Christopher Booker, Telegraph
More than once last year I explained why Ofgem, the National Grid and our
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey were so confident that, despite
the continued closure of proper power stations and the ever-growing number
of unreliable wind farms, they will still be able to keep our lights on.
Their solution, although they were remarkably reluctant to shout about it,
lies in what they call the “demand-side balancing reserve”: in other words,
paying colossal sums to firms either to reduce their electricity use or to
call on thousands of diesel generators.
The firms rushing to cash in on this bonanza are much more open about how this
is intended to make up for the unreliability of those useless wind farms.
At least, last week, Mr Davey did slip in a reference to it in a speech on
Britain’s energy future. The way the lights would stay on, he coyly
admitted, would be by “rewarding volunteer businesses” either to “reduce
their use of National Grid-supplied electricity” or “by switching to on-site
generation rather than relying on the grid”.
Those fossil fuels really are extremely useful, so long as you don’t shout
about it – or admit how much it is costing."
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