LETTER OF THE MONTH

Posted byiainlawson27Posted inUncategorized

Brian Lawson is the former leader of Renfrewshire Council and recently stood down from the SNP NEC. Despite his excellent surname we are not related.

I read with real sadness the small article headed “Energy hikes mean Scots go without” (Sunday National 19th December). The first two paragraphs tell the story – “half a million people in Scotland have cut back on food spending to afford the cost of rising energy bills” and “36% of Scottish adults find their energy bills unaffordable.”

In contrast to this the adjacent article by Douglas Chapman, the SNP’s Small Business, Enterprise and Innovation spokesperson, makes no mention of these scandalous figures choosing instead to concentrate on COP26, the never ending drive to green energy, and the tens of millions of pounds being handed out to make this drive possible.

It is all very well for well paid politicians (of all parties) to point us towards the great green heaven while the cost of heating our homes rises day by day. We cannot all afford or are even able to install heat pumps. A large number of the population still live in tenement flats !

In very simple terms, it costs about the same to get gas from a hole in the ground to my gas meter as it did a year ago. It costs about the same to get electricity from a wind turbine to my electricity meter as it did a year ago. With rising prices somewhere someone or some company is pocketing a vast fortune which is being extracted from the pockets of us all – many of whom can ill afford it. The amounts of money involved are huge.

It seems we can cover the countryside in wind turbines but there seems to be no real long term strategy as to what we do when the wind does not blow and the ageing nuclear stations have had to be shut down. There seems to be no thought of how this increase in wind generated energy will be stored. Will we not need increased pumped storage capacity?

The recent Scottish budget devoted many millions of pounds to planting trees which I suspect will take a long time to start extracting much CO2 from our air. Maybe this money would be best spent on wind turbines, possibly built here in Scotland with the electricity produced from them sold at a fair price to Scottish consumers.

Scotland is producing about 0.1% of global CO2 while the Chinese are building a new coal fired power station almost every week. I know ever little helps but we seem to be doing more than our fair share. In the next few months even more Scottish consumers will be facing massively increased bills for electricity. Given the recent excess supply of both wind and water, this is a bitter and difficult pill to swallow.

Scotland has seen limited benefits from the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970’s and is set to repeat the mistakes of the past with offshore and onshore wind and wave generation. Many of the wind turbines that cover our hillsides are designed and built far from Scotland and owned by multinational companies. Scottish Power, for example, is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola. No doubt its many international shareholders will profit from our greatly increased electricity bills.

Between the wind turbines and our electric meters is an intricate web of wires and an equally complex set of transmission charges which appear to favour consumers in the South of England.Perhaps after the Christmas break a committee of the Scottish Parliament could investigate this situation and help to demystify this industry and the web of financial intrigue which surrounds it. Maybe then we could start to understand why electricity from the wind and the waves is so expensive and why the Scottish Government thinks a not for profit Scottish National Energy Company is such a bad idea.

Brian Lawson. 
Paisley. 

BEAT THE CENSORS

Sadly some sites had given up on being pro Indy sites and have decided to become merely pro SNP sites where any criticism of the Party Leader or opposition to the latest policy extremes, results in censorship being applied. This, in the rather over optimistic belief that this will suppress public discussion on such topics. My regular readers have expertly worked out that by regularly sharing articles on this site defeats that censorship and makes it all rather pointless. I really do appreciate such support and free speech in Scotland is remaining unaffected by their juvenile censorship. Indeed it is has become a symptom of weakness and guilt. Quite encouraging really.

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68 thoughts on “LETTER OF THE MONTH”

  1. Around 5 years ago at an SNP conference wee nic promised Scotland its own energy company whatever happened to it ?

    Happy New Year to you all…

    Liked by 23 people

    1. Good morning Tenruh, I was just about to write the same thing! Just another broken promise that sounded brilliant at the time. NS truly is a phoney. So sad when you can’t believe a word she says. I do wonder if we were all conned from the very beginning of her REIGN.
      However, I wish all of you a Happy New Year with good health and happiness.

      Liked by 20 people

    2. I remember well the standing ovation that received from the attendees. It must be lying on a shelf gathering dust with all the other broken promises.

      Liked by 22 people

  2. I listened to Professor Alf Baird on the excellent Christmas Prism show. Energy was one of the topics covered. Here is my (very simplified) take on what Professor Baird said. Renewable energy is produced here, sold down south then sold back to Scottish consumers at an over inflated price. Someone, somewhere is making a lot of money from the overstretched budgets of Scottish households. Independence anyone?

