Letters, November 9: Britain being left in the cold by Government energy policy

From: Nick Martinek, Briarlyn Road, Huddersfield.

From: Nick Martinek, Briarlyn Road, Huddersfield.

In the past 15 years, UK governments (Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat) have deliberately pursued a policy of making electricity more expensive
for both industry and the public.

As a consequence of both the European Union’s Large Combustion Plant Directive, and Labour’s 2008 Climate Change Act, significant numbers of low cost UK coal and gas fired electricity generators have been shut down.

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Last Wednesday, because of recent persistent fog, very little wind, and plant breakdowns, the National Grid had to ask for more power from the existing plants and purchased electricity, at a massive premium, from overseas.

And it is not as cold as it will get soon.

The margin for sustainability of supply this winter is tiny, about one per cent without emergency diesel generators.

That is based on long range weather forecasts which are notoriously unreliable.

If this winter is severe, as a few have been recently, we will get black-outs.

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If the Conservative government thinks it can get away with this, it is deluded.

It is happening on their watch, despite the previous irresponsible behaviour of the European Union, Labour and LibDems.

This is an emergency.

The whole edifice of penalties against coal and gas plants needs to be scrapped.

The ridiculous subsidies for “renewables” need to be stopped.

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The current energy policy has taken the UK to third world levels, exported jobs to more polluting countries, put lives at risk, and has cost billions of pounds for no benefit.

From: R Williams, Leeds.

So we know that Britain doesn’t have enough electricity.

We know where it will go to buy more. We know, roughly at least, how much this extra energy will cost.

And I think we also know who will end up paying for it.

But why should consumers be expected to keep footing the bill for our governments’ failed energy policies?

From: Michael Robinson, Berry Brow, Huddersfield.

Writing on another utterly still day, I wonder if the ‘anti-frackers’ can remember the last decent gusts of wind which stirred the moribund turbines into action in, say, the last six weeks?