Energy news in general

Scot_39

Decades of poor choices mean we sadly do not have a choice but to adjust grid etc - to cope with what we have already been commited to by decades of govt energy policy - North and South of border.

Damned if we do - £10s billions in grid investment (upto £77bn in next 5 years by NG, SP and SSE network divisions) that - as the £10s billions already spent - will add to our bills for years to come 

and 

Damned if we don't - like paying renewables generators the 2024 ESO forecast £3bn per annum peak in grid thermal constraints by 2030 - which only begins to (not that quickly iirc their graph) reduce if spend a significant component of those £10s bns and do so on time for more already licensed renewables coming on stream.

But that is no excuse for continuing along the same lines.

As an example - look at where we are with the geographical distribution of our current renewables vs potential users - like the theoretical 30GW capacity of wind.

From a purely distribution network cost perspective - when installing 100s of miles of pylons and cables inevitably costs more than just 10s of miles to link the two - would you choose to put nearly half (c48%) of UK wind capacity in Scotland  - just c8% of the population and iirc continue with plans for another 6GW to be added.

(I realise it's not the only factor in those decisions)

TroubledTarts

Scot_39 said:

molerat said:

Bill reductions for those within 500m of new pylons to ease planning objections

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyd49dxyxxo

Households within 500m of new or upgraded pylons will get discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years, equivalent to £250 a year.

What's it going to do to resale value though ?

Yes, it's different if you buy a house next to a pylon but when one is forced upon you then what is it going to go to resale value.

Some suggests 30% drop in price but most think 10-20% so this paltry figure is no where near enough for those poor people saddled with these in their view.

But there will always be those that say they love pylons, you don't notice them after time and blah blah blah.

I think the nearest to us is over two miles away but who knows they could change the route. Some poor sods will have them within 100m and for them I would suggest their house price will plummet to the 30%+

Maybe a sliding scale from 500m-100m and less would be better but there is no stopping this particular bandwagon.

mmmmikey

TroubledTarts said:

Scot_39 said:

molerat said:

Bill reductions for those within 500m of new pylons to ease planning objections

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyd49dxyxxo

Households within 500m of new or upgraded pylons will get discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years, equivalent to £250 a year.

What's it going to do to resale value though ?

Yes, it's different if you buy a house next to a pylon but when one is forced upon you then what is it going to go to resale value.

Some suggests 30% drop in price but most think 10-20% so this paltry figure is no where near enough for those poor people saddled with these in their view.

But there will always be those that say they love pylons, you don't notice them after time and blah blah blah.

I think the nearest to us is over two miles away but who knows they could change the route. Some poor sods will have them within 100m and for them I would suggest their house price will plummet to the 30%+

Maybe a sliding scale from 500m-100m and less would be better but there is no stopping this particular bandwagon.

I remember going to look at a development of new houses some time ago. As we walked towards it the noise from the dual carriageway 1/2 mile away was so obtrusive we just turned away and didn't look any further. The houses were no more and no less expensive than those on similar developments in the area without the (to us) unbearable road noise. But every single one of the houses on the estate sold even though they were on our "wouldn't touch with a barge pole" list. I expect it will be much the same for houses near pylons. Yes, it will put some people off, but for others it will make little or no difference and have very limited effect on the value. My point is, just because I wouldn't buy a house where the view was obscrured by a pylon I'm sure lots of people wouldn't bat an eyelid and it will make very little difference to the price in most cases. I'm a country dweller and really don't like pylons, but feel it would be selfish for me to expect city dwellers to pay more for their electricity or run the risk of power cuts just to protect my view. In an ideal world, the need for the pylons wouldn't be there and if they were needed they could be errected without bothering everyone. But we don't live in that ideal world and there comes a point where the reasonable thing to do is just to accept that and get on with life.

TroubledTarts

mmmmikey said:

TroubledTarts said:

Scot_39 said:

molerat said:

Bill reductions for those within 500m of new pylons to ease planning objections

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyd49dxyxxo

Households within 500m of new or upgraded pylons will get discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years, equivalent to £250 a year.

What's it going to do to resale value though ?

Yes, it's different if you buy a house next to a pylon but when one is forced upon you then what is it going to go to resale value.

Some suggests 30% drop in price but most think 10-20% so this paltry figure is no where near enough for those poor people saddled with these in their view.

But there will always be those that say they love pylons, you don't notice them after time and blah blah blah.

I think the nearest to us is over two miles away but who knows they could change the route. Some poor sods will have them within 100m and for them I would suggest their house price will plummet to the 30%+

Maybe a sliding scale from 500m-100m and less would be better but there is no stopping this particular bandwagon.

I remember going to look at a development of new houses some time ago. As we walked towards it the noise from the dual carriageway 1/2 mile away was so obtrusive we just turned away and didn't look any further. The houses were no more and no less expensive than those on similar developments in the area without the (to us) unbearable road noise. But every single one of the houses on the estate sold even though they were on our "wouldn't touch with a barge pole" list. I expect it will be much the same for houses near pylons. Yes, it will put some people off, but for others it will make little or no difference and have very limited effect on the value. My point is, just because I wouldn't buy a house where the view was obscrured by a pylon I'm sure lots of people wouldn't bat an eyelid and it will make very little difference to the price in most cases. I'm a country dweller and really don't like pylons, but feel it would be selfish for me to expect city dwellers to pay more for their electricity or run the risk of power cuts just to protect my view. In an ideal world, the need for the pylons wouldn't be there and if they were needed they could be errected without bothering everyone. But we don't live in that ideal world and there comes a point where the reasonable thing to do is just to accept that and get on with life.

