Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
Taxing private energy companies isn't much of a solution to me. Nationalising them is. Shareholders shouldn't be making profit from energy, the state should be.

I'm mostly capitalist, but where essential infrastructure are natural monopolies, where no true competition exists and people have no choice but to consume, I lean socialist. If the state is making this profit, it's significant enough to allow for reduced tax, which in turn stimulates the economy. A little bit of socialism is good for capitalism.
The problem is that the prices are set on the global market, so it's going to cost the same no matter what. Well, not exactly, because OFGEM sets the price cap on energy in a screwy way - basically whichever is more expensive of gas vs. electricity drives the cap. It's corrupt because it allows the price of electricity (in this case) to be way higher than it actually costs to supply.

They could solve all these problems by fixing the OFGEM. It's whole reason for being there is ostensibly to keep the public from being screwed. But instead it's doing the opposite.

Nationalisation costs a lot of money and it isn't clear how it's any better than just having functioning regulatory bodies. Water too. If they wanted to force the companies to fix the infrastructure rather than pocket the money they could. Just fine them an obscene amount every time they dump shit in the rivers and seas. And if they don't comply then seize their assets. It's not complicated really.