http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19986929

Now, I’m no politician, but I can’t see how they will make this work satisfactorily without re-nationalising the industry, setting prices and publicising the way the prices were calculated (including divulging wholesale costs). All I see happening is that the industry will work out a good user-gouging price, and then add some percentage marks on top to make the bad price look good. Without having access to wholesale price data, there will be no real transparency.

In America, this very idea would be branded “socialism”.

Anything that stops companies ripping off their customers would be called socialism in the US


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Na, socialism forces them to sell at a low price. There's nothing here to stop them raising their lowest prices. Everyone would still be on the "lowest price" but paying more than now.

I do think that this could be simplified by mandating that energy prices rise when you use more not get cheaper. If above a set amount the price should be unregulated. Though first thing that they should do is stop ripping off prepayment customers. These should be on the lowest tariff automatically.

It's like water prices. Severn Trent decided my mate Steve wasn't using enough water (he was away a lot with work), so they upped the price he had to pay per m3 on his water meter.

My water usage was so low that my standing order did not rise in 7 years. This year I moved to a flat and it has unmetered rateable charge of £330 a year, more than £180 than my metered usage. When I asked about an assessment the water company told me that the normal usage for someone in my circumstances was still double what I actually used when on a meter. I think that they just make up the figures and there is nothing people can do about it.

Get them to fit a meter.

Can we not just nationalise this [LIFTED] as it's stuff we all need, the money gets to stay in the country and isn't funding the private interests of Cam's mates and foreign companies?

No, Socialism would be returning to the days of the gas boards.

This, my friends, is called consumer protection.

I cannot get one. I am going through an application for the installation of a water meter but if they cannot fit one the assessed usage for my flat will still be more than double my usage when I was on a meter.