I just can’t comprehend that we might calmly go along with this.
This is an article from [the Journal](https://www.thejournal.ie/energy-costs-ireland-5852264-Aug2022/)that examines how bad it could get;

” At the moment the average gas and electricity bill (in Ireland) is about €4,000. In the UK, they have the energy price cap, so their market is a little bit different, but it’s not far off. In the UK the price cap is just over £3,500, so about €4,200, but they’re expecting the price cap to go to the equivalent of over €**6,000** in January, and to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’d be that far off it. ”

and;
” Cassidy says Irish consumers have so far had to deal with energy prices that have  doubled since the start of last year, increasing by an average of €1,500-€1,600. ”

We seem to be going towards the cliff edge with little to no real plan. There’s also many absurd nonsensical moves happening accross Europe such as closing down much needed [Nuclear power plans in Germany.](https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/correction-germany-nuclear-shutdown-story-82051054)

I’d just like to get your takes. What can, or will be done? How bad can things get? Does it need to happen this way that “that’s that”?

22 comments

  5. There’ll be nothing done about it and the public will be expected to just take it on the chin. Our workplace has been advised to prepare for the price per kwh to reach 60c in the next 12 months,its currently just under 30 cent. Going off this logic my electricity bill at home will have gone from 130 every 2 months to 500 in just 2 years .
    If the government does decide to do something about this itl probably just be another allowance for social welfare recipients and pensioners or a cut in the vat rate.

  6. We have no plan here. Most of Europe however has been planning for this since the war started. We have put the south dublin greens in power, who assume everyone in the country have solar panels on their roof, have an acre of land to grow vegetables on, and are more worried about cycle lanes to get them too and from their assistant principal officer jobs in the department of nothingness.

  7. I think I’ll be the only person that my electricity bill will go down.

    My ex hadn’t paid the bill in almost a year before he left, it’s taken me 2 years on a meter to pay the fucking thing off, I’ve spent €4,000 in 12 months on that fucking meter to clear the bill.

  10. I guess I’ll go with the standard plan that I use to deal with everything else. Hide under some coats and hope everything works out for the best.

  15. “We” as a populace? Most likely no. Individuals will, but the general consensus of “this is the end of the world” is getting silly. We’re not in northern Canada,the coldest it’ll get here will be -5(which yes is increadably cold), but unless you’re homeless(god help em’) a thick blanket, and an extra layer, you’ll be fine. The fear porn being sent by the media is so crazy.

  17. house is insulated, always keep my phone and tablet around 80% charged, generator is in the shed and ive got my 15 tog quilt, im well used to power and temporary cuts so it will be business as usual for me

  18. There are a large number of things being done, but they’re all undramatic and boring so no-one pays attention.

    First and most important, Europe is filling every single gas storage on the continent :

    https://agsi.gie.eu/

    That’s at an average of 80% full now before we’re even out of August, and well ahead of schedule to have them 100% full before the end of November. When full, that will equate to around 26% of *annual* consumption in storage, which will be sufficient to get through winter even if Russia cuts off the remaining gas flow (10% capacity through one pipe). When they’re full, gas demand will actually drop a bit.

    Secondly, France has had a large number of reactors offline due to deferred maintenance over Covid, and unexpected corrosion which was detected and which caused further inspections at other plans and required additional and unexpected downtime. France always does maintenance in the summer because there’s less power required then, but this was larger and longer than normal.

    Either way, almost all of those reactors will be back online over the next couple of months, significantly reducing gas consumption and returning France to its normal status of power exporter rather than importer :

    https://i.imgur.com/QvnWdgp.png

    That’s an increase from 22GW today to 48GW by the end of November.

    Thirdly, Europe is discussing a change in the way power is paid for. For the last couple of decades, power is paid for on a “highest cost” basis, i.e. if one source of power in the market costs e.g. €200/unit, then other sources of power are also paid the same. This was fine until *one* source of power, natural gas, had an insane price spike which has completely broken the market. The likely outcome is that the EU will pass legislation to break this legal link everywhere in the EU simultaneously, probably with domestic legislation per country, and then only the gas segment of power will cost that much. This will vastly reduce the basic cost of power in almost all countries, and will cause every other source of power to be preferred, significantly reducing the demand for gas again. The more renewables and nuclear each country has, the better, so we should do pretty well out of it comparatively over winter, albeit probably at the cost of running Moneypoint on coal all winter.

    https://www.politico.eu/article/pressure-for-eu-level-intervention-in-energy-market-mounts-amid-soaring-prices/

    And lastly, the EU is discussing a price cap for gas sold in the EU. This is in the early stages, but would simply be a legally imposed cap on the price which will be paid. It may be done in concert with a common EU gas purchase scheme so that gas sellers cannot play EU countries off against each other.

  21. Market forces will finally force us to reduce our energy consumption and carbon emissions.

    We were never going to do it voluntarily. Most people can massively reduce their bills by making some changes to their lifestyles.

    I know that nobody wants to hear this so I’m expecting some pretty heavy downvoting. Come at me bit do realise that downvoting me won’t actually help you. You are still going to have to reduce your consumption.

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