Quote:
Originally Posted by BBKing
Hmm, I think I'd better go and check British Gas' profits and director's salaries. The poor guys must be on the breadline with all these cuts.
The regulators would be unnecessary in a proper free market, the fact of their existence indicates that in many privatised industries it's not really a proper free market, it's a rapacious monopoly with a taxpayer funded bunch trying to control it. Still that's Friedmanite voodoo economics for you (it was thought that the market would develop, but it hasn't).
You forgot the Office of Rail Regulation. For some reason that isn't shortened to OffRail. I'm rather perplexed that you think Railtrack was a responsible organisation, can you explain this opinion which is 180 degrees away from what the rest of the world thinks, unless it's being responsible for several deaths.
Everything doesn't always go up, by the way. Except residential gas prices, apparently (wholesale prices have *fallen* recently).
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A little clarification is required.
The area of OFGEM regulation to which i am referring is the bit that regulates the distribution of natural gas,a rahter dangerous and explosive substance.
British Gas has no part in this. British Gas is merely a seller of gas and a provider of services such as appliance installtion and maintenance.
The businesses which are involved in distribution are businesses such as National Grid,which distributes Gas in the majority area of England and is also responsible for the gas emergency service. Now then,national Grid,the global company,makes a good profit ,something which you alluded to. Its Gas distribution arm though is ring fenced and cannot be cross subsidised by the larger business. This is becuase the gas distribution arm is regulted i.e by OFGEM.
Now then,back to my original post,we have a situation where gas distribution is ring fenced and continually brow beaten by OFGEM to reduce costs. National Grid and other distribution comanies have to do as OFGEM says. OFGEM have been squeezing like this for nearly a decade and the truth is,there is nothing left to squeeze. Yet only a few omnths ago,OFGEM issued its interim price control formula and insisted that National Grid cut its operating costs by over 30% !. Nat Grid could not argue,it has argued in the past and lost. There is nothing left to cut,safety will be compromised,the public are at increasing risk. Its not only National Grid. Other parts of the gas network in other parts of the country have the same issues.
You can only cut for so long and when there is nothing left to cut then there is danger and peril.
British rail,in the old days were an integrated,solid,sound engineering based company. True they were not perfect. They hacked it to pieces,regulated it to death,people died,people will continue to die. Same thing.
Why not regulate airports and aircraft in the same way? That really would be a very public danger though,planes crashing,hundreds of deaths.
Gas? its a hidden danger,under our feet ,in the streets,hidden,gas mains as wide as 4ft in diameter and running at pressures as high as 400psi or 20 Bars in an urban environment,maybe past your front door. When the failures comes ,the result is the same,people die or get injured or lose their homes.
Rampant and needless regulation and penny pinching cannot be placed before public safety.