Emeritus Prof Christopher May

As Fred Harter points out:

The UK’s electricity prices are the highest in the developed world. This doesn’t just pinch the pockets of consumers. It also makes British steel & other goods far more expensive than those produced in other countries'.

The answer is to continue to expand renewables, sorting out the UK's interconnection problems & getting (re)integrated into EU's energy trading system.

But also the UK's 'marginal pricing' model is dysfunctional!

#energy
https://observer.co.uk/news/the-sensemaker/article/why-uk-energy-costs-too-much

Why UK energy costs too much | The Observer

Prices depend on the global gas market, but EU energy trading and more renewables can help

The Observer
May 22 at 1:04pmWeb
Show threadBashStKid3d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 I get a bit confused by folks like Mike Grubb, who’ve worked with the IPCC, and worked with Ofgem, but still just point at how crap the system they’ve been working inside for decades is, rather than actually pushing any changes through.
Show threadLazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈3d ago

@ChrisMayLA6 (I really hate the rebranded Observer, it looks like a substack blog)

Just another way we get ripped off on this island.

Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May3d ago

@Lazarou

I agree; so far the direction of travel for the (new) Observer has definitely been downwards.... I'll give it a few more weeks, but I'm already wondering what I could replace it with on Sunday (as a paper being delivered)....

Show threadTerryB2d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 And we could be producing vastly more domestic roof top solar electricity. But the industry seems to be built on not giving consumers useful information, not explaining what is available or what the real cost/benefits of different set ups are. It’s actually bloody difficult to get any information useful to decision making. Also, why does planning not mandate solar panels. I see lots of new builds, I don’t think I’ve seen a single panel on their roofs.
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May2d ago

@TerryBTwo

yes, it really does seem that one hand doesn't know (or care) what the other is doing

Show threadTerryB2d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 I get an impression of a political class who think it’s a homogenous industry, and an industry that’s actually composed of piecemeal, independent contractors and suppliers. We got ours via Costco. But they only act as agents (and price setters- we got ours while they were offering discounts). We still had to deal with a smallish contractor for the actual supply and installation. And getting full or contextual information is like pulling teeth.
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May2d ago

@TerryBTwo

yes, a generalist political class would have little idea about the details of anything as they demonstrate on a daily basis

Show threadTerryB2d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 Nor the everyday realities of pricing,sourcing,contracting. This is why the ill-fated insulation scheme failed. Big government grants, but no one to do the work. (We got ours done because I was searching for contractors from minute 1. I’m cynical).
Show threadTerryB2d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 Particularly a political class and senior civil servants who mostly grew up in green leafy suburbs, went to private school then Oxbridge then got jobs in major law firms that daddy has contacts with. Or in constituency offices.