We had a brief power cut yesterday evening. First my laptop told me it had switched to the battery, then broadband went down and I began to curse BT, then we realised it was a power cut. Rather reluctantly I had to cease cursing BT.
Only a short power cut of about 30 minutes but we haven't had a proper one for years. A few brownouts, but that's all. We've made a few preparations for power cuts so we weren't too worried, but it certainly brings home how much we depend on electricity. It was also a useful reminder that Net Zero is still being stomped all over us.
It's also a reminder that any political party supporting Net Zero is not worth a vote. But we knew that.
5 comments:
Having invested quite a bit of time (and money) in my mains failure backup strategy, I'll be dammed annoyed if I don't get a power cut before much longer...
We got through the winter without needing the battery/solar-powered lanterns we'd bought.
We did search the garage and found a paraffin heater, presumably once the property of my late father-in-law. What did he use it for, I wonder. Perhaps he used it to take the chill off his garage if he was working out there. I wouldn't care to use it indoors without at least a CO monitor in the room.
We also found our ancient propane-fuelled camping cooker with every sign that everything rubber had perished. Should we buy a new one for the coming winter?
Dave - it's bound to come, political bungling is very powerful, although Net Zero doubts do seem to bee creeping in.
dearieme - we have two old propane-fuelled gas rings for camping which I tested a few months ago. Good enough to keep just in case, although we also have a gas hob on the cooker which would allow us to cook and heat pans of water.
Cuts are going to start, it seems. On a personal level they will be annoying. But cumulatively, for the economy as a whole, they will be disastrous. Every brief cut means transactions bungled, services interrupted, production processes stopped. I can see the small business lobby (i.e. those who don't have the resources to rig up an alternative instantaneous supply) getting very irate.
Brace yourself, Rishi!
Sam - I agree, the small business lobby could become very irate. Power goes off when hairdresser is in the middle of a busy day for example. The stories could mount up if the media realise it's an easy source of "something must be done" pieces.
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