Tim Watkin’s latest piece concludes that:
Since we can expect several more energy suppliers to collapse during the winter months, as has happened in the rail industry, we can expect these to be nationalised too. But even this “solution” depends upon the price of energy coming down; and there is no reason to believe that this is going to happen anytime soon. NRREHTs serve to increase the price of electricity to the end user, and the rate of increase will grow if the UK government continues to insist on this route to its net zero nirvana. Until someone can invent a grid-scale storage technology, more NRREHTs simply mean more exposure to increasingly expensive gas to balance the supply. And as the cost of energy spirals upward, nationalisation can only delay the inevitable:
“As with Britain’s railway network, the state can put its hand in everyone’s pockets and provide direct subsidies to the energy companies. When it does, however, it is simultaneously removing that currency from elsewhere in the economy. The resulting drop in economic activity – as seen in, for example, the gathering retail apocalypse – also translates back into a falling demand for rail travel and falling energy consumption. In short, financial manipulation can delay our appointment with destiny, but it cannot save us from it. And when the time comes, we are all going to be doing a lot more walking, cycling and shivering in the dark.”