    Liked by 25 people

  3. I have a friend who constantly pushes to get people to change to electric powered cars. My comment to him is on much the same lines as yours about heat pumps etc. Not everyone can afford to pay for a new car and particularly when they are more expensive. Interestingly, just days after COP26 the Westminster government cut the subsidy on buying an electric power car by half. That shows real commitment to reducing CO2 and helping climate change. NOT!!
    Also, a good while ago I heard about an innovation to use heat from river or sea water developed by a Scotsman but implemented in a Scandinavian country. It was said that half of Glasgow could be heated for a fraction of the cost of anything provided now. Why on earth are our Scottish government not doing more to develop this to help the rising poverty in Scotland, particularly cities like Glasgow.

    Liked by 16 people

    1. “Why on earth are our Scottish government not doing more to develop this to help the rising poverty in Scotland, particularly cities like Glasgow?”

      Two reasons:

      1. They are increasingly in the pockets of Big Business

      and

      2. They are not a government of a sovereign nation, but a devolved local authority of a corrupt Westminster – which is even more in the pockets of Big Business than they are.

      They have absolutely no intention of changing this sorry state of affairs.

      It suits the Murrells and the other troughers just fine.

      bliadhna mhath ur a huile duine

      Liked by 14 people

  4. As with oil & gas in the past so now with wind, wave and tidal.

    This year has been a rotten one for obvious social, economic and political reasons – 2022 has got to be better (hasn’t it?)

    Here’s to health, happiness, peace and prosperity to Iain and all during the next 12 months.

    Liked by 22 people

  5. Scotland can have its coasts littered with green energy and it won’t make halfpenny worth of difference to Scots citizens.

    Renewable energy, like oil is a resource to be plundered. Too many corporate and Westminster coffers to be filled.

    Like Marie Antonette said….. Let them, the peasants, heat their houses!

    Ah you’ve got to snigger at the poor Scots stoicism ?

    Liked by 16 people

  6. Spot on Brian. Scotland has enough renewable resources, if the SG chose to support and foster them through an energy company. Tapping into the abandoned mines where water is already warmer, bulk buying solar panels for council housing, battery storage. We have the ridiculous situation that private companies tap into the national grid and take electricity at around 15p per unit, store it in batteries, then sell it back to us at over a £1 per unit. Simple rip off!
    There needs to be a change in legislation so that Councils could transfer their tenants to the national energy company en masse (assuming it is the cheapest). That would give the new company an initial mass membership, tackle fuel poverty and save time on house voids(whilst the Council establishes the utility provider).
    Then again, the SG, ministers nor MSP’s don’t discuss anything with members far less councillors!

    Liked by 17 people

    2. The wholesale price of electricity changes with time (like any other commodity) and is set by the balance of supply and demand.

      So a kWh at 6pm on a weekday is worth a lot more than one at 2am.

      Where’s the rip-off?

      Like

      1. My fixed price deal runs out on Feb25/2022, if we stay with SO Energy our bill for lec and gas will go from £188 to
        £518 PER MONTH. The ‘cheapest’ deal I can find, using Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website, with only around 7 companies even prepared to take on new customers, was Scottish Power with £472 again per month. We have two
        severely disabled people in our bungalow 24hrs a day so we need to keep it warm for them(they can’t generate much
        heat themselves).

        So in reply to your question. That’s where there’s a rip off!

        Liked by 11 people

      2. The rip off is that they take it from the grid for a cheap price then sell it back at an inflated price, without adding any generation. They call this ‘power security’!
        You might not think it’s a rip off, you probably think it’s entrepreneurial. How would you feel about the price of petrol changing depending on when you buy/need it?

        Liked by 4 people

  7. With pump-storage schemes, Scotland is awash with energy. If you ignore the environmental impact of flooding a few glens you get massive, massive batteries that provide long-term storage of all the energy from wind turbines, that can be turned on at the flick of a switch. It’s the thinking person’s alternative to nuclear power.

    Sadly, thinking people are not making the calls on this. Take this quote from Mark Wilson of ILI Group which are creating a pump storage scheme at Loch Ness, https://www.hydroreview.com/hydro-industry-news/scottish-government-green-lights-450-mw-red-john-pumped-storage-hydro-at-loch-ness/

    “we need to work closely with the UK Government to implement the market mechanisms that are needed to drive investment into these projects to ensure we hit our net zero targets”

    There’s no vision, no strategy, no plan. Just a bunch of platitudes and a “let the market work it out” approach. Well, the current situation is what the market-driven approach delivers.

