UK black outs!

[esoxlucius]

There has been mention in some parts that the UK could be hit with black outs this coming winter due to the energy crisis. If it's a mild winter not so much, but if we get a stinker of a winter then the possibility is real.

We never get power cuts in the UK. We don't have tornados or hurricanes bringing power lines down. Because of this the vast majority of UK households probably don't have stand by measures just in case, ie generators and such, I know I certainly don't. In other parts of the world power back up is basically mandatory.

At this stage, not knowing what kind of winter we're going to get, it's all just huff and puff at the minute, it's probably more scaremongering than anything.

But if we do indeed get a bleak, and long winter, and these rumoured power cuts come to fruition, then hobbyists all over the UK are in for some worrying times.

 

[Fishman Dave]

At 60p per kWh no one will be using electricity! I’ll be heating my tanks by breathing warm air on each one in turn.

 

[esoxlucius]

At 60p per kWh no one will be using electricity! I’ll be heating my tanks by breathing warm air on each one in turn.

Yes, I'm not sure which is worse, extortionate electricity prices......or not having electric at all!!

The October hike won't effect us, nor will any further subsequent and expected price hikes early next year, as we're on a fixed rate of 36.5p per kWh until June 2023.

But when that fixed term is over our increases will be catastrophically steep to get us in line with everyone else.

I'm hoping that way before that time arrives that the government has measures in place to alleviate the struggles for everyone.

Are you carrying on regardless with all your tanks, or is there a cut off point where you just resign yourself to the fact that you can't go on with your current capacity?

 

[jjohnwm]

So are we talking about planned, controlled blackouts applied in an effort to...well, to admit that they just can't keep up with demand? Is it production capability that is the bottleneck, or is the distribution system old and outdated, or...? Or, as you suggested, are they mostly just flexing their fear-mongering fingers, and suggesting large-scale interruptions that will last for unknown periods of time.

The typically mild British summers that in turn result in very little private ownership and use of home air conditioning systems must make summer the "slow" part of the year for electrical demand. I guess that electric heat is common in winter?

Back a few decades ago in Ontario, the provincial hydro authority announced that demand was outstripping supply and warned that we would be faced with intentional brown-outs and black-outs unless people came to their senses and cut back on their electricity usage. People listened! Demand was reduced, people learned to cope, disaster was averted...until a year later, when the hydro people issued a statement indicating that, since demand had dropped and projected earnings were not being met...they were now forced to increase rates to prevent themselves from losing money!

This, of course, was the typical business/commercial version of losing money, i.e. making a forecast of how many gazillions of dollars they intended to make next year...finding that they actually made a few gazillion less than that...and calling the difference a loss. Money not made is money lost.

The ideal business plan for these folks is simple: find a way, perhaps through set monthly surcharges and fees, to generate huge revenues while simultaneously browbeating customers into using no power.

"...That ain't workin', that's the way you do it...Money for nothin' and your chicks for free..."

Dire Straits indeed...an eerily-appropriate name here...

 

[Niki_up]

That’s a scar thought, and to think that they are predicting it now almost seems as though they are planning black outs regardless of energy useage.

I may be on the fear side but I would be looking for alternate sources to provide for my household. Not even really thinking about my aquariums so much.

Can’t stand the thought of not being able to walk around my house in my undercrackers during the winter

 

[tlindsey]

I may be on the fear side but I would be looking for alternate sources to provide for my household. Not even really thinking about my aquariums so much.

Yes definitely our winters can be brutal.

 

[esoxlucius]

So are we talking about planned, controlled blackouts

If we do indeed go down this unprecedented avenue I believe that the black outs will be planned, I mean they've got to be, they can't just pull the plug at a minutes notice....can they!! Which, thankfully, gives folks the chance to prepare. Our black outs would probably happen in the evening.

A few hours at a time is manageable from an experienced hobbyists perspective. If they start "switching off" for like 12 hours at a time, or more, then that's into dodgy territory for those without back up, ie probably most of us!!

I remember the miners strikes of the early 70's. Those blackouts lasted quite a while as I remember as a 5 year old kid. I remember thinking it was great at the time, the house was full of candles.......it certainly wasn't full of aquariums!!

 

[esoxlucius]

That’s a scar thought, and to think that they are predicting it now almost seems as though they are planning black outs regardless of energy useage.

I may be on the fear side but I would be looking for alternate sources to provide for my household. Not even really thinking about my aquariums so much.

Can’t stand the thought of not being able to walk around my house in my undercrackers during the winter

I'm not sure how things work stateside, or Canada, but Europe is in a bit of a predicament. Russia announced a few days ago that routine maintenance on a gas pipeline to Europe isn't being re-opened when said maintanance is complete. They're being squeezed to death with all the sanctions enforced on them, and they're sure as hell going to make sure the whole of Europe is being squeezed too!

Heating isn't much of an issue thanks to the mountain of chopped wood I've squirelled away at work for my wood burner. Unfortunately burning wood doesn't generate my electricity!!!

On a lighter note, i'm so glad that "undercrackers" is now becoming a worldwide term, lol.

 

[jjohnwm]

If we do indeed go down this unprecedented avenue I believe that the black outs will be planned, I mean they've got to be, they can't just pull the plug at a minutes notice....can they!! Which, thankfully, gives folks the chance to prepare. Our black outs would probably happen in the evening.

Okay, so they mean that they will institute a black-out period here or there, rotating areas so that no one zone is hit extra hard. Or perhaps they will use a "brown-out", in which they drop the voltage without actually turning off the power completely.

My fear was that they were warning you of the possibility of an unscheduled, unexpected blackout, beyond their control, when a portion of the grid simply goes down due to some overloaded and usually antiquated piece of equipment. Those are the bad ones, which can last for extended periods depending upon how accessible and difficult the repair is. This is the type that those of us in less tropical climes have necessarily learned to live with.

I'm always especially concerned for Niki when I hear a foul-weather alert...what if she is prancing about half-naked, and the power goes out...and she can't find her way back to her clothing in the dark?

 

[esoxlucius]

Okay, so they mean that they will institute a black-out period here or there, rotating areas so that no one zone is hit extra hard. Or perhaps they will use a "brown-out", in which they drop the voltage without actually turning off the power completely.

My fear was that they were warning you of the possibility of an unscheduled, unexpected blackout, beyond their control, when a portion of the grid simply goes down due to some overloaded and usually antiquated piece of equipment. Those are the bad ones, which can last for extended periods depending upon how accessible and difficult the repair is. This is the type that those of us in less tropical climes have necessarily learned to live with.

I'm always especially concerned for Niki when I hear a foul-weather alert...what if she is prancing about half-naked, and the power goes out...and she can't find her way back to her clothing in the dark?

I'll ignore the initial serious part of your post, simply because my head is all of a tizz due to the second part!!

Yes, that is my concern for her too!!

And that reminds me, my delivery of my drone, with it's hyper sensitive ultra mega zooming in technology, good for 4000kms, should be with me any day soon!! Lol.