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azimir t1_jadfh2h wrote

That's phenomenal for a country with 67 million people. Great work, Britain!

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NorysStorys t1_jae4fyx wrote

That because we can’t actually afford to heat and power out homes, so the grid demand is lower so we can just run off green power while we all freeze to death.

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SilverNicktail t1_jaeapf3 wrote

The vast majority of heating in the UK is provided by gas....which it may shock you to learn is not in fact electricity.

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OrganizationLast8480 t1_jadwx9a wrote

And yet somehow we have an energy crisis at the same time, with prices sky high due to the oil and gas markets 🤔

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ThomasHL t1_jae2lou wrote

There are a couple of reasons. The first is most homes in the UK heat themselves with gas directly instead of electricity. So we still use a lot of gas.

The second thing was the 100% part was just for one day. The renewables in our grid are increasing but mostly at the expense of coal power plants, not gas.

And the final component is the UK grid system pays every electricity producer the price of the most expensive energy producer. If 1% of the grid is gas, 100% of the grid pays gas prices. Even on this one day, there was a gas power plant running as a back up (it just wasn't used).

That last one is part of why very few UK homes have electricity based heating systems. There will never be a time when electricity costs less than gas, so gas has been the cheaper option.

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61746162626f7474 t1_jaeynpw wrote

That’s how all markets work with undifferentiated goods.

Company A can make 500 widgets for a cost of £1 each, company B can make 300 widgets at a cost of £2 each. But the total market size is 700 widgets, company A does not sell its 500 widgets for for £1.05 ( a small profit margin) it sells them for £1.99 (just undercutting company B and ensuring it sells all 500 of its widgets) while B makes up the rest of the market selling 200 of its 300 widgets for just over £2 each.

Any other strategy makes no sense for any market participant. If company A sold its widgets for £1.05 it would be leaving money on the table. The companies that make up the market demand of 700 widgets would all scramble and bid for the cheaper widgets from company A driving up their price as they compete to buy from company A. Rather than be forced to buy company Bs more expensive (but identical) widgets. Since company B can’t make the widgets for less than £2 assuming it’s rational it wouldn’t sell for less than it’s cost so the price equalises around £2, company A makes a huge profit and company B makes little or no profit.

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PrivateFrank t1_jaeiese wrote

>And the final component is the UK grid system pays every electricity producer the price of the most expensive energy producer. If 1% of the grid is gas, 100% of the grid pays gas prices. Even on this one day, there was a gas power plant running as a back up (it just wasn't used).

>That last one is part of why very few UK homes have electricity based heating systems. There will never be a time when electricity costs less than gas, so gas has been the cheaper option.

Iirc all of the European energy market works like that.

And it wasn't 25 consecutive hours, either...

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Hostillian t1_jadyoch wrote

Highest prices in the world. Taking back control to ensure the corporations have massive profits, at our expense.

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marsman t1_jae2zvw wrote

>Highest prices in the world.

Erm.. Not even in Europe, so no?

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Hostillian t1_jae9eo6 wrote

It was, at one point, apparently..

Even if there was maybe one or two higher, who cares. Not going to bicker over it.

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marsman t1_jae9xhh wrote

It wasn't. There was a misleading table of spot prices published that seems to have done the rounds covering 30 minutes of high demand/cost in the UK, but unless you have some source or some info that I haven't seen, the UK doesn't have anything like the highest energy prices in the word, nor in a European context and certainly not if you are looking at consumer prices (given the Government interventions and subsidy)

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Hostillian t1_jaeouh6 wrote

I was talking about electricity, should have been more specific. I'll be sure to run it past the lawyers next time.

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marsman t1_jaep9an wrote

So was I...?

Although just for clarity, the UK doesn't have the highest gas or electricity prices in the world, or Europe, or compared to the EU.

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Hostillian t1_jaeq4tx wrote

Google it and you'll find a number of sources from the end of last year that says that the UK was paying the highest electricity prices in the world. Whether that's still the case, I don't know.

Might be better to take it up with them as I'm sure they have sources for their assertions..

Eg.. Cityam Walesonline Nationalworld Yahoo Etc etc..

So just for clarity. It was reported that we did. I'm just passing it on.

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Thewalrus515 t1_jae11zg wrote

Shouldn’t have shot yourself in the foot with brexit, simple as.

−12

crazy-axe-man t1_jae2ytd wrote

Whilst most of us (including me) fought not to leave, I'm not entirely convinced this one can be attributed to brexit based on the significant cost of energy in the rest of Europe... its more based around the wholesale purchase system we use for energy.

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marsman t1_jae33qp wrote

Being in the EU would have had no impact on energy costs in this context though, so... No?

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Thewalrus515 t1_jae5vkr wrote

You genuinely believe that the UK would pay the same for gas and oil if they were in the EU? Lol.

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marsman t1_jae6fww wrote

Can you give one reason why it wouldn't...?

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Thewalrus515 t1_jaeh3n2 wrote

The inconvenience of transportation to the UK, the inconsistent rules, and because they can charge more because the UK is desperate.

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shiftystylin t1_jaenv0q wrote

Whilst I agree brexit was a f-ing stupid idea and voted remain, our wise overlords were pushing through new gas exploration (also f-ing stupid idea) because we had a bumper sales day selling gas to the EU at high prices. Once Holland and Germany's storage facilities were full, prices dropped... Except they didn't in the UK.

We also have no nationalised energy companies so we can't dictate the price that is reasonable to pay. We get the price dictated to us. We've basically become hostage to neoliberalist capitalism - let's play "who can run a country into ground the quickest!"

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FindTheRemnant t1_jadrmuz wrote

"Biomass" include wood chips imported from North American forests and burned.

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Alioshia t1_jadu2ur wrote

at what points and how many asterisks in that statement?

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ThomasHL t1_jadx0yb wrote

Reading the article would tell you some of that (specifically that it was for 25th December).

In general the UK is now managing 40%+ renewable on a yearly basis, which is pretty good going. The big proviso is that that doesn't count the gas boilers most homes use for heating.

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AndrewWhite97 t1_jae8039 wrote

Yet we're still paying out the ass for electricity bills

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Ogrehunter t1_jaea0x3 wrote

Price drop because cheaper energy? But what about our profits!! How are our share holders ever going to survive! How can you be so selfish!!!! /s

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mattrhale t1_jadv8um wrote

"The British government have stated that everything is going great"

I'm British. This is some party-line bullshit. Vote labour?

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marsman t1_jae39zw wrote

I think you start to run into issues when you start ignoring actual data points.. This is good news, it's not perfect, it will get better, and I'd rather have the Tories out, but its still good news.

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tkyjonathan t1_jaepp95 wrote

Then why is our energy prices x5 more expensive than 2 years ago and expected to go up to x10-15?

0