Energy Privatisation is Bankrupting Britain

A video about the energy crisis, privatization and profiteering.

Written, directed and presented by Tom Nicholas.
Edited by Georgia Burrows.

*Chapters*

0:00 The Energy Crisis in the UK
05:42 Part 1: Maggie Thatcher, Energy Snatcher
12:53 Part 2: Supply Guys
22:37 Part 3. The Generation Game
28:19 Nebula!
31:25 Part 4: Poles, Pipes & Proft
38:28 Part 5: Price Wars
46:17 Part 6: The Case for Nationalisation

*Bibliography*

*Some Copy About this Video for the YouTube Algorithm*

Britain is in crisis. A cost of living crisis. And, in particular, an energy crisis. Since 2020, the typical UK energy bill has risen by 400%. And many are having to choose between heating and eating.

Some of this is the result of global oil prices which have spiked since the beginning of 2022. But, much of it is the result of much longer-term trends which and, in turn, the product of a radical experiment the country undertook starting in the 1980s.

Under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher (and, later, John Major), the UK began selling-off the entirety of its energy infrastructure to the private investors. Beginning with British Gas in the 1986 and continuing with the electricity supply industry in the 1990s, every part of the UK’s energy supply system has been handed over to corporations whose primary motivation is the accumulation of profit.

This is the story of how energy privatisation bankrupted Britain.

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Select footage courtesy of Getty

#EnergyCrisis #Privatization #TomNicholas

[thisguy]

It's insane to me that we as humans allow certain things that are necessary to life to be ran by profit driven corporations. It's such a stupid thing to do..

[viamedia]

Back in Bulgaria mass privatisation in the 90s went so horribly that growing up I thought that to "privatise" a factory simply meant to shut down said factory. 😂

[emmy]

There was a story in the UK news this week about an elderly woman died of hypothermia in her home because she was terrified of not being able to pay her energy bill.

[Findecommie]

"Let's take our most essential and most dangerous industries and incentivize spending as little as possible on maintenance and improvements"

-people who should never have been in charge of anything but somehow are ruling the world

[gbrading]

One of the biggest, longest national cons was utilities privatization. Water is especially galling to me. It's literally a monopoly!

[Trampolina]

I am Swedish currently living in Scotland. Our flat was a toasty 14-16 degrees Celsius before we noticed whenever we caught colds they weren't going away like at all and we caved in and turned the heating on (to a whopping 17 or 18 degrees, so still just bordering on that "probably not detrimental to your health" temp, thanks WHO...). It is now end of May and we have had the heating off for months and for some reason our energy company decides that NOW is a good time to increase our energy bills from £70/month to £189/month. That is a 170% increase in our electricity bill. I saw an ad at a bus stop "informing" people that lowering your heating by just a degree could help you save up to £30 a year or something ridiculous like that. And that's when I decided I can't live in this country anymore.

I'm so sad that I have to leave the UK, I love the social life and a lot of the general culture, I've absolutely loved living here and I would have liked to continue that. But it is simply unaffordable. SCANDINAVIA is cheaper to live in. It is absolutely fkn insane and I'm so upset that this decision was an escape route rather than a choice that I could make for myself in my own time when I felt ready.

[joshknight]

people are freezing to death but profits are up is the most dystopian thing ever

[LizbetNene]

When you think about it for even 2 seconds, "privatization is better because people only work well if there's profit in it for them" is an incredible self-report from a politician.

[igormaka]

The summary of Thatcher privatisation reminded me of Russia's 1990s privatisation effort. Each citizen got a voucher to buy shares with. The idea was to introduce capitalism in an equitable way.
My family got Gazprom shares, but many others sold theirs for cash, needing the money.
I have a strong suspicion this was instrumental in propping up Russia's oligarchy.

[ErikratKhandnalie]

They turned the energy industry over to private competition, but they conveniently forgot that these companies are competing to make the most money, not to provide the best prices.

[MeoithTheSecond]

We did the same in New Zealand, the private power companys made record profits and still do to this day they are barely competitive and most users are too lazy to keep switch over to better plans that give little gains for little periods of time, we basically sold our country's backbone to corporations.

[djhagrid]

I'm fortunate enough to live in a town in the US that has its own municipal electrical service. Electricity is .08 cents per KWh here. In the 1950s, my town signed on with the FDR Power Project initiative to source power from the St. Lawrence River from a dam on Bernhart Island. Towns were given the option to vote and pay into the project. Mine did, and now, 70 years later, we still reap that reward.

[MassDefibrillator]

It's not like these end results weren't already economically well understood. In Smith's Wealth of Nations, he talks about how the effects of profit have a very significant outcome on increasing prices, and privatising things is just the act of introducing profits. Of course, the term "privatisation" did not exist in his day, it was only coined in the early 20th century to describe Nazi economic policy. He also talks about how the profit motive itself, left unchecked, is just going to result in an effective "tax" being placed on society, as companies reduce competition.

So you've got to wonder. If all this was obvious to Adam Smith, the so called founder of modern economics, where the hell do these people get this idea that simply privatising things increases "efficiency"? Smith also gives a hint as to the source of such ideas in wealth of nations, talking about how the merchant class tends to have a far better understanding of their self interests than anyone else, and will convince themselves, and everyone else, that it is their self interest, that is the common interest, even though it is usually contradictory to the common interest.

[thmonkey]

Great well researched documentary. The fact that similar analysis is never presented by today's national media says it all.

[MrTaxiRob]

Cleveland, Ohio's public power company has survived since 1907. It avoided a privatization scam in 1983 that forced the City into default and cost the mayor his job. It's currently taking over streetlight maintenance from the privately owned utility company that can't seem to manage it anymore; one step in the direction of public administration of the local grid itself.

[RedSntDK]

It's not as bad in Denmark as in England currently, but kind of same story. Privatization -> price hikes. EDIT: And honestly, it feels like, to me, that selling your infrastructure is like pissing your pants to keep warm. Or, I don't know, selling off your organs to pay your bills.

[ShinMail]

It makes me feel so much better to know that Privatization of industries best left to the government( and thus held accountable to the people) is ruining countries other than mine 😭🤣

-Me, an American

[thadiusbarnelsnatch]

Reagan and thatcher are looking up from hell with a teary look of pride at the state of the world.

[michaelbaynham]

Thank you Tom. Entertaining, informative and chilling in equal measure. I'm 67 years old, and as a British citizen, I can remember a time before "The Dear Sainted Margaret" and I experienced first hand, the wholesale destruction of communities and livelihoods that she wrought.
Rule number 1, Never trust a tory, Rule number 2, Never forget rule number 1.
I seem to remember that, at the time, National Insurance and State Pension funds were raided to fund the several privatisation schemes. And before I forget, the privatisations were done for one reason only. To enable private companies to price gouge the entire population, and pass on kick-back to their friends in government.

[NickyNthabane]

As the public power provider in South Africa fails, many people think the solution is privatisation and when I say I am horrified at the thought.