The weather has drastically dropped in temperature with snow in places across Yorkshire in recent days, and people start to reach for the thermostat.
Back in October, the National Grid warned that households could experience a series of three-hour power cuts this winter if gas supplies from Russia suffered and Britain experiences cold snaps.
In recent months supplies to the UK have dropped in following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company ordered two coal-fired units at Drax power plant in Yorkshire to be ready for usage today. The company said that this “should give the public confidence in Monday’s energy supply”.
The two coal power plants West Burton A and another two at Drax had been requested to be placed on standby in case energy was needed to cover demand this winter.
It’s ‘last resort’ to ensure the UK’s energy supply isn’t affected. This is just one technique being used as some energy suppliers are offering incentives for users to not use energy at peak demand times.
The National Grid announced the decision on social media today and said they had fired up the coal power plants in order to ‘give the public confidence in Monday’s energy supply’.
The message was just to say that it was ‘not confirmation that these units will be used’ but that they would be ‘available if required’.
The public has been told by the national grid to ‘continue to use energy as normal’ as the ESO as a prudent system operator has these tools for additional contingency to operate the network as normal and the public should continue to use energy as normal’.
If power cuts did go ahead in the UK it would be the first time since 1970 that controlled blackouts have been used.
Read More: UK Set For Its First White Christmas In 12 Years According To New Long-Range Forecast
