1 September

The wholesale price of electricity is negative all day today, from 6am until 5.30pm. (The red circle.) Coal generators have to pay retailers to use the power, or if you buy wholesale electricity yourself through a platform like Amber, you won’t just get it for free. You’ll be paid to take it. Coal generators keep generating because ‘baseload’ power is too expensive to switch on and off. Like a tap you have to keep running even when you don’t need water. Its days are numbered.