When your power company plans how many plants it need to service its customers - they must plan for the hottest and coldest days - when the amount of power used is greatest. People use much more electricity in the day - with factories - schools - and offices going at full tilt. At night the power plants are virtually idling - and since you can't store large amounts of electricity it is wasted.
It benefits you and the power company to use more power at night - cutting down on daytime use. To do that in Britain - they have launched the "Economy 7" plan. Simply put - the energy you use between midnight and 7 AM is billed at a much lower rate. The more energy you use at night - the more money you save.
As an example I will compare energy consumption from back in Florida - I figured out my cost per kilowatt hour by dividing the monthly bill (with taxes) by the number of kilowatt hours used. In Florida I pay 17 cents a kilowatt hour. Here in London under the Economy 7 plan - you pay roughly 34 cents per kilowatt hour during the day and only 6 cents per kilowatt hour at night.
You can easily do laundry and dishes at night. You can run your heater and air conditioner at night. But things that draw electricity by day and cost a lot more than now.
Back home in Pennsylvania - my friend Carl who worked for Pennsylvania Power - was on a time of day meter. He installed electric heaters in his home that were heat bricks at night. Then during the day - a fan blowing from the heater transfers the heat into the room. His meter had two readings - one for day and one for night. You could easily tabulate the savings from shifting your use time.
In 1973 - when I built an all-electric home - the cost of power was 2 cents per kilowatt hour. You paid the same amount day or night - but the more kilowatts you used the less you pay per kilowatt hour. PPL also gave big discounts to industries to encourage using more. They had just built a gigantic nuclear power plant about 30 miles away and were able to produce all the cheap power they needed. Nuclear power is cheap - but people worry about the waste that is dangerous for 5000 years.
In Tallahassee - they city produces electricity with natural gas. Recently the city turned down two proposals to fund a coal fired power plant and a bio-waste plant. Kissimmee produces some of their power with large diesel engines that turn the generators. In Syracuse NY - most of the power is hydroelectricity from Niagra Falls. Near Lansford - there is a power plant that has been operating for 20 years just using coal refuse left over as a bi-product of the past coal mining glory.
Many folks like to say we should switch over to wind power and solar power. My friend George uses solar power to heat his pool. Unfortunately - when pool heat is needed most - the sun is low on the horizon and useless. In the summer - when pool water is 85 degrees normally - George's pool could be 95 degrees.
I love electricity as a source of power for homes - manufacturing - and transportation. It is safe - easy to transfer - and can be produced in my ways. All we need to do it invent a better battery so we can make power at night and use it by day. We could also drive electric cars farther than 50 miles a day.
The amount of fossil fuels is finite. London's "Economy 7" is pragmatic attempt to conserve energy and money.
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