Longannet

I could make a good stab at explaining the real reasons for the (threatened, please note) early closure of Longannet and cancellation of the proposed new gas station but that would be too space-consuming for the moment.

Transmission charges barely amount to 1 per cent of operating cost.

This is one factor which SP (Iberdrola) can cunningly feed to less astute politicians to promulgate as part of their “discrimination against Scotland” rubbish. Mr Fraser is, I think, being rather too kind in his criticism of Messrs Grant and Orr (Letters, 20 August).

The latter’s contribution I find particularly illustrative.

Everyone else will, I think, understand that for retail operations like supermarket goods and postal services, etc,  distribution costs are inversely proportional to population density but that we all pay roughly the same for these no matter where we live. Electricity is no different.

Taking Mr Orr’s figures and using his “Scottish” £40 million as base, we note that the Yorkshire equivalent (5.3 times Scotland’s population density) should be paying just £7.5 million instead of the £15 million he quotes and London, of course, has a population density about 65 times that of Scotland.

That is, London transmission costs are negligible so the consumers are being charged more for the actual product.

Is Mr Orr really complaining that our neighbours subsidise our energy needs?

(Dr) A McCormick

Kirkland Road

Terregles