Grid may need ‘priority access’ system in future

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By Paul Homewood

From Utility Week:

A senior figure at Ofgem has called for a public debate on how consumers pay for and make use of the UK’s electricity networks.

Moves to increase flexibility and squeeze the most out of existing infrastructure could otherwise allow “one group of customers to outbid another group of customers for access”.

“When we consider that capacity may be at a premium – it is increasingly expensive to provide on a marginal basis,” said Ofgem senior partner Andrew Wright, “allowing everyone to charge their vehicles and power their heat pumps without constraint could turn out to be prohibitively expensive for everyone and increasingly difficult to manage on the system.

“In the future, we may need to find new ways of paying for and providing access to the electricity system.” He said the issue is “contentious” and will need to be approached in a way which “meets society’s expectations of fairness and reliability”.

Wright, who has previously raised fears over the creation of a two-tier energy system, said those who want greater access to the grid in order to use a fast charger for their electric vehicle may need to pay more for it. “Alternatively, people who want to accept some limits on their ability to consume large amounts of electricity when they want may be able to benefit in terms of prices.”

If consumers are allowed to pay extra for enhanced access to the grid, then there will need to be “some sort of priority access for the basic needs for everyone, over other less essential or more flexible requirements”.

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We have heard a lot about so called “flexibility” in discussions about future energy strategies. How, for instance, can we cope with intermittency of renewable sources, and how can we move demand away from peak periods.

Andrew Wright has revealed the ugly truth of what it really means. As with any other commodity, when electricity is in short supply it will end up being rationed by price.