Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Rant against the Inefficiencies of privatisation

I have just finished a long and confusing telephone conversation with a nice young man from my electricity supplier (and receiver) at Scottish and Southern. He was checking up details on my electricity exports (I have 3.4Kw of plotovoltaic). He was unaware that my billing agent was Ebico. I have lost about one year of exports because Ebico did not know that I was a generator.
Scottish & Southern's paperwork (?no computers?) was all sheets to the wind, he left me hanging on for ~10 mins while he consulted his supervisor.

We settled that I would be deemed to have started exporting from April 1st 2010 (about 2.5 years later than I actually did start exporting. I will be paid 9p for all electricity that I generate, and 3p for electricity that I export to the grid, as opposed to 41p paid to late adopters. I chose to "opt out" of something (I do not fully understand what, but was in no mind to opt in to anything at this stage) which means that I will have to change suppliers next march.

I was an early adopter, and am punished for being a sustainability pioneer. First I lost about £5000 because I put my deposit down just before the bastards cut the subsidy, then I lost out through the inefficiency of my billing company not realising that I was a generator, and now we have this insulting disparity between the amount paid to late adopters and early adopters. Sure, there should be a difference until the subsidy is paid off (late adopters do not get a subsidy) but even so there is not even a semblance of equity (aka fairness).

I am revolted by the Byzantine complexity and inefficiency of the marketisation of the privatised energy supply industry. I feel angry at a system which is quite clearly, mad. Irrational. Unreasonable. Inefficient. Which is still sold by Tories and their LibDem running dogs as efficient.

The young man, who is in the energy supply industry, had never even heard of the idea of people storing excess electricity. How can we be so backward? Surely the UK plc is heading steadily towards 3rd World status, courtesy of the Coalition, and before it, NuLabour.

OK. Rant over. I will now go out and collect sticks and stuff.

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