UK households spent £180m on 'unnecessary' power capacity – report

Households have spent £180m over the past three years on spare power capacity that was never used, according to a report that comes as MPs prepare to debate what can be done about rising energy bills. Power stations have been put on standby over the winter since 2014 as part of the National Grid's supplemental balancing reserve but the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found that the scheme, which closed in February, was never used. The thinktank said a new scheme to be introduced this winter would see the annual cost jump to £387m. Jonathan Marshall, energy analyst at the ECIU, said: "The clear message from this report is that paying to boost spare capacity in Britain's electricity system can be very expensive and potentially unnecessary." He calculated that increasing the capacity margin, the percentage difference between electricity supply and demand, would be extremely costly. The margin was 6.6% last winter, prompting a Lords committee last month to call for it to be boosted to 10%.