By Rajan Laad
Just yesterday households across the UK were paid to use less electricity from 17:00 and 18:00 GMT. This was part of a scheme to conserve energy.
The scheme is called Demand Flexibility Service whose stated goal is to prevent an overload of the electric grid. An overload and an eventual collapse could leave most of the UK in darkness.
A total of 26 energy suppliers have signed up for the service. According to National Grid’s electricity system operator, more than a million households and businesses have signed up to refrain from using high-consumption appliances such as ovens, washing machines, dishwashers, etc.
The scheme has been extended to today, the targeted hours this time being 1630 to 1800 i.e., 30 minutes longer than yesterday.
Some people across the UK could receive up to $24 for drastically reducing their electricity usage yesterday evening.
This is perhaps the first time in the history of the UK that practices have been put in place.
This is occurring at a time when parts of the UK experienced their coldest night in 12 years on Sunday night (January 22) as temperatures dropped to as low as -8.4C in some parts.
Simultaneously three coal-fired power plants in the UK have been ordered to be prepared for emergencies.
The National Grid insists that there are no chances of blackouts, but the fact that they are urging consumers to cut down on consumption for two consecutive days and are asking coal plants to be prepared shows that the crisis is grave.
Back to the power saving scheme: the National Grid’s website claims that the scheme “will allow consumers, as well as some industrial and commercial users (through suppliers/aggregators), to be incentivized for voluntarily flexing the time when they use their electricity.”
Some are predicting that similar energy-saving events could become a regular feature of winters in the UK and is likely to run until March when spring begins and the mercury rises.
So why is the UK on the brink of such an energy crisis?
Quite simply the overreliance on alternative/green energy and abrupt abandonment of conventional energy.
Last year, various media outlets including the BBC carried reports on an Oxford University study that stated switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12tn by 2050.
This is the standard modus operandi for climate change advocates. They make predictions about a very distant future that are unverifiable but compels people to fall in line for a ‘better tomorrow’.
The UK government has invested heavily in wind turbines.
The National Grid claimed a record amount of wind-powered electricity in 2022. The BBC reported that more electricity came from renewable and nuclear power sources than from fossil fuels gas and coal.
The problem is these renewable sources are not dependable.
Strong winds can provide electricity to most of the UK. But when the conditions are calmer, i.e. the way it has been for the past week, there is no power generation at all.
There seem to be no mechanisms to store the excess power generated for times when there are no winds.
On Saturday, the calmer conditions provided less than a quarter of Britain’s electricity. Since the weather was very cold, it caused more natural gas to be used to keep households warm.
Forecasts say that the UK isn’t going to be very windy in the subsequent weeks. This is one of the causes of the emergency that prompted voluntary Demand Flexibility Service, which has been in the pipeline since last year.
A country cannot depend on anything as arbitrary as wind for its energy which is its lifeblood.
What about other alternative energy sources.
Nuclear electricity is regarded as a low-carbon source of energy for the UK, but currently, it provides only 15% of the UK’s electricity. Besides, there are serious objections regarding safety risks and the cost of building and maintaining nuclear power plants.
Solar energy is out of the question because of the usually cloudy weather for most of the year in the UK.
Some in the UK are blaming Putin for it, as all Western governments seem to do whenever they find themselves in a bother for which they are to blame.
Ever since the war in Ukraine, Russia has reduced energy supplies to Europe in response to punitive economic sanctions imposed on it by the West.
Nord Stream 1, Russia’s largest gas pipeline to Europe, was closed indefinitely last September after an unexplained explosion.
Nord Stream 1 would normally supply European Union states with about 35 percent of all the gas they import from Russia.
But the UK was never dependent on Russia for oil and gas.
Yes, any disruption to the EU – or international supplies on the does affect Britain, but the impact isn’t considerable.
In the end, the fault lies with the powers that be in the UK who not only jumped on the alternative power bandwagon but terminated sources of conventional energy.
Each year there are on average about 10,000 excess deaths caused by an inability to afford to heat homes. Yet nobody seems to care.
Each and every coal mine was shut down even before the alternative was proven to be reliable.
So why did the powerful in the UK jump without looking?
Are they such true believers?
Perhaps relentless indoctrination has caused some to become devotees.
It is more likely that alternative energy producers donated generously to parties and powerful individuals in the UK to further their agenda. Even UK conservatives such as Boris Johnson supported these green initiatives.
The alternative energy producers and advocates have close ties with the media to push their message.
The result is the UK finds itself on the brink of a crisis.
This Demand Flexibility Service is being promoted as a grand idea where citizens are contributing to a better future.
But in reality it is a cynical move to exploit those struggling to make ends meet as a result of the massively inflated price of fuel, food, and electricity. They know that these people have no option but to accept any scheme that boosts savings.
In the coming weeks, expect large-scale publicity stunts to give the impression that everyone is making sacrifices. Perhaps all of the UK will be asked to turn off all lights for 10 minutes and a big deal will be made out of it on social media with selfies in the dark.
After that, regular people struggling due to the economy will make sacrifices while the policymakers and the ‘elite’ remain unaffected.
It seems unlikely that there will be mandates because it will compel the ‘elites’ to make sacrifices and compromises.
If the Democrats have their way, this is what they will do in the US. In fact, there are signs that this may be happening in California
As always millions of regular people will be compelled to do the heavy lifting for the follies of a few.
This is once again it is a reminder of how big government works.
Trump predicted this years ago.