Industrial action to the national grid

Pincher

I don't mind a day without electricity, in fact there was a problem up the road two years ago that Transco fixed by 22:00, and no harm done.

People probably don't remember California's blackouts. No strikes, no storms, just energy brokers hording energy contracts so the spot price went sky high.

Whatever the reason, local or national, we should all be prepared.

C_Mababejive

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Not sure how you work out your last sentence - ngc are the electricity grid operators, and without them, you have no electricity supply at all.

The current level of "action" is an overtime ban. Not a big issue. Anyway there will always be people to do the essential work of ensuring a secure energy delivery network.

mardatha

Anyway there will always be people to do the essential work of ensuring a secure energy delivery network.
*******************
Until the day comes when there aren't Bad idea to think this way. Get a plan ready just in case !

Owain_Moneysaver

JasX wrote: »

...... between that and the laptop was able to hop online and work out who to call out in my part of the country.

Yes, that's a phone number it's worth writing down in very clear characters you can read by torchlight.

Also don't assume any cordless phones will work without power to the base unit. You may need a corded phone to call 999.

mrs-stressed

mardatha wrote: »

Get a plan ready just in case !

You seem hell bent on this plan thing! Just relax and let things happen. Otherwise you are going to live your life on red alert and judging by some of your posts you are urging others to do the same - not healthy for your nerves or anyones else for that matter,,,,

grahamc2003

C_Mababejive wrote: »

The current level of "action" is an overtime ban. Not a big issue. Anyway there will always be people to do the essential work of ensuring a secure energy delivery network.

It depends what you cvall a big issue. Nat Grid people are critical to our electricity supply - they are involved in long term planning (not an issue here), week ahead planning (a small issue here), two day and day ahead (that is an issue) and most importantly of all, real time decision making (obviously, essential, and pertain to this strike/action). If those monitoring the grid frequency make the wrong decisions, then parts of the grid (and in the worst case the whole of the grid) goes down. Minute by minute decisions are made by the NGC at National control 24/7, to ensure that generation meets demand exactly all the time. It isn't the passive system you describe, and needs constant monitoring and correcting generation instructions by experienced operators.

You raise an interesting point - what happens if the 30 or so people who can operate the grid in that critical capacity decide to down tools. I don't know the answer, I suspect they are classified as critical to national security, and probably don't have a right to strike or whatever or, if they do, they can be ordered to work by some law or other (I'm just speculating). It's not the sort of job you can simply get the army to do in an emergency.

As to planning for power cuts - you don't need to go ott, I'd say they are a very small risk at the moment. (The situation will be different in 4 or 5 years if current plans are carried out, when power cuts will be a regular occurance due to lack of dispatchable capacity). We are out in the sticks, and get cuts probably twice a year - we have a supply of candles, matches, radios, batteries charged up, led lanterns and non-electricity dependent heating - all just evolved due to common sense rather than going ott.

mardatha

Nope mrs stressed - the secret to being relaxed is to be aware and have a plan LOL ! I've lived through quite a lot of drama & hard times, never get stressed and never get flustered... What I can't cope with (capricorn lol) is suddenly finding out the hard way. I am just passing on news as & when I get it. You dont have to pay attention and you certainly don't have to get stressed.

mrs-stressed

I dont get stressed with 'what might happen' or 'what should I do to prevent stuff from happening'. I just get rattled when I read posts that are worded for action as it where. Deal with things as they happen but dont get everyone in such a flap that they charge out and get all seige-prepared and then nothing happens.......

Waste of energy (!).

siemens_hv_fitters

mardatha wrote: »

Unite union is serving immediate notice on the national grid of industrial action. Think overtime ban and work to rule. So get ready for powercuts

WELL WELL WELL MADARTHUR ....if you or any one else reading this page you wrote have the time to google ( national grid strike ) you will news reports going back years headlines from 2006/2007/2008/2009/2010 and well its never happened and wont be allowed to happen ,we are not taking about the power cuts of the mid 70,s ...ive worked on national grid sites for almost 25 years now and the vast majority of workers are sub -contractors or agency workers ,sooooo total blackouts ,country brought to its knees dont make me laugh ,national grid energy is owned by several companies and several energy suppliers , so the chance of the country grinding to a halt because of power cuts = NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN
GOOGLE THE LINE NATIONAL GRID STRIKE
and you will see headlines going back years of every possable story of threats of walk outs /balloting and ooooh possable strikes , in my 25 years on national grid ive never heard once any mention of possable walkouts or strikes ...mybe because almost 75% of the workers are sub-contractors or agency workers , and the chance of bringing th country to its knees with total blackouts is tripe ,the grid is broken up into several sections ,and there are several companies that supply the power now ....NOT JUST ONE COMPANY !!!!:rotfl:
PS.... ARTHUR IVE NOTICED ON YOUR POFILE YOUR A MYSTIC GEEZER ....well get yourself on ebay and get a new crystal ball because your old one is cloudin up lolol

mardatha

Not prophesizing just passing on info that might prove helpful .And I'm not piggin deaf so you can stop yelling.