Blackouts are 'best possible thing' for UK energy crisis...

This article has a lot of interesting bits: the usefulness of a crisis, the usefulness of intermittent renewables, the usefulness of mothballed gas plants, the perils of planning for very low electricity growth, the difficulties of avoiding central planning while distorting markets with subsidies, and the willingness of all to state much more spending is required accompanying the distaste of all but a few at acknowledging a crisis may be imminent.

Blackouts are 'best possible thing' for UK energy crisis, says Labour adviser | Business | The Guardian:

The man who masterminded London's highly successful Olympic Games has said power blackouts would be "the best possible thing" because they would force politicians to confront the looming energy crisis.
Sir John Armitt, who is also advising the Labour Party on Britain's infrastructure needs, said the country was heading towards an energy-capacity crunch because ministers had failed to ensure the construction of new power stations to take over from decommissioned nuclear and coal plants.
And as Britain faces a weekend of freezing weather there were new warnings about the proximity of a capacity crunch from Dieter Helm, a leading energy academic who believes ministers have underestimated future power demand.
Angry business leaders dismissed Armitt's comments as irresponsible, but Armitt, who worked on the Sizewell-B nuclear reactor while at the construction group Laing, insisted new capacity was needed.
"In harsh political terms [blackouts] would be the best possible thing that could happen because this country is extremely good in a crisis," he told the construction industry magazine Building.

Continue reading at The Guardian: