Re: The energy crisis
 

There seems to be two choices, spend billions giving us handouts, or spend billions on buying the suppliers, and then more billions reducing the price we pay.
This assumes the actual gas/electricity will still cost the same for the suppliers to buy, regardless of who owns them. The second option sounds more expensive.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Lots of words but not saying very much. So the question, unsurprisingly still remains. How would YOU help people who are struggling at the moment and those who are going to struggle when the cap goes up again in October and January as it seems more than likely to do?

Re: The energy crisis
 

Why is it down to him to offer a solution, I know the government has abrogated all responsibility for at least a month but why is it up to him to provide answers

Re: The energy crisis
 

Very quick to pick fault and dismiss suggestions and opinions of others but not offering anything of any substance himself. The truth is I don't think he's got any suggestions that would stand up to scrutiny.

As I've said before we shouldn't have squandered our national resources but maybe it's not too late to set up a sovereign wealth fund. Selling every asset the country has is a very short sighted approach and if nothing else we should learn that making a profit out of a public service shouldn't be the be all and end all. Make a profit yes, but let the country as a whole benefit from the profit. Other countries have state owner oil and gas sectors and not all of them have turned out like Venezuela.

Re: The energy crisis
 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/2...fa906ca19dc7c0

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/r...able-jfx2n2gsj

Re: The energy crisis
 

Doesnt matter if he does or does not, it doesnt make his points wrong.

There is no "magic" answer.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Buy the suppliers and develop the means of production in the national interest. Prices stay high if you buy intermediate actors and simply play the market game at an international level.

We need to do the things the private sector won’t do - actually satisfy demand removing the price premiums. Wind farms, nuclear reactors, you name it.

The problem for the Tories is if the public see this as the way forward for energy what next? Water? Exorbitant costs to have hundreds of thousands of tons of human waste released into rivers and the sea? Telecommunications? Railways?

None of these sectors are genuinely competitive marketplaces as understood in economic theory. Nobody can enter these markets easily without significant investment. Meaning incumbents can continue to price gouge end users.

Re: The energy crisis
 

This and only this. The national infrastructure is not a fit for free market dogma how ever much the zealots will claim. Square peg in round hole. I am surprised that it has taken so long to get this on the national agenda. Trying to to argue how the energy free market sector can work is like arguing how many angels can fir on the head of a pin. There is no point.

Nationalise the sector. Employ the best management, paid at fair free market rates and invest for the long term. It is not rocket science.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Couldn't agree more, except I'd include the water industry too as they don't seem to have learnt the lesson from a few years ago when we had a shortage due to excessive leaks.

Re: The energy crisis
 

You know they only have to cut leaks by 16% for ofwat to be happy, water is the worst example of privatisation imo, 2 billion a year in dividends, companies loaded with debt and bugger all done to replace the infrastructure hence 2.4 billion litres of water lost a day

Re: The energy crisis
 

Not quite sure how any of all that lowers the price of gas and other energy that comes from outside of the UK.
The biggest problem with infrastructure products is the ridiculous amount of time the planning permission process takes. Eg Thames Water have been trying to get permission for creating a new reservoir for over 10 years.
The UK has become too much of an undesirable place to do business(nothing to do with Brexit). Just look at all the nasty attention, individuals and businesses get from the media and the public. If I had a great business or technological idea, I wouldn't want to set up in the UK. Too much anti-success sentiment. It's been like that for decades.
It you're not trashed by the media and the public, you get trashed by taxes and over regulation, which adds to business costs.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Another meaningless, arbitrary distinction created for no other reason than a diversionary tactic. Nobody claims nationalised industries would solely operate on the international markets - indeed it’d entirely defeat the point.

Anti success sentiment :rofl: these aren’t entrepreneurs coming up with exciting new ideas. They’ve bought the family silver and charging you just to have a look at it through the window.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Agree with you on planning permission but the Conservative Party who have governed the country for the last 12 years are sympathetic to NIMBYS and make it hard for onshore wind turbines - the cheapest form of electricity. In their defence, it's a small country.

Private energy companies tend not to invest in long-term infrastructure and energy is a long-term business.

If you're overly-concerned about what people think of you, you're unlikely to be a successful entrepreneur. I don't think the UK is anti-success. The grass next door is not always greener.

---------- Post added at 10:56 ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 ----------

I would say it's worse than power. Power is more complicated with hedging and forward purchasing of energy, a complicated supply chain, plus switching suppliers, smart meters, an array of charging structures etc.

Water is a lot less complex and is a monopoly at regional level. To not get the basics right here is appalling. In my area, for example, there's a Thames Water leak that's been ongoing for at least three weeks impacting households' water supplies as well as blocking the road and being wasteful.

Re: The energy crisis
 

The UK has not built a new reservoir for over 30 years and in that time the population has risen by around 10 million people.

Add all the excessive ongoing leaks and is it any wonder we have a escalating water shortage.

Re: The energy crisis
 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/16...ht-latest-news