To think gas, electricity and water should be supplied by the government?

[Thisisaname]

Prices the companies are charging are ridiculous!

I'm not saying it should be free, just the same as it is now but is fully controlled by the government, everyone with jobs with those companies now is to work with the government and anyone who would loose their job would probably easier find one due to more people having money due to it being regulated so people buy more stuff and companies have more money so more people to employ.

Also these companies tend to tax avoid so more money on that front and the government HAVE to publish what they pay per unit and how much profit they make and where it goes.

Someone tell me AIBU before I retrain in politics and run for mp, pleeaassee

I do not think we would be able to renationalise, because of EU policy.

Actually Akiss that is sort of what the new Green Deal will do... Subsidies on all energy bills but poorer people much less likely to benefit.

YANBU

The margins supplier take is less than 10% of your bill

Nearly half is wholesale energy costs

The rest (aside from VAT) is made up of distribution and transmission costs, network charges, operational costs and environmental levies

So if you get a £100 bill, Eon or whoever get about £9 of that

Your water costs are cheaper because we don't have to import water and water is not traded as a commodity

Yet

We also export gas and electricity - and import because it's cheaper - with a long windy explanation its to do with foreign currency stocks

I think it's the way forward and every penny made can be used to invest in new technologies rather than lining the pockets of tax dodgers.

^ distribution and transmission costs, network charges, operational costs

When energy was under national control, they had these same costs too. Yet they are much higher now, despite the supposed 'efficiency' of the private sector.

Catgirl , why does my government supplied water cost less in a year compared to what some people pay in a month to private companies, its is a lot more than a 10% margin, as I have already posted my water and sewerage costs 45 quid a year but from a few threads I have learnt that people pay more than that in a month in some cases which is just crazy.

Water in Scotland is supplied by the government.

stargirl, is it expensive compared to England? my water is N.I is also government supplied and owned.

Holly We don't import because it's cheaper

We import because we do not generate enough gas to match demand and because we do not have sufficient storage facilities to keep reserves of gas we generate when demand it low. The UK is dependent on gas imports.

Our import / export ratios are not really related to foreign currency stocks as such, but the wholesale price of energy (About 45% of your bill) is related to global financial commodity markets, the price of oil, security of supply, natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the discovery of new gas fields, or new extration technologies such as Shale gas.

When energy was under national control, they had these same costs too. Yet they are much higher now, despite the supposed 'efficiency' of the private sector.

These costs have increased, but nowhere near at the rate of wholesale energy

When the industry was regulated, the UK produced enough gas to meet supply

It was only around 2004 that demand outstripped supply, leading to us having to import gas and being far more exposed to the volatility of the wholesale market

Because private companies provide it better and cheaper - we are cheaper than france and germany for gas here and quality of service is much better

younermother, No they do not , they can be up to 300% more expensive than government supplied water in the U.K, most are at least 100% more expensive and the service is no different

According to your graph, France is still cheaper. France has a nationalised industry.

Oh, and British Gas profits were 345 million up to July last year, which means a price reduction could be managed.

That is largely because France is the major nuclear energy generator within the EU and generates around 40% of its energy for nuclear sources

They have very low generation costs because of this and are also the largest exporter of electricity in the EU

i pay £45 a month for water

I get my gas & elec from edf - yes a french company is cheaper than a uk company.

I very much want nationalisation back even though I am too young to remember it first time round

i also want to see trains and buses re-nationalised.

Privitisation doesn't seem to benefit the consumer and needs to stop now before the NHS goes under too

Water in the parts of the country with abundant water and lowish population density is much cheaper than the parts of the country with a shortage of water (ie more reservoirs) and high population densities (ie more sewage handling in each sewer/plant). The ownership is irrelevant, although if there was a single national price then yes the price for the Scottish regions could rise.

It's obvious that utilities are taking a larger slice of peoples incomes now. It's likely to get worse because Gas/elec companies know that heating and light along with water and food are pretty much non-negotiable and they are necessities. We have no option but pay.

If there wasn't such huge profits to be made from privatisation of water/gas/elec why did we wage war on Iraq and impose privatised utilities upon them? That's why there is no way Thatcher's children will ever consider renationalising here.

Hang on, we went to war in Iraq so we could privatise their utilities?

That's a new one on me.

We went to war in Iraq because Sadam refused to play ball and privatise oil.
Do you also know that sadam was sponsored to take over Iraq by the Americans. They got sick of him because he refused to privatise much of his economy and open it up to american corporations.

it isn't that there are not huge profits to be made in privatised retail energy supply

It's that those profits are a very small factor in the price of energy

If they cut those profits by 50%, you would save about £45 on a £1,000 energy bill

If there was no profit at all your £1000 energy bill would drop to about £920

Not much of a saving

This isn't about private / national. That is NOT a significant factor in energy prices

I thought it was to secure access to their oil for ourselves, no?