Potential power outages this winter

I was just in America, I think we will start to see a widening gap between people in Europe and America. In the US they make their own energy, we have to import it.

Already in my job I feel 3rd world compared to my American counterparts, they are paid 2 to 3 times as much and have much better conditions.
 
ci_newman said:
Why overcomplicate it? Just introduce variable pricing tariffs and encourage people to use power at cheap / off-peak times instead. It works well in other countries (and I don't consider Eco7 / GO to be "off peak" pricing models either).
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There is one, Octopus agile
The problem is its quite a mind shift from fixing unit price for x years to having variable pricing per half hour that constantly changes (ie daily).

I think they will come over time, there needs to be a differentiation in pricing because its not equally as expensive at all times and as such the benefit to people who can shift off peak is not generally rewarded.

Could be a good thing to regulate, that every energy company has to have at least one variable priced time dependant tariff for people on smart meters.
Would probably also need some regulation around the price, eg that the price in any 30 minute window can only be inflated by x above the wholesale price, where x is capped at the average for all customers of the companies tariffs vs the wholesale price.
 
inferno said:
I was just in America, I think we will start to see a widening gap between people in Europe and America. In the US they make their own energy, we have to import it.

Already in my job I feel 3rd world compared to my American counterparts, they are paid 2 to 3 times as much and have much better conditions.
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It's almost reminding me when I heard of the stories when Michael Cain and such left the UK for a better life in America during the early 70s?
 
ci_newman said:
Why overcomplicate it? Just introduce variable pricing tariffs and encourage people to use power at cheap / off-peak times instead. It works well in other countries (and I don't consider Eco7 / GO to be "off peak" pricing models either).
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Correct in other countries its exacly as you are saying my mother got cheaper night rates in Poland and works well.
 
inferno said:
I was just in America, I think we will start to see a widening gap between people in Europe and America. In the US they make their own energy, we have to import it.

Already in my job I feel 3rd world compared to my American counterparts, they are paid 2 to 3 times as much and have much better conditions.
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You can't compare the US as a single country then treat the European nations as seperate entities. Politically they are one country, but they manage their power infrastructure at a state level (see Texas last winter and this summer for perfect examples of a failed power grid). The EU is a strong tool for nations to build a relationship for power sharing too, don't assume

As for salaries etc, comparison is the thief of joy :) You can't just take the headline figures and do a direct comparison, the way they do their taxes and fund public services is completely different - compare their property tax to our council tax for example (hint - their property tax is 3-4x what we pay in council tax)
 
inferno said:
I was just in America, I think we will start to see a widening gap between people in Europe and America. In the US they make their own energy, we have to import it.

Already in my job I feel 3rd world compared to my American counterparts, they are paid 2 to 3 times as much and have much better conditions.
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America can be quite contrasty - if you are working in a skilled role the salary and opportunities can be significantly better than the UK, where especially the mid-skill level salaries have seen significant suppression the last 10 years or so. The story for those in a more average position can be very different however - I think a lot of people in an average position in the UK would find it eye opening what it takes to live an average life in the US, never mind if you are lower down the ladder.
 
Looks like it's going to become a stark reality.

Charts of power cuts depending on a letter on your energy bill.

National grid now warning of cuts in Jan/Feb.
 
inferno said:
Already in my job I feel 3rd world compared to my American counterparts, they are paid 2 to 3 times as much and have much better conditions.
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UK workers rights have been compared and contrasted with a relative lack of workers rights in the USA, but as you can see, it's not quite an apples-to-apples comparison for at least some industries.

ci_newman said:
the way they do their taxes and fund public services is completely different - compare their property tax to our council tax for example (hint - their property tax is 3-4x what we pay in council tax)
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My overall tax burden is lower here than it was when I lived in the UK, even with federal and state income taxes, and a 0.8% property tax. 1/12th of my annual property tax (and house insurance) bill is paid into an escrow account as part of my monthly mortgage payment.

As has been said before, the USA can be a great place to live if you're not poor.
 
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jon86 said:
UK workers rights have been compared and contrasted with a relative lack of workers rights in the USA, but as you can see, it's not quite an apples-to-apples comparison for at least some industries.


My overall tax burden is lower here than it was when I lived in the UK, even with federal and state income taxes, and a 0.8% property tax. 1/12th of my annual property tax (and house insurance) bill is paid into an escrow account as part of my monthly mortgage payment.

As has been said before, the USA can be a great place to live if you're not poor.
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Ironically, I have a number of US-based friends who are doing everything they can to jump ship to the UK or Europe, and it's not like they are Starbucks employees or anything.

They see how crap their employee rights are, general work-life balance, health insurance, gun violence, roe v wade, all this stuff making them not want to bring their children up there.
 
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JamesH85 said:
Looks like it's going to become a stark reality.

Charts of power cuts depending on a letter on your energy bill.

National grid now warning of cuts in Jan/Feb.
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None of this is new - the media just keep cherry picking little nuggets from the worst case scenario plan to drip feed into the public consciousness.

Cuts to residential properties will only happen after industry has been cut to the bone and given they account for 80% of usage things would have to be extremely dire to bother with homes and I suspect you'd have much more to worry about than a 3 hour power cut at that point..
 
Now comes the interesting question.
If power cuts happen, as they are being predicted by national grid, then they have no excuse to leave anyone on the psr without alternative power arrangements.

Priority Services | UK Power Networks

Register for the priority services register to receive additional support when a power cut occurs in London, East Anglia or South East England.
www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk

Utility companies get funding for the more they can get in the register. Funding from the government non the less.
 
Gonna be a great lesson for everyone who constantly shouts that Wind and Solar are all we need

Grid load balancing on a national scale is extremely complex and you need a rapidly variable source of power that is >95% available to be your baseline.

Arguably Gas is worse at this than coal, but it's still better than Wind or Solar

We need more Nuclear
 
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m4rmite said:
So blackouts next year? WHile they export electricity to other countries.
Bit of a ****take don't ya thank?
grid.iamkate.com

National Grid: Live

Shows the live status of Great Britain’s electric power transmission network
grid.iamkate.com grid.iamkate.com
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Er we can't store it so if theres over capacity here we sell it to others, the same thing happens when theres excess demand here we import it.

The problem comes when we require it and there isn't any spare capacity anywhere else.
 
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jon86 said:
UK workers rights have been compared and contrasted with a relative lack of workers rights in the USA, but as you can see, it's not quite an apples-to-apples comparison for at least some industries.


My overall tax burden is lower here than it was when I lived in the UK, even with federal and state income taxes, and a 0.8% property tax. 1/12th of my annual property tax (and house insurance) bill is paid into an escrow account as part of my monthly mortgage payment.

As has been said before, the USA can be a great place to live if you're not poor.
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What's the definition of that though? Some people see those that are below 500K to 1 Million poor... Or are we talking poor that cannot even buy a meal or heat their home? Back after 2008 financial crash, I remember hearing people who were well off, not millionaires, lost all their businesses and incomes. Yet they were making great money.


Alex_6n2 said:
Gonna be a great lesson for everyone who constantly shouts that Wind and Solar are all we need

Grid load balancing on a national scale is extremely complex and you need a rapidly variable source of power that is >95% available to be your baseline.

Arguably Gas is worse at this than coal, but it's still better than Wind or Solar

We need more Nuclear
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You don't seem to hear any noises from Greta Thunberg no more? Or the mainstream news channels definitely never cover her. I haven't seen her in the news since when, last year? September/October? She was never off the TV most of last year. Almost every day.
 
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