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A residential area of London in September: increased energy, commodity and food prices
Photo: HANNAH MCKAY / REUTERS
Unlike in many European countries, the British government is not asking the population to save energy.
"It's not our job to tell people how to live," Climate Secretary Graham Stuart told Times Radio.
The last thing you want to do is tell someone to shut down equipment in the national interest if it doesn't impact national energy security.
It is also not to be expected that there will be power outages.
Grid operators had previously warned homes and businesses could be hit by around three-hour power outages this winter.
The British approach contrasts with the European Union, where countries have agreed to voluntarily reduce gas consumption by 15 percent.
In the EU, politicians and authorities are calling on companies to cut energy consumption.
In addition, the heating and lighting in public buildings will be turned down.
In Germany, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and Federal Network Agency boss Klaus Müller have repeatedly appealed to the population.
"The situation can become very serious if we don't significantly reduce gas consumption," Müller recently warned.
»We will be fine in all key scenarios«
The British network operator National Grid's warning of possible power outages is based on a worst-case scenario.
That worst-case scenario occurs when the UK is unable to import electricity from Europe and is struggling to import enough gas.
"If such a scenario existed, it would come to a very sharp point that the fact that someone reduced their energy consumption a week before, or even a day before peaking would not make any real difference to security of supply," he said Stuart on Sky News.
"We will be fine in all central scenarios," emphasized the minister.
When asked whether the British should use less energy, Stuart said: 'That's not a message we're sending'.
The British are feeling the effects of the Ukraine war with rising prices for energy, raw materials and food.
The government has already launched an aid package for people who can hardly pay their significantly higher electricity bills.
On Thursday, the government said it was working with energy suppliers and regulator Ofgem on a voluntary service to reward users who reduce their electricity consumption at peak times.
Under the new Prime Minister Liz Truss, Great Britain has also taken steps to increase its energy security.
For example, the ban on fracking to extract shale gas was lifted in England last month and a new licensing round for oil and gas exploration was launched on Friday.
uh/Reuters