    Instead of supporting grouse shooting and wildlife crime, flood a few of the Angus and Perthshire glens and build the cables to take all that power to the most populated areas of the country. Use the money from oil to fund the projects.

    So many options and so little vision.

    Liked by 13 people

  9. More Scots are beginning to come to terms with our colonial reality, post our enforced Brexit and continually disrespected political mandates, which is primarily about economic plunder, and which has left our nation and its people under-developed as well as culturally diminished.

    As Frantz Fanon put it: “Colonialism and imperialism has not paid their score when they withdraw their flags and their police forces from our territories. For centuries (the oppressors) have behaved in the under-developed world like nothing more than war criminals.”

    This realisation will eventually dawn on Scots, as it already has for the Irish and Welsh, that independence is decolonization: https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/c24/about

    Liked by 24 people

  10. Imagine running a business in which a competitor dictates that you can only source materials from him. That you must use his transport system. That you must only borrow from him. That you can only sell your product through him.

    Welcome to Scotland – Good Luck! You are going to need it.

    Hopefully “Stonewall” the New Government of Scotland will do better next Year. You may of course require new pronouns to receive your heating voucher.

    Liked by 18 people

  11. Well over a decade ago at a fringe event at an SNP conference, I raised the prospect that new housing developments should be required to have district heating systems as pioneered in Scandanavia and elsewhere. The minister at the top table was aware of this and said it was very much in his thinking as they moved forward on their energy plans. AS usual, nothing has happened.

    Liked by 15 people

  12. A male self id-ing as a female? How about ‘that’?

    This is off-topic, but another example of the people of Scotland sleepwalking into a potential minefield. I’ve just sent my buildings and home insurance company a link to the Scottish Government page on the new regulations for domestic heat, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. I asked them what effect the regulations would have on my policy, i.e. will my policy be invalid if I don’t have the prescribed system installed in my wee flat.

    If you are interested I will let you know what the reply is.

    Liked by 13 people

      2. Not been amended. You don’t need electricians. It was delayed from last February. My insurance said, as long as you have smoke detectors. However, it will make it ‘impossible’ to sell any property which does not meet the new standards, I think.

        Liked by 3 people

    3. I’d certainly be interested in knowing the situation as it is now, officially. While fully in favour of proper smoke/CO2 alarms etc, this initiative does not seem to be well planned at all. Install these in all Scottish households by February? And there must be many who, especially at this time of year, will have trouble paying £200/£300/whatever to get this done.

      Liked by 8 people

  13. I live at the coast, a few miles inland there is a substantial hill, and there is also a reservoir nearby, so – siting wind turbines on the hill and connecting to the reservoir arguably could provide surrounding towns with a pump storage power system outwith the grid. And as economic history demonstrates, investment in infrastructure creates employment, and the lasting benefits of the infrastructure – if correctly devised and constructed.Local communal ownership eh?

    Nye Bevan’s description of the Tories would be apt to describe privatisation of national utilities.

    Where there is change there is a profit to be sought and so de-nationalising utilities – railways, power, gas supplies, water, enables investors with the financial means to scoop up these assets of the people. Remember the sop offered to Joe Public of a limited purchase of undervalued shares when British Gas was sold off? Who holds these shares now I wonder.

    Next phase of the privatising game is, due to underinvestment by the management on behalf of the owner investors – dividend maximising – the utilities are a bit antiquated, unreliable, and so the government of the day is faced with re-nationalising said utilities and compensating the investors for their loss of assets.

    Two bites at the cherry for the investor.

    Liked by 14 people

    1. What has been ignored for decades is that for the vast majority of the population the economics of employment is circular. For most the salary is spent in the local economy and that circulates into the wider economy. Very,very few people have significant savings. When you have State ownership or legislation requiring Industries to have appropriate levels of employment and conditions the money flowed to more people who had the prestige of employment and self worth. Skills were shared widely and every level of society benefited.

      When you privatise industries and remove workers rights the new “owners” cut costs to increase profit for them and shareholders. It is called “efficiency savings”. The burden of unemployment then falls on the State (which is the remaining taxpayers not the new owners)

      I accept some State operations were inefficient in the past but that was mainly bad management not a failure of the system. Shipyards and Steelwork closures were blamed on TradeUnions when it was a lack of investment.
      Major Companies can make £10 for every £1 invested in Asia compared with £1.50 for a £1 invested in Scotland.
      Where do those increased profits go.

