![]() ![]() This is a monetary measure of how unreliable renewable supply is, and how much consumers have to spend to keep the lights on. To Sum It Up 1: Politicians claim renewables enhance energy security, but escalating balancing costs clearly tell a different story. These balancing costs constitute a growing burden on UK households and businesses that already have seen their bills skyrocket by up to 230% over the past year, prompting the govt to step in with as-yet incalculable subsidies to reduce the amount people must actually pay. Whenever the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining-which is often in northern Europe-grid operators must rack up high fees buying emergency power from conventional generators. The grid must balance supply and demand on a minute-by-minute basis, and the task becomes urgent and costly as renewables take up a greater share of installed generation. These charges arise because with current technology it’s impossible to store large amounts of electricity for long. ![]() The annual balancing cost was about £1.2 billion as recently as 2019. The British electric-grid operator spent £4.2 billion in 2022 balancing supply and demand on the network, a record amount. UK households received a reminder of this truth recently with the latest data on how renewables drive up their energy bills. The WSJ Editorial Board writes, a billion here, a billion there, and soon you’re talking about real costs from politicians’ headlong rush toward net zero carbon emissions. ![]()
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