Gripes about the electricity grid have reached new levels of inanity this week when network company Stedin once again asked domestic and business customers to reduce their usage between 4 pm and 9 pm, or face possible disruption to supplies.

Then on Friday, the Telegraaf reported that several grid operators are kicking around the idea of actually increasing rates during peak hours,or rather, lowering rates during non-peak hours, to effectively make peak periods more expensive.

In a country where many people eat dinner at 6 pm, these are especially odd requests, particularly when you consider all the other things which could be done to reduce over-demand on a grid that simply does not have enough capacity.

It’s not like those tasked with keeping the nation’s energy infrastructure running smoothly couldn’t have seen this coming. They were given at least a decade’s heads-up.

Do they honestly expect people to eat dinner in the dark after they somehow magically prepare it without the electric stoves the government has been heavily promoting?

Were they not prepared for increased consumption as more and more people ‘go green’ and pile up the solar panels? Did no one realise that all these shiny new EVs clogging up the A4 would need a lot of power?

Business

But stand on one of the station platforms at Amsterdam Zuid on any given weeknight after 6 pm and you can practically bathe in the warm glow pouring out of the office towers. If you squint, you *might* see a single janitor or a lone employee working late.

You’ll find the same scene in any given commercial district in the country. Even during the wee hours, you’re bound to find well-illuminated office spaces everywhere from Alkmaar to Zwolle.

Meanwhile on the shopping streets, even though they typically close in time for the evening meal, you’ll find chain stores with their lights burning bright. Many leave their signs and video ad displays running 24/7, even though the streets are deserted.

Then there are the winter months when many of them leave their front doors open even on the coldest days, combating the chill with electric heaters cranked up to the maximum. During the summer, they keep both their stores and the sidewalk cool by blasting their A/Cs.

And what is this all for? Businesses say their after hour light festivals are ‘for security.’ And the wide open entrances? Customers, they say, won’t come in if they have to open a door.

Challenges

As the population continues to increase in size and progress pushes us all toward vehicles and devices that don’t use fossil fuels, the demand on the nation’s electrical grid is going to skyrocket.

Granted, there are many of us who should turn off lights in rooms when they aren’t in use. We shouldn’t leave the television on ‘for the cat so it doesn’t get lonely’ while we’re off playing pickleball after dinner.

And there are also those who probably would happily keep their stoves off and have hagelslag for dinner every night. If it comes to that, I applaud their noble sacrifice to keep the grid operating.

But rather than point their fingers at folks unwilling to cook their hutspot late at night, or charging them for for having the heating on in the evening when everyone is home, there is plenty more the grid companies could be doing.

Introducing higher charges for peak period usage is the easy way out. And it opens the door to helping them cash in and sneakily profit, much like we’ve seen with ‘shrinkage’ and increased prices in supermarkets, which have been blamed on inflation and increased production costs.

Instead they should be getting their investments up to scratch. And an easy first step? Tackle the people tasked with turning off the lights every night at the nearest office block or Hema and make sure they actually do.