This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament

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Petition Nationalise Energy Companies

The Government needs to take back ownership of strategic energy assets. It needs to accept that the Free Market has failed the energy sector, that it is in the national interest to renationalise our energy assets. The Government must therefore renationalise all the UK energy assets.

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People are already having to choose whether to heat or eat. Token gestures of mandatory loans & stripping local authorities of much needed monies to mitigate bulk cost increases, mismanagement of the energy sector & the whim of the market are not good enough. This country needs a 25 year strategic plan and needs to be guided away from unstable fossil fuel dependancy. The Government needs to own the energy assets in order to achieve this, tackle climate change & protect service users interests.

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Parliament debated this topic

This topic was debated on 31 October 2022

Government responded

This response was given on 1 September 2022

The Government does not agree that nationalisation of energy assets is the right approach. Properly regulated markets provide the best outcome for consumers as a driver of efficiency and innovation.

The Government does not agree that nationalisation of the country’s strategic energy assets is the right approach. A renationalised energy company would still have to buy the same expensive gas on global markets, so prices won't be lowered. Furthermore, if the Government renationalised energy companies, the British taxpayer would have to compensate directors, shareholders, and creditors to the tune of tens of billions of pounds – money that would be better spent supporting families.

In the 1970s, nationalised utilities run by politicians were in a bad state. These monopolies made considerable losses, were inefficient and needed considerable investment to upgrade age-old infrastructure. Since privatisation in the 1980s, the UK’s energy system has attracted hundreds of billions of pounds in private capital – money that otherwise would have had to come from higher taxes or additional borrowing. This investment improved performance and reliability of Britain’s energy network and offered consumers greater choice and higher standards of products and services.

The Government therefore continues to believe that properly regulated markets, which incentivise private capital to invest in the energy system, provide the best outcome for consumers and promote market competition as the best driver of efficiency, innovation and value. This approach has served consumers well since energy privatisation, catalysing billions of pounds of investment and improving performance and reliability and offering consumers greater choice and higher standards of products and services.

The Government has set out a comprehensive long-term plan for greater energy independence. The more clean, affordable power we generate within our borders, the less exposed we will be to eye watering fossil fuel prices set by global markets we can’t control.

Through our Energy Security Strategy, we are working to our vulnerability to international oil and gas prices by reducing our dependence on expensive oil and gas. We will do this by accelerating the deployment of wind, new nuclear, solar and hydrogen, whilst supporting North Sea oil and gas in the nearer term for security of supply.

Nationalisation will not solve the current challenge of high global fossil fuel prices and the impact this is having on the cost of energy. The Government has set out a comprehensive long-term plan for the energy system through the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution and Energy White Paper, both of 2020, and the British Energy Security Strategy of 2022. These present a vision for how Britain can enjoy secure, clean and affordable home-grown energy for the long term. In particular, the Energy Security Strategy charts a pathway to address our vulnerability to international oil and gas prices, by reducing our dependence on imported oil and gas.

Nevertheless, the Government recognises that households and businesses across the UK are rightly concerned about rising energy bills. We are taking action at an unprecedented scale.

The Government is providing £37 billion of support this year, targeted at those who are most in need with the cost of living. This includes a £15 billion Energy Bill Support Scheme, worth up to £400 each for around 28 million households. In addition, targeted support includes:

• More than 8 million households on means tested benefits will receive a payment of £650

• Over 8 million pensioner households which receive the Winter Fuel Payment will also receive a £300 Cost of Living Payment

• Six million households which receive disability support will receive £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment

Alongside this the Government is investing over £6.6 billion over this parliament to improve energy efficiency and decarbonise heating. We will deliver upgrades to over half a million homes in the coming years through our Social Housing Decarbonisation, Home Upgrade Grant Schemes and Energy Company Obligation Scheme, delivering average bill savings of £300.

Meanwhile, we have extended the Energy Company Obligation 2022 to 2026, boosting its value from £640 million to £1 billion a year. This is helping an extra 450,000 families with green measures such as insulation.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

MPs investigate the impact of rising energy prices on consumers

MPs on the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee have launched an inquiry into energy pricing and the future of the energy market. The inquiry is looking at how policy and regulation have contributed to rising energy prices. The inquiry is also examining the effect of price rises on consumers, and the operation of the energy price cap.

