"DEMAND MANAGEMENT" AND OTHER WEAZEL WORDS ON ENERGY SUPPLY

Yesterday I listened to the evidence to the Economic Affairs Committee of the UK House of Lords given by both Lord Adair Turner and Lord Nigel Lawson. You can hear the debate here. It is difficult to judge what effect, if any, this session might have. Lord Turner is a very polished performer and superficially gave a very persuasive case. Lawson is, by comparison, a little hesitant in his delivery at times, though he gave a very combative case and put some powerful arguments.  At one point Turner mentioned "demand management" as a means of reducing peak demand in electricity supply. I would have liked a more detailed scrutiny of this. What he really means by this is that the consumer (in other words, us!) will lose control of when he can use his appliances - or face huge extra costs if he does so. Once we have "smart meters" in our homes the control will pass from us to the generating companies. The public have no idea what is coming down the tracks.