ECES

So today someone came from Scottish Power, or at least their subcontractors, to fit a new smart meter in our flat. At least they cam to the flat, only to discover that they couldn't - the gas meter is too high as they are only allowed as high as they can reach on the second step of their small set of portable steps and the electric meter, although low enough, has an old-fashioned connection inside the flat. Apparently in modern flats the incoming cable has some sort of fused connection inside the flat, allowing the supply to be safely isolated on the way into the electricity meter. In tenements the fuse is probably in this box in the stairwell, marked with the letters of the Edinburgh Corporation Electricity Supply Department, the local electricity company that preceded the nationalisation of electricity supplies. I wonder if there is some scope for the re-establishing of local energy companies, linked to small scale renewable projects. Anyway the failed attempt to install the meter set me thinking on the infrastructure we take for granted. I wonder who is responsible for this link in the electricity supply these days? Stair lighting has been passed on to tenements by Edinburgh Council in a money-saving move, so does that also mean the electricity supply inside the block is our collective responsibility too?