#public utility

[outsidewolves]

[chartier]

Two months sounds about right. Lol.

[dispatchesfromtheclasswar]

[thoughtportal]

[eaglesnick]

“While the invisible hand looks after the private sector, the invisible foot kicks the public sector to pieces.”  - Herman E. Daly

The National Grid's chief executive, John Pettigrew, has stated that Heathrow Airport had sufficient power from two remaining substations during the recent shutdown caused by a substation fire. Heathrow Airport’s management has deputed this claim.

Such a row was inevitable, as neither side wants to be held economically responsible for the chaos that ensued, and the massive compensation claims this embarrassing incident is bound to produce.

Having heard one commentator say the  National Grid was a privately owned company, I became curious as to who, exactly, owned this vital part of or national infrastructure, and whether, like Heathrow Airport itself, it was mainly foreign owned.

Only in Britain could we complicate things to such a degree that it is almost impossible to understand who does what within the electricity supply system.

The principle operator of the National Grid is the National Energy System Operator (NSEO) obtained by the government in 2024, and thought to be worth £630 million. This government owned business functions primarily as a management and operational entity rather than owning or maintaining physical infrastructure. This may well account for its very low value.

The actual ownership of physical pylons and high-voltage cables in the UK is divided among Transmission Network Operators (TNOs), based on geographical regions:  England and Wales, Southern Scotland and Northern Scotland.

The TNO for England, worth £40 billion, is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and made an operating  profit of £4.47 million 2023/24.

The Southern Scottish TNO is worth £70 billion, is mainly Spanish owned, and made a reported profit of £1.2 billion for year ending December 2023.

Northern Scotland TNO, worth £20 billion, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and made a net profit of £1 billion for financial year 2023.

To complicate matters further, a totally different set of companies own the generation plant that supplies the electricity to the power cables owned buy the TNO’s. Companies such as French EDF, Spanish owned Scottish Power, etc..

We have yet another set of companies at the regional level, known as Distribution Network Operators (DNOs)   These entities own and operate the cables that deliver electricity from the national transmission system to independent sub-grid operators. Basically, these businesses are responsible for the cables in the street that we are all connected to.  Needless to say, these companies are privately owned, often by foreign shareholders: American, Chinese and Spanish, being some of the larger shareholders.

On top of this layer of companies are the Interconnect Operators (IOs). This group of companies own and  manage the high-voltage transmission lines that connect the UK's electricity grid to other countries' grids, thereby facilitating international electricity trading.  Many of these companies are internationally owned.

Finally, we have the Energy companies you and I have dealings with – British Gas, EDF, Octopus etc. These companies compete in the domestic market offering the consumer various services and tariffs. Again many of these are foreign owned.

Once upon a time, in a land time has now forgot, the UK had a unified system for electricity generation and supply. Before the privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s, the sector was largely centralized. In those halcyon days ALL profit went to the government and was used for the benefit of the people.

Privatisation, and the accompanying slicing and dicing of the UK electricity generation and distribution services, wherein each sector takes a cut of the profits, has resulted in the UK having some of the most expensive domestic electricity prices in the world. 

As complicated as our power generation and supply is when looked at on paper, the underlying rational is simple – the maximisation of profit regardless of cost to the consumer.

[ivygorgon]

The Affordable Connectivity Program: A Need-to-Have for Closing the Digital Divide

In the final days of 2020, Congress approved a COVID-relief package that included $3.2 billion for the FCC to establish th

AN OPEN LETTER to THE U.S. CONGRESS

Fund the Affordable Connectivity Program NOW!

130 so far! Help us get to 250 signers!

I’m a concerned constituent writing to urge you to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program or ACP. Digital connectivity is a basic necessity in our modern world and the internet must be treated as a public utility. We use the internet to apply for jobs, perform our jobs, receive telehealth medical treatment, and pay bills, and students use it to complete homework assignments. But for millions of people in rural and urban areas, and Tribal communities, the internet is a luxury they cannot afford. Failure by Congress to fund this program will force millions of households already on tight budgets to choose between being able to stay online or potentially losing access to this essential service. If Congress doesn’t act fast, funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program will run out and more than 22 million Americans -- 1 in 6 households -- will lose this vital service. The implications of this will be devastating. In 2019, 18% of Native people living on Tribal land had no internet access; 33% relied on cell phone service for the internet; and 39% had spotty or no connection to the internet at home on their smart phone. The ACP has enrolled 320,000 households on Tribal lands -- important progress. The largest percentage gains in broadband access are in rural areas. Nearly half of military families are enrolled in ACP, as are one in four African American and Latino households. Losing access and training on using computers and the internet will have devastating impacts on all these communities as technology becomes increasingly integral to work, education, health, and our everyday lives. Without moves to address tech inequality, low-income communities and communities of color are heading towards an “unemployment abyss.” The Affordable Connectivity Program has broad bipartisan support because it is working. As your constituent, I am urging you to push for renewed funding for the ACP before it runs out in the coming weeks.

▶ Created on April 11 by Jess Craven

📱 Text SIGN PJXULY to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW JESSCRAVEN101 to 50409

Fund the Affordable Connectivity Program NOW!

Text SIGN PJXULY to 50409 to send this to your officials.

[malfnction-54]

[tanith-rhea]

I know teachers say they don't have favourites... WE DO