Will Gas Price Increases Boost UK MicroGeneration?

July 19, 2008

There have been reports today that Channel Four News has seen an internal report from the supplier Centrica which suggested gas prices could rise by as much as 70% and remain high.

Jake Ulrich, managing director of Centrica Energy was quoted as saying:

“I do think we will see people change their behaviour, I think people will use less energy and I hate to go back to the Jimmy Carter days in the US but maybe it’s two jumpers instead of one.

“I think people will change the temperature they keep the house, they’ll be more cognisant of energy waste, they’ll buy better appliances.

These reports are backed by a recent, informative post by Chris Vernon on The Oil Drum discussing the reasons why we are likely to see significant increases in the price of UK Natural Gas this Winter

Chris Vernon’s post makes sobering reading and it’s a sad indictment of how little energy is being generated in the UK through MicroGeneration that Chris has to take the not unreasonable view of not incorporating any figure in his calculations for a contribution from other non-fossil fuel methods.

I’m not certain whether these predicted price increases are due to genuine market forces or profiteering, however, there is an upside.

As well as encouraging us to think about how we can reduce energy usage, hopefully these increases will increase the debate about MicroGeneration as a possible alternative or at least complementary source to the National Grid.

Key to this is whether MicroGeneration actually stacks up as a financially viable alternative to the national grid and the value placed on the energy generated by MicroGeneration.

Posted in Uncategorized, microgeneration