Electricity meter inspection

gman said:
Yet we still pay a fortune for electricity, primarily due to the gas link but I think there is also green costs of sorts involved?
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were also paying for the massive investment we need to make in more renewables.
this was mainly down to the Tories banning new wind farms for the last ten years.
 
Was there not also a levy to help pay for the nuclear option in our bills?
 
the black fox said:
The trouble on this forum is that most if not all of us are decent folk with a good standard of living and honesty .. we tend to forget that the power supply companies have deal with all levels of society and trust me there are lots of scumbags out there that would think nothing of finding a way to dodge paying there gas and electric bills .. normal meters can be bypassed ,smart meters would show that up as far as I’m aware ..
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[cough] [ahem] [embarrassed sounds] I lived in the flat next door for a year and a bit till moving into this one. The electricity meter used key payments, but, ahem, the display was broken. I phoned Scottish Power early on and they assured me that if the meter can’t give a reading, then they couldn’t charge me.

Each time the meter reader guy visited, he’d make a note that the display was broken, then that’d be it till the next visit……..
 
another good day for the renewables :-)
 
The issue going forward is what generation technology will provide our "baseload", it used to be Coal and looks like now it is Nuclear but the lack of and/or delays in building for baseload protection is hardly mentioned or spoken about ~ worrying over the next 10-15 years :thinking:
 
Box Brownie said:
The issue going forward is what generation technology will provide our "baseload", it used to be Coal and looks like now it is Nuclear but the lack of and/or delays in building for baseload protection is hardly mentioned or spoken about ~ worrying over the next 10-15 years :thinking:
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We all know that nuclear is not a dead technology (well, most of us do) but you are right in that we should have started building these years ago.

You only have to ask my family in South Africa what happens when you fail to plan new or maintain current infrastructure. They live without power for up to 12 hours a day sometimes.
 
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ecoleman said:
We all know that nuclear is not a dead technology (well, most of us do) but you are right in that we should have started building these years ago.

You only have to ask my family in South Africa when you fail to plan new or maintain current infrastructure. They live without power for up to 12 hours a day sometimes.
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Yes, and perhaps whoever is in Government after 6th July will grasp the nettle of how SMR's could be introduced & integrated into our future planning and energy needs.

NB AFAIK the principle on which SMR is based is used and trusted as it provides the driving force of those nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines.
 
ecoleman said:
It seems like that "dead" technology is providing nearly 17% of our energy today and that's on what you call a good day?

Laughable
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it currently always supplies that it is old baseline and the most expensive electricity in our entire generating system
but why should you care your a climate denying relic?
 
Box Brownie said:
The issue going forward is what generation technology will provide our "baseload", it used to be Coal and looks like now it is Nuclear but the lack of and/or delays in building for baseload protection is hardly mentioned or spoken about ~ worrying over the next 10-15 years :thinking:
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it will simply come down to wind/solar and a large battery structure with probably gas as the topper.
nuclear is so expensive its now technically dead before even the concrete has been laid.
 
After the Fukushima meltdown, a number of countries began to consider phasing out their nuclear programs,

with Germany expected to shut down its entire nuclear fleet by 2022.

The U.S. has 95 nuclear reactors in operation, but only one new reactor has started up in the last 20 years.


U.S. nuclear electricity generation continues to decline as more reactors retire. In 2021, for the second consecutive year, U.S. nuclear electricity generation declined. Output from U.S. nuclear power plants totaled 778 million megawatthours in 2021, or 1.5% less than the previous year.
 
Is nuclear the most expensive form of power?
The research confirmed that nuclear energy is up to six times more expensive than renewable energy and even on the most favourable reading for nuclear,
renewables remain the cheapest form of new-build electricity.18 May 2024
 
Mr Bump said:
it will simply come down to wind/solar and a large battery structure with probably gas as the topper.
nuclear is so expensive its now technically dead before even the concrete has been laid.
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I don't doubt that renewables will grow but as for batteries to 'cover' the base load, just big in physical size and GWH capacity will that have to be???

The gas turbine generators are not designed for baseload usage but as used now they have quick start up times to handle peak surges.
Mr Bump said:
After the Fukushima meltdown, a number of countries began to consider phasing out their nuclear programs,

with Germany expected to shut down its entire nuclear fleet by 2022.

The U.S. has 95 nuclear reactors in operation, but only one new reactor has started up in the last 20 years.


U.S. nuclear electricity generation continues to decline as more reactors retire. In 2021, for the second consecutive year, U.S. nuclear electricity generation declined. Output from U.S. nuclear power plants totaled 778 million megawatthours in 2021, or 1.5% less than the previous year.
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In the case of the USA, I wonder what their fossil fuel generated capacity is.....as they are oh so willing to burn that.

As for their renewables, they have lots of land area to place wind or solar compared to us.
Mr Bump said:
Is nuclear the most expensive form of power?
The research confirmed that nuclear energy is up to six times more expensive than renewable energy and even on the most favourable reading for nuclear,
renewables remain the cheapest form of new-build electricity.18 May 2024
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Yes, costly but as mentioned they are ideal(?) for baseload and possibly more so if SMR are included in the mix which are relative cheap and quicker into service than the current huge plan designs?
 
