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The fact the Tories are so resistant to doing a windfall tax is probably the clearest evidence that it's in the average person's interest lol.
Best as I can understand it, the energy market has two parts: suppliers and retailers. The suppliers for gas sell it at a global price. Right now that price is very high because of the war in UA. The suppliers aren't spending any more than before to get the gas out of the ground, so they're making enormous profits.
The electricity suppliers use different means of making leccy, like solar, wind, hyrdo, coal, gas, etc. Our energy regulator (OFGEM) doesn't want to upset the ones who are making leccy out of gas, so they're setting the prices of electricity stupidly high so it covers their asses too. But, it really shouldn't be much higher than it was two years ago, maybe a few %, and certainly not 200% or 300% or whatever goofy number it's gone up by now. We're getting screwed.
The retailers selling electricity can charge us stupid because OFGEM said so, and so they can make a nice profit, depending on how much of the leccy is coming from sources other than gas. The retailers selling gas are just passing on the big prices they're being charged by the suppliers, so overall the gas retailers don't make very good profits because the biggest markup is for gas before it gets to them to pass to you. The gas suppliers are raking in more than Big Daddy Warbucks right now.
Nationalising electricity would probably be worth it as we make our own (though some of that comes from burning gas). But it costs money, and better would just be to say to the retailers "Ok fuckfaces, no more easy rides for you. You get x% profit and if you don't like it too bad."
Nationalising gas would be hugely expensive and unless we nationalise Norway and Qatar somehow (because that's where we import a lot of our gas from), we're still going to be paying a lot for our gas until the market price goes back down. So we're kind of at the whim of the market on gas, just like everyone else. The best we can do is tax the gas suppliers up the ass and pass it on to the consumer. They'll still be fine, they just won't be swimming in money the way they are now.
Nationalising water is probably the best case to make, because otherwise it's a monopoly and the consumer has no choice who to buy their water from. Or, they could just properly regulate it and it would be easier and cheaper than nationalisation.
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