Fools and their money are soon parted. It’s an old saying, but it seems appropriate to describe what is about to happen in the UK.
The government has mandated that every UK home be fitted with a ‘smart’ energy meter, which will report customer’s energy usage direct to the utility. Why are these meters being mandated? Here’s why:
“The meters most of us have in our homes were designed for a different age, before climate change,” said Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary. “Now we need to get smarter with our energy … so it’s important we design a system that brings best value to everyone involved.”
Global warming is the reason. How convenient. The meters are not a good investment however:
The government estimates putting smart meters in the country’s 26m homes could save customers and energy companies £2.5bn-£3.6bn over the next 20 years, but says it will cost more than double this to buy and install the equipment.
So an installation cost of £5bn-£7.2bn, in todays economy, with a break-even horizon 40 years away. Only a government could love those numbers.
Let’s be clear, there is only one reason that UK energy is not abundant, clean and cheap. It’s the green movement; self-appointed, unaccountable activists that refuse to believe evidence that nuclear power is safe, clean and reliable, block every move for new coal power stations and promote pie-in-the-sky energy generation that endangers 21st century life, because that’s what they are all about.
But people in the UK have swallowed the green agenda, and now they will pay. And pay, and pay and pay.
Thanks to reader Chris for the BBC link.
*I changed the title of the post to something I liked better, it may not match your feed.
