UK’s solution to unreliable “renewable” energy: Variable energy pricing plus smart meters means consumers will intermittently switch off their own electricity supply

The UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband's energy policies compromise energy security. These policies include proposed tax increases on North Sea oil and gas profits and potential bans on new oil and gas fields in the North Sea. These measures will benefit foreign suppliers at the expense of UK jobs and revenue.

Additionally, the government's push for variable electricity pricing and the pressure to adopt smart meters raise the prospect of the affordability and reliability of electricity for consumers, resulting in consumers "voluntarily" disconnecting themselves via smart meters.

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, despite his title of 'Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero', is facing criticism for policies that seem to contradict his duty to protect energy security. These policies include a proposed tax raid on North Sea oil and gas profits, effectively making the industry financially unviable, and a potential ban on new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

The tax raid on North Sea oil and gas profits that Miliband is planning to impose, through Chancellor Rachel Reeves, will increase taxes on profits to a punitive 78 per cent. This is in addition to stopping various tax breaks to the industry.

As Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol Rick Bradford argues, these policies will not decrease demand for oil and gas but rather benefit foreign suppliers at the expense of UK jobs and revenue. Furthermore, the government's push for variable electricity pricing will make electricity unaffordable for most people when wind power is insufficient. "Less UK oil and gas production means a bonanza for foreign suppliers and a leaching of UK cash into their hands," he said.

"Is the political class really that stupid, or is there an unrevealed agenda which explains this apparent absurdity?" he asked which leads to Bradford's second point: variable electricity pricing.

Variable electricity pricing to consumers would mean prices vary every 30 minutes, as they do on the wholesale market, and be unknown in advance.

In February, the UK government called for evidence seeking views on "how the type and price of default tariffs may evolve and the fairest ways to protect household consumers in a world of more flexible energy pricing."

The following month, Ofgem, the energy industry regulator, launched a consultation on the future of the price cap. Public consultations are invariably the last step, not the first, in implementing a policy that has already been agreed in all but minor details. In a press release for its consultation, Ofgem said:

The introduction of half hourly settlement from 2025 means customers will have more flexibility in how they use and pay for electricity, and is expected to lead to a growth in smarter time-of-use tariffs that reward customers for being more flexible in their energy usage. This will allow consumers to benefit from cheaper energy when renewable generation increases such as when it is particularly windy or sunny.

Ofgem launches discussion on the future of the price cap , Ofgem, 25 March 2024 What this means in reality, Bradford said, is that "all but very rich people will not be able to afford electricity when the wind drops. Many of us have been in Third World countries where the availability of electricity at any given time is just a matter of luck. That is now the policy for the UK."

The pressure to adopt smart meters is driven by the Government's concern about the potential political backlash when millions of people can't pay their electricity bills. It seems that remote disconnections of our supply are not what they had in mind, we'll be "voluntarily" disconnecting ourselves through our smart meters when we refuse to pay the £100 per kWhr that may arise in some 30-minute periods.

The solution to the problem of unreliable wind energy seems to be shifting the responsibility to consumers via smart meters for those who don't want to or can't afford to pay silly money for electricity and so "voluntarily" disconnect themselves.