Hi Mikey,

I appreciate that viewpoint where as we have seen something opposite more recently in the last year. New houses for sale near pylons at 10% off compared to a development half a mile away. (Same town, same catchment, same median house price per postcode)

Although this doesn't affect us yet there are obviously loads of campaign groups up in arms over the proposed pylons.

The technology for underground cables as well as off shore grid solutions is available, sometimes at equal or slightly more cost so the main argument I can see from campaign groups is that other options have not been considered and costed fully, just the quick one they know inside out.

So let them have their fight and not just give up with the throw away "it's not an ideal world", "Just accept it, get on with life"

The "reasonable" thing to do is for National Grid ESO to cost out all the options fully, this is what the campaigners are asking for.

From what I have read Ed Milliband and and the government will push this through regardless but time will tell. I know there are multiple legal challenges building across the country so it will be an interesting ride.

Chrysalis

TroubledTarts said:

molerat said:

Bill reductions for those within 500m of new pylons to ease planning objections

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyd49dxyxxo

Households within 500m of new or upgraded pylons will get discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years, equivalent to £250 a year.

Looks like a horribly low figure to put up with a pylon that close.

Especially the mega ones they are putting in across the country.

If you think thats horribly low, think of the compensation people get for the following. 

Living next to a rail route. 

Living next to a busy road. 

Living next to a busy sea port. 

Living next to a busy hospital. 

Living on an emergency vehicles route. 

The answer is a big fat zero. Usually instead they just get told to move if they not happy.    I guess certain parts of the population have more influence.

Moaning about pythons just feels extremely petty.  I guess the same people who moan about telecom poles and lamp posts.

QrizB

Chrysalis said:

Moaning about pythons just feels extremely petty.

I quite like snakes.

I guess the same people who moan about telecom poles and lamp posts.

I was a bit miffed when the council replaced the orange low-pressure sodium lamp outside my bedroom with a fancy white LED lamp. My curtains weren't good enough to block it and I had to buy a blackout blind!

TroubledTarts

Chrysalis said:

TroubledTarts said:

molerat said:

Bill reductions for those within 500m of new pylons to ease planning objections

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyd49dxyxxo

Households within 500m of new or upgraded pylons will get discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years, equivalent to £250 a year.

Looks like a horribly low figure to put up with a pylon that close.

Especially the mega ones they are putting in across the country.

If you think thats horribly low, think of the compensation people get for the following. 

Living next to a rail route. 

Living next to a busy road. 

Living next to a busy sea port. 

Living next to a busy hospital. 

Living on an emergency vehicles route. 

The answer is a big fat zero. Usually instead they just get told to move if they not happy.    I guess certain parts of the population have more influence.

Moaning about pythons just feels extremely petty.  I guess the same people who moan about telecom poles and lamp posts.

Is this a game of one up man ship or the Yorkshiremen sketch lol. Those people affected by those things can moan about them on a non energy thread.

However......

I agree they should all get compensation commensurate to the nuisance if it was not there when they decided to buy the property. 

Again I am quite the snake enthusiast and love a big python.

70sbudgie

There is already £500M in the sc to replace maybe 25km of existing pylons with underground cable. (There are 5 projects, but I can only find 4. The 5th is probably in Scotland and either SSET or SPT).
https://www.nationalgrid.com/electricity-transmission/network-and-infrastructure/infrastructure-projects

The_Green_Hornet

Couple's bill quadruples after 'faulty heat pump'

A couple who installed a heat pump in order to save money say they have been left with a faulty system and their bills have more than quadrupled.

Geoffrey and Julie Cox claim their bills have risen from £140 a month to more than £1,000 since the air source heat pump was put in and it does not heat their home.

The Chesterfield couple are among others who have had similar issues with a system fitted by Sheffield's Greener Living Ltd, which received money under a government scheme before going into administration last March.

Couple's energy bill quadruples after 'faulty heat pump' - BBC News

MattMattMattUK

The_Green_Hornet said:

Couple's bill quadruples after 'faulty heat pump'

A couple who installed a heat pump in order to save money say they have been left with a faulty system and their bills have more than quadrupled.

Geoffrey and Julie Cox claim their bills have risen from £140 a month to more than £1,000 since the air source heat pump was put in and it does not heat their home.

The Chesterfield couple are among others who have had similar issues with a system fitted by Sheffield's Greener Living Ltd, which received money under a government scheme before going into administration last March.

Couple's energy bill quadruples after 'faulty heat pump' - BBC News

Another BBC article that has so little detail as to be utterly useless and the small amount it does include means one can only conclude that the reporter has failed to even look at the basics or verify facts. 4,500kWh or more a month, even if the heat pump was only operating in resistive heating mode there is no way the house would be cold.