Three in five Britons are concerned about blackouts occurring this winter, a new poll has revealed after the National Grid warned that the UK could face sustained power cuts over the coming months.
The same number (60 per cent) also said they were worried outages could hit their local area and affect either their home or place of work, according to a new YouGov survey.
It comes after National Grid Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) warned that in the “unlikely event” there is not enough gas to keep power stations going in January, it could force distributors to cut off electricity to households and businesses for three-hour blocks during the day.
Despite insisting these projections were based on a worst-case scenario, half of YouGov’s respondents said they see blackouts as likely to occur somewhere in the UK (48 per cent).
Those living in Scotland were found to be more inclined to believe there will be winter blackouts, both across Britain (61 per cent), and at their home or place or work (53 per cent).
A separate YouGov poll found that most Britons (54 per cent) would be willing to support a boost in domestic energy production from high-carbon sources on a temporary basis to ease the threat of blackouts.
Should significant shortages arise over the winter, the poll found the public would most likely see it as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, with 75 per cent saying this would be a large or significant part of the reason.
Compared to several of its European neighbours, the UK has relatively low gas storage. While this storage is owned by energy companies, they can be reliant on government subsidies.
At present, two thirds of Britons (65 per cent) think that the actions of energy companies would be a major or significant factor in the shortage of gas this winter, with fewer (46 per cent) saying the same of the government.
Conservative and Labour voters are both about as likely as the wider public to see the actions of energy companies as being a big reason behind gas shortages (63 per cent and 67 per cent, respectively), and both are more likely to say energy firms bear more responsibility than the government.
However, Conservative voters are substantially less likely to see the government as being responsible (32 per cent) than Labour voters (58 per cent).
