The energy watchdog, Ofgem, is now saying Britain runs a 50 per cent risk of power cuts by 2015. The Energy Secretary’s strategic view? “It may be we will sail through the danger period...but if things go wrong, we may be in trouble.”
John Robertson MP, Energy Select Committee, commented, “We have been warning of this problem since 2002.” Energy industry monopoly suppliers E.ON, EdF and RWE Npower all hold their hands up over the required £110 billion investment and blame the government for creating “uncertainty” for investors.
Major US and Chinese nuclear power station construction companies likewise have said “no thanks” and walked away. The government, meanwhile, is gambling the future of the country on the bet that gas fired generation will get them through the 2015 danger zone.
The energy companies are sitting on their hands because they know that indecision – both Labour and Coalition – now means the government will have to pick up the bill for future investment, regeneration and construction.
This is an energy investment strike produced by greedy monopolies, stupid governments, abdication of responsibility and criminal lack of planning. 2015 – the year of a general election and the voting out of the clowns who switched Britain off? ■