Dear Editor

The Real Price of Electricity and Electricity Policy

I have been in dispute with my electricity supplier, somewhat perversely, Scottish Gas, actually a Scottish rebranding of British Gas, an entirely English company. The problem or rather problems have been three-fold. The first was the non-provision of a proper, paper bill as requested on-line and by letter, the second was the attempted imposition of monthly-billing without consultation, a three-fold increase in the work I am required to do without any return, and finally there has the complete lack of effective response to the above by the company by any means other than random text and/or telephone-call until recently when finally named emails started to be received.

But in spite of a sky-high bill that was for a while in abeyance and which I have had no problem in paying, none of the above is the real crux of the matter. I live overlooking the sea in Wester Ross. The wind blows three hundred plus days a year. My properties also face south and are ideal for solar panels. Yet the latter would have produced and will probably still produce no positive return over replacement lifetime and personal, even communal, utilisation of the former on-line was effectively prohibited, to the advantage of acolyte oligarchs, the private electricity companies, by a certain David Cameron.

And, whilst I note in literally the last days there may in that den of malfeasance down South have been some movement on the oligarchies, although even then with instant havering, it may be all too late, both personally, regionally and even culturally. It is likely that pretty well every rural community on Scotland’s West Coast and perhaps elsewhere could from on-shore electricity generation by wind be self-sufficient or largely so. In part it is dependent on definitions. There will be days when wind will not blow and power may still need to be imported. But there will also be other days, perhaps, more days, when export of surplus is equally possible. Then the question becomes whether or not the current infrastructure, i.e. cabling, is capable of doing it with the jury frankly out.

However, this is not the point, at which to give up, at least not quite yet. There is still the question as to whether any surplus or part of it, negating grid infrastructure, can be better used at source. In fact more often than not the real question is whether it can be used at all. And the answer is just now probably no and for a basic reason. How often I have heard the cry go up that what rural communities require are small, local industrial estates, to which the reply is for why. Modern machinery of any size much above DIY requires 3-phase electricity. Rural communities do not have it and given present supplies little chance of creating it at an economic price through the grid. It means no factories, even wee ones, and no jobs.

As an example our community has already lost to the East Coast its renown smoke-house and fourteen wages and, on a personal level, the current situation has now meant for me abandonment for part of the year of my Highland home to the same. There is at current international grid rather than potential, local and greener supply prices no point in running my businesses through the winter, therefore no point in being there. It has also meant the probable, future, permanent closure even in summer of one of those businesses. Again return on required investment is hard to find. But I am just one. Consequences on a more general basis are potentially worse. No jobs mean no young people staying. No young people means a guarantee of future, further depopulation. Depopulation means, for example, school rolls tumbling as they are already and very rapidly the complete loss of a part of what marks the Highlands out, its indigenous, even in places mainland, Gaelic culture.

But criticism is easy. Solutions are harder to find, although they may be there. Planning is not a devolved issue yet rather than allowing self-interested London to tinker with the off-shore, on-shore question for its own, nefarious purposes I would suggest that our government bites the bullet, whilst there is still a bullet to get its teeth into. But to do that it needs 1) to shed its urban myopia, 2) defy the Westminster numpties and gives Scots rural communities not simply the possibility but the right to local, indeed personal generation on-shore with finance produced and re-directed from the off-shore plunderers.

Sincerely

Ian Campbell Whittle

Tigh na Tilleadh

201 Polbain

Achiltibuie

IV26 2YW