Find out more about the Committee's inquiry: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1698/energy-pricing-and-the-future-of-the-energy-market/news/159559/energy-pricing-and-the-future-of-the-energy-market-inquiry-launched/

The Committee is considering the following issues:

  • Regulation of the energy market

  • The effectiveness of Ofgem as a regulator

  • The effectiveness of the 'energy price cap'

  • The costs to consumers when energy suppliers fail

Why has the Committee launched this inquiry?

The Committee’s inquiry on the retail energy market follows unprecedented increases in wholesale energy prices since the summer and with a number of firms going out of business, including Bulb, Britain’s seventh-biggest supplier with 1.6 million households as customers.

Keep up to date on the Committee's inquiry

Updates on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee's inquiry into energy pricing and the future of the energy market marine mammals, including upcoming evidence sessions, will be published here: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1698/energy-pricing-and-the-future-of-the-energy-market/

You can also follow the committee on Twitter for updates on its work: https://twitter.com/CommonsBEIS

What is the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee?

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is a cross-party group of MPs that look into the work of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and their associated public bodies.

Find out more about the committee on its website: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee/

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is a select committee. Find out how select committees work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_2RDuDs44c

Get involved in the work of the UK Parliament

Sign up to the Your UK Parliament newsletter for the latest information on how to get involved and make a difference: https://parliament.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3ad7e4c57a864f07e4db008c4&id=26d0645ea9

MPs investigate energy pricing and the energy market

The MPs on the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee have been investigating energy pricing and the energy market, including Government support to help people with their energy bills.

Report on energy pricing and the energy market

In July the Committee published a report on energy pricing and the energy market. In their report, MPs called on the Government to help the most exposed households by updating its energy bills support. They also called on the Government to consider a social tariff for the most vulnerable customers.

Evidence session on the cost of living crisis

Last month the Committee questioned business representatives, unions and consumer groups about climbing energy bills, inflation, interest rates, food and material costs, the impact these trends are having, and how they expect the crisis to develop.

Select Committee podcast

The Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, Darren Jones MP, is hosting the current series of the Committee Corridor podcast. This is a fortnightly podcast that brings together Members of Parliament from the different select committees in the House of Commons to interview experts and discuss the most pressing political, social and economic matters facing the UK today.

The current series is focusing on the cost of living, and in the first episode Darren spoke to the Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, and the MPs who Chair the Women and Equalities and Work and Pensions Committee.

What is the Home Affairs Committee?

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is a cross-party group of backbench MPs that looks into the work of the Home Office and its associated public bodies.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is a select committee. Find out how select committees work.

Get involved in the work of the UK Parliament

Sign up to the Your UK Parliament newsletter for the latest information on how to get involved and make a difference.

MPs investigate fairness of energy bills for customers

A group of MPs called the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee are investigating the process of billing customers for their gas and electricity, and will be looking at whether the rules on charging for energy are fair for all.

Read the Committee's press notice announcing this work for more information.

The aims of the Committee's inquiry are to:

  • Determine whether the rules on billing are fair to all consumers
  • To understand what goes into the standing charge and whether that results in a fair contribution from all customers
  • To explore what restrictions there should be on energy companies utilising pre-payment tools
  • To determine how a social tariff might address inequalities

What happens next?

The Committee is conducting oral evidence sessions where it will hear from experts in the sector as well as representatives from the Government.

Their first evidence session will take place on Wednesday 8 May at 10am. You can watch the session live on [Parliamentlive.tv] [7].

An evidence session is when MPs ask key experts, such as Ministers, academics and/or campaigners, questions on a particular topic.

These experts are called "witnesses" and they help MPs to gain a deeper understanding of the issue.

The Committee will then consider all the evidence it has taken and publish a report of its findings with recommendations to the Government on any changes that might be needed.

For more information about the inquiry, including details of upcoming oral evidence sessions, visit the Committee's inquiry page.

What is the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee?

The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee scrutinises the policy, spending and administration of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and its public bodies, including Ofgem and the Committee on Climate Change.

The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee is a select committee.
- Find out how select committees work

Get involved in the work of the UK Parliament

Sign up to the Your UK Parliament newsletter for the latest information on how to get involved and make a difference.