2025-06-12
When we can't heat our homes next winter because there is no electricity to heat the water or drive the heat pump or fire the gas/oil boiler, who will be blamed?
Will it be the wind for not blowing? Or the sun for not shining? Or the interconnects from our neighbours who decided that they needed their electricity more than we did? Or maybe it will be the elderly for being too numerous, or for turning on their heating for too long, or for cooking food and boiling water for tea rather than having a cold sandwich in the dark?
Or will it be the politicians who drove us purposefully into fuel poverty in their insane quest to eliminate all combustion from our generating capacity (but who will no doubt have had the cash the foresight and the available space to install an emergency generator)?
And when the pipes freeze and burst due to winter cold and the phones are out due to no internet, will our politicians summon a handy plumber to fix the problem?
Never mind, the government has now decided that nuclear is green enough and has ordered another power station (Sizewell C) from EDF - you know, the EDF that covered itself in glory by taking for ever to build Hinkley Point C.
"Sadly, around 40GW of ageing nuclear and gas-fired power stations are due to retire by the early 30s, so Sizewell C will be too little, too late"
Investor's Daily agrees - Ed will have to bend to reality (this is not financial advice!).The question remains - how soon can this additional capacity come on-line?
And don't think AI will save us - those data centres will have their own dedicated SMRs unconnected to the grid. In a contest between the elderly public and the privately funded AI, who do you think will get priority?
Meanwhile, perhaps we could all take hibernation classes. It might enable some of us to survive until the 2040s/2050s? Could be an opening there somewhere for an enterprising hedgehog expert ..?
