The cost of paying Britain’s wind farms to turn off has soared past £1.5 billion so far this year – according to new figures that will infuriate households squeezed by soaring energy bills.

Analysis shows the sum has already gone past the £1.47 billion total for last year, with three months still to go.

On windy days, turbines can produce more power than the local grid can cope with – so operators are paid to turn them off.

In addition, gas-fired power stations closer to urban areas where demand is greatest are paid to turn on, to replace this lost energy.

It may be raining cats and dogs in the lower elevations of Taos County, but it is snowing at a fairly good clip on the Highline in Taos Ski Valley, live web cams showed Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 30). The Highline Ridge, at about 12,000 feet above sea level, offers access to some of the best black diamond ski trails at the resort.

Hours after this story was originally posted, rain turned to snow in the Kachina Basin nearly 2,000 feet below the Highline. The Bavarian Restaurant, fairly the landmark edifice in the Kachina Basin, is approximately 10,000 feet above sea level. 

A call for the controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank projects in the North Sea to be given the go ahead has been rejected by Holyrood – with the Tories accusing both the SNP and Labour of “dogmatic ideology and virtue-signalling” on oil and gas.

Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Liam Kerr led a debate in the Scottish Parliament in favour of developing the Jackdaw gas field to the west of Aberdeen and the Rosebank oil and gas field, which is in waters north west of Shetland.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has put £41 million into a London heat network that will ship hot water down the Thames.

The project will supply 650,000 homes with low-carbon heat and could benefit more than a million residents, the department said on Wednesday (23 September).

Electric barges will initially carry hot water 25km a day along the River Thames. The water will then travel through a purpose-built tunnel under the river to homes and businesses along the route.

I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

Hope you weren't planning on holding off on the winter tires much longer.

The Old Farmer's Almanac has released its October weather forecast for Southern Quebec, and it's already pointing to a specific window when the season's first snow could show up, well before Halloween decorations even come down.