Page 4 | Do you think we will have electricity/gas rationing this winter?

lonelyapple · 2022-05-31T18:04:57+00:00

Apparently the Government have assessed a "reasonable worst case scenario" which would involve rationing electricity to 6 million homes this winter if Russia cuts off further gas supplies to Europe. [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/power-cuts-energy-bills-russia-b2090163.html]] What a lovely dystopian present we are living in :(. YANBU = Yes, there will be power cuts/utility rationing. YABU = Nope, it won't happen, the Tories are excellent at planning for such contingencies (joke).

runnerswimmer · 01/06/2022 05:08

RedHorsesAreDangerous · 01/06/2022 00:17

The Historian (other household member) and I have been preparing for this for a while (they grew up in Africa and are used to things like load sharing and I was a kid in the 70s with older parents who had been kids in WWII). Over the last few years this includes stores of candles, power banks, rechargeable solar lights, wind up/usb/solar radio, Kelly Kettle, wonderbag (works on the old haybox principle, you start a stew or whatever off on the stove, then put it in the box or wonderbag and the insulation does the rest), heavy window curtains, door curtains, enough fleeces, sleeping bags and wool blankets to sink a container ship, gloves, hats, socks, layering...we don't have central heating, just a small number of radiators and humidifiers we can move around as needed and an Energenie plug you can program with the price per kilowatt to get an idea of cost. We can't have solar panels due to the terms of our lease but we are now looking at portable solar panels and stand alone sockets and some of the newer batteries which look very promising if the governments of the world don't shut them down or otherwise suppress them. It also probably helps that I read and watch a lot of science fiction (and I do mean science fiction, not science fantasy).

Our ancestors didn't have all this here electricity and they survived....it's undoubtedly all going to come as something of a shock for many though, financial or social.

It does infuriate me that some of this could have been avoided if greedy governments and oligarchs had allowed more investment in alternative power sources earlier on. But as we don't have much trust for governments in this household and the current English government has shown time and time again how much they despise people not in their same social class we know our best bet is to be as prepared as we can be.

In New Zealand cold houses are a way of life because very few houses have central heating (yes even in 2022) and high electricity prices, so the majority of the population still use a fire to heat their home, with some support from portable / gas heating. Whilst the fires heat the living rooms, the bedrooms are relatively cold, and then you wake up at 6am to a freezing home.

I grew up in the South Island where the temperatures are akin to Northern England, and our sole heating source was a fire which was only used in the evening / weekend. The living room was a nice toasty 22C but go up to the bedroom and your lucky if its 15C. If there is no fire on you would be sitting in 10C on an average winter's day. In the winter school hols I use to put mittens on and lie in bed all day. We had a shitty fan heater which was only allowed to be turned on in the morning if there had been a frost given the high cost electricity.

There are high rates of asthma and respiratory illnesses among New Zealand children because they are growing up in cold and mouldy homes, every winter my asthma would flare up. I cant say I am traumatised by it and it was normalised but there is no way I want my children to be freezing their arses off in their own home.

BeadyBlankBlue · 01/06/2022 05:58

hattie43 · 31/05/2022 19:22

I suppose if they ration each households use eg no more than 12 hrs a day most people don't use it through the night so maybe very easy .

As someone else said though the sheer cost will mean people are careful .

Isn’t your fridge/ freezer on ?

Penners99 · 01/06/2022 06:06

People with smart meters will be the easiest to switch off remotely. With dumb meters you have to switch off an area, smart meters allow individual houses to be cut off.

Sirzy · 01/06/2022 06:44

the idea scares me massively. If they do do this they need to ensure that measures are in place to protect the supply of those who need electricity to keep them alive. All we need to use electricity for is Ds feeding pump thankfully but others need it for much more vital equipment

Suzi888 · 01/06/2022 06:53

That’s going to seriously bugger up working from
home.

Alexandra2001 · 01/06/2022 06:57

Wont happen... this story is just another attempt to divert from Bojo's problems.

