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Today, people are being subjected to a new form of insecurity - in the form of access to energy. In under a decade, electricity bills have rocketed by over 20%! How can an increase of this magnitude be justified? And could the price hike have been avoided? A lack of political foresight, self-centeredness on the part of States, poor management by industrialists and European Commission dogmatism… is Europe on the verge of a blackout? This investigation endeavours to reveal the series of decisions that have led to this new form of insecurity, to this situation in which citizens lack the power to control access to energy. (Arte)
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As someone from the industry, the topic has always interested me and I was genuinely curious about the answers I would receive from the creators. The result is, to put it mildly, awkward. It's not that the documentary does not address significant trends and problems that determine the face of the contemporary energy industry, and I even consider the majority of the information truthful. The problem lies in the context and dosage, because each of these topics deserves much more space, and the way the creators put them into perspective presents a distorted reflection of reality. If the headline is true and you want to know why we pay such high electricity bills, the answer is simple. Creating a free market and thereby abolishing the philosophy of public service and subsequently practically destroying the free market by implementing the concept of preferred technologies, from which electricity must be purchased preferentially, means transferring the costs of energy transformation to the consumer. That is, after all, the logical outcome, which activists understandably refused to acknowledge. Today, the price of raw electricity is no longer significant, it can even be negative, however, the costs of network operation and necessary reserves are crucial. As the share of renewable energy sources increases, these costs will continue to rise. And even a decrease in the price of decentralized energy sources will not change that. Countries with the highest share of renewable energy sources on the market have, by far, the highest prices. The fact that the economies of many European countries are still struggling and social inequalities are increasing as the European model of the welfare state gradually crumbles, makes the above even more painful. You can ignore the big power companies, but you will not save money. Overall impression: 40%.
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