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What the world needs is another Nikolai Tesla someone that can think outside the box .. there has to be a way to produce light and heat without destroying our planet in the process
 

California Sees Unprecedented Growth in Energy Storage, A Key Component in the State’s Clean Energy Transition

SACRAMENTO — New data show California is surging forward with the buildout of battery energy storage systems with more than 6,600 megawatts (MW) online, enough electricity to power 6.6 million homes for up to four hours. The total resource is up from 770 MW four years ago and double the amount...
www.energy.ca.gov www.energy.ca.gov

California in just 4 years have maxed out on battery storage to cover brown outs in asociation with Tesla and CATL it is truly the future of solar/wind storage
 
ecoleman said:
Tides and waves….. but somebody will bitch about the fish.
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Tidal is good certainly cheaper than fossil fuel and nuclear [deleted by admin - insulting text]
 
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the black fox said:
What the world needs is another Nikolai Tesla someone that can think outside the box .. there has to be a way to produce light and heat without destroying our planet in the process
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its allready there he is called Elon Musk
 
@Box Brownie the usa is a big issue with generating electricity as it has vast coal and gas reserves at cheap cost
also its ever shifting politics make it a nightmare for investment in renewable schemes but they have abondoned nuclear oddly
as it is simply way to expensive
 
Mr Bump said:
@Box Brownie the usa is a big issue with generating electricity as it has vast coal and gas reserves at cheap cost
also its ever shifting politics make it a nightmare for investment in renewable schemes but they have abondoned nuclear oddly
as it is simply way to expensive
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I spotted this on the newsfeed

The world's largest solar farm with a 6 billion kilo watt hours capacity! ( 5GW)

www.independent.co.uk

World’s biggest solar farm goes is big enough to power an entire country

5GW facility is roughly the same area as New York City
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 
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Box Brownie said:
I spotted this on the newsfeed

The world's largest solar farm with a 6 billion kilo watt hours capacity! ( 5GW)

www.independent.co.uk

World’s biggest solar farm goes is big enough to power an entire country

5GW facility is roughly the same area as New York City
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
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China yeah that will be CATL , they are just dabbling, adapting and testing the tech use solar during the day and store it for the evening just like the one i popped in for California, give it 10 years and this will be so normal its so cheap long term
 
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Box Brownie said:
The world's largest solar farm with a 6 billion kilo watt hours capacity! ( 5GW)
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Solar is very good where you have a lot of sunshine, not so good where you have a lot of cloud and they're even less good once the sun starts droping towards the horizon.

Variety is not only the spice of life but the practical solution to our growing need for energy.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Solar is very good where you have a lot of sunshine, not so good where you have a lot of cloud and they're even less good once the sun starts droping towards the horizon.

Variety is not only the spice of life but the practical solution to our growing need for energy.
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nope its still decent with cloud, once again you are quoting from the top gear book from 1980s solar is not just from bright light is from visible light.
people like you just want to pick away at the faults of individual items and not embrace the whole.

solar/wind/offshore/hydro/battery storage all these things will free the uk from dinosaur fuel in the next decade for electricity generation.

variety is the spice of electrical production we just need to invest
 
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@AndrewFlannigan here are some numbers that may surprise you so this site i use has been recording since 2012 two charts
all time 2012 - 2024 (all time) and
just the last year

spot the difference , look at the numbers we as a country are marching forward at quite a rate another 10 years and fossil fuels will be almost over completely

all time since 2012.jpgpast year.jpg
 
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Pound Coin said:
Which is a fundamental problem. Growing the need without having what is needed to supply it.
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I don't see it as a fundamental problem.

We're an intellectual species and we've not yet made contact with any other such species, so we have no objective data to work on. It may be that our population growth and the associated energy poverty is just a phase that every intellectual species passes through. What we do have is a history of solving such problems, when we're not engaged in our favourite hobby of slaughtering one another.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I don't see it as a fundamental problem.

We're an intellectual species and we've not yet made contact with any other such species, so we have no objective data to work on. It may be that our population growth and the associated energy poverty is just a phase that every intellectual species passes through. What we do have is a history of solving such problems, when we're not engaged in our favourite hobby of slaughtering one another.
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I think it was put better yesterday. We are not the dinosaurs. We are the meteor.
 
Pound Coin said:
We are not the dinosaurs. We are the meteor.
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If we're going to swap such descriptions, what about "self hating humans"?

(I'm a self liking human).
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
If we're going to swap such descriptions, what about "self hating humans"?

(I'm a self liking human).
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It’s getting away from Smart Meters, and whatever they are for, but long term it is probably better to like the Earth, and act accordingly, than to focus on one species.
 
Pound Coin said:
It’s getting away from Smart Meters, and whatever they are for, but long term it is probably better to like the Earth, and act accordingly, than to focus on one species.
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I disagree.

Individuals of all species are selfish, acting to survive and then procreate. Only humans have created the myth of altruism, which brings us neatly back to the original subject: smart meters are claimed to be for the benefit of the customer but are far more to the benefit of the company charging for the electricity and/or gas. The reason for the mania to force smart meters on the public is, I strongly suspect, more about brown envelopes given to civil servants and politicians than any supposed benefit to poor old Joe Public.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I disagree.

Individuals of all species are selfish, acting to survive and then procreate. Only humans have created the myth of altruism, which brings us neatly back to the original subject: smart meters are claimed to be for the benefit of the customer but are far more to the benefit of the company charging for the electricity and/or gas. The reason for the mania to force smart meters on the public is, I strongly suspect, more about brown envelopes given to civil servants and politicians than any supposed benefit to poor old Joe Public.
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Presumably you have proof for that accusation.
 
Pound Coin said:
Presumably you have proof for that accusation.
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Now, regretably, you are getting silly. The phrase "I strongly suspect" fully answers your question.
 
ecoleman said:
You really do come across as a petulant child. A bit like that puppet called Gretha.
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Agreed.

However, he doesn't appear to be alone in that. :(
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Now, regretably, you are getting silly. The phrase "I strongly suspect" fully answers your question.
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Presumably you have adequate foundation for that strong suspection.
 
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