The UK is making crisis plans for the winter which include the possibility of organised blackouts. Cold weather could combine with gas shortages to result in blackouts for businesses and households, Bloomberg reports.
Under the UK government’s “reasonable worst-case scenario”, officials reportedly believe there could be blackouts on "several" days in January. It comes as forecasts show annual energy bills are set to top £4,200 from January, sparking fears of severe hardship without government intervention.
The reasonable worst-case scenario — which government sources insist are highly unlikely to materialise — would see the power shortfall total about a sixth of peak demand even if emergency plans to fire up retiring coal power plants came into force, according to Bloomberg. In that scenario, a reduction of electricity imports from Norway and France would see the UK government bring in emergency measures to conserve gas for four days in January.
