Overcharged

In the 1920s, electricity companies spent millions introducing the Grid as Britain's new domestic servant — a quiet helper waiting inside the wall — ready to boil the kettle and warm the hearth, all for a few pennies. Electricity became universal, and indispensable.

After nationalisation, the servant became a civil servant — a distant agent — inefficient and impersonal. Then came privatisation, and the civil servant became an aloof accountant offering an array of charges and tariffs.

Now the Grid has morphed again — into a controller. Smart meters influence when people can wash clothes or heat homes. Apps offer rewards for switching appliances off, or restrict car charging when demand is high. Instead of strengthening the system around our lives, the Grid expects us to arrange our lives around the system.

Meanwhile AI demands immense electricity supplies, just as it is being introduced to manage the increasingly complex network — becoming both the grid manager and one of its most power-hungry customers. When electricity becomes scarce, who will be asked to switch off first?