Power blackouts- why not during the day? *MNHQ editing to say this has become a more general power outage chat*

[BoobBoobBaby]

I’ve been reading about the proposed plan for power blackouts and they’re saying 4-7 on week days. Why then? Surely longer blackouts during the day, when we don’t need lights and kids are at school and most people are at work would be better? Or even 10pm-6am when most people are sleeping? Or is it because we don’t use much electricity then, so they’re picking peak times? I just don’t understand why those specific times? does anyone know?

I think that the powers that be like to give us worse case scenarios so that we don't worry about reality

It’s not really about trying to scare people with worst case scenarios .
It’s just a normal part of risk management for any business or organisation.
It would be more worrying if plans weren’t being made to cover various eventualities.

I suppose the question is whether they’ve been overly optimistic about what they think worst case scenario is!

In Moldova they've had a social media campaign asking people to conserve power in peak hours (morning and evening). We could have something like that to help to flatten the peak but I suspect that a lot of people.would just ignore it.
There are some small changes that could help like not running your washing machine or dishwasher then, and reducing oven use. It just requires some planning and thought but we're all used to having what we want whenever we want it!

It's not environmentally friendly though. They cut whole forests there for it. We really should have invested in nuclear power stations.

It's not a stupid question 😊

Gas fired power stations are used to cover peak demand. During the day we're more likely to be able to meet demand via baseload power stations (eg nuclear) and renewables. But for the peak demand we need to temporarily increase supply and we need to use power stations which can "ramp up" and "ramp down" quickly so that we're only producing extra energy for the peak. At the moment gas is one of the best ways to do this.

If there were power cuts during the school day the children wouldn't be at school

{"ramp up" and "ramp down" quickly so that we're only producing extra energy for the peak. At the moment gas is one of the best ways to do this.}
Hydro storage is actually better but there aren't enough mountains in the areas of the UK that need the power most. They use electricity at times where there is not much demand to pump water to a 'top' reservoir and when more electricity is needed the pumps become generators and the water flows down. Dinorwic in Wales being the biggest example.

Hydro is great for quick response! Because it's so quick to bring online it's often used for frequency response rather than to cover peak demand periods.

Oh, I see! So actually, even if we were able to store the gas and preserve it during the day, it wouldn’t matter because it’s only used to cover ramp up and down.

We can store gas, but we might not be able to replenish our stores as much as we'd like. So we'd have to ration it, essentially.

I don’t know about the UK but I’d imagine it’s similar to here in Ireland where you can register with your supplier or with the network operator that you are a vulnerable customer. So yes they would avoid cutting power to your area of the network (if they can) and in the event of an unplanned outage like a storm they will prioritise getting you reconnected before others.

Will there be notice of these blackouts? Any presumably the same area won't have endless consecutive days?

What about flushing the loo and sewage pumps? And petrol pumps? Will shops close early?

I'm thinking for tea we'll do tinned sausages with beans or ravioli if there's no notice, and reheated leftover overs on the hob if we can plan ahead. Or a fry up breakfast, but for tea.

I'm more worried about uncharged hearing aids and the moaning about no WiFi. I think I might just go to bed early to be honest

I've read somewhere that you should set your fridge/freezer to the coldest setting(s) in preparation for power cuts. But doesn't that just use more fuel?

I was thinking about this earlier, if they cut the power to all areas between 4-7pm wouldn't there just be a surge when it's back on of people trying to use everything?
Or are they planning to stagger it somehow? So maybe certain postcodes off between certain times to reduce the usage but not cause a surge all in one go 🤷🏻‍♀️

It was suggested. Truss vetoed it.

The cooking of food at tea time puts huge strain on the grid.

Lifted from another thread
Why power cuts will be between 4pm and 8pm.

The graph shows that National Grid have to supply around 50GW through the daytime in winter, but demand peaks around 5:30pm and they have to find another 10% from short term generation, which is invariably gas powered. By cutting power to around 10% of users at that time, they can maintain demand at the base load 50GW level and avoid firing up the emergency gas generators.

They won't cut it for everyone - it'll be rolling so areas will be disconnected in turn. If you look on your electricity bill (or check your postcode here www.powercut105.com/findoperator) you'll find your block identifier. So all the 'A's will be off together then all the 'B's.

I should have said: They won't cut it for everyone at the same time.

Obligatory warning to be cautious running electric appliances overnight due to fire hazards.

My recollection from the early 70s (I was 10) was that we got sent a leaflet with a little timetable showing when we were most likely to be cut off . Each 3 hour block was rated as either High, Medium or Low risk. We wouldnt necessarily be cut off on the high risk day and if we were cut off it wouldnt always be for the whole 3 hours, but I dont think we ever lost power on the medium or low days.

I imagine that these days there would be a phone app to give the same info.

@Daxis that makes sense, thanks 😊

I work from 6 until 4 remotely from home.
So a black out midday would be most inconvenient!
I think 4 until 7 is probably the best time as most people are starting to finish work and it usually takes a couple of hours for you to sort kids and dinner out etc once you leave and get home.
My main concern would be people who rely on power for medical purposes.

What about those on shifts? Plenty of them.
retail workers as well. Cleaners hours are often 5 till 7 etc. who will clean the schools if there’s a power outage between 4 and 7

loads of factories do shift work, how’s that going to work?

we don’t all work in an office doing a 9 till 5 job though,

I can see us having cheese and wine dinners and playing dominoes by candlelight.

The dcs can last til a later dinner on uncooked snacks.

I'll be buying more candles from tkmaxx I think!

I work from 4-8.30pm on weekdays- and am self employed so won’t get paid. Guess I’m going to be stuffed then