6 Million UK Household May Be Hit by Power Shortages This Winter Amid West’s Anti-Russian Sanctions

UK government ministers warned last month that the “severe sanctions” Western countries slapped on Russia following the beginning of Moscow’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February would have a knock-on effect on the cost of living in Britain. The upcoming winter may see potential power cuts to as many as six million UK households, The Times has reported. The newspaper referred to the British government ostensibly modelling a "reasonable" worst-case scenario, which predicts major gas shortages this winter if Russia cuts off energy supplies to the EU, The Times says. According to the newspaper, the government may impose limits on the industrial use of gas, including gas-fired power stations, which will most likely result in significant electricity shortages that may last more than a month, mostly during peaks in the morning and evening. The report comes a week after Michael Lewis, the chief executive of the energy firm E.ON UK, warned that at least 40% of British households will live in fuel poverty this autumn if a “very substantial” government intervention doesn’t take place. Fuel poverty is a term used to describe those households who have to spend more than 10% of their disposable income on home energy in order to maintain an adequate standard of warmth. “Frankly, some people are at the edge, they simply cannot pay and that will get worse once prices go up again in October,” which will see “a price increase and an increase in consumption, that's when it's going to hit and that's why we've called for more government intervention”, Lewis told the BBC. He argued that the rise in prices was “predominantly” due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict, which disrupts energy supplies from Russia, adding, “in my 30 years in the energy industry I have never seen prices increase at this rate”. “The gas price has gone up significantly, the gas price also drives up the electricity price because gas generation sets the price for electricity. We are seeing a significant number of people in fuel poverty, that’s to say more than 10 percent of their disposable income spent on energy,” the E.ON UK chief said. Shortly after the start of Russia’s ongoing special operation to "demilitarise and de-Nazify" Ukraine on 24 February and the subsequent imposition of Western sanctions on Moscow, the price of March’s European gas futures hit a historic maximum, skyrocketing to over $1,636 per 1,000 cubic metres, up 60% from previous indicators. Since thn, European gas prices have fallen to their lowest level in three months amid reports of “steady” liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries. As part of the sanctions, US President Joe Biden announced a total ban on energy imports from Russia in early March, with the UK following suit and pledging to phase out imports of Russian oil and coal products by the end of 2022. The European Commission, in turn, unveiled a plan to reduce reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds before Christmas, and abolish Russian fossil fuel, such as coal and oil, by 2030.