What's my power going to cost me ?

QrizB

MouldyOldDough said:

The government now of course has the ability to select areas for rationing using smart meters to rotate the available power......

Considering that only 44% of domestic meters are smart, this seems unlikely.

There are few things more likely to cause unrest than 4-in-10 customers being cut off while the other 6-in-10 keep their power.

Supposedly all domestic meters willb e smart by then end of 2025. After that milestone is reached, this might work.

[Deleted User]

If it got bad enough to claim "emergency rationing to protect the system" then you don't need to keep disabled and vulnerable people on the grid.

Aylesbury_Duck

MouldyOldDough said:

[Deleted User] said:

MouldyOldDough said:

The government now of course has the ability to select areas for rationing using smart meters to rotate the available power......

I now wish that I had not gone "smart"..

The government (or rather the DNOs) have had that ability since substations existed.  Doesn't need a smart meter to turn off the cable in the street.

But not allow disabled and vulnerable people to stay on grid ?

If they happen, blackouts would be planned, allowing people time to plan.

Mstty

I quite like a powercut brings out the Bear Grylls in me.

And by that I mean popping to the shed with my torch to get the camping stove out to put the pan and water on to make our power cut cup of survival tea, one breakfast one earl grey.

I then consider whether it's worth getting the generator out for a whirl or shall we light the multi fuel burner and put some soup on top.

The benefit of a planned outage is no trip to the shed!!!! Bonus

Sea_Shell

Just think of all the money you'll save NOT using electricity you can't get!!

Sometimes the only way to stop someone using something is to physically remove it!! 😉.   Asking nicely, might not cut it.

GingerTim

Mstty said:

I quite like a powercut brings out the Bear Grylls in me.

And by that I mean popping to the shed with my torch to get the camping stove out to put the pan and water on to make our power cut cup of survival tea, one breakfast one earl grey.

I then consider whether it's worth getting the generator out for a whirl or shall we light the multi fuel burner and put some soup on top.

The benefit of a planned outage is no trip to the shed!!!! Bonus

Takes me back to growing up in the NW Highlands, when one year it snowed from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day and the power went off all that time. (We are talking three-foot snow drifts).

My parents then owned a shop in the village and the days was mostly spent selling Calor Gas bottles to locals who had dragged their gas stoves out of the shed. In retrospect, it was pretty awful.

Edit: it was 1995 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnIK7xU5tDo

MouldyOldDough

[Deleted User] said:

If it got bad enough to claim "emergency rationing to protect the system" then you don't need to keep disabled and vulnerable people on the grid.

So the priority service register means nothing then? 

pochase

If you get a plan that you electricity will go off in 2 days between 17.00 and 19.00 that should give you time to make alternative arrangements.

What would happen if there is a real (unplanned) power cut? If you are on a priority list that does mean there is a priority to restore your energy supply, not that it can be done in 10 minutes.

Medical appliances needed for sheer survival should have an emergency supply like a battery.

QrizB

MouldyOldDough said:

Deleted_User said:

If it got bad enough to claim "emergency rationing to protect the system" then you don't need to keep disabled and vulnerable people on the grid.

So the priority service register means nothing then? 

Correct. If the choice is to cut off a million people for an hour, or have the grid collapse and cut off 60 million people for 12 hours, the 1 million are going to take the hit.

Edit to add:

Remember the blackout in 2019? That was due to the grid automatically cutting certain circuits off, to prevent a much wider failure.
https://www.drax.com/opinion/britains-blackout/
https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/blackout-investigation-what-went-wrong-at-hornsea-one-and-little-barford

From the Drax link:

Not enough power could be supplied to meet demand, and so 5% of customers were automatically disconnected to prevent the grid from complete collapse.  While this was painful for those involved, it saved the whole country from losing power, which could have taken days to recover from.

[Deleted User]

MouldyOldDough said:

[Deleted User] said:

If it got bad enough to claim "emergency rationing to protect the system" then you don't need to keep disabled and vulnerable people on the grid.

So the priority service register means nothing then? 

In that context, it means precisely nothing at all.