OK, tell me you didn't see this coming.
The math with "green" energy sources never worked out. And with solar power, it works out even less. The installations are labor-intensive; the panels are expensive to build and maintain, and we might note that a lot of the materials required come from - wait for it - China. Land taken up for solar panels can't be used for anything else. At least with the giant, eagle-killing windmills, you can graze a few cattle in fields full of them; solar panels, not so much.
All this notwithstanding, the United Kingdom has gone all-in on "green" energy, including solar panels. The problem is that solar energy is expensive, and in Britain, despite what the powers-that-be might think, things are about to get worse. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, the specific power-that-is in this case, is now determined to save the British people some money on electricity, even if he has to spend a few billion pounds of taxpayers' money to do so. And he's going to do it, apparently, by covering every available square inch of Britain with solar panels.
Ed Miliband is poised to splurge billions of pounds on solar power, batteries and heat pumps in a scramble to meet Labour's pledge to cut energy bills, it has emerged.
The Energy Secretary is expected to set out proposals next month to allocate up to £13billion over the next four years as part of the Government's warm homes plan.
According to The Times, a shift in policy will see billions of pounds invested in household grants for installing solar panels, heat pumps and battery storage.
Ministers are said to believe the plans could see some homes become 'zero bill' - meaning they pay little or no money for power.
The "scramble to meet Labour's pledge to cut energy bills" may well end up being a "scramble to make sure Labour loses every election for the next fifty years," if Miliband (who was once the leader of the UK's Labour Party, by the way) gets his way. Now, he's trying to meet a pledge that Britain's Labour Party made to the voters.
The problem is, the facts won't allow them to do so - not like this. And the goalposts, we might note, have already started moving. The British government is also encouraging homeowners to cover their properties with solar panels, just to help with the effort.
The newspaper also reported that the Government will lift restrictions on 'plug-in' solar panels that can be installed on balconies, patios or flat roofs.
This could see 'plug-in' solar panels, which can be plugged into a power point without the need for specialist support, made available in the middle aisle of supermarkets.
Prior to last year's general election, Labour promised its planned move to 'clean power' by 2030 would slash £300 off the average annual household energy bill.
Mr Miliband has stood by that pledge and denied his Net Zero drive is keeping Britons' energy costs high.
Mr. Miliband is telling the British people that they can have their steak and kidney pie and eat it, too, and that's just not possible.
Read More: Primary Energy Fallacy: The Flawed Math Behind Green Hype
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The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: 'We are investing an additional £1.5billion into our warm homes plan, taking it to nearly £15billion — the biggest ever public investment to upgrade homes and tackle fuel poverty ever.
'We are doubling down on support for home upgrades and will set out our plans to help households, and support thousands more clean energy jobs soon.'
So, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is going to save the British taxpayers money by taxing British taxpayers to finance upgrades to homes that will allow them to switch to solar power, subsidized by the taxpayers, with a nebulous promise of "clean energy jobs" which never seem to materialize.
Oh, and in case you weren't aware of it, Britain's famous for its damp, cloudy weather. Solar power may be practical to some extent in Madrid, the Azores, or Arizona, but in London? There's a reason, you know, there was an entire brand of knee-length raincoats labeled "London Fog." It's because London is notorious for, you guessed it, fog. Solar panels, if you'll allow me to belabor the obvious for a moment, only work when the sun is shining.
To add to the insanity, the British have been dropping their domestic natural gas production. At present, the North Sea provides about 34 percent of British natural gas; the rest is imported, about half from Norway, the rest from Belgium, the Netherlands, and yes, the United States.
If Ed Miliband gets his way, the flow of natural gas into Britain will stop, and the farms and fields of the nation will give way to solar panels, which will almost certainly cost more than projected, won't work for as long as projected, and will not deliver the amount of electricity projected. And the British taxpayers will be stuck with the tab.
If the Energy Secretary were really sincere about taking the United Kingdom towards a clean energy future, he'd be talking about building nuclear reactors. He's not - and that is why it's so hard to take him seriously.
