The miserable winter ahead looks like getting worse after news emerged that the now-expected rolling blackouts could cause a massive shortage of beer.
Pub landlords are already looking into ways of staying open during this winter’s blackouts, including buying stocks of candles and battery-powered lamps.
But now a Budweiser spokesperson has warned that during a power outage the “beer system may not be able to adequately cool the beer lines, meaning draught beer might not be served during the outage period.”
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Landlords are among business owners calling for “for certainty of energy supply” but Business Secretary Jacob Rees Mogg has told them that priority will only be given where there is a threat to life or damage is likely to be in excess of £50 million.
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Jayne Almond, the Food and Drink Federation’s Director of Policy, told the Daily Star:
“The Government’s Energy Relief Scheme and the speed with which it’s being rolled out is a move welcomed by food and drink manufacturers across the UK as it addresses the largest and most volatile cost pressure facing our industry right now.
“There are some aspects of the scheme still to be clarified and we urge Ministers to continue to engage with us to address these issues and any potential disruption to the energy supply.”
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Independent pubs and microbreweries are most under threat from the blackouts.The British Beer & Pub Association and Campaign for Real Ale says that producers risk a “tremendous loss of stock” if the power goes out.
Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi claimed this week that blackouts are “extremely unlikely”.
However, he added, it was “only right that we plan for every scenario”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, he said: “We have war on our continent, we have interconnections with our neighbours.
“In the extremely unlikely event of several things having to align in a bad way, that’s what National Grid was talking about. I don’t believe that will happen.”
He added that we would only face power shortages in the event of “a very cold snap” and that he thought it was “extremely unlikely” any blackouts would occur.
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