Problems with electricity supply yesterday

...and collect their profits!

I'm no expert, but I can't see that national governments have much to do with the utility companies. None of them is actually responsible for our supply. They're just middle(wo)men who collect the money.

In a way, they already make life difficult. Most of our electricity is supplied by companies HQed in other countries. No matter what the government does or says, they are the people who make decisions. That's even before the shareholders, who could be anywhere in the world, are taken into account. Privatising a utility as important as electricity was never going to have a happy ending.

Thanks- and yet- lets say we leve with No Deal and we don't pay our Debts to the EU - could they make life difficult, somehow?

British Gas and SSE are British. E.ON and npower are German. EDF is French and Scottish Power is Spanish. The big 6 supply 95% of electricity in the UK.

However, the suppliers aren't responsible for the actual supply. The National Grid is.

but the suppliers, like EDF, etc?

The National Grid is British-owned.

Exactly River Newcastle Airport and London ? Really ?

I wonder if figures are available to show what percentage of our electricity suppliers (and other main services like gas, water, etc, etc) are owned by British firms or State owned. Anyone?

It will be interesting to see what the investigation reveals.

I know nothing of how the grid works but it's curious that such discrete areas were affected: parts of London and SE, NW, SW, Wales & Newcastle airport. Or did they just share out the pain?

Two power stations failed simultaneously, one of them a wind farm - in a way it's pleasing that the failure of a wind farm can cause such havoc as I was under the impression that they were not very efficient!

Believe whatever cr*p they feed you but I still say this was a cyber attack and just an inky tinky taste of what could come.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

I was so lucky, I was in central London before it happened and arrived home, N W London but we were not affected.

DD was on a train from Edinburgh. It got in a mere 9 hours late. Lots of misinformation, drinks but no food and toilets backed up. Passengers were given taxi vouchers when they finally made it to Kings X in the early hours but with 600 people in the queue she managed to get an uber and got home just before 2am!

I am away from home this weekend but OH phoned me this morning to ask me how to reset the clock on the oven (which won't work unless the clock is set), so I know there was a powercut in our part of Northamptonshire. No idea what caused it though!

I was about to have a MRI scan at Heath Road Hospital Ipswich. Talk about lucky escape!!!!

We were very lucky here in the south because we were surrounded by other areas affected but we were spared. It was all very strange but I doubt we will ever learn the truth.

jura2

We live in the middle of 16 acres of woodland which has been classified as SSSI (about 75% of it.) Beyond that is farm land. We are hugely passionate about wildlife and have counted 28 species of birds that live with us . Favourites are the goldfinches that come on mass to the meadow and the pair of buzzards we see daily.

It's great you have such a variety but I'm pretty sure you'd be OK with a turbine.

Another thread is a good idea.

No one has blamed Brexit as far as I can see! However, let's not let that stop the thread, why not simply blame the EU, we all know they are the ones at fault because they won't give us what we want and are forcing us on to WTO tariffs!

Ah thanks - we have quite a bit of land, surrounded by farmland. My only concern is for birds- we have 1000s of wild birds here, and also birds of prey like hobbies, red kites, buzzards and sparrowhawks, and several species of bats.

But for a separate thread perhaps.

jura2
WIND TURBINE

Can I PM you some info + a photo of what our land looks like to give you some idea. Or shall I post it all here.

Our turbine will produce 1kW which will be the top up for the winter. We don't need much sun to give us a low level of amount of power through the PV but do run short the odd day in winter period.

The mast is currently down as we are putting an extension on (to get it above the trees) + 3 blades ready for dark, short winter days. Old one had 2 blades.

Glamma - I remember when in our damp and freezing apartment in the attic of a Victorian house on Putney Hill- we had the swap of gas systems and the miners' strikes. I was handicapped and could not go up or down the stairs- and was left in the flat for days and nights as OH worked 140+ hours per week at a local hospital.

During the 3 day week- we lived in Staffs- and lived at the Hospital, so was not personally affected, as such.

probably caused

Unaffected.
Think it was probably cause by the usual reason:
lack of foresight/ inefficiency by some one, somewhere.
Glad most people are restored to normal service.

As had been said it is probably an infrastructure problem, not least caused by successive governments not investing in the future and stability of power supplies while sat around the table arguing over how it should be produced.

Hats off to the green lobby for all the wind farms around, although one of the failures yesterday was the wind farm generator off the North Yorkshire coast along with a southern gas generator.

some outtages in West Yorkshire but not for too long, and not me personally

I did have trouble with Sky though