Energy

From DAWN Magazine, Lahore – On an average summer’s day when the rest of Lahore sullenly waits in the heat for the electricity to return, Shahid Razzaq’s family lounges peacefully, their air conditioner running and all appliances working. While in other households the sudden and frequent power blackouts are greeted with groans and resigned sighs, the Razzaq family doesn’t even notice. And they certainly never have to switch on a generator.…

The Off-Grid message sometimes seems anti-corporate – a fightback against the big Utilities and their cronies in politics and the media.

But big business also contains some sworn enemies of the Grid. None more so than David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, America’s largest independent power producer. For the past century, we have paid electric utilities to supply power via the centralized grid. In the future Crane envisions individuals relying on power plants only for critical needs.

Last Thursday the Arizona State legislature voted to impose a tax on roof-top solar installations – it was an infuriating decision after years of lobbying from the Utility companies.

“The fundamental relationship the American citizen has with energy is about to change,” Crane told…

A top Utility executive has embarrassed the company that runs Britain’s power supply – by exposing the high risk of power cuts this winter.

He says the risk of power shortages has been underestimated by ministers and the National Grid, with factory shutdowns and “politically unacceptable” price spikes more likely than had been feared, energy giant SSE has warned.
National Grid last month said that in a cold winter the UK’s electricity “margin” – the safety buffer between peak demand and supply – would fall to just 5pc, the lowest since 2007, as old power stations are switched off.
But Keith MacLean, SSE’s director of policy and research, warned: “We think that could easily flip to minus 5pc.”…