Our electricity system is failing

and the power network people have sent messages out to say that next Tuesday we will be without power altogether. It is a "planned outage".  They apparently have to do some work on the system.

It will take more than some repairs to deal with the issue. I live in a city in one of the driest and hottest places on earth. I am watching in despair as successive governments make decisions which contribute to both these things. They are cutting down trees for a golf course that most people will never use in an area which already needs far more trees. They keep telling us "solar, solar, solar" and that "look, this big battery solves the problem when the sun goes down". They are cramming more and more low level housing on increasingly small plots of land, building houses with black roof tiles and no eaves. Street trees are further apart to make way for cars. 

Yes, we are told to worship "renewable" energy, sport and single dwellings which we reach by cars, preferably electric cars. We actually pay considerably more for electricity than the neighbouring states although, so we are told, more of our electricity is produced by those wonderful "renewables". Something has gone very wrong here. 

The last couple of days have been brutally warm for city dwellers. My electricity bill is going to be far too high. I have tried to use air conditioning system responsibly. I do not leave it on all night or even all day. I know other people who do. There is good ceiling insulation here but not everyone has that. New homes must have it but how many are putting in the expensive batting we had in the last house I lived in? I don't imagine many people can afford it. We would not have been able to afford it but for getting the remainder from a much larger installation at a reduced price.

Cold can kill just as readily as extreme heat. Extreme cold can be very dangerous indeed. We recognise that but people forget extreme heat. The workmen arrived to start replacing the old and rusty guttering yesterday. They knocked on everyone's doors to let them know and my first words were, "If you need more water don't hesitate to come and ask." The youngish man standing there looked startled but I meant it. They needed it. They can ask again today.

We need to rethink this "renewable" idea. It isn't going to save the planet. It is actually contributing to the problem. We have lost far too much valuable farm land and valuable green cover to the renewable gods. We contribute less to those nasty emissions in a year than China does in a day but they keep telling us that we can save the planet by going down the "renewable" path.  I don't think it is going to happen. It is not yet 9am and I am already a hot and unhappy cat.