While temperatures in the United Kingdom plummet to lows usually seen in the Arctic, gas consumption across the country is soaring. To cope with the highest demand it's ever had, yesterday 94 companies had their gas supplies stopped by the National Grid. All the businesses involved had signed for contracts which give them discounts in exchange for giving the supplier the right to cut off gas if demand rocketed. Although these companies have alternate power sources, there is a price to pay.
This is gonna be a major blow for those companies involved, many of whom would’ve been struggling in the difficult economic conditions over the past year. But in the real issue, it’s as something as a bigger picture. There's an underlying risk in the UK energy system that’s being exposed here. The fact of the matter is that we are getting more and more dependent on imported supplies of gas. And we have inadequate levels of gas storage. So there is a real risk of this incident. This type of incidents will become more frequent and widespread in the future.
National Grid says the country has sufficient gas supplies, claiming disruption was caused by technical problems in the Norwegian gas fields. With snow and ice clogging up the roads across the country, many households have been cut off. Unable to get to work or school, families are turning up the heating to keep their homes warm. Consumer organizations are warning them to budget accordingly. Economists believe the increased energy consumption coupled with more accident repairs and people shopping for warm clothes will actually give the country's economy a boost, which could be enough to balance out a 20 percent fall in productivity during the spell of bad weather.
Any productivity loss that happens during these extreme weather conditions is usually made up for further down the line. Furthermore there’re offsetting costs such as increased spend on clothings, increased spend on energy consumption, which actually mitigate the loss in terms of economic output during the bad weather. There is one issue with regard to the time-limited payments that the adverse weather does affect and simply can't be made up for further down the line. This is in terms of people meeting cash flow demands.
The demand for gas is expected to increase even more tomorrow as the cold weather continues leading to further concerns over supply.
Jenny Wivell, cnn, London.
Glossary:
clog (up): 阻塞，塞住
balance out: if two or more things balance out, the final result is that they are equal in amount, importance, or effect
make up for: compensate for something lost, missed, or deficient.
down the line: later, after an activity or situation has been continuing for a period of time
furthermore: in addition to what has already been said
