Get ready for power blackouts
Angry MPs blast failed energy policy as family bills are set to hit a chilling £4,400
Life by candlelight ...are we heading for 1973 all over again?
HouSEHoLDS and companies could face days of rolling blackouts this winter, leaked government documents have warned.
Plans drawn up by the Business Department revealed that the uK could be hit by shortages of up to a sixth of peak demand for electricity in a ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’.
In response there would be planned power blackouts hitting homes and businesses.
It came as families were told yesterday to prepare for average energy bills to hit more than £4,400 next year, pushing household budgets ‘to the absolute limit’.
The leaked documents warn that households could face outages in January if a cocktail of cold weather and gas shortages strike simultaneously.
About four days of emergency measures could be triggered by a combination of below-average temperatures and a fall in gas imports from Norway and France.
Network operators could re-direct gas flows plan. The food and drink industry has been asked to come up with plans to avoid empty shelves in the event of blackouts, while ministers have ordered NHS bosses to make sure their ‘generators are properly serviced’ and ‘diesel tanks are full’.
Angry MPs said the uK’s reliance on imported energy was ‘incredibly complacent’.
Labour MP Darren Jones, chairman of the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee, said: ‘The government has been relaxed about our energy security for too long, assuming imported energy would save the day.’
Veteran Labour MP John Spellar added: ‘The Government has been incredibly complacent. It’s time for energy ministers to wake up.’
A Government source said its forecasters create ‘extreme scenarios to ensure we are prepared’, adding that there were no blackouts expected under its central scenario.
The plans, first revealed by Bloomberg, came as analysts Cornwall Insight forecast that the energy price cap will rise to £4,426 per year in April 2023.
It is currently £1,971 per year but will rise in october to an estimated £3,582 before rising again to £4,266 in the New Year, peaking at £4,427 between April and June. It prompted calls for the Government to bring forward winter support for households to avoid ‘devastation’.
The Tory leadership candidates were accused of operating ‘in a parallel universe’ as both refused to pledge further measures to soften the blow.
Liz Truss has promised a one-year freeze to green levies, saving the average household £153, while Rishi Sunak has promised to cut VAT on household energy bills, saving families up to £213.
The Government has announced support of £400 for richer households, rising to £1,200 for the poorest, but the business committee said this was ‘inadequate’.
Leadership frontrunner Miss Truss said her priority was to cut taxes rather than further grants for home energy bills.
Mr Sunak, who brought in the current household grants as Chancellor, said he would act ‘when it became clear how much bills would rise’.
Conservative MP Steve Baker said: ‘Price rises on this scale will be devastating. Households will now suffer the consequences of decades of failed energy policy.
‘Whoever is the next Prime
Minister needs to get on with going for shale gas and rescuing the nuclear programme.’
Analysts Cornwall Insight blamed regulator Ofgem’s changes in how it calculates the price cap for the alarming increases, saying the move ‘may be unwise when so many people are struggling’.
Energy bills began rising sharply nearly 12 months ago, due to a surge in global demand for gas and electricity.
The Ukraine war pushed costs higher still, and last month wholesale gas prices soared when Vladimir Putin halved Russia’s supplies to Europe.
Richard Lane, of debt charity StepChange, said Cornwall Insight’s forecast was ‘devastating news for millions’, adding: ‘With inflation at almost 10 per cent and interest rates at record levels, household budgets are being pushed to the absolute limit.’
An Ofgem spokesman said: ‘The wholesale market continues to move extremely quickly, so no forecast for next year is at all robust.’ A Government spokesman said: ‘If the cap was not in place, energy companies could charge consumers even higher prices.’