{"id":361314,"date":"2025-01-10T16:24:25","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=361314"},"modified":"2025-01-10T16:34:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:34:50","slug":"britons-paying-2-million-an-hour-to-keep-gas-power-stations-running-in-freezing-temperatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=361314","title":{"rendered":"Britons \u201cPaying \u00a32 Million an Hour\u201d to Keep Gas Power Stations Running in Freezing Temperatures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Will Jones<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Households paid the equivalent of \u00a32 million an hour to gas power stations today after low winds and freezing temperatures left electricity grid bosses scrambling to keep the lights on. The Telegraph <\/em>has more<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

As freezing weather swept into the South East, the National Energy System Operator (Neso) warned that it expected power supplies to become particularly tight between 4pm and 7pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crunch forced grid operators to pay huge sums to gas power plant owners to keep them running. The cost will ultimately be borne by households and businesses through their bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one stage, they agreed to pay the Rye House power station, in Hertfordshire, the equivalent of \u00a31.8 million per hour, transparency data show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three gas-fired units in Connah\u2019s Quay, North Wales, were also paid a combined \u00a32 million per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neso declined to comment on the payments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes as cold weather is expected to spark increased electricity consumption as more people stay indoors, watch television and use their gas or electric heating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, a sharp drop in wind power and low availability of power interconnectors with Europe is also putting more pressure on the grid.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Worth reading in full<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Net Zero Watch reports<\/a> that renewables subsidies hit new highs in 2024. The previous record of \u00a32.3 billion in payments under the Contracts for Difference scheme was set in 2020. 2024\u2019s total has surpassed that and is likely to hit \u00a32.4 billion when all the data are in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Households paid the equivalent of \u00a32 million an hour to gas power stations today after low winds and freezing temperatures left electricity grid bosses scrambling to keep the lights on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":361315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819461,691819630,691832549,691818154,691818181,691818852,691822502],"class_list":["post-361314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-energy-bills","tag-energy-crisis","tag-gas-power-stations","tag-net-zero","tag-renewable-energy","tag-wind-power","tag-winter","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-08-180208.jpeg?fit=1265%2C798&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1vZE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":239009,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=239009","url_meta":{"origin":361314,"position":0},"title":"Wind Power Collapses During Calm Weather Means Soaring Power Prices & Power Rationing","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"These days, when calm weather sets in, and the limited remaining capacity from dispatchable coal and gas-fired plants is spent, Britain\u2019s (hopeful) power consumers soon find themselves sitting freezing in the dark.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/0Screenshot-2023-01-10-213745-1.png?fit=987%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/0Screenshot-2023-01-10-213745-1.png?fit=987%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/0Screenshot-2023-01-10-213745-1.png?fit=987%2C782&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/0Screenshot-2023-01-10-213745-1.png?fit=987%2C782&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":423715,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423715","url_meta":{"origin":361314,"position":1},"title":"Winter Storm Wrecks Power Lines as Hundreds of Thousands are Still Without Power","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/29\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A major winter storm has swept across much of the United States in late January 2026, bringing heavy snow, freezing rain, and ice that have caused widespread damage, particularly to power infrastructure. 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