they are allowing this to go on for the next 2 years. Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

I think most people know prepayment meters cost more - that's why most people don't want them.

Some years ago, after thicko me had discovered BG had been ripping me off for years on the highest energy rate possible...more fool me, but they along with other such operators will never see another penny of my hard earned...i discovered Ebico, an non profit Christian company who got into the power supply game to provide those on pre payments etc the same rate as those, like me/us, slightly better off who qualify for direct debits etc.
Ebico was moved to another provider some time later and i eventually moved on from them anyway, whether they still operate under the same ethos i don't know but if anyone here knows people on pre pay meters it might be worth investigating.
Turn off the Lights - alan1302

I read today that the people on prepayment meters and those not paying by direct debit are paying up to £254 per annum on top their fuel bills It is a stealth charge and hidden somewhere in there bill. Most paying this way do not fully realise this and Ofgem say they are allowing this to go on for the next 2 years. Meanwhile in parliament all their time is taken up with who should be sacked next.

I think most people know prepayment meters cost more - that's why most people don't want them.

Some years ago, after thicko me had discovered BG had been ripping me off for years on the highest energy rate possible...more fool me, but they along with other such operators will never see another penny of my hard earned...i discovered Ebico, an non profit Christian company who got into the power supply game to provide those on pre payments etc the same rate as those, like me/us, slightly better off who qualify for direct debits etc.
Ebico was moved to another provider some time later and i eventually moved on from them anyway, whether they still operate under the same ethos i don't know but if anyone here knows people on pre pay meters it might be worth investigating.

Strangely BG was the company that bought them.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

National Grid were offering consumers another chance to save up to £20 last night between 5.30 and 6.30 pm.. I would think that the cost of electric alone is more than enough incentive to switch off. However as the Grid continues to struggle one wonders if prices will ever reduce

Turn off the Lights - Engineer Andy

National Grid were offering consumers another chance to save up to £20 last night between 5.30 and 6.30 pm.. I would think that the cost of electric alone is more than enough incentive to switch off. However as the Grid continues to struggle one wonders if prices will ever reduce

Given it's not that cold at the moment, you have to wonder why.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

Reported in most of the papers today and the BBC website an outfit called the Carbon Tracker Initiative state that the variable cost of generating electric is being ignored. The costs of solar and wind are a lot less than Gas. Gas only accounts for some 40% but it is the higher price of gas that is ultimately passed om to the consumer. The CTI reckon some £7.2 billion has been overcharged in the last 2 years equivalent to £250 per household. If this is fact it suggests that consumer body Ofgem is just not doing its job

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

Reported in most of the papers today and the BBC website an outfit called the Carbon Tracker Initiative state that the variable cost of generating electric is being ignored. The costs of solar and wind are a lot less than Gas. Gas only accounts for some 40% but it is the higher price of gas that is ultimately passed om to the consumer. The CTI reckon some £7.2 billion has been overcharged in the last 2 years equivalent to £250 per household. If this is fact it suggests that consumer body Ofgem is just not doing its job

I'm sure I have read about this as well - have found the article about it:

Electricity prices dictated by gas producers who provide less than half of UK electricity | UCL News - UCL – University College London

Turn off the Lights - alan1302

National Grid were offering consumers another chance to save up to £20 last night between 5.30 and 6.30 pm.. I would think that the cost of electric alone is more than enough incentive to switch off. However as the Grid continues to struggle one wonders if prices will ever reduce

Are you sure the £20 refers to one night? There is no way any normal household can get through £20 worth of electricity in 1 hour. Or is this some kind of £20 bonus for not using the power at that time?

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

The grid does say up to £20. I suppose if you lived in Chelsea with a gym and swimming pool as part of your mansion then £20 would be small potatoes. Probably costs £20 per hour to run some peoples houses

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

I am sure that you have read about British Gas breaking into peoples homes to fit prepayment meters and then charging them a lot more to supply gas than a customer on DD. The CEO claims to not know the practice was going on. Not good for him and not good in a civilised society. I am sure that BG have customers who will not pay but for the genuine ones who cannot pay it is a real hardship. The CEO has rightfully suspended unlawful entry.

Turn off the Lights - Andrew-T

I am sure that you have read about British Gas breaking into peoples homes to fit prepayment meters and then charging them a lot more to supply gas than a customer on DD. The CEO claims to not know the practice was going on. Not good for him and not good in a civilised society.

I agree with these sentiments, but what is the appropriate response for all these 'vulnerable' gas users ? They can't really be entitled to free gas, at least not in the long term, so what would be the correct course of action ?

Turn off the Lights - Adampr

I am sure that you have read about British Gas breaking into peoples homes to fit prepayment meters and then charging them a lot more to supply gas than a customer on DD. The CEO claims to not know the practice was going on. Not good for him and not good in a civilised society.

I agree with these sentiments, but what is the appropriate response for all these 'vulnerable' gas users ? They can't really be entitled to free gas, at least not in the long term, so what would be the correct course of action ?

Why not? Especially if we still publicly owned our utilities, it would be simple enough to let people use them for free. It would be a lot cheaper and more efficient than paying them benefit, then having them pay the utility company.

Of course there is an argument that people will then use things excessively. A monthly free cap based on EPC would get around that. Indeed, the Government would then have an incentive to improve efficiency of people's homes, in order to improve the EPC score and reduce the benefit bill.

Turn off the Lights - sammy1

"""I agree with these sentiments, but what is the appropriate response for all these 'vulnerable' gas users ? They can't really be entitled to free gas, at least not in the long term, so what would be the correct course of action ?"""

Well there is no incentive for many to work these days. Rishi is targeting the wrong age group going for the oldies to go back to work as probably not worth it for most as they only get clobbered with tax and NI.. The freezing of the tax allowance further favours the lazy to not look for work and does no favours for the workers