With the UK’s cost of living crisis showing no sign of ceasing, the government is hammering out emergency plans, which may see both businesses and consumers face a spate of blackouts this winter, according to The Guardian.
The newspaper reported that under No 10’s so-called “reasonable worst case scenario,” the UK could experience blackouts for several days in January if cold weather combines with gas shortages.
The scenario purportedly stipulates that the power shortfall could total about a sixth of peak demand, even if emergency plans to fire up retiring coal power plants are enacted.
In a purposeful energy-saving move, the government may introduce emergency measures to conserve gas for four days in January due to a possible reduction of electricity imports from Norway and France, combined with low temperatures, under the scenario.
The Guardian cited an unnamed source in the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as saying that the government is preparing for “all and every eventuality” based on “made-up scenarios,” which were unlikely to take place because of the UK’s “highly secure and diverse gas and electricity system."
The source did not rule out that the worst-case scenario may see the light of day, claiming at the same time that most extreme situation of Norway turning off all its gas to the UK was “extreme” and “never going to happen.”
The insider was echoed by the Department’s spokesperson, who assured that the scenario was not something that was expected to happen, and that the UK was “not dependent on Russian energy imports unlike Europe.”
Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Climate Change Ed Miliband, for his part, told The Guardian that “Whilst the Tories squabble over tax cuts, Britain is now readying itself for catastrophic power cuts this winter.”
“This is a complete disgrace to a British public already struggling at the hands of an absent government that has left our economy in tatters. What we are faced with is the result of 12 years of Tory government which has failed to prepare and refused to invest, leaving bills higher and our country less secure,” he added.
The remarks come after the UK-based consulting company BFY Group estimated late last month that British households could be landed with annual energy bills of over £3,850 ($4,636) in January 2023, a threefold increase since the beginning of this year.
The developments come amid the fallout of Western sanctions which were slapped on Russia due to its ongoing special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. Inflation rates in the UK have already reached a 40-year high at 9.4%, which was driven by record prices for gasoline and diesel, as well as the soaring cost of food, clothing and furniture in the country.
UK ministers previously warned that the “severe sanctions” that Western countries had slapped on Russia would have a knock-on effect on the cost of living in Britain.