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The Scottish government has pledged to set up a publicly-owned, not-for-profit energy company to sell gas and electricity to customers at "as close to cost price as possible".

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-41579842

 

https://ebico.org.uk/

 

Nice try, buy we already have non-profit making energy companies. Scotland have some good socialist policies, but will this one make any difference?

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Once upon a time our national supplier did genuinely supply your energy and were responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of that energy.

 

Fast forward to the 21st century and all of these markets are now deregulated with multiple players involved in gen, trans, distro, etc.

 

Of course technology has made much of this possible. Today's energy "supplier" is nothing more than a stockbroker who buys and sells units of energy instead of stocks and shares.

 

Modern technology means that anyone can do this. My energy supplier for example is run by a fresh-faced 23 year old named Jake Brown.

 

The problem as I see it lies with the terminology. The term 'energy supplier' still conjures up images of big infrastructure, pipework, and connections etc. so consumers wrongly assume switching supplier is a physical process which involves disruption to service or engineer visits etc.

 

So I definitely think the market isn't working how it should be, but I think Ofgem should be consulting with behaviour psychologists rather than industry "experts".

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The Scottish government has pledged to set up a publicly-owned, not-for-profit energy company to sell gas and electricity to customers at "as close to cost price as possible".

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-41579842

 

https://ebico.org.uk/

 

Nice try, buy we already have non-profit making energy companies. Scotland have some good socialist policies, but will this one make any difference?

 

Do we? If so, they don't seem to be selling gas and electricity to "as close to cost price as possible"

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Once upon a time our national supplier did genuinely supply your energy and were responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of that energy.

 

Fast forward to the 21st century and all of these markets are now deregulated with multiple players involved in gen, trans, distro, etc.

 

Of course technology has made much of this possible. Today's energy "supplier" is nothing more than a stockbroker who buys and sells units of energy instead of stocks and shares.

 

Modern technology means that anyone can do this. My energy supplier for example is run by a fresh-faced 23 year old named Jake Brown.

 

The problem as I see it lies with the terminology. The term 'energy supplier' still conjures up images of big infrastructure, pipework, and connections etc. so consumers wrongly assume switching supplier is a physical process which involves disruption to service or engineer visits etc.

 

So I definitely think the market isn't working how it should be, but I think Ofgem should be consulting with behaviour psychologists rather than industry "experts".

 

Indeed. There is no market for suppliers. It's designed to wrap the market with an artificial construct that financialises supply and allows for profit taking.

 

Same with water. Same with trains.

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Once upon a time our national supplier did genuinely supply your energy and were responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of that energy.

 

I remember it well. When Corbyn talks about re-nationalisation I think he's onto a vote winner.

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Me too. No competition. You had to buy your appliances from the gas or electricity showrooms, and wait weeks for delivery.

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I remember it well. When Corbyn talks about re-nationalisation I think he's onto a vote winner.

 

What would be the cost to re-nationalise our energy, how many billions.

 

Angel1.

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I remember it well. When Corbyn talks about re-nationalisation I think he's onto a vote winner.

 

Do you remember it being cheap? "Just leave the landing light on son" my old dad used to say, "with electricity prices being this cheap, its too good a deal to start turning lights off." And now we all use loads more.

 

If people think that state owned energy prices will drop significantly, theyre mad.

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Me too. No competition. You had to buy your appliances from the gas or electricity showrooms, and wait weeks for delivery.

 

I don't know about electricity, but the gas showrooms were subsidised, by the sale of gas. I worked for EMgas/British Gas before and after privatisation.

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