Absolutely! In Britain, the experiment in privatisation of utilities has comprehensively failed. Companies like Thames Water and British Gas represent the very worst aspects of the private sector, behaving like private equity — loading up the company with huge debt, making big payouts to investors while failing to invest in crumbling infrastructure, price-gouging struggling customers and, in the case of Thames Water, pouring sewage into our rivers (72 billion litres into the River Thames alone, since 2020). It‘s hard to imagine how the private sector could have shown itself less suitable or competent to run these essential services.
I hate to agree with your point James Souttar, but I do. As a fan of private enterprise, I am ashamed as to how the private sector has performed with utilities. I think (as has already been suggested in the comments of others) such businesses should be run as not-for-profits.
Sadly, so true. I lived through the age of the “share-holding democracy” sell-offs. What happened? Pretty much everyone cashed in and took their profits. The result was hardly the democratic dream that had been spun to us. Water, electricity, gas, basic transportation … all flogged off and the average citizen (note the word citizen, not consumer) ended up with a worse outcome.
In Germany, they tried to privatize the trains. They cut costs, but still couldn’t make it an attractive investment. Now, they have a mess. In Guatemala, private enterprise has been championed for many decades by the U.S. government. Nowhere in the country is tapwater potable. The railroads and their infrastructure have been sold for scrap and the postal service went out of business ten years ago.
David Penn
1w
James Souttar Is this a regulatory or a philosophical failure? The old public corporations of the 70s were certainly not profit-focused and never had a good reputation for either customer service or efficiency. I think the real issue is what do do with natural monopolies like water, as it seems that private ownership has led to a seriously bad outcome for everyone.
I wonder if the Executives of these companies are still winning awards for excellence? Or whether the bodies that gave them awards have quietly removed any mention of them? Incompetence and greed aren't a good look even for organisations like HR Magazine 😉
Stephen Gray
3w
I would trust the water board to be publicly owned with someone like Elon in charge.
Absolutely agree with that one 👍
💯 agree
Product Developer, Mechanical Designer, Member of the Industrial Designers Society of America
3wIn California, utililities have been convicted of setting wildfires and, in one instance, blowing up a neighborhood. Deferred maintenance has enriched stockholders at the expense of homeowners, businesses, insurance companies, and then again, ratepayers who pay for lawyers on both sides and compensation to victims.