      The Oil Industry got badly burned by this in the 60s. An Oil well drilled in the Middle East was a fraction of the cost elsewhere but suddenly Countries took their wells and then controlled the profit and flow. They lost their profit and Global influence switched from Companies to States. The North Sea was expensive but it was secure because greedy Westminster would never touch their assets or profits.

      The lesson: Never surrender your assets to others. Never lose your home based skills. Never let political control of your industries go abroad.

      The People should own the Services and Assets. They should be operated for and by the People. I would prefer many more jobs with the salaries being spent in Scotland than a a people syphoning off the wealth of my Nation to an offshore account.

      Liked by 13 people

      2. C’mon Clootie I asked Iain if you would be allowed to share your experience and wisdom on the blog he was happy to say yes and posted his consent on the blog for you to respond, you appear to have knowledge and experience that others may benefit from and quite honestly I agree with the exposures you have posted as comments

        Liked by 2 people

  14. It takes a bit of digging, but broadly speaking, Scotland annually produces around 15% of UK generated electricity, and consumes around 9%. Gas generation in Scotland accounts for around 10% of the production. We generate approximately 140% of our domestic demand without burning fossil fuels. We export the surplus to the National Grid. The biggest single potential source of energy is wave power for the future. The UK imports electricity via international interconnectors. Last night at 10 pm 14.5% of UK demand was being supplied that way. I was watching the live stats.

    The real elephant we are ignoring is why Scottish consumers are being forced to pay for the high cost of fossil fuel generated electricity when we do not require to generate power at all for domestic consumption by burning gas. Yes, there was a lull in the wind for 10 days before Christmas, but we routinely and normally export a considerable surplus to England.

    We should no more have our citizens ransomed to supply our ungrateful Southern neighbours with our plundered natural resources on the cheap, than should Irish women and children have had to endure famine while food was exported 2 centuries ago.

    Liked by 15 people

    1. The other elephant is that NONE of the revenue generated by this massive energy surplus goes anywhere near Scotland

      The tory energy minister stated that we ONLY have enough gas for 30m homes, the rest has to be imported. There are around 4m homes in Scotland, and none of the revenue our surplus gas hits, either.

      Liked by 14 people

  15. This alarm legislation is disgraceful, fair enough with all new builds , but with all the rising costs due to Brexit etc already getting foistered on us most folks systems are probably adequate until the property needs upgrading. Shame on the Scottish government with this legislation.

    Liked by 8 people

  16. Most of our network is owned by multinationals, as are the wind farms, which are mainly constructed in SE Asia.
    At least the oil boom supported construction yards and infrastructure which created thousands of well paid jobs, especially in remote areas. Now, with a similar energy boom, we don’t even have that.
    The opportunity to learn from our mistakes (eg in not setting up a state energy fund, like Norway in the 70’s) was there, but we seem to have learnt nothing. Of course we are constrained by Westminster, but that merely emphasises the urgency for independence, a cause for which there has been no movement or preparation at all, for years. There is still plenty we could do, given the will, but all we get is the same old rhetoric about being green, without any understanding of what that could and should mean for the Scottish people.
    Where, for example, are the statements about what would happen to the energy sector after independence, in order to give these multinationals fair warning? Where are the preparations, the means to achieve energy independence and control? Way too controversial for the timid neoliberal politicians who populate the SNP. Much easier to grandstand about social issues as a way of demonstrating how ‘progressive’ you are, and ignore the nuts and bolts of economics, ecology and jobs.
    Once again, Scotland’s resources are exploited by others, with little real benefit to the Scottish people.

    Some indications of where this has been going:

    https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18173934.scotland-loses-2bn-wind-farm-boom-ministers-pledge-action/

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/18289660.scotland-must-act-now-stop-renewable-energy-squandered-just-like-oil/

    Liked by 8 people

  17. Instead of flooding the glens and then pumping the water uphill, then releasing the water to power up generators, the same physics/engineering principle (without the loss of land) can be achieved by using solid weights and howfing them up a gradient, then releasing it downhill, attached cables turn the generator.

    A concrete block was used in the example I saw on TV, somewhere, lost in time. So, sorry I cannot link to source.

    Is likely more portable and flexible in application than needing a glen and loch to flood.

    Liked by 8 people

    2. Since storage capacity is a function of water mass and height, it goes without saying that there are millions if not billions of tonnes of water contained within the operating range of a pump storage reservoir.

      Indeed, recognising that water has a density of 1.0 tonne per M3 the volume in simple terms is not difficult to calculate.

      Indeed, 3 kilometres long by 500 metres wide by 2 metres depth would equate to 3 million tonnes of water.

