There are two related, emergent trends in green politics at the moment. The first is that, in the face of rapid geopolitical shifts, the global green agenda is weakening, perhaps terminally. Second, the UK’s green agenda is facing a reckoning also, as it becomes obvious that the costs are overwhelming the budgets of households and businesses, leaving the Government’s promises of 'lower bills' a distant and painful memory. These two trends meet in a somewhat clumsy attempt to counter them in Monday’s edition of the Independent newspaper-turned-website this week.
It is the headline that strikes us first: 'Households hit with higher bills in £1bn wind farm "racket".' The story here has a ring of truth about it – a half truth. The "racket" in question is the fact that wind farms are given 'constraint payments' to stop producing power when either there is insufficient demand or the grid lacks the capacity to move the power from where it is being made to where it might be needed. “The National Energy System Operator (Neso) pays wind farms for the amount of energy they would have created when off they have to shut down, and then has to shell out on alternative energy sources, such as from gas-powered stations, to fill the gap on the national network," explains the Independent.
It's a story that critics of Net Zero policies have been pointing out since before Net Zero. The problem of the wind not blowing or blowing too much in the
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“I can’t stand the people on these lists. I find them insufferably stupid, vain and ignorant.”
That’s the qualification for being there. Who else could it be?
Is it true that Ed Miliband’s favourite singer is Bob Dylan and his favourite song is Blowin’ in the Wind? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
Is it true that Ed Miliband’s favourite singer is Bob Dylan and his favourite song is Blowin’ in the Wind?
My favourite Bob Dylan song is Idiot Wind.
The Moonbat was interviewed on LBC yesterday. Given complete freedom to trot (ahem) out his usual platitudes, uninterrupted by a presenter not long off the BBC Kool-Aid. When a couple of people who actually knew what they were talking about (physicists, by the way) tried to call the show they were constantly interrupted, presenter feigned ignorance and challenged them with the “scientific consensus”. Typical.
Moonbat shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near science, and preferably not near a microphone either.
Talking of Octopus, they must be getting desperate. They are doing weekly prize draws at work as a way to publicise their EV salary sacrifice scheme.
It is an economic fact: a business that cannot plan and/or alter output to match supply with demand is not economically viable. It cannot have a continuous revenue stream, it cannot know when revenue will flow or for how long or how much, it cannot plan and ensure positive cash-flow, it cannot make a return on investment.
There is no way to make it so without some form of market intervention by Government to subsidise the activity – and not just at start-up to “get it off the ground” but in perpetuity.
This has been known long before Net Zero.
Increasing the number of intermittent supply installations, moving electricity around, won’t solve the problem of under-production when demand is there, over-production when it isn’t.
The fact that company A may be able to supply when company B cannot, does not bring revenue to company B.
An electricity supply industry using wind and solar is not a workable business model.
“That last point was the fatal flaw in the green plan…”
There was no plan, just slavish adherence to ideology.
They’ve all started to see the way the wind is blowing (!), and decided it’s time for some new values and opinions….
I suspect Ben uses mild language like fibs rather than lies because he doesn’t want to risk being painted as a conspiracy theorist. I have no such concern and cover the wider Net Zero hoax using unforgiving language in my recent post “The charade of Net Zero”: https://edmhdotme.wpcomstaging.com/the-charade-of-net-zero-2/.
Thanks for the link.
Is it a lie if they think it’s true?
I wish Ben would use the word “lies” rather than “fibs”, preferably “egrecious lies”.
Crocodiles always were adept at faking tears.
Great article. £11 per month may well be a small amount for these folk and my gas and electric standing charges from next month will be £27 per month before I press a switch.
The same cost whether you have a flat or a mansion to heat and the biggest take from the poor to the rich.
UK power bills are certain to rise over the next 12mths, this is now baked in. Whatever spin comes from Milibrain, or any of the ‘climate 100’, they will be unable to explain the rise despite wind ‘being the cheapest’. Life is going to start being very uncomfortable for the political elites (dullards?) as their lies are exposed.
Of course that will be of no comfort to the millions facing higher power bills, but should see Labour out of power (pun intended) for at least a generation come the next GE.
I think the simplest answer to the question posed by the article is that they need someone to blame and who better than Nasty Big Business, especially if you are playing to an audience of the economically hard of understanding.
How much longer they can keep up the charade will be interesting to see- the wind operators are effectively nationalised already but maybe at some point they will actually have to be nationalised and electricity bills cut – and the true cost just paid out of general taxation
That Octopus bloke needs to STFU. What is his problem? He gets paid handsomely, his firm is making a profit. What does he want – more profit? Or to be more popular? Is he feeling unloved because he is having to charge so much for his electricity? Diddums.
I am not sure I would call it a racket exactly. Firms supplying electricity from windmills are only viable because of market distorting subsidies, so what are they meant to do? Not bid at all I suppose on the grounds that it is stupid and immoral. But commercially they are doing what their contracts said they must.
I suppose on reflection they are collaborating in a racket, but the racket is being operated by the government. Mr Octopus can only question the “racket” if he questions the whole premise of “green energy”.
Octopus has its tentacles everywhere.
What are they supposed to do?
Answer. Not start a business that can only be profitable by defrauding its consumers. That’s what rackets are, businesses set up on the basis they can deceive people into handing over cash.
I suppose so
I would not feel comfortable doing it
But while the end consumer is being conned, the wind power firms are just one part of that chain and are not technically defrauding their customers
Maybe this green revelation will spread to the massive government subsidies on electric vehicles?
The job of newspapers, just like the broadcasters, whether public or private, is to control the message in order to control the people. Always has been, and always will be.
Superb.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this excellent article were to be read by the editor of the (Non)Independent and the (so called) ‘journalists’ who work there and write such moronic articles.
Sadly, there’s little hope of that — although perhaps Ben (or Will) could send this article to the Indy and offer them the right of reply ?? It might make for amusing reading, as they evade the issues raised.
They can only deny reality and truth for so long. It’s an unforgiving thing reality, it just never ceases being truth, no matter what lies, obfuscations and denials are thrown at it!
Calling it Disinformation, Misinformation, malinformation or Fake news has absolutely no impact on its standing.
Anyone who pays any credence to any of the cretins on that and other lists is also a cretin. WTF do celebrities know about anything, except fawning and showing off their massive wealth.
When, not IF, this whole lie blows up in their faces, they are going to look really bad, as they say, be on the right side of history, you’ll be judged on the causes and lies you support.
As I wrote below, they could for example officially nationalise the wind power providers and hide the extra costs in general taxation
Aye, physics can be a right b*stard. It’s probably Faaar-Riiiiight.
I jumped to the next line, expecting to read Faaar- … aday!
Ah, well. There must have been a reason for that. 🙂
They would dismiss it as “misinformation” by someone in the pay of the fossil fuel industry.
Yes, I’m just about to leave my Dallas condo to go and collect my cheque from OPEC…
Even klepto-parasite Vince Dale has started to signal a shift away from outright lying. If ever there was a rancid old canary in the coal mine of renewables.