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Half a million people hit by power cuts this week may just have had a sneak preview of what the future holds.
Environmentalists yesterday seized on blackouts caused by seven power stations shutting down as evidence of Britain's over-dependence on a handful of ageing power plants.
Yesterday it was still unclear why the power stations had failed, affecting areas including Cleveland, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and London, but electricity producers claimed a series of unfortunate coincidences were to blame.
Either way, those who got stuck in a lift in Cheshire, lost power at home in South London, or had an operation cancelled at a hospital in High Wycombe, were the victim of an energy gap, a failure of supply to meet demand. This shortfall was a one-off, but Britain continues to sail towards a moment, seven or eight years from now, when the energy gap becomes a much more permanent reality.
Despite more than 15 years of warnings that Britain must replace its ageing power stations within the next decade in order to bridge this gap, little has been achieved. Gordon Brown is now more convinced than ever that nuclear energy is the answer to Britain's power problem, indicating yesterday that he now expects to see the construction of new plants over the next 15 years and replacements for facilities, all but one of which will be decommissioned by 2023.
All of this is not much comfort for consumers who found themselves powerless on Tuesday. Wholesale electricity prices soared 35 per cent to £95 per megawatt hour, a new record, immediately after the cuts.
Operations had to be cancelled at Wycombe Hospital in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. When the cut struck, emergency generators kicked in, but one was affected by a fire. In and around the Lincolnshire towns of Market Rasen and Louth, 23,000 homes were affected.
Thousands of households had no electricity in Wallasey, Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port and Runcorn on The Wirral. Eight people were rescued from a lift in a library in Middlesbrough where, with neighbouring Stockton and other parts of Cleveland, 30,000 premises were hit.
Thousands in South London were without electricity. The cut lasted less than an hour but it affected stations, such as Clapham Junction, and caused road problems as traffic lights went out. North of London, Watford was also hit.
- INDEPENDENT
