Essay by Eric Worrall
According to The Guardian, a public company could overcome the obstacle faced by private companies reluctant to reduce household energy bills by investing in renewable energy.
There’s an easy way to lower the average UK electricity bill – and make energy cleaner
Christopher Hayes
Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 1:30 am AEST
Recent research estimates that a state-owned power generation company could reduce electricity costs by £252 per household per year
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The rise in prices, which is currently affecting customers, retail suppliers and the government alike, originated in the domestic wholesale energy market. Although 43% of our electricity is generated from clean energy sources, prices are driven by the most expensive source needed to meet 100% of demand in a given period. The result is that energy from mostly clean sources has a gas price tag on it. What, then, fills the yawning gap between the lower production costs of these generators and the higher price they fetch? Benefit. Just look at UK gas owner Centrica’s 60% margins on its generation business.
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Public ownership of clean energy generation in the UK, selling at cost with no mark-up, is the only option that short-circuits the trade-offs we otherwise take for granted, such as: B. the urgent need to decouple the price of clean energy from the price of gas; and to boost investments in clean energy.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/05/reduce-average-uk-electricity-bill-public-ownership-clean-energy
To accept Christopher Hayes’ argument, one has to believe that private companies refuse to invest in enough renewable energy to drive energy prices down because they don’t want to make a profit, and that public ownership is needed to bridge their withholding money earn?
Or is Chris trying to suggest that renewable energy is too expensive for private business, despite being the cheapest form of energy?
Maybe WUWT readers can explain to me what Chris is trying to say.
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