Fracking should be given the green light immediately to ease bills next winter, the Treasury will tell the new Prime Minister. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph has more.
Whitehall officials are drawing up a “three winter” strategy to help families with soaring energy costs between now and 2025, the Telegraph understands.
They are working on options including short, medium and long-term proposals that will be presented to Downing Street early next month.
Work is under way to determine which measure could be rolled out immediately and in place this autumn, when the energy price cap will rise to over £3,600.
Treasury officials are also examining ways in which the U.K.’s energy supply could be bolstered in time for next winter.
“There is even one fracking company who reckons they could even get some energy into the market by next winter if they were allowed to get cracking straight away,” said a senior Government source.
The firm, based in the north of England, has told the Treasury that if it is granted a fracking licence immediately, it is likely to be able to inject new supplies into the market by January.
A “moratorium” on fracking has been in place since November 2019, but both Tory leadership candidates have said they would support it in areas where local people are willing to see it take place.
The Conservative manifesto in December 2019 said the party “will not support fracking unless the science shows categorically it can be done safely”.
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What about coal?
A new fleet of coal fire power stations should be ordered as well as getting the men back in the pits.
Open cast could be restarted very quickly. All extraction (pits, oc) could be ramped up very quickly (start by getting staff onto generous overtime) — there would be the requirement to push through increased extraction licences, though.
They could increase power output, at reduced cost, by converting all the plants that were converted to biomass.
Given the disaster that’s unfolding, there’s an argument for nationalising key power plants, particularly those that have become dependent on green subsidies (like those biomass plants — under private ownership there’s little incentive for them to convert to coal).
With you 100%. Unfortunately, so eminently sensible and downright obvious that the chances of this happening are between Slim and none. And Slim…
Unfortunately, there is very little prospect of “getting the men back in the pits.” Although there are some deep mine shafts that have been capped at the top rather than filled (Wistow, Stillingfleet, Riccall and Askern the most obvious), all have now had development built around them.
Whilst it is possible to remove a mine shaft cap, doing so at the top of a shaft filled with methane is not a task for the faint hearted. (I know. I’ve had to do it.). After a decade of deterioration and flooding, re-opening would be a huge challenge.
An even bigger challenge would be getting the qualified Mining, Electrical & Mechanical Engineers to return. After being kicked in the teeth whilst successive Governments extol the wonders of Whirligigs and Sun trappers? I don’t think so. And that’s without even considering where the actual miners are to come from. Towards the end of UK Coal, a lot of Polish Miners were happy to work in UK pits and (despite language problems), very good most of them were. You think either they or the (even then ageing) miners will hurry back?
I am sceptical that Suss or Trunak will allow the new coal mine application in Cumbria to go forward – and that’s for metalurgical coal, not for thermal power stations, almost all of which have now been demolished anyway.
There are good prospects for new deep coal mines. I can’t imagine anyone will seriously consider any of them until fracked gas starts to run out in maybe 50 years. Even surface mines will have to surmount huge obstacles although vastly cheaper and less challenging than deep mines.
But if we can’t even progress fracking when the industry is keen to make a start and even pay ransom money to do so, all this is still fantasy land.
Make no mistake, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t what will lead to astronomical energy prices (and likely the death of thousands). All he did was to sneeze whilst looking at the monumental house of cards that EU & UK virtue signalling Beloved Leaders have constructed with billions stolen from their electorates.
Of course, what he is really guilty of, is being intelligent enough to realise that all this “Net Zero” GangGreen scam is built on a pseudo-scientific pack of deliberate lies. Even worse, he has been paying a lot for all the GangGreen activist civilisation haters on the other. As even Hillary Clinton admitted. Certainly Russia has hugely benefitted. Our fault for electing mendacious morons.
At least 400 years of the black stuff beneath our feet and thousands of jobs. Any politician not prepared to push for coal is certainly NOT in any way interested in raising this country from the shithole it has become these last 2.5 years.
If the winner of the crummy tory slog fest does not come out immediately with plans to have coal and fracking operations up and running by 1st January 2023 then we will know they have simply been bad actors.
There’s also the possibility of emergency regulation to reduce or even remove the ‘green energy’ tax that’s put on all bills.
How about all taxes on fuels?
Would reduce transportation costs hugely which in turn would reduce price of goods.
But the NWO aiming for One World Government don’t want that.
They won’t do that. We can all take the bus (that doesn’t exist) as far as they’re concerned.
We are, after all, just useless eaters who need to be culled & cold is a far more effective killer than heat.
Boris telling everyone to suck it up as the price of freedom, because Ukrainians are ‘paying with their blood’, may prove to be a little reckless, coming as it does before we see the death figures from a cold winter with no heat…
Not that Bozo will be shivering alongside.
I think the porcine useless git is already well lagged from that photo of him topless on his hols 17.5 stone of Eatons finest .He is well off the BMI target .I think Carrie must wear a mask ???
To turn around the old joke, Bozo must be a two bagger.
