Power cuts may save the planet

8:38am Friday 16th May 2008

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I'M sure we have more power cuts these days.

They mainly last for 30 seconds and happen in the early hours of the morning when they can do most damage to sleep patterns.

The conspiracy theorist in me reckons there's some guy pulling the plug for a laugh when we're all asleep and then scarpering before the National Grid police arrive.

He struck last in Radcliffe at 1.33am on Tuesday when my estate did its impression of Beirut with burglar alarms going off all over the place.

I haven't kept a record of the number of times there has been a break in the electricity supply in my neck of the woods over the years, and maybe it's just that I'm getting older and time flies quicker, but I'm sure it's more often that when I was a kid.

And it's not as much fun.

In the good old days, a sudden blackout would be met by initial confusion, quickly followed by cheers, the sound of your dad banging against the walls as he felt his way to where the candles were kept, hand shadows on the walls, a trip outside to see how dark it was and have a chat with the neighbours who were doing the same thing, and groans all round when the power came back on.

It was an occasion and lasted long enough to ensure there was at least one new baby on the street nine months later.

These days, there's not even enough time to get the candles before the lights come back on and every digital clock in the house needs changing.

On the plus side, power cuts must be good for the environment.

It's supposed to help the ozone layer if we turn one television off instead of leaving it on standby, so just think how much good is done if all the power goes down in a town.

There's no doubt about it, power cuts can save the earth - or at the very least, improve our hand-shadow skills.