Brickbat: Off the Grid

In 2025, the United Kingdom paid a record cost of nearly £1.5 billion ($2 billion) to keep wind farms from producing more energy than the nation's outdated power grid can handle. When high winds cause turbines to produce more energy than power lines can safely carry, the government must pay wind farms to shut down turbines in remote areas to prevent an overload; it must then pay other sources, such as gas plants, to turn on in order to meet demand. Last year, the government spent £380 million paying wind farms to shut off, and it paid power plants £1.08 billion ($1.46 billion) to make up the difference. Without urgent infrastructure upgrades, experts warn these "constraint payments" will continue to rise, adding to customers' electric bills.