**** Boris
One of the possibilities would be to allow power supplies to be VAT=0, not the minimum 5% for domestic use (when were in the EU 5% was the minimum), and potentially zero for commercial use as well. However, the Treasury probably doesn’t like that idea, after all, they are benefiting from the unplanned revenue rise at present.
Quite — they could even set the %age at the point where they replicate the income received in 2019 (say) — ie, if the vat was 5% and prices increase five-fold then the treasury would receive the same ‘income’ with vat at 1%.
However, as businesses start to fail owing to massive increases in costs (fuels), the treasury take is going to shrink faster than an eisewein grape on its frozen vine.
Can’t have it both ways.
Massive increases in costs combined with massive reductions in discretionary expenditure.
Spending over the past few years has been anything BUT discretionary. The willingness of Bojo and co to 5iss away taxpayers’ money puts Labour to shame
I would definitely call pissing £400B of our (current and future) money up Big Pharma’s wall discretionary (and very unwise and very probably corrupt!), but I think I get your point, Jeremy!
Without cuts to public spending alongside it, we’d just end up with even more borrowing until finally it all collapses.
Transportation costs and liquefaction fees mean fracking is a no brainer. Fracking essentially explains the low natural gas price in the US market compared to Europe. The low density of gas make the whole process of transportation very expensive compared to say crude oil, so maximising domestic production is extremely sensible. Ideally all MPs from the last 20 years should be put down the wells when we restart fracking.
“Ideally all MPs from the last 20 years should be put down the wells when we restart fracking” – And left there.
Other things that could be considered …reducing single person household Council tax to 50% rate not 75% as it is at the moment.This would help pensioners on fixed incomes .Secondly get rid of the standing charges or reduce it substantially ,mine is now over 150 quid a year just for electricity .
Yes — it would be helpful to increase the incentive for reducing power consumption.
The current plans for gov to ‘pay the difference’ but with an payback over a decade (or whatever) paid by tax also reduces the incentive for reduction in consumption — the government is essentially saying that people who cut back will be paying for the profligate anyway.
£153-74 now on my tariff – that’s +79.7% more than last year.
Another thought .When they sign up suppliers for “unreliable ” sources such as wind and solar link the contract to the supplier such that they have to provide the standby power when they are not working .That way it should make ” unreliables” too expensive so they can tear the whole nett zero bollox idea up..
We can then invest in coal and nuclear with all the subsidies that will not be paid out …for wind and solar.
A perfect example of ‘firm but fair.’ A wonderfully circular proposition which we know cannot be fulfilled and which therefore proves our case.
I’m expecting rolling power cuts this winter to ‘encourage reduction in consumption’.
They can’t do this for too many people at once (this is the ‘restart’ problem), so expect a letter through the post in Nov explaining when your particular part of the grid will be shut down each week.
What does she mean by “next winter”? Ten years into the future? Alright, she is probably not an experienced project manager, but…..
The Conservative manifesto in December 2019 said the party “will not support fracking unless the science shows categorically it can be done safely”. The science again, they must have said this about most things in the past, flight, sailing and falling over the horizon, coal mines, tunnels
Dan, I think it is important that at least on here we clearly differentiate between the religion that is ‘The Science’ and ‘science’ as we on here understand it ie the proper stuff.
Is the clearly planned surge in domestic fuel prices all part of the aim to introduce UBI?
People have to heat their homes. The government has to pretend to help so here’s a small loan to help you out. Still not enough money. Don’t worry, nobody will be taken to court for non-payment. People carry on racking up the bills.
CRUNCH!
The level of UK debt is so high we are taking your house, car etc as collateral, we will set a limit on your monthly spending and on how you spend, don’t worry, you will be fed and have some heating and here is a bit of spending money.
Never mind, we will sort everything out before the next election (tomorrow), but of course Tomorrow never comes.
And the gates are SHUT.
“Where are you going Sir?”
To the corner shop to collect my family’s daily food ration.
“Could I see your Digital ID sir?”
I can’t help it. Every time I read or hear “the science” I conclude the person is a mindless zombie repeating a religious mantra. Except it’s a dark, satanic sort of religion that requires human sacrifice.
Maybe they want us to have harder more difficult, colder lives, maybe they’ve worked out that we are getting our pensions for more than the 5 years predicted when it started.
I’m sure that the government is readily prepared to make the hard decisions that mean that other people become poorer.
We could have started the fracking process in February or even last year when prices started climbing. It’s not that they cannot do it, it’s that they won’t do it!!
On-line I read eight to twelve weeks to drill the well, plus one to three months of completion activities including between one and seven days of fracking. So it could certainly be done by winter.
However … the Civil Service will wish a study to be undertaken lasting at least 18 months. Then there is the planning application plus appeals lasting 12 months. Finally, there will be interminable court cases from green campaigners.
Alternatively, a short bill through Parliament in one day will energy bills halved for anyone directly affected..
Guess which option politicians will choose?
Did anyone take the same read as me from Truss/sunak – fracking only if the locals want it – ie no fracking? Surely there is a strategic, national interest that should overrule local opposition.