To think energy saver sessions are a form of rationing?

[notusuallyaconspiracytheorist]

I’m not usually one for conspiracy theories, but I’ve got absolutely zero faith in the current government! AIBU to think the energy saver sessions currently on offer (eg with Octopus) are a form of rationing disguised as an incentive? The drop in use seems substantial enough and perhaps if the government formally announced rationing, there’d be panic and chaos. And as were heading in to the coldest months and have little to no reserve of gas, with very little forthcoming from Russia, this is all the government can do to try to stretch current supplies?

AIBU? (AIB A Conspiracy Theorist)?
YANBU: this is probably rationing disguised as a candlelit, money-saving challenge

I dont think its sinister. Its been interesting and eye opening for me. I'm more inclined to up my peak use tbh to get my adverage up and therefore my savings up.

Overall its making close to zero savings so I'm not exact highly motivated by it to reduce peak use.

Of course it is, I thought they were being quite open about the reasons for the sessions.

Yep, sign up to have your power cut... we'll give you some money, for a while... we will make it look like you are clever, financially savvy, and pro environment, then it will have become normalised, and then we will just cut when we want.

That’s literally the point.

Yeah that is right, but it isn't a secret. I believe (I read on here somewhere actually) that it's linked to when we're in energy deficit, national grid give the info to octopus. You can look up live energy mix here:
grid.iamkate.com/

Of course it is. They are trying to control how much energy is used at peak times because they are concerned that there won't be enough.

They are trying this and if it doesn't work there is their rolling blackout plan if it gets that bad.

I hadn't thought about it, we opt in but I haven't changed my usage for it. We have the dryer on almost every day and if it happens to be during a saver session, so be it. Although it says we have gained points and saved energy during each session so far!

Yeah they're rationing because there's limited resource. That's literally the entire point.

The first trials of the scheme rolled out back at the beginning of February, I assume that there would have been a fair length of time for planning before that..

As well as shifting usage, it helps the National Grid’s electricity system operator to gather data which it could use to reach its goal of running a zero carbon electricity grid by 2035.

I opted in to potentially gain credit. My first hour taking part I gained just under a fiver - as I switched everything off at the fuse box! I haven't had the results from sessions two and three yet, but if I can afford to have the heating on for an extra few hours this winter, I don't care if I'm being "nudged"

That’s the point. They need to cut peak time use. We don’t have enough gas

It's not a conspiracy, it's a fact. Nobody is trying to keep it a secret though, not the government, not the energy companies.

To be a conspiracy there has to be a secret. This is heavily advertised. It's like saying McDonald's has a secret agenda to make you eat more burgers!

The whole point is to ration power at peak times. In addition to gas supply issues, we have an electricity grid with a lot of old, creaky infrastructure that isn't ready for the volume of new technology (and intermittent power generation) trying to connect that might replace gas. The grid has a complicated balancing act to match supply and demand every fraction of a second, and when supply cant meet demand there's not much they can do.

We're not about to see catastrophic collapse or anything, but the grid needs time to upgrade and adapt, in the meantime think of it like delays and diversions when they upgrade motorways. Really annoying/ inconvenient, but hardly the end of the world as we know it!

Of course it is rationing. That's the whole point of them. I think they've explained the plan well. No conspiracy theory is involved; it's all out in the open.

Energy saving and rationing is not a conspiracy or secret. We should all be doing it, that's the whole point!

Well yes it's rationing but not the traditional sense like wartime food rationing as we still (presently) have an element of choice but I can't see anything conspirational about it, just practical.

No, it's not rationing. You are choosing to limit your consumption during peak hours, some time save money/gain points, others because they understand the need to 'smooth out' usage. It's not using it that's the main problem, it's everyone using it at the same time - hence incentives not to.

As most have pointed out, it's most certainly not a conspiracy, they've explained it loudly! (But obviously not clearly -enough.)

@YumSushi Yes, I suppose that’s what I mean. I don’t think it’s clear that this is the step before required blackouts if not under control.

Hit post too soon. I don’t think it’s been made clear how short of gas we are (especially versus the EU, who have secured stocks for the winter).

The savings sessions aren’t for gas. Just electricity.

And how is electricity generated?

Well it's hard to pick yabu or yanbu because it's not a conspiracy - it's quite clear that there are risks associated with power this winter and this is an option being tested to smooth usage.

It's also not a surprise. They have offered this as an option to commercial customers for years. My dad's work used to get a reduced rate for electricity in return for having to cut use at a time required by the supplier to minimise demand. They just didn't have a way of measuring it to use with domestic users before.

But it is a way of reducing (or rationing) demand on the grid so they don't have to do anything more drastic, yes. It seems like a pragmatic solution to me.

Plus to anyone doing it the way I am, the heating/water is also switched off when you switch the power off, as it requires electric to run the pump.