UK Gas and Electricity Crisis Looming

[elbows]

And there is political pressure to restart sooner than planned some others that are offline.

French Government Asks EDF to Restart Nuclear Reactors Early

The French government asked Electricite de France SA to restart some nuclear reactors earlier than planned in order to help with a winter energy crunch across Europe.

www.bloomberg.com

A story about the faults I mentioned:

France Closes Two Nuclear Plants After Finding Cracks In The Infrastructure | OilPrice.com

France’s EDF has shuttered two nuclear plants after routine safety inspections found vulnerabilities in the plants’ infrastructure

oilprice.com

This relatively unseen aspect of the pandemic bothers me - its fucked up routine maintenance schedules. Certain theoretical safety risks increase as a result, but I hope I never have to write about any severe consequences.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Well yes - but there is a certain amount of stuff on TV about unaffordable water charges in Detroit for example.
What happened there? Or is each state different - so it's OK if you like in California but not in Alabama (for example)?

The US is organized by "power districts." One district may cover part of a state or several states. They're all pretty closely regulated. This can be good or bad, depending on where you live.

 

[Carvaged]

My bills have doubled since British Gas took over my electricity from Neon Reef

 

[two sheds]

Gas prices have gone up x5 to x7 from what I've heard.

 

[platinumsage]

Gas prices have gone up x5 to x7 from what I've heard.

If you mean consumer prices it's more like x2, from 2 to 4p per kWh. That 4p is basically now a loss-making price derived from October's price cap though, so prices are set to rise further when the cap is updated.

 

[two sheds]

No I was meaning wholesale (and I heard for businesses in the Netherlands at least), but what you said.

 

[platinumsage]

Yeah normally it's around 50p per therm, now it's heading to 400.

 

[Thaw]

Past 400 now. Should peak in Feb

UK NBP Natural Gas Futures Pricing

Contracts are for physical delivery through the transfer of rights in respect of Natural Gas at the National Balancing Point (NBP) Virtual Trading Point, operated by National Grid. Delivery is made equally each day throughout the delivery period.<br>

www.theice.com

 

[Dogsauce]

Wind has been quite low over the last week or so, a lot of gas being used to make up the difference. That won’t be helping.

At least the increased cost will make the sums look better for renewables and energy efficiency measures, but shitty if people can’t afford to heat their homes or if it pushes companies under.

 

[WouldBe]

Yeah normally it's around 50p per therm, now it's heading to 400.

Eat more beans and make your own.

 

[gosub]

Warm Home Discount Scheme

The Warm Home Discount Scheme could take £150 off your winter electricity bill - eligibility, how to get your discount, deadlines.

www.gov.uk

 

[WWWeed]

Looks like more rises on the way

Energy bills to soar 50% unless government intervenes, industry warns

Households face another sharp rise unless the government intervenes to ease the impact of gas prices.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[gosub]

Energy crisis: Kwasi Kwarteng’s talks with industry bosses bring no result

Meeting follows calls for urgent intervention from CEOs to shield consumers from ‘enormous crisis’ in 2022

www.theguardian.com

 

[MickiQ]

There are a lot of people now facing the 'Heat or Eat' conundrum, a 50% increase in energy prices is going to send that number soaring.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Opportunist shitbags get their liabilities covered by the state. Other shitbags consolidate their market share and demand more state cash because their business model doesn’t work.

 

[Serge Forward]

Fuel crisis is a capitalist crisis - Anarchist Communist Group

 

[not-bono-ever]

Energy prices: Government must show more urgency, says Ovo boss

Ovo predicts an "enormous crisis" in 2022 as the business secretary meets with the energy industry.

www.bbc.co.uk

OVO boss meeping away at the decreasing profit margins


OVO are led by a former JP Morgan Bond and ex CD swap trader

Bond trader turned energy boss takes on Britain's "big power"

Lambasting the country's dominant energy companies for gouging customers, the founder of a small English supplier has emerged as an unlikely hero in a row over soaring power and gas prices that could influence the 2015 election.

www.reuters.com

OVO don't actually properly hedge their business

Ovo Energy’s price hike shows hedging isn’t always bad for the customer - CityAM

Independent energy supplier Ovo Energy announced today that it would be increasing its prices by three per cent for new and renewing customers, bringing the average annual dual fuel bill up to £1,028. It blamed the price hike on an “upward move in wholesale commodity costs in April”, but bearing...

www.cityam.com

"Ovo has proudly announced five consecutive price drops over the past year (and to be fair, its bills will still be lower than a year ago, even with this price increase), but why has it needed to raise its bills now?

The answer comes from the company’s hedging strategy.

The Ukraine crisis caused a small spike in gas prices in April due to concerns that Russia would cut off supply, but the big six tend to take buy gas futures contracts one year or 18 months ahead, meaning they are less exposed to these kinds of short-term fluctuations.

Jason Sharpe, Ovo’s customer service director, defended the company’s way of doing things.

“We don’t hedge ahead as much as the big six, so we can react a lot quicker to drop prices if wholesale prices go down,” he told City A.M.


