There are solutions, short and long term. Here is a particularly imaginative one, from Fuel Poverty Action, which would reverse the perversities in current pricing. Give everyone a minimum quantity of free energy,
Crippled Jesus Christ on a fucking pogo stick that’s stupid.
Hmmm. Everyone gets a free PP3 once a year, for all their lighting, heating and transport needs over the year.
Should teach a few basic arithmetics about the uselessness of battery storage to the Grauniadistas.
Bills will shoot up again in October, just as people turn up their heating.
That’s why I’m stocking up on coal and kerosene. Fuck you and the test tube you crawled out of, Greta Thundermong.
Give everyone a minimum quantity of free energy, enough to just about manage frugally in a small home. Then raise the tariff on a steep gradient for all extra energy used, so big properties and heavy users pay higher and higher rates the more they use, covering the cost of the free energy. The incentive for everyone would be to cut back as much as they could, so high-earners who never bothered about it before would find energy extravagance exorbitant. They too would soon be turning off lights and devices on standby, using less water (energy intensive) and wearing more vests and jumpers.
Mr Ecks tried to warn us but we didn’t listen.
Well, Polly. Let’s see you show us the way.
Yeah but, no but, the Sun and the Wind are free, so why can’their enegry be so ?
Do I remember our host mentioning that the water supply in Portugal works something like this? A certain amount free or cheap then progressively more expensive? How does that work in practice?
“Mr Ecks tried to warn us but we didn’t listen”
What’s happened to him? Has he been “Disappeared”?
I could actually solve this. Abolish the regulations and full steam ahead with fracking.
Yeah. I don’t think they’ll do it either.
It works just great with water. For there’s a significant limit to the Q available in the country. So, allocation must happen. Not the same with energy of course, we can just make more….
So… Free,eh? Now, that means either all the kit and infrastructure has been supplied gratis and is all staffed by volunteers or … someone else is paying for it. Government isn’t, since most of its resources are simply taken from others, so who?
Who is it that can afford that massive cost and is willing to pay it, Polly?
AZstu
Do I remember our host mentioning that the water supply in Portugal works something like this?
Works fine in Hong Kong too
“ Yeah but, no but, the Sun and the Wind are free, so why can’their enegry be so ?”
You may jest, but that was often seen as the killer argument against water privatisation. Inviting those who made that argument to get out of bed at 4am to fix a mains burst or spending time cleaning sewers, all without pay, fell down n stony ground.
Works fine in Hong Kong too
There is an interesting twist on HK water supply in that urban areas close to the sea have a separate salt-water supply for flushing. Not sure how it’s charged.
It did, however, give rise to a classic example of jobsworthyness. Legally all properties are required to have a separate connection and metering for flushing water supposedly to avoid contamination. To the minion who inspected my water meter (and pronounced it accurate by visual inspection only) that there was only a single fresh-water supply was irrelevant.
With a name like Fuel Poverty Action, it sounds like they are for it. And if enacted,they will succeed.
It’s fascinating how people are conned into overlooking the Net part of Net Zero and don’t understand that the only reason they have to have less is so others can carry on as before as the cost is incrementally less of a burden to them. It really is turkeys voting for Christmas
Not the same with energy of course, we can just make more….
We can’t when we won’t let ourselves. Assuming we carry on with that insanity, does Polly’s idea have some merit?
@mohave greenie I’m more surprised that there’s a ….”charity”… that’s fully focussed on something that wasn’t an issue 4-6 weeks ago. And treated as if they’ve Always Been There by the Usual Suspects
That subsidy mill seems to be quite efficient nowadays..
Make the inelastic consumption free at the expense of making the elastic consumption stepper?