power saving?

[John52]

According to the FT the rest of Europe is running public information campaigns to save fuel due to the shortage of supply, and cost of taxpayer funded subsidies

Like we used to be encouraged to save water when there was a drought.
Why has Truss has vetoed one here?

I know she has very expensive tastes when we are paying
So I  can only guess she doesn't want anyone asking her what she is doing to save fuel
From the FT;


Liz Truss vetoed a £15mn public information campaign urging British households to save energy this winter ahead of potential import shortages from Europe, government insiders have confirmed.

Business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg had prepared the “light-touch” campaign aimed at encouraging people to restrict energy usage ahead of a warning on Thursday by National Grid of rolling blackouts in the coming months in a worst-case scenario.

The initiative was signed off by Rees-Mogg but ultimately blocked by the prime minister. One senior government insider said: “Liz’s innate libertarianism stopped it; she doesn’t like telling people what to do.”

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on Friday said it had “no plans” to “tell the public to reduce usage for the sake of our energy supplies”.

Having for months called on the government to run a campaign advising households on how to reduce gas and electricity consumption and cut their bills in the process, industry bosses and academics have been left baffled by ministers’ refusal to do so.

Energy companies are concerned that households will resort to overly extreme measures because they fear the prospect of rolling three-hour blackouts.

Bill Bullen, chief executive of energy supplier Utilita, said: “I just don’t get it at all. Just about every other country in Europe has said ‘We are in a difficult situation here, it would be helpful if people use less energy’.”

Bullen added that it would be in the government’s interest to encourage a reduction in consumption, in view of its roughly £150bn energy subsidy package for households and businesses, which took effect on October 1.

But energy minister Graham Stuart told Sky News on Friday the government was “not a nanny-state government” and that there would be no public information campaign.

“We are not sending that out as a message. All of us have bills, of course, and the bills have gone up,” said Stuart, adding that a campaign would “probably make no difference”.

Under the £150bn scheme, suppliers can charge households no more than roughly 34p per kilowatt hour for electricity and 10.3p/KWH for gas, inclusive of value added tax.

The Treasury subsidises the difference between that level and the actual cost suppliers incur to procure the energy to serve customers.

Utilita’s Bullen said his was one of many companies trying to advise households on how best to save money and use less electricity, but he added: “There is always a slightly cynical reaction to an energy boss on the TV saying ‘Please use less energy’.”

Adam Bell, former head of energy strategy at BEIS, described the government’s decision as an “utter dereliction of duty”.

He added that he did not “understand at this moment of crisis why you wouldn’t to do everything you can” to reduce consumption, both to save money and improve energy security.

[Bulletguy]

Even her own party have turned on her over this.

Liz Truss is facing a backlash from Tory MPs over her “simply wrong” decision to veto a campaign to encourage Britons to use less energy this winter.

Guy Opperman, a former work and pensions minister, said he was “fully behind an energy saving campaign” and the decision to veto it was “simply wrong”.

“Reduction in energy helps constituents save money, saves the taxpayer money, as [the] public sector should lead the way,” the Tory MP said.

“Reduce usage, while we address supply. Government must act. This is not nanny state. It is preserving supply, saving money for everyone, and encouraging localism.”

Mr Opperman said the approach taken by other European nations like Germany, where the government is encouraging people to reduce consumption, is “worth following”.

“Not engaging with the public expenditure on this issue is simply wrong. Consuming energy when you don’t have to is foolhardy,” he said.

Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, said: “It is entirely sensible to give the public factual information about how they can save money on energy bills.

“Blocking it because of ideological dogma is another failure piled on 12 years of Tory failed energy policy for which the British people are paying the price.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/07/liz-truss-simply-wrong-veto-energy-saving-campaign-say-tory/

[B Dobson]

It's very, very interesting 

[colin]

Boris is not looking so bad now, wish I'd laid that bet now. 

[Bulletguy]

5 hours ago, colin said:

Boris is not looking so bad now, wish I'd laid that bet now. 

A woman phoned into a radio prog last week mourning the loss of Johnson claiming he was "the best pm ever". When asked why she replied, "well he was funny and had funny hair...". And then we wonder why we have clowns running the country. 

But how do you square this chap who is "ashamed to be a Tory", espousing socialist values? I think he was at the wrong conference!