      Blending in with the environment I’m not quite sure what a concrete block storage scheme by comparison would look like.

      Where would one secure the 3million tonnes of concrete to lift up a hill, run down a hill, lift up a hill, run down a hill and would it look like – an insane Mecanno set from Hell. Maybe there is a new use our mountains with local schemes where concrete blocks could be attached to wires on city centre multi story buildings.

      Don’t know Daisy Walker. The physics might in headline terms appear sound, but even allowing for the fact that concrete is around 2.2 times the density of water ( and unlike water, solid) the concrete block idea seems challenged by a little difficulty.

      Mind you, you might be onto the idea of heating a lump of concrete, or something else with surplus power thereafter to recover that heat at a later time to recover heat.

      That could be a bit more elegant that hauling concrete blocks up Ben Lomond.

      Or what about using surplus power to crack green hydrogen from water. Might not have tje allure of concrete blocks going up and down a city centre building, but as a technology it could have potential.

      Ah Daisy Walker, we underestimate our potential for blue sky thinking.

      One thing for certain surplus power generation at low demand time can’t simply be stored in a tin….

      But hang about, back to the future, white metre or economy plus tarrifs for domestic heating……. what was that about. Heating concrete bricks perchance, because while you sleep the power is cheap.

      Ah wizard stuff!! Off to drive my green hydrogen powered moped now.

      Maybe things will change for the better in 2022. I how so.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Willie, I believe White Meter heating had more to do with selling Nuclear Power generated electricity at a time of day
        when there was much less demand. A Nuclear Power station can’t be switched off and on again with demand, as can
        say Hydro Electricity. So they came up with a whizzo scheme to switch on peoples storage heaters at 2 o’clock in the
        morning.

        I lived in Edinburgh Council houses in the 80/90’s when they fitted those as a replacement for electric
        ceiling heating(!). They were certainly cheaper than a hot ceiling to run, but having your bedroom turn into an oven
        at 3 or 4am lead to awful night’s sleep. They would also have lost all of their heat by 7pm, just when you’d want warmth
        before bed.

        I think they had ceramic bricks in them btw.

        Liked by 2 people

  18. Some more factual information on energy pricing.

    An Ofgem report

    Click to access reg_charges_final_master_version_23_october_2015.pdf

    …and a House of Commons briefing paper:

    https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2016-0133/

    As you can see (p20 of the Ofgem report) consumers in the South of Scotland (i.e. most of us) pay a price which is very much average for the UK.

    The North of Scotland (along with Merseyside & N Wales, and SW England) pays higher than average prices, but the culprit is the *Distribution* cost, not the transmission one.

    For the simple reason that in sparsely populated areas it take more km of wire to connect each consumer.

    And there is this quote from the HoC paper:

    “Hydro Benefit Scheme

    The Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme was introduced in 2005 and supports the distribution network in the north of Scotland. There is a per kWh levy on each electricity unit sold across the UK raising around £57 million in 2015-16 which is then passed onto the North Scotland DNO (Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution), reducing the annual distribution cost to households in the Scottish Hydro area by around £41.”

    Let me know when you’d like to discuss this.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Can you explain why it is more expensive near to the source of wind generated power than further away if it is normal distribution cost.
      Can you explain why we pay to generate during rapid power demand surges using hydro electric stations to maintain grid frequency when the South is the cause of the Peak demand load.
      We have hydro turbines running offline at full speed ready to close the breaker in under one second.
      The grid charges are a political bias and YOU know it.

      Liked by 8 people

      1. Just for info “Sparks”. I am a degreed Engineer with speciality in Power Generation and Distribution, System Protection and Discrimination plus Fault calculation. Happy to discuss your data at length. I will of course contest your statements in detail.

        Liked by 10 people

      3. Dear snpleftme.

        I have it in my head, that it requires significant power to send electricity down a wire? And if so, the further you want to send it, the more power it needs to drive it?

        Also, a significant amount of electricity is lost in sending it through a wire? And once again, the further it travels, the more it is reduced?

        If these mutterings are true, then a local, tailored solution in provision of an electricity supply, would have been a much more efficient option. Particularly, the Highlands, Islands and Borders of Scotland.

        I am happy to be corrected, Sir? I am definitely NOT an electrical expert, but would be grateful for some more of your expertise on the subject…..

        Liked by 3 people

    2. “Yet, as a report by the Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG) for RenewableUK revealed in May, transmission charges are by far the highest in Scotland. In the north of Scotland transmission area, they equal £7.36 per megawatt hour (MWh), £4.70 in the south of Scotland transmission area, and only 49 pence in England and Wales. In southern England generators get paid to connect to the grid.”

