While wind farms run out of puff our bills will build up a head of steam

Wind. It's a touchy subject. Pete 'n' Dud spotted the problem back in 1961 when they were preparing for the End of The World.

By Alistair OsbornePublished: 8:13PM BST 09 Oct 2009
"Will this wind be so mighty as to lay low the mountains of the earth?" inquired the fretful Dud. "No. It will not be quite as mighty as that," Pete replied. "That is why we have come up on the mountain, you stupid nit – to be safe from it."
As it turned out, the wind failed to show up – a recurrent theme that Ofgem reprised yesterday as it highlighted the "variability" of such an energy supply. So variable in fact that the energy regulator is currently assuming that, in the future, windfarms are available for just 15pc of the time.
Ofgem is not a political animal. But there was plenty of ammo in Friday's report for critics of Labour energy policy.
Realising fish can't vote, the Government's major contribution has been to approve pricey, unreliable offshore windfarms – while refusing, for far too long, to address the nuclear option.
The upshot is that cash-strapped Britain is now facing a looming energy gap, priced yesterday by Ofgem at up to £200bn. This is the sum that may be required to build new energy infrastructure while meeting environmental targets.
Who pays, you wonder. Well, you do, with the pain intensifying around 2015 when Britain shuts down its most polluting coal-fired power plants and our old nukes. Then, household bills could jump by 60pc – enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.
There are two main reasons for this little shocker. First, that Britain has signed up to emission targets that call for 40pc of our electricity to be generated by renewable energy by 2020.
And second, that because we've been so slow in replacing our dwindling North Sea reserves with other forms of energy, we've become increasingly reliant on gas from Russia and Qatar – with all the attendant political risks.
It's enough to put the wind up any incoming Government.