Winter blackout contingency planning

Sapindus

I am confused now as this morning I was reading about a plan where we could get money for not using our dishwashers in the evening, but now the story is that there will be no campaign to encourage people to save energy.  The PM blocked it.  ARe the two stories about the same thing?

[Deleted User]

Sapindus said:

I am confused now as this morning I was reading about a plan where we could get money for not using our dishwashers in the evening, but now the story is that there will be no campaign to encourage people to save energy.  The PM blocked it.  ARe the two stories about the same thing?

No.

The ‘blocked’ thing was an advertising campaign.

The time of use thing is a possible trial that we don’t know a lot about yet, other than from the previous trial with Octopus customers that didn’t look promising.

wittynamegoeshere

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63170588

Public won't be told to cut energy use after Truss objects

It seems the plan is that we just ignore the risk.  It doesn't mean power cuts won't happen, just that we're being ordered to pretend they won't.

It's all related - the intended energy saving campaign was directly in response to the risk of power cuts.

She also said she wouldn't pay handouts for bills, that the 45% tax would be reduced and that she was a Lib Dem among countless other examples of her being utterly wrong and/or changing her tune.

Saga

Had to doublecheck as I was sure she had guaranteed no blackouts...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2esF5J9f5Z8

Workerdrone

brewerdave said:

@workerdrone -great idea about the slow cooker -will have to make sure that we have plenty of suitable veg. for cooking up a casserole on any days that the power is going to be off at evening meal times.

Works really well. I tend to cook it til about 4. Kids come in and we eat at 5. Wife's a shift worker so often in at 9. I find with a good stir things like stews are still red hot. That's without needing to wrap the pot in tea towels.

Saga

What happens to people with medical equipment at home. And also pensioners in their own or rented flats/homes in retirement villages ie not nursing/care homes?

k_man

Saga said:

What happens to people with medical equipment at home. And also pensioners in their own or rented flats/homes in retirement villages ie not nursing/care homes?

The same as would happen if a local power cut occurred today.
I think most people will have experienced a power outage at some point in the last few years.

CurlySue2017

Saga said:

What happens to people with medical equipment at home. And also pensioners in their own or rented flats/homes in retirement villages ie not nursing/care homes?

This is my worry.  My Dad uses an oxygen machine that plugs into the mains and I'm really worried what will happen if the power is off for even just a couple of hours.  He can't breathe without it.

Also the comparisons with the 70's that people keep making are just nonsense.  It's a nice idea doing what they did back then but the world is a different place now and it just isn't possible. 

The electricity goes off then so does the router, which means nothing is online, which means pretty much everything stops.

Sitting around candles banging away on your manual typwriter is just not a thing anymore (much as I sometimes wish it was!)

Glum

I'm a bit surprised to find no mention in this thread of stair lifts, wheel chairs, respiration or dialysis machines etc. [Edit: Apologies. Saga posted while I was still typing.]

I know an elderly lady with an upstairs toilet and an electric stair lift. If the worst happens (believe me, she wouldn't have a clue) I can see her getting stuck halfway up the stairs for three hours with no phone and no idea what is happening, other than saving a few quid while the power is off.

If you live on your own in a G7 country and have no relatives or friends to watch out for you, life can be bitterly cruel.

Saga

CurlySue2017 said:

Saga said:

What happens to people with medical equipment at home. And also pensioners in their own or rented flats/homes in retirement villages ie not nursing/care homes?

This is my worry.  My Dad uses an oxygen machine that plugs into the mains and I'm really worried what will happen if the power is off for even just a couple of hours.  He can't breathe without it.

Also the comparisons with the 70's that people keep making are just nonsense.  It's a nice idea doing what they did back then but the world is a different place now and it just isn't possible. 

The electricity goes off then so does the router, which means nothing is online, which means pretty much everything stops.

Sitting around candles banging away on your manual typwriter is just not a thing anymore (much as I sometimes wish it was!)

I'm sorry to read. Please seek information and help as soon as possible.

Glum said:

I'm a bit surprised to find no mention in this thread of stair lifts, wheel chairs, respiration or dialysis machines etc. I know an elderly lady with an upstairs toilet and an electric stair lift. If the worst happens (believe me, she wouldn't have a clue) I can see her getting stuck halfway up the stairs for three hours with no phone and no idea what is happening, other than saving a few quid while the power is off.

If you live on your own in a G7 country and have no relatives or friends to watch out for you, life can be bitterly cruel.

Absolutely. While I appreciate MSE fora are general, likely demographically unrepresentative of the population and not the NHS, local authority or sector-specific charity there is a little too much "I'm alright, Jack, so everyone else should be" on here and not enough realisation that many many people are for whatever complex of interconnected reasons vulnerable, live on their own, have insufficient funds and other challenges that result in accessing information, advice and guidance being far from cut and dry.