Re: Grand Apagon - Electricity (not) in Spain

Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
 

On 08/05/2025 17:19, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
>

On 08/05/2025 13:43, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
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>

I don't think I've ever (regardless of where I've lived) experienced
a deliberate power cut.  A drunk may take out a telephone pole or
a branch may fall on some high tension wires but no one has ever
said "sorry, we're turning the lights out" (for whatever reason)

>
That was exactly what happened in the UK in the early 1970s; we had a
rota of power cuts lasting 4 hours each.  I made up an automatic
lighting unit based on a car battery for my parents.  It used relays to
switch on when the mains went, then recharge at a fast rate until the
battery voltage rose high enough, then trickle charge.

>
That was during the various coal miners strikes which were at their peak
then. Local newspapers had rotas for planned supply cuts.
>
ISTR there was still the odd planned power cut even in the late 1970's
but they became increasingly rare after that.

>
A "Disconnection Rota" marker has recently started appearing on my
electricity bill.

>
You still get paper ones? I confess I haven't actually looked at my
virtual "paper" electricity bill for ages. I use the online portal to
check usage and how much they have taken in DD for prepayment.

 I still pay individual paper bills.  Last year they sent me a ridiculous
bill which they said was recalculated from several bills going back over
more than a year.  Their calculations were a load of nonsense and, after
three hours working on it, a friend who is a retired accountant gave up
in despair.
 I made payment conditional on a satisfactory explanation of how they had
calculated the bill.  Then they started sending weekly automated threats
of bailiffs being sent to recover the 'debt' and the damage they would
do to my credit rating.  I sent many letters asking for an explanation,
which merely received standard replies that didn't address my questions.
Eventually they ceased replying and I never paid the bill.
 The government has now made that practice illegal, but if I had been on
Direct Debit, they would have taken the money and I wouldn't have been
able to get it back.