Gary's views

ENERGY PRICES

It never rains but it pours. I speak not of our increasingly tropical weather conditions, but gas and electricity prices. Just when other pressures are falling from the sky upon us with spiralling food and fuel prices, we could do with energy prices remaining constant. The opposite is true with massive increases already suffered and more on the way.

This is a trend that is unlikely to be reversed in the medium term. The reason is the old maxim of supply and demand. Gas, coal and oil, which supply most of our domestic energy, are all running out and it is unlikely that significant new reserves are going to be discovered anywhere. Our nuclear power stations are getting old and it will take ages to replace them. So, dwindling supply.

With one third of the planet that used to live in abject poverty (China and India) now becoming wealthy enough to afford televisions fridges and computers, the demand for energy is soaring. That is unlikely to change. The price reductions we experienced in the 1990's were a temporary phenomena flowing from competition introduced into this market. The fruits of that new structure have now run their course.

We have to treat these increases as an incentive to become more energy savvy – each and every one of us. I saw some schemes in Green Park Road in Plymstock recently where for modest amounts of (British Gas inspired) investment real savings in energy consumption were being achieved: around 25%. This is the future. It is both about making our homes more energy efficient in reducing waste – better insulation and equipment PLUS exploring micro generation of our own power through solar panels and small turbines and the like. There is help and guidance available out there for all of us through all kinds of organisations.

Some are calling for a windfall tax on energy companies to subsidise the poorest people who are struggling to pay their bills. I am not against major corporations paying their fair share, but this policy misses the point. One off subsidies will not help us face a long term challenge. We have to allow these price increases to drive us into better stewardship of our own energy consumption and production. It is time for each of us to explore how we can do that in our own households, and those of us with elderly relatives, how we can help them also. To the loft!

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