Throw out lies and half truths for everyone to get angry/scared/concerned about, whilst carrying on with Project Save Big Dog or whatever it is the Tory party is about these days.

Morph22010 · 01/06/2022 06:58

I don’t remember the power cuts in the 70s which is odd as I was around be it very young and I generally have a good memory of stuff. I do remember my mum talking a lot of the winter of discontent growing up and there being a 3 day week, where people could only work three days due to the power restrictions, sounds nice but they only got three days pay. Just reading online that inflation peaked at 26.9% in the 12 months to august 1975!

Alexandra2001 · 01/06/2022 07:00

Our ancestors didn't have all this here electricity and they survived....it's undoubtedly all going to come as something of a shock for many though, financial or social

I know what you mean, folk used to send their kids down the mines and before that, the Black Death...We survived it all (well, some of us) people need to harden up, too many Snowflakes.

sjxoxo · 01/06/2022 07:02

I think it’s very possible we will have domestic gas/electric rationing & very likely we’ll have commercial gas/Electric rationing. I think it will likely be temporary but yes I think it’s plausible unfortunately x

Alexandra2001 · 01/06/2022 07:03

Morph22010 · 01/06/2022 06:58

I don’t remember the power cuts in the 70s which is odd as I was around be it very young and I generally have a good memory of stuff. I do remember my mum talking a lot of the winter of discontent growing up and there being a 3 day week, where people could only work three days due to the power restrictions, sounds nice but they only got three days pay. Just reading online that inflation peaked at 26.9% in the 12 months to august 1975!

The 3 day week was 1972/73 under the Conservatives, which is when we last had power cuts.
the Winter of discontent, was late 70s under Labour, no power cuts though.

Mashinga · 01/06/2022 07:03

Maybe this sort of rationing is the only way to get people used to using less gas and power. Some people were frankly being ridiculous with how they were using it. Heating on 23, on all night, wearing T-shirts and shorts indoors in winter. It needed stopping.

tenjishut · 01/06/2022 07:03

Our ancestors didn't have all this here electricity and they survived....it's undoubtedly all going to come as something of a shock for many though, financial or social

Ugh, I hate this narrative. Also our economy & society has changed so it will have huge ramifications.

Morph22010 · 01/06/2022 07:06

Alexandra2001 · 01/06/2022 07:03

The 3 day week was 1972/73 under the Conservatives, which is when we last had power cuts.
the Winter of discontent, was late 70s under Labour, no power cuts though.

Show quote history

Aah that’s why I don’t remember the power cuts then as I was born in 1973. Just remember mum going on about winter of discontent, power cuts etc

flowerycurtain · 01/06/2022 07:14

One thing I think will come back to bite is BT switching lots of people from a copper phone line to one that relies on the internet. Can't see that working brilliantly with power cuts!

LT does surprise me when people say it can't happen. Of course it can.

User487216 · 01/06/2022 07:17

Morph22010 · 01/06/2022 06:58

I don’t remember the power cuts in the 70s which is odd as I was around be it very young and I generally have a good memory of stuff. I do remember my mum talking a lot of the winter of discontent growing up and there being a 3 day week, where people could only work three days due to the power restrictions, sounds nice but they only got three days pay. Just reading online that inflation peaked at 26.9% in the 12 months to august 1975!

I was about 14 and can remember playing monopoly by candlelight in the evening, if you was quite young you probably played board games with your family. Many people still had hot water though as there were no combi boilers just hot water cylinders which hold their heat or gas instantaneous water heaters, we had a gas cooker, also I don't think many had a freezer just a small icebox at the top of the fridge. The impact of cuts would be much greater now with everything including hot water relying on electricity.

HilaryThorpe · 01/06/2022 07:18

I had my first baby in 1971 and remember the power cuts very well!
We knew when we would not have electricity in advance so worked around it. We had a coal fire for heating and a gas cooker. There was also a coal shortage and we lived near a mine where "sea coal" washed up on the beach. DH used to go and collect it with a rucksack. I remember my in-laws arriving with a sack of coal in the boot to our great relief. It was hard, but we had grown up with paraffin heaters, outside loos etc and we were used to having to manage with what you had.