OVO say their approach Is "responsive"

You are being redirected...

www.ovoenergy.com

"Founded in 2009 as an alternative to the Big Six, OVO saw its customer numbers triple from 137,000 at the start of 2014 to 408,000 by year end, fuelled by a major brand campaign and a responsive hedging strategy that enabled it to offer highly competitive tariffs on the back of flat or falling wholesale gas and power prices. "

Just remember, you are going to be bailing these cunts out if it goes bad. Its criminal

 

[gosub]

Free Falling European Natural Gas Prices Possibly Short-Lived - Natural Gas Intelligence

European natural gas prices fell for a sixth consecutive day on Wednesday, the longest stretch of declines in more than a year, after they hit record

www.naturalgasintel.com

 

[Dogsauce]

Last week was very low for wind, the coal stations were up and running most days, but the last couple of days it’s been much better, up around 40% last night. I’ve started checking the percentages quite often and sometimes take it into consideration when planning on doing washing etc.

I think planned developments should see wind power increase fourfold over the next decade, which will put us in a good place when the weather suits, although I can see some of the slack being taken up by the electrification of transport.

 

[gosub]

Last week was very low for wind, the coal stations were up and running most days, but the last couple of days it’s been much better, up around 40% last night. I’ve started checking the percentages quite often and sometimes take it into consideration when planning on doing washing etc.

I think planned developments should see wind power increase fourfold over the next decade, which will put us in a good place when the weather suits, although I can see some of the slack being taken up by the electrification of transport.

Thats wonderful meanwhile US is diverting tankers of natural gas that were destined for China (which is already having blackouts) to Europe.

 

[Dogsauce]

Thats wonderful meanwhile US is diverting tankers of natural gas that were destined for China (which is already having blackouts) to Europe.

Do you know what’s driving demand in China? Growing urbanisation or are they expanding gas generation to reduce coal?

 

[gosub]

Do you know what’s driving demand in China? Growing urbanisation or are they expanding gas generation to reduce coal?

lockdown, 5G, and probably illicent cyrpto mining as corrupt investors dive for cover after the collapse of the Chinese property market (trouble coming)

 

[prunus]

Last week was very low for wind, the coal stations were up and running most days, but the last couple of days it’s been much better, up around 40% last night. I’ve started checking the percentages quite often and sometimes take it into consideration when planning on doing washing etc.

I think planned developments should see wind power increase fourfold over the next decade, which will put us in a good place when the weather suits, although I can see some of the slack being taken up by the electrification of transport.

Where can one see the percentages? I’d like to look at that

 

[Puddy_Tat]

although I can see some of the slack being taken up by the electrification of transport

I had it on reasonably good authority that if a bus operator in a large-ish town went all electric, the charging would add about 10% to that town's electricity requirements...

(of course until 1948 that town directly ran the electricity and transport departments, so provided its own electricity for trolleybuses. albeit with what was almost certainly a coal fired power station fairly close to the town centre)

 

[Dogsauce]

(of course until 1948 that town directly ran the electricity and transport departments, so provided its own electricity for trolleybuses. albeit with what was almost certainly a coal fired power station fairly close to the town centre)

That was pretty normal, a lot of tramway companies ran their own power stations, the one in Leeds was next to the river near Wellington St right in the centre of town, spewing filth into the air. See also the numerous and usually central town gas works to serve street lighting etc. doing the same (and usually heavily contaminating nearby ground and waterways with all kind of filth like tar residues).

 

[platinumsage]

That was pretty normal, a lot of tramway companies ran their own power stations, the one in Leeds was next to the river near Wellington St right in the centre of town, spewing filth into the air. See also the numerous and usually central town gas works to serve street lighting etc. doing the same (and usually heavily contaminating nearby ground and waterways with all kind of filth like tar residues).

Probably a hangover from pre-national grid days, when each town was responsible for generating and supplying it's own electricity. A start-up electric tram operation would have a hard time getting going without sorting their own power.

 

[Sprocket.]

In the mining village where me and Mrs S. were brought up, the electricity for a ours and the and the next village, for many houses was supplied by the two local collieries. On the older colliery estate she grew up on, the domestic hot water came from a centralised, coal fired boiler house.

The coal fired power station at Mexborough that came on line in 1948 replaced the supply to many houses. The domestic hot water system was replaced by the NCB in the early seventies by installing coal fired back boilers in all the houses on the estate my wife lived on.

The reliance on coal for domestic heating slowly converted to natural gas as the major slum clearance of the next village continued throughout the seventies and all the housing eventually came under the ownership of Doncaster Borough Council.

Growing up, the smog and stench of thousands of individual coal fires could be eye watering, but we were happy, allegedly!

Natural Gas still is the go to energy source for the majority of properties around here. Especially as many conversions from coal to gas were installed by the former NCB.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

and usually central town gas works to serve street lighting etc. doing the same (and usually heavily contaminating nearby ground and waterways with all kind of filth like tar residues).

there's still one spoil heap at beckton (it did serve as a dry ski slope for some years)

i remember it in the 70s - it would be a slight exaggeration to say it glowed in the dark, but some of it was interesting colours...

 

[marty21]

We've never bothered with fixed price tariffs so have always paid the standard bills . Does that mean less of an increase than those who have been on fixed term deals ?

 

[platinumsage]

We've never bothered with fixed price tariffs so have always paid the standard bills . Does that mean less of an increase than those who have been on fixed term deals ?

Fixed deals have previously been available at prices well below the current variable rates, but more recently have only been offered at prices well above, so it would depend when they commenced their fixed rate.

For example I’m paying 14p per kWh for electricity and 2.1p for gas fixed in 2020 for two years. Variable rates currently are around 20p and 4p. However the best my current provider can offer me should I wish to renew that fixed deal now u til 2024 would be 45p and 15p!