According to Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid, the UK’s grid operator, British consumers are going to have to get used to flicking the switch and finding the power unavailable,thanks to the UK's new energy policies.
Thanks to a six-fold increase in wind generation, which will only be available when the wind blows, “The grid is going to be a very different system in 2020, 2030,” he told BBC’s Radio 4. “We keep thinking that we want it to be there and provide power when we need it. It’s going to be much smarter than that. We are going to change our own behaviour and consume it when it is available and available cheaply.”
Not only that, but the powers that be are going to decide who gets power and when. The new 'smart grid' will give Government the power to decide which businesses and industries needs for power take precedence over others, or that the needs of industry take precedence over residential consumers. They'll also be able to Governments would also be able to price power prohibitively if it is used for what Government considers 'non-essential purposes'.
Smart grids are being developed by utilities worldwide to allow the government to control electricity use in the home, down to the individual appliance. Smart grids can even monitor the consumption of your appliances and be capable of turning them off if they feel what you're using it for is unworthy and the power is better utilized elsewhere...say, if your a well known blogger who uses your computer to write articles critical of the government. Or if your business is competing with one run by someone who made a nice donation to the ruling Party.
Our forefather abandoned wind power when steam came along because they were smart enough to realize that it doesn't work when the wind doesn't blow. Apparently we've regressed.
Again, the UK, which is at about a decade ahead of us in Big Government gives us a good look at what it can do and how bad it can get.
3 comments:
...say, if your a well known blogger who uses your computer to write articles critical of the government.
well, i wouldn't know anyone like that.......
on second thought.........
most of ff essay was based on the premise, that the wind doesn't always blow.
however, if someone could come up with a method of harnessing/capturing/containing all the hot air (hot air rises) generated over our nation's capital, and any/all state capitals, i believe we would have a limitless supply of free energy for years to come.
That's for damned sure.
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