Public ownership of the UK energy system – benefits, costs and processes

Authors: 
David Hall
Date: 
Apr 2016

The possibility of a return to public ownership of the UK energy system has increased since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour party. This paper sets out the advantages of public ownership; the extent of public ownership in other countries; how the process of returning to the public sector could work in the UK – taking full account of EU law; and calculates realistic estimates of the cost, the possible impact on debt, and the scale of the benefits.