Britons could benefit by up to £4,400 in the next two years if the UK had publicly owned energy companies, analysis has suggested.
The analysis is part of a TUC report that sets out proposals for public ownership of new energy generation including wind, solar, tidal, and nuclear to lower energy bills and boost energy efficiency.
The study uses the Treasury’s modelling of excess profits from electricity generation over the next two years.
The authors of the report refer to energy companies that were nationalised in other countries – EDF in France, EnBW in Germany and Vattenfall in Sweden.
Last month, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the government to renationalise temporarily energy suppliers unable to offer their customers lower bills.
In August when ELN approached BEIS for comment on a petition for nationalisation of energy companies, the department replied: “Nationalisation would not solve the issue of high wholesale energy prices on the global market and is absolutely not on the agenda.
“Competition is the best driver of value and innovation in the energy market and over the years customers have benefitted from greater choice and standards of products and services.
“In addition, over 22 million households are currently protected by the price cap. If the cap was not in place, energy companies could charge consumers even higher prices, over and above the costs of purchasing wholesale gas and electricity.”