      “The Scottish charges are by far the highest in Europe despite Scotland having perfect conditions to generate renewable energy with 25% of Europe’s wind resources and 60% of the UK’s offshore wind capacity.”

      https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenational.scot%2Fnews%2F19816730.scots-unfairly-penalised-westminsters-transmission-charges%2F

      Liked by 5 people

  19. The Scottish people would be up in arms if they knew a fraction of what is going on. But the msm and politicians of all parties seem to have conspired to keep them in the dark, in some cases literally.

    I can understand why unionist politicians would do so. I also understand why the media do so. Knowledge is power, and the Scottish people must be kept ignorant at all costs. What I have never understood is why our main Independence party is cooperating with them in this, and in many other things to the detriment of our own people.

    At least, I used not to understand, but since Saint Nicola in her growing arrogance has started to reveal who she really is, it has become clearer that we have been conned for the past seven years. Not only by her, but by those around her too, who, it is now obvious, don’t care a damn about the suffering of so many of our people, but who care very much about their own standard of living.

    They should be deeply ashamed and embarrassed, but are obviously not. At least in the case of Sturgeon and some others around her, I suspect they are only obeying instructions from above. With the rest it’s just greed.

    Liked by 12 people

  20. Happy new year. Im not so sure about this, in fact I’m quite convinced it will be the same crappy year as the one we are in. A third of the Scottish population living in poverty our resources being syphoned off stolen under our noses. I doubt there is an institution in Scotland that gives a monkeys about anybody in the country. Msp,s mp,s cooncilers you name them, they are to busy stuffing their bank accounts with public money. And the SNP are just pissing themselves laughing at the people. So don’t look forward to next year its going to be the same all talk blah blah blah blah. I would be ashamed to tell anyone I came from Scotland. What a fkn embarrassment

    Liked by 4 people

  21. Scotland is a country swimming in energy sources, yet a third of Scots are in fuel poverty, as more and more choose between heating and eating. Come next April, they’ll be huge price hikes for Scots on energy and I fully expect many more Scots to fall into fuel poverty. Even now folk who attend foodbanks in Scotland a rich country with many resources, are asking for cold foods to eat because they can’t afford to heat food up.

    Many EU countries have already helped their citizens by cutting VAT and other duties on energy, here in energy rich Scotland we need to wait until a foreign country’s government makes a move before our FM can make a move, and as Scotland generally has colder Winter’s than England, Scots as usual face the brunt of the matter.

    Imagine if Sturgeon hadn’t betrayed us and used one of those many mandates that she and her party squandered, and we were independent now with control of all the levers of government that a government needs to run a country properly, how might having our hands on our energy rich country help our fellow country men and women with heating their homes at reasonable cost, this we will never know the answer to under Sturgeon’s tenure

    Liked by 15 people

  22. Sorry O/T.

    BAE have announced that 1700 apprentices and graduates are to be hired next year. Most of these jobs will be in the north of England while 161 will be in Scotland . There’s a big part of our problems right there. Crumbs off the table as usual, and we’re supposed to be grateful. Unfortunately many will be.

    When I worked for BAE systems at Scotstoun, not long after they (BAE) had taken over the company, they held a meeting and told us that warship production was to be moved to Barrow in Furness. Unfortunately, they soon discovered that the ships could not be built down there as Barrow had always built submarines. The warship expertise just wasn’t there.

    So, no doubt reluctantly, warships have continued to be built on the Clyde. But if they are training up the workforce down there on such a scale, for how long?

    Liked by 9 people

  23. I should add that I have have been retired for some years so have lost touch with the going’s on at BAE Systems. So they may have been building warships in Barrow for some time for all I know. Nevertheless the signs aren’t good for continued production on the Clyde.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I might be slightly naive but isn’t the whole process about supply and demand.

    If Scotland has enough energy to supply 40 million units then if we are independent we have enough supply to export 34 million units. A Unit being a million people.

    If we are part of a union of 70 million which as a collective can only supply 60 million units then we have to import and we get all of the shenanigans of infrastructure and the national grid etc with internal supply.

    Its seems to me that is applicable across all of the economy and the failure of England to be self sufficient and her dependency upon Scotland subsidies to her exchequer.

    I also see the issues coming down the road with the much vaunted post Brexit trade deals which are killing small businesses which will only exacerbate England’s dependency on Scotland.

