Households across the country are bracing themselves for the coming storm of energy price rises.
As the grip of the general cost-of-living crisis gets ever firmer, the prospect of yet another massive hike in the costs of heating a home are causing fear and alarm for all but the most privileged and affluent.
The crisis was front and centre yesterday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon sat down with business and third-sector leaders with the hope of plotting a way through the coming winter for tens of thousands of hard-pressed families.
One of the great issues around the energy crisis is the lack of control or even influence that the Scottish and UK governments have over wholesale prices.
When you are a buyer in a global market there is no easy – or inexpensive – way of ameliorating the costs faced.
That is why a development in the North Sea this week is so important.
Could Seagreen’s Angus wind farm help solve the energy crisis?
On Monday the first electricity was generated from the Seagreen wind farm off Angus.
It is a multi-billion-pound development that will eventually produce enough power for 1.6 million homes.
As a technical achievement it is hugely impressive and it could be part of the solution to the energy crisis.
There is, however, a drawback.
Seagreen, a private development in Scottish waters, is majority French owned following a sale in 2020.
But private business which has shareholder return as a priority will always follow the money, where a longer-term view might be the better strategic play.
Nicola Sturgeon has talked in recent days about renationalising the energy companies to reassert control and take a major step towards tackling the energy crisis.
#ICYMI – First power has been achieved at Seagreen, this is a major milestone for the JV project partners @TotalEnergiesUK and @sserenewables.
Here's a short video showcasing first power being generated. #offshorewind #renewables pic.twitter.com/XkZ6PxoENB
— Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd (@SeagreenWind) August 23, 2022
That is a radical step.
But with more than a third of Scottish households estimated to be in fuel poverty this winter, perhaps radical is what is needed.
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