Organisers of a protest are asking everyone in the UK to switch off their electricity for 10 minutes at 10:00pm this evening to send a message about the rising cost of energy.
Of course, the cost-of-living crisis is something that has – or certainly will – affect nearly everyone in the country.
So, with that in mind, the Big Power Switch Off has been organised to take place this evening, with British folks asked to turn lights off and unplug their electrical appliances in protest at the unreasonably high energy prices.
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There are a number of factors behind the rise in energy costs, including the over-reliance of the UK on Russian energy sources, which is a problem now due to the sanctions relating to the war in Ukraine, but many argue that some elements are purely political, and the government could do more to help those who are really struggling.
By ‘really struggling’, we mean that estimates from the Resolution Foundation suggest that 1.3 million people – including 500,000 children – could be pushed into absolute poverty as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.
Absolute poverty is when people cannot afford even the basic things in life, such as housing, electricity, food, and water.
The ongoing price rises and wage stagnation – the worst fall in living standards under any Parliament on record – mean that even those who weren’t struggling too bad before are going to be worse off, and those who were already worse off are in even more trouble.
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With that in mind, the plan amongst those organising on Twitter is to have everyone switch off their power for 10 minutes to let the energy companies know how they feel.
Organisers have said that the action is intended to be ‘non-partisan’ and one Facebook post that has been regularly shared reads: “Tonight is the night of the big power-off.
“The idea is that, if it won't put you at risk, you switch off all of your electrical appliances, lights, or switch off at the breakers for 10 minutes.
“This short power off will cause an imbalance on the national grid, where consumption becomes lower than predicted and therefore the electrical supply is too great.
“To protect the grid, power stations will be temporarily disconnected or issued notices to attenuate their output."
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“Because the grid is publicly owned, but power supply is private, this effectively creates a 10 minute boycott of the privatised portions of our power supply, losing them up to an estimated £9m in revenue.
“That's right, private energy companies take in an estimated £9m every 10 minutes in UK!
“It is hoped that this slap in the wallet will cause energy companies to revise their prices, as was the case in Spain.”
That reference to Spain, in case you’re wondering, comes after they organised a similar protest in March, which caused the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to institute a new package of emergency economic measures.
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So, if you’re safe to do so, you can make your own decision on whether to join in later on.
Tom Wood