    Liked by 3 people

  27. I’m a homeowner. Some 10 or more years ago the Scottish government, led by Alex Salmond provided an upgrade to my central heating system, also cavity wall insulation and loft insulation. A huge improvement to heat conservation. I could argue that I paid via my income tax.

    Today I watch a video by the Scottish government warning me that I must upgrade my household smoke and heat alarm protection system to a standard defined by them otherwise I will be breaking the law. The Scottish government has “helpfully” guided me to a company that can supply the necessary alarms, at a cost to me, of circa £200.

    Endorsement of a product generally provides a benefit to the endorser.Any news on the £600k entwined in the SNP accounts?

    Just compare the two paragraphs above and assure me that all is well within the Scottish government and the SNP.

    Seasons greetings to all. I do enjoy Ian’s blog.

    Liked by 2 people

  28. @bruceruk

    Without getting technical it is better to look at it as a car hire franchise. You can move cars around the system to suit demand. if Glasgow has a high demand you move cars from Perth.
    What you are talking about is volt drop but The Grid needs to keep the frequency close to 50hz as well. A small system can be vulnerable to voltage drop and frequency drop on sudden High demands. E.g. The grid had planned for the early morning boxing match (Rumble in the Jungle) but missed everyone going into the kitchen and switching the kettle on. This could be worse in a small system. Having said that every offshore Installation runs this way very successfully. It is managed by load shed. As the voltage/frequency drops you take off parts of the system e.g. Houses would come off before a hospital.

    The tariff info that Sparks put up is misleading as data has been hidden. When renewables became significant the system couldn’t cope with the demand from the South who have very little spinning reserve (spare capacity)
    A new supergrid was run down the centre of Scotland. Land had to be compulsory purchased massive new pylons had to be installed. At the same time High voltage subsea lines were installed (These required special vessels and trenching). These installations are to take Power to England. What did all that cost!

    We are paying to install the systems AND we are charged more to feed into it.

    The books are cooked to keep the real cost hidden.

    Hope that helps

    Liked by 6 people

    2. thesnpleftme

      Thank you for replying. And yes, all of your information helps.

      I guess I was attempting to allude to inefficiencies. And therefore costs. In this case, passed on to the consumer.
      If for example. 30% of electricity generated, was lost in transit to it’s destination. Would an electricity company care about that? Since the consumer pays for the end product.

      The emphasis appears to have always been about increasing demand, capacity and distribution. Hence the Grid. Increased costs were never muted.
      Using your car analogy, it solves the problems of demand, capacity and distribution, but doesn’t address the increased costs attributed to getting the cars from Perth to Glasgow and back again.

      Something that’s always bothered me. For decades, we have always compared the various ways of generating electricity, alongside an ever increasing demand. Coal, gas, oil, renewables and nuclear. But one option was never on the table. And that was a decrease in electricity consumption. Why not?

      Here’s my local analogy. I came to live on Skye some 20 years ago. My house is roughly 300 yards from the main road, down a private road with a few private houses. At night, when it’ was dark, it was black. I couldn’t see the road or my feet, unless the moon was out. Today, there is a couple of new houses on the same private road.. One of which, has a myriad of lights on upstairs and downstairs inside at night. There’s also a myriad of outside lights on, door lights, path lights, movement detector lights, patio lights. hot-tub lights, Self-catering accommodation lights. And the new owners aren’t there! This light pollution is what I would call abuse. Would it not help greatly, if people were encouraged to reduce their usage? Or am I being naive?…..

      Liked by 1 person

    3. “The tariff info that Sparks put up is misleading as data has been hidden”

      The numbers behind the graphs are in Appendix 1 at the back.

      And if you want the full calculations in all their gory detail, ask Ofgem for them. It will be a very big spreadsheet, though.

      Like

    4. “We are paying to install the systems AND we are charged more to feed into it.”

      I’m not sure what you mean by “we”. If you mean Scottish consumers, you are dead wrong.

      Have another look at that Ofgem report. The table on page 52 has typical Scottish consumers paying the lowest transmission charges (£21 a year – only 4% ot the bill).

      You can confirm that by looking at this – the current transmission charging schedule:

      https://www.nationalgrideso.com/uk/electricity-transmission/document/223561/download

      p4-5 say that the total TNUOS cost is £3.6bn, of which £2.8bn (77%) is raised from consumers across GB.

      A glance at p21 shows that Scottish consumers pay the lowest charges of anywhere, by a long way.

      p11 shows the opposite for generators – indeed, generators in Scotland pay the highest charges.

