Yesterday, National Grid published a document called “National Grid – our role in the electricity industry”, in which they argue that in the near future they will not be able to properly play their role in balancing electricity supplies across the grid, and that large consumers such as shops and factories should be asked to reduce their energy consumption at peak times.
As National Grid states in the first paragraph: Their documentsTheir job is to “balance the network, making sure demand and supply match up second-to-second, and asking suppliers and generators to make up the difference.”
“They are not responsible for building power plants or ensuring there is enough electricity being generated to meet consumer demand. This is the role of electricity markets and the policies and frameworks that support those markets.”
National Grid is sounding the alarm here to highlight how Britain is dangerously close to being unable to meet its energy needs. And this is a fact.
It is a striking fact that the companies responsible for generating electricity in this country, the companies that are more or less given free reign to make huge profits from it, are not mandated to invest in future generating capacity. Rather, taxpayers are expected to foot the bill.
In fact, the expectations are so strong that the government has so far been unable to offer enough contracts to the same energy companies that would build, say, the next generation of nuclear power plants, making the situation worse. They must deny that the EDF is overwhelming them. More than the subsidy paid by taxpayers.
Remember, EDF is a company that has made billions of pounds in profits since entering the UK private energy “market”, yet it expects taxpayers to foot the bill for the infrastructure needed to maintain those profits.
To address National Grid's concerns, the government appointed Energy Secretary Michael Fallon toThe lights stay on” “.
But the government has refused to force power generation companies to invest in future generating capacity. Bristol Channel Barrage If we were to shut down coal-fired power plants because of the global warming scam, one wonders how we can guarantee that.
And what was the message being sent by the BBC on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning?
The best way to address this problem is on the demand side: we need to reduce our demand for electricity.
That is a thorough Agenda 21 policy.
