LEADER

There is something a little surreal in the spectacle of young women in summer frocks and flip-flops being kept out of West End stores because of power cuts. The unseasonable blackouts were caused, it seems, by local engineering faults.

But with energy companies warning that air-conditioners working flat out are putting immense strain on the network, it is safe to assume these cuts won't be the last. For a country that until recently was self-sufficient in energy, to have the national grid short of electricity in high summer is simply incredible. It underscores this Government's unforgivable complacency in waiting nine long years before formulating a coherent energy strategy.

When the policy finally saw the light of day earlier this month, it had much to commend it, particularly its grown-up admission that a new generation of nuclear reactors must be part of the energy mix in the 21st century. But with lead times in power generation measured in decades, not years, it was negligent of Tony Blair not to have grasped this nettle years ago.

The most familiar theme in the new strategy is the call for greater conservation. This has been parroted by governments of every political stripe since the oil price explosion of the early 1970s. It's easy to see why. Conservation can deliver enormous energy savings, relatively painlessly. According to the Energy Saving Trust, keeping televisions, hi-fis, videos and DVD players on standby produces more than three million tonnes of CO2 a year and costs £640 million. But there's precious little point in exhorting people to save energy when there is no obvious incentive to do so. The first instinct of householders confronted by this week's extortionate price rises from British Gas is not to cut consumption, but to switch suppliers.

The main reason for this unfortunate resistance to meaningful conservation measures is that there is no easily comprehensible way of costing energy consumption. Household meters have barely advanced since the war. Naturally, it suits the suppliers to keep consumers in the dark about the mysteries of units of electricity or cubic metres of gas. This is where ''smart meters" come in. The technology is available to show in pounds and pence how much energy is being consumed and - just as crucial - when. This would give householders a clear picture of their energy consumption and a sounder basis for making savings or shopping around for a better-value supplier.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, is pressing hard for their introduction and it deserves the fullest support. Until there is an easily understood link between conservation and saving hard cash, calls to preserve energy will be so much hot air.