MORE POWER STATIONS

[Georgiesmum]

What do you think of the news this morning that they are going to build more power stations in the u.k. and our energy bills will be kept high in the future to pay for it? I thought i was hearing thinks this morning when it was on the radio this morning. They also said our energy bills are due to go up anyway. What again?

[Hopkirk]

Well if they don't build some more, and urgently, the lights will go out.

[Georgiesmum]

Yes, but how many more energy price hikes can we take?

[commoner]

Well we most certainly need energy...goes without saying, unless you want to go back to nature as in the Stone Age....and the cost of everything will go up as it always has.....cost is relative and so long as we all can get enough energy to carry on our lives in some sort of comfort we will have to take it on the chin so to speak....

As for the price ....well I do remember we had a penny meter....that's an old penny.. for our gas and it seemed to last quite a while....imagine putting a one pence piece in a meter to get your bath water nowadays...you'd want a full time meter feeder on permanant standby....

...Some day a brilliant person will come up with a magical answer....just like when electricity was discovered.....until then.. grin and bear it is my policy. ....:-))

[tiggerblue10]

Maybe time to get some solar panels.

[jomifl]

They should build more wind farms instead so that more people can get to enjoy them, especially those who live out in the coutryside and aren't lucky enough to live near a power station.

[Philtaz]

It does seem to fly in the face of everything we're hearing at the moment, especially when there are reports of firms being paid to turn wind turbines OFF because the national grid cannot cope with the increase in power on a windy day!
A friend of mine has also recently had solar panels fitted to his council house free of charge as part of an ongoing project. Coupled with recent reductions by energy companies in a price war it does leave one scratching ones head.

[buildersmate]

Oh Gawd. What a load of mis-information we are being fed by the press.

1) We'd need hundreds and hundreds of wind-turbines to fill the gap left by the ageing nuclear stations that cannot just be kept going and going until they break down.
2) The baseload cost of mere generation on a nuclear plant is very low. And they cannot be just switched on/off willy-nilly. This is why the nuclear stations are used to provide the baseload during the working day, with other forms (some of which are wind-turbines) are switched off at certain times of the day/night when the load required by the country is lower. Remember electricity cannot easily be stored and the generating capacity has to be shifted up/down during the day to match consumer demand.
3) Electricity bills going up in the short term is to do with the price of natural gas used to generate some of the stuff - mainly bought from the continent and Algeria.
4) The problem with nuclear is the cost of building the new stations. Have you ever been inside a working nuclear plant? - I have. The engineering issues are significant. The last lot were all built under the old CEGB regime when the Government owned and ran the generating units and the distribution system. Any commercial builder / operator will want to know that minimum prices will be paid for the electricity generated for a minimum period of time so they can get a return on the capital spent on building the things. You get guarantee the French don't mess about having this debate about commercial subsidy or not - they just know how unhappy the French will be when the lights go out.
Time we just got up and did it - we don't have much time before some nuclear stations will reach the end of their lives.

[johnk]

If you want power you have to have power stations. It's not just the power we use at home and work but everything we buy has needed power in it's manufacture so if you're unhappy about them consume less

[Celticv11]

More wind farms............i,m a big fan:)

[razza]

They want to charge us for building them and then charge us again for using them.Talk about being duped.

[Davethedog]

Its all about profit. hey hve to justify it so, they just give us some old crap. The world will end if we don't, youll be living with candles and open fires etc.
all propaganda. They are making enough money now to do the build but using it would cut into the profit and the government lets them (both not just the current one) whilst pretending to wring their hands.

[commoner]

LoL...like it Celtic....very droll..Heh heh!

[quinie]

i don't like windfarms at all. Why not more Hydro-electricity? Plenty of water here in Scotland!!

[jomifl]

Razza, if you want electricity you have to pay for it, Whether you pay the building costs at the start or later in your electricity bill makes little difference except that for the latter you will be paying for the interest on the loan to build the power station as well.

[jomifl]

Quinie, but nowhere to keep it!

[quinie]

There are several hydro-electric power stations already here-on rivers and lochs. First one built in the 1940's The one at Pitlochry certainly doesn't spoil our beautiful countryside. It attracts a lot of tourists. I don't mind a few windfarms here and there but when you see a whole lot of them together-ugh!!

[Celticv11]

Scotland should harness as much hydro electricity as possible..............then sell it to the english

[jomifl]

Quinie, Most of the hydro power potential in the UK was exploited long ago. All that remains are some low potential resources that are not at present economically exploitable.

[jomifl]

Celtic, Scotland needs the power from hydro itself, perhaps the Scots would like to buy electricity from England and Wales.

[Old_Geezer]

Why would they be kept high to pay for it ? Surely they have already earmarked some of the vast profits from the past to pay for new investment ? It would be much higher if we depended on importing power in anyway. Think of what mire we'd be in if we were stupid enough to rely on foreign investment. Still pity it isn't in public hands then the power could be supplied at near cost to those who paid for it in taxes.