Recent anouncements that the the environment minister has allowed Kent water authorities to declare a state of scarcity, and impose the introduction of water meters into the Southern area in order to regulate water usage and charge accordingly has made Powerisk wonder if the same thing could happen in the power industry.

Let us assume that a very hot summer on the continent occurs, and that German and French nuclear power stations are forced to turn off, (hot summers tend to make cooling of reactors more difficult and so for safety reasons turn off). With this decision we now have France requiring to make an 80% power shortfall, with a combination of gas and coal plant. Gas and coal plant in the UK become overstretched as they export to this market, and emissions prices rise to €150. In a perfect market, most consumers will turn off, they cannot afford these prices. Some will have bought their power on a forward basis, and the utilities will be paying them to switch off, non-essential production will ensue. This alone does not satiate residential prices, and the government declares that profiling of domestic customers, is no longer accurate enough and so half hour metering is required for all SME's and residential customers.  The cost of the metering is picked up by the consumer, and they are not allowed to buy on a forward basis, but choose to buy on the spot. Turning off when the price is high and showering at 3am.

This is probably a dream, but the very fact that the government can do it in the water industry should make some players think about the effects of the same thing happening in the power industry.