      This is exactly what you would expect – there is more supply than demand in Scotland so the charging algorithm produces an incentive (and actually only a limited one) to encourage demand and discourage supply.

      Why is this a problem? After all, the power generators who happen to be located in Scotland aren’t exactly “Scottish” – they’re nearly all multinational companies. Scottish Power is Spanish, SSE is a FTSE 100 company so its ultimate owners will be UK pension funds, largely. Then there are the Germans, French, Norwegians, Danes etc.

      So those politicians calling for generator transmission charges to be cut are basically asking for something which would benefit a lot of foreign corporates.

      And a side effect would quite likely be a rise in charges for Scottish consumers.

      Doesn’t seem sensible to me.

      Like

    5. “The books are cooked to keep the real cost hidden.”

      Er, as I have shown you, the “books” and charging schedules are free to view on the websites of National Grid and the 14 distributors.

      They’re not an easy read but surely with your expertise that won’t be a problem?

      Like

  29. Here is my vision for energy in an independent Scotland Scotland, we nationalise it all. Then if any company wishes to drill for oil and gas in Scotland’s waters, they must get their rigs built,and through time decommissioned here as well.
    Also they must get any future supply and support vessels not only built here, but serviced here too.
    Same goes for the wind and wave sector.

    Liked by 7 people

    1. I fully agree. We need to stop the asset drain and focus on internal full employment and skill retention. The fake efficiency mantra is only used to hide wealth drain. Global companies suck you dry and move on. It is time to put People above Profit.

      A dozen people on this planet have a greater wealth than the poorest half of the entire Earths population.

      If the current SNP leadership think that a mini Uk or America is our ambition they are very, very wrong.
      After 100 years Ireland still hasn’t got there and the multinationals are using them. Let us set a better example of what the People being Sovereign really means.

      Liked by 7 people

  30. ALL these below the line comments indicate to me that WE are not TOO STUPID , it is JUST that WE allow the stupids to take control , and by their stupidity control WE end up TOO POOR , and as Clootie and others illuminate when we take back control of our resources from the big multinationals WE will NOT be TOO WEE
    It is enlightening and educational reading the comments from people who are ordinary lay persons but excel at and in their chosen professions , YET WE allow a variety of career driven professional politicians and their supposed advisors ??? many who have NO practical or business experience to run and govern our country and it’s vast resources

    MAYBE we are too stupid ??

    Liked by 2 people

    1. In relation to power, of which more than a few comments have been posted, the international conglomerate SSE are currently proceeding to call for tenders for the construction of the Coire Glas pump storage scheme.

      Located in the Highlands the 30GWH scheme would store enough energy to power 3,000,000 homes for 24 hours. Indeed, with construction it would double the entire UK’s pump storage capacity. Just the thing to store surplus renewable energy.

      Good old Scotland the land that just keeps giving and giving. And like the offshore SeaGreen wind project where the 114 offshore jackets on the £3bn scheme are being built in Dubai and China, as opposed to Scottish yards like BiFab who lost out, who is going to build the SSE Hydro pump storage scheme.

      Ah well, and it should maybe be no surprise, but here here it is –

      The four tenderers shortlisted for civil engineering works are:

      Bechtel Ltd., Acciona Construcción S.A. and Webuild S.p.A consortium
      Eiffage Génie Civil, BeMo Tunnelling UK Ltd., BAM Nuttall Ltd., and Marti Tunnel AG consortium
      STRABAG UK Ltd.
      Dragados S.A.

      And the three tenderers shortlisted for mechanical and electrical works are:

      Voith Hydro GmbH & Co KG
      ANDRITZ HYDRO GmbH
      GE Hydro France

      Like the offshore wind it doesn’t look like there are any local engineering firms being selected to tender to build the works.

      Ah Scotland, the peasant land that just keeps giving. All it’s industry, it’s technical base stripped out. A land of McDonald’s and Burger King technicians.

      PS – memo to Surgeon. Another fine job you’ve done ripping off Scotland, bringing in foreign construction and engineering companies. Making us all peasants in our own land, our poverty will bleed our deepest veins. Well done Nicola. No doubt you and the French bird will be off to a big international quango job once you’ve finished filleting Scotland.

      Liked by 3 people

  31. BTW in reference to the new legislation by SG decreeing that all new smoke alarms and heat alarms MUST be interlinked whether they are self installed or company installed , whether wireless or wired , someone posted somewhere sorry can’t remember where , that the SG were doing their usual stupidity because they had failed to advise what to do when your router failed , or burned out , or the Internet went down which many of us suffer from

    Like

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