Energy news in general

QrizB

debitcardmayhem said:

Electric unit could be a danger ….

I thought for a moment that the "electric unit" in question was the kilowatt-hour and there was a proposal to start billing in megajoules!

😂

debitcardmayhem

Shell has started Victory field production, may help with gas prices ?
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-starts-production-victory-gas-field-north-sea-2025-09-30/

michaels

debitcardmayhem said:

Electric unit could be a danger …. BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrqlnlp4w2o

Luckily we have been through a major programme where engineers have been in most houses replacing the meters that are collocated with the main fuses so adding this as a service item during the same visit could have solved the problem at minimal cost....

Netexporter

Yes, I saw a video the other night about how the old resin service heads can become conductive under certain conditions.

It also explains why, when I requested a fuse upgrade, the DNO changed the whole service head. The old was one was "only" about thirty years old, but there must be millions, out there, that are far older.

molerat

michaels said:

debitcardmayhem said:

Electric unit could be a danger …. BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrqlnlp4w2o

Luckily we have been through a major programme where engineers have been in most houses replacing the meters that are collocated with the main fuses so adding this as a service item during the same visit could have solved the problem at minimal cost....

Meters and cut out are different responsibilities. 

When my daughter was having her meters changed the fitter noticed a piece of plastic missing from the cut out casing.  He had to call his supervisor to check if he could continue with the change. That was ok but the DNO had to be informed who came out next day and fixed it.   Strangely there was a full electrical installation check carried out a few months earlier and that wasn't picked up. 

michaels

molerat said:

michaels said:

debitcardmayhem said:

Electric unit could be a danger …. BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrqlnlp4w2o

Luckily we have been through a major programme where engineers have been in most houses replacing the meters that are collocated with the main fuses so adding this as a service item during the same visit could have solved the problem at minimal cost....

Meters and cut out are different responsibilities. 

When my daughter was having her meters changed the fitter noticed a piece of plastic missing from the cut out casing.  He had to call his supervisor to check if he could continue with the change. That was ok but the DNO had to be informed who came out next day and fixed it.   Strangely there was a full electrical installation check carried out a few months earlier and that wasn't picked up. 

Agree - but for a programme of that scale it would not have been impossible to apply some joined up thinking.

molerat

michaels said:

molerat said:

michaels said:

debitcardmayhem said:

Electric unit could be a danger …. BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrqlnlp4w2o

Luckily we have been through a major programme where engineers have been in most houses replacing the meters that are collocated with the main fuses so adding this as a service item during the same visit could have solved the problem at minimal cost....

Meters and cut out are different responsibilities. 

When my daughter was having her meters changed the fitter noticed a piece of plastic missing from the cut out casing.  He had to call his supervisor to check if he could continue with the change. That was ok but the DNO had to be informed who came out next day and fixed it.   Strangely there was a full electrical installation check carried out a few months earlier and that wasn't picked up. 

Agree - but for a programme of that scale it would not have been impossible to apply some joined up thinking.

There is a total lack of thinking within the industry let alone joined up thinking !

QrizB

Remember April's blackout in the Iberian peninsula? I do, I was there 😀

Apparently it was the first blackout caused by overvoltage (more supply than demand), rather than undervoltage (more demand than supply).

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7d4vjdlrmo

Blackout in Spain and Portugal 'first of its kind', report finds

A power surge that caused a widespread blackout in Spain and Portugal was the "most severe" in Europe in the last 20 years, and the first of its kind, a report has found.

Damian Cortinas, president of the association of electricity grid operators Entso-e, said the incident was the first known blackout to be caused by overvoltage, which occurs when there is too much electrical voltage in a network.

"This is new territory," Cortinas said, adding the role of Entso-e was "not to apportion blame to any party" over the cause.

Longer article at the link.

booneruk

QrizB said:

Remember April's blackout in the Iberian peninsula? I do, I was there 😀

Apparently it was the first blackout caused by overvoltage (more supply than demand), rather than undervoltage (more demand than supply).

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7d4vjdlrmo

Blackout in Spain and Portugal 'first of its kind', report finds

A power surge that caused a widespread blackout in Spain and Portugal was the "most severe" in Europe in the last 20 years, and the first of its kind, a report has found.

Damian Cortinas, president of the association of electricity grid operators Entso-e, said the incident was the first known blackout to be caused by overvoltage, which occurs when there is too much electrical voltage in a network.

"This is new territory," Cortinas said, adding the role of Entso-e was "not to apportion blame to any party" over the cause.

Longer article at the link.

I remember the absolutely comical Telegraph article. They blamed green power.

That BBC article details blame being assigned to the grid and fossil fuel power plants.

I know which one I believe.

MattMattMattUK

Ovo pricing change could double charging costs for some EV owners

Customers on Charge Anytime deal who drive fewer than 700 miles a month say they will be left with higher bills

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/08/ovo-pricing-change-could-double-charging-costs-for-some-ev-owners

An interesting one, it always seemed like a flawed plan from the supplier's perspective, 7p at any time, even when they would have been buying that power at peak rates when people plugged in as they got home from work. Even at the new 14p rate they are probably still losing money. 

The people commenting in the article do seem to be being hyperbolic though, they could just move to a normal EV tariff and get the same 7p rate.