JangolinaPitt · 01/06/2022 07:31

LampLighter414 · 31/05/2022 20:39

Yes I think so I advise people to start prepping now because when the panic buyers come in the winter it will be too late. Batteries, calor gas, seasoned wood etc

Lol at a ‘prepped’ referring to panic-buyers. A prepper IS the very definition of a panic buyer!

carefullycourageous · 01/06/2022 07:33

They should have bloody insulated more homes, it is so stupid not to have done such a simple and cheap thing to reduce heating usage.

MrsRobinsonsHandprints · 01/06/2022 07:35

LucyLeaseExtension · 31/05/2022 20:50

I'm a child of the 70's, i remember blackouts with (childish) fondness. We made candles (in the daytime) & had fun. You can do this for your children (or just yourself, warm clothes & blankets, thermos, hot water bottle before the power is turned off' and remain positive.

I don't think they'll do that though, they seemed to think overnight dimming of streeet lights/office blocks etc will be enough (on top of people choosing to limit useage).

I hate these replies, how can people think it is ok to go back more than 40 years, this backwards rose tinted glasses look is at best simple at worst terrifying. Why stop at 40 years?

It will not be fun to have rolling blackouts, not least because so much more of our life is much more dependent on electricity.

User487216 · 01/06/2022 07:35

A prepper prepares in advance in times of plenty, a panic buyer buys when the shit hits the fan, there is a big difference.

Sirzy · 01/06/2022 07:47

Our ancestors didn't have all this here electricity and they survived....it's undoubtedly all going to come as something of a shock for many though, financial or social

except many didn’t survive. Mortality rates tell us that!

Rosehugger · 01/06/2022 07:52

Wouldn't be so bad now as in the 1970s - if you know when the power cut is at least you could have your devices charged up and watch a film on a tablet or laptop! I think it sounds quite likely.

Dexy007 · 01/06/2022 07:53

Call me naive, or cynical, but when there’s money to be made I can’t imagine the energy companies letting it come to this.

completely agree with everyone who mentioned self imposed rationing! People just adjust…. I have a South African friend whose family lived through the (slightly terrifying) water drought rationing they had there about 4 (?) years ago. Her mum switched to washing her hair only once a week and obviously they stopped watering the garden. But everyone’s basic needs were met. I suspect it would be the same here with gas. It might be less comfortable but we will be fine!

people forget that it doesn’t really matter who is in power - government is made up of a huge network of largely smart people and the country is run by more than just cabinet. Boris and co don’t make all major decisions when it comes to keeping the country moving. Things grinding to a complete halt are thankfully a remote prospect.

Rosehugger · 01/06/2022 07:55

We still have a hot water tank so we'd have hot water for a few hours, and we also have a fire in the living room. We live in an area with no streetlights so wouldn't notice the difference there in winter either.

Lottsbiffandsmudge · 01/06/2022 08:01

It isn't 'OK' to go back 40 years ... doesn't mean it won't happen! Just because something is 'wrong' or 'awful' doesn't mean it won't happen. The Ukrainians are finding that out.... we are living on the brink of apocalypse anyway with climate, and now a major war, recovery from a pandemic etc etc.. some people think the west is immune from catastrophe. We are not and we seriously need to wake up and smell the roses. And get people in charge (I don't care which party) that can actually try to deal with the issues. Rather than covering their own backs the whole time. And even if we 'are ok' vast portions of the world will not be, migration will sky rocket causing all sorts of other issues. In some ways I think we NEED to go backwards, simplify life, share more resources and stop whinging about not being able to fly on holiday or charge a phone when some places in the world are starving to death as Ukrainian grain is blockaded by Russia. This is going to get a whole lot worse. We are, have to and will share that pain, one way or another.