It is the last day of the
month when traditionally BiB does not publish anything significant as the
life of the month-end blog is short. More important stuff must wait until the
1st even though I would prefer to reveal a few more worrying things right now.
This is
much the same as last month when it was reported that Autumn 2024 was the
gloomiest of the past 14 years by a considerable margin.
January, despite four or five sunny days, was overall almost the dimmest since
2011. 2013 and 2021 managed to be a bit worse. By contrast 2022, 2023 and 2024 were all
between 30 and 35% brighter than 2025.
It perhaps explains why Octopus Energy sent out emergency requests to use less
energy on four windless days in January +and offered monetary rewards to those who did. Ed Miliband’s crazy policies, cover a
tenth of agricultural land with solar
panels, plug the fracking wells with concrete, dynamite the old power stations,
ignore the need for nuclear, are vying with Rachel from Complaints’ efforts to
bring the country to a standstill.
I don’t use much electricity during the day so there is almost no scope to
respond favourably to Octopus’s request to cut my consumption, but on the first occasion I made sure the oven and kettle didn’t go on.
My reward was a penny.
On the second occasion I thought I would be clever and turn off the incoming
mains and run wholly off the house battery. It should produce a bigger saving
and it did. Tuppence. I didn’t bother to throw the changeover switch on the next two savings sessions.
The microwave (alone) doesn’t like it and demands its clock is reset.
Obviously I am not in a position to make much of a cut but cumulatively Octopus
customers saved almost half a megawatt hour of electricity and the country’s lights didn’t go out.
When will Milibrain’s luck run out?
Do you know where your candles are?