Scottish Independence Could Drastically Increase Electricity Bills

The Scots would pay the highest power bills in the world in an independent Scotland, as they would have to import electricity from England.

The country’s current energy policy, which requires production of 100% renewable energy by 2020, and unreliability of wind power would lead to paying for imported power, the Scotsman cited Sir Donald Miller as saying. He compared this situation to that in Denmark, where Danes are paying for power imported from Norway at premium prices amid poor wind conditions in their own country, which produces most of its energy from wind.

“Independence with present energy policies would be disastrous for Scotland. It would be even worse than the Denmark situation,” the Scotsman quoted Sir Donald.

Marine and especially wave energy are out of the question when it comes to reliable energy sources and acceptable costs, he says. On the other hand, Sir Donald supports nuclear power as an energy source that the country could rely on.

[mappress]

Offshore WIND Staff, August 6, 2013; Image: Scottish Enterprise