Aug 16, 2022 05:25 AM
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/08/16...blackouts/
EXCERPTS (James Woudhuysen): Energy bills are soaring to dangerous heights in Britain. By April 2023, the energy price cap could even rise to over £5,000 for the average household. More alarming still, politicians have little to say on how energy costs can be brought down.
In the contest between Conservative prime-ministerial hopefuls Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, most of the debate has fixated on the relative merits of using tax cuts vs state benefits to ease the cost-of-living pressures. The outgoing Boris Johnson government has threatened to extend its windfall tax on energy companies. Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer has proposed freezing the price cap at its current level of £1,971, which would be paid for by an expanded windfall tax and scrapping the current government support on offer to households.
Whatever each proposal’s merits in easing the pain to consumers, none of them actually reckons with the actual problems driving sky-high energy prices. No one anywhere near power in Britain seems especially interested in doing what is necessary to guarantee an affordable, reliable and secure supply of energy.
Any policy aimed at lowering energy prices must start with the question of energy supply. Most critical to this is the supply of gas, which heats our homes, powers our industries and fuels nearly 40 per cent of UK electricity generation.
Action is needed right now. We need to start drilling for more North Sea gas and start fracking for shale gas across the UK. And we need to start building new nuclear power stations – including small modular reactors. None of these options will come online fast enough to make a difference this winter – but we should be doing everything we can to avoid prolonging this crisis.
[...] Given the general state of Britain’s fast-decaying infrastructure, we have every reason to believe the networks that move gas around the country are creaking. Worse still, some of the players involved suggest we can’t expect major improvements anytime soon... (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS (James Woudhuysen): Energy bills are soaring to dangerous heights in Britain. By April 2023, the energy price cap could even rise to over £5,000 for the average household. More alarming still, politicians have little to say on how energy costs can be brought down.
In the contest between Conservative prime-ministerial hopefuls Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, most of the debate has fixated on the relative merits of using tax cuts vs state benefits to ease the cost-of-living pressures. The outgoing Boris Johnson government has threatened to extend its windfall tax on energy companies. Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer has proposed freezing the price cap at its current level of £1,971, which would be paid for by an expanded windfall tax and scrapping the current government support on offer to households.
Whatever each proposal’s merits in easing the pain to consumers, none of them actually reckons with the actual problems driving sky-high energy prices. No one anywhere near power in Britain seems especially interested in doing what is necessary to guarantee an affordable, reliable and secure supply of energy.
Any policy aimed at lowering energy prices must start with the question of energy supply. Most critical to this is the supply of gas, which heats our homes, powers our industries and fuels nearly 40 per cent of UK electricity generation.
Action is needed right now. We need to start drilling for more North Sea gas and start fracking for shale gas across the UK. And we need to start building new nuclear power stations – including small modular reactors. None of these options will come online fast enough to make a difference this winter – but we should be doing everything we can to avoid prolonging this crisis.
[...] Given the general state of Britain’s fast-decaying infrastructure, we have every reason to believe the networks that move gas around the country are creaking. Worse still, some of the players involved suggest we can’t expect major improvements anytime soon... (MORE - details)
