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You can't address every problem like that. Those £50 a time would quickly add up. Also that's several hundred pounds per household right out of discretionary in

by simonh 4y ago

You can't address every problem like that. Those £50 a time would quickly add up. Also that's several hundred pounds per household right out of discretionary income.

sokoloff 4y ago
Agreed, which is why the notion of important-enough comes in. I think that stable and sustainable utility supply would fall quite high on the priority list for most households.
- simonh 4y ago
  Oh sure, we have to do what's necessary by definition. It's another extra cost falling on households at a time when costs for everything are piling up.
  - cjrp 4y ago
    Is there a RoI in terms of reduced energy costs for households?
pjc50 4y ago
As with everything, if it's actually important to the right people the money can be found. Businesses operating in Britain need reliable, affordable power as well. Putting the cost burden on retail customers is a political choice. (and small businesses; the recent price hikes have been far higher than a mere £50 and have been putting restaurants out of business)
matthewdgreen 4y ago
Building proper interconnect between the north and south isn’t “one of many competing interests.” It needs to happen to stabilize the UK grid, everyone accepts that it needs to happen, it has a multi-decade payoff time. So just figure out how to get it done now and accept that it’s not going to get cheaper. Then move on to things that are less critical and start pinching pennies there.
- pjc50 4y ago
  > everyone accepts that it needs to happen This is the UK. Just because something is obvious doesn't mean that conservatives and NIMBYs are going to accept it until they, personally, are sitting in the dark.
  - cjrp 4y ago
    And at that point, they'll blame the previous government ;)
  - Reason077 4y ago
    The North-South interconnects are already happening. The Western HVDC became operational in 2019[1], and two separate Eastern HVDC links (Eastern Green Link 1 & 2) are pretty far along in the planning process, with EGL1 expected to begin construction this year and EGL2 in 2025[2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_HVDC_Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_HVDC_Link [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_HVDC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_HVDC
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

by simonh 4y ago

You can't address every problem like that. Those £50 a time would quickly add up. Also that's several hundred pounds per household right out of discretionary income.

sokoloff 4y ago

Agreed, which is why the notion of important-enough comes in. I think that stable and sustainable utility supply would fall quite high on the priority list for most households.

simonh 4y ago
Oh sure, we have to do what's necessary by definition. It's another extra cost falling on households at a time when costs for everything are piling up.
- cjrp 4y ago
  Is there a RoI in terms of reduced energy costs for households?

pjc50 4y ago

As with everything, if it's actually important to the right people the money can be found. Businesses operating in Britain need reliable, affordable power as well. Putting the cost burden on retail customers is a political choice. (and small businesses; the recent price hikes have been far higher than a mere £50 and have been putting restaurants out of business)

matthewdgreen 4y ago

Building proper interconnect between the north and south isn’t “one of many competing interests.” It needs to happen to stabilize the UK grid, everyone accepts that it needs to happen, it has a multi-decade payoff time. So just figure out how to get it done now and accept that it’s not going to get cheaper. Then move on to things that are less critical and start pinching pennies there.

pjc50 4y ago
> everyone accepts that it needs to happen This is the UK. Just because something is obvious doesn't mean that conservatives and NIMBYs are going to accept it until they, personally, are sitting in the dark.
- cjrp 4y ago
  And at that point, they'll blame the previous government ;)
- Reason077 4y ago
  The North-South interconnects are already happening. The Western HVDC became operational in 2019[1], and two separate Eastern HVDC links (Eastern Green Link 1 & 2) are pretty far along in the planning process, with EGL1 expected to begin construction this year and EGL2 in 2025[2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_HVDC_Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_HVDC_Link [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_HVDC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_HVDC
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]