Privatisation proves a real power failure

THE condemnation of the pathetic response to the recent power cuts hit the heights when Tory MPs and their ministerial leaders queued up to blame Northern Powergrid.

The company has failed miserably and not just in communicating with people advised to go on line or text in when they had no power, no internet and no phones.

However, the government cannot escape their share of the blame because it was their predecessors’ decisions which saw the disintegration of an integrated electrical supply system being sold off to all and sundry including, incredibly, to publicly-owned industries from other European countries.

It was supposed to transfer risk but what it did was allow companies like Northern Powergrid to offer investors guarantees of returns of upwards of 7% while the general public was struggling to see savings returns of less than 1%.

It appears it also allowed the company to give away £100m to investors which should have been spent on infrastructure and in preparation for weather systems such as we have just seen across our region.

If you are giving away 7% of your potential budget to investors you are not spending money on recruiting and training apprentices.

You are not investing in the high-quality vehicles needed to access remote areas and you are not buying a stand by stock of telegraph poles, pylons, cables and connectors to enable a quick return to normality.

We who live in more remote areas accept as a matter of fact we may be impacted harder than most by adverse weather. It goes with the territory.

However, the complete failure of the whole system has frankly been unacceptable.

It should have been avoided but the failure to hold private companies’ feet to the fire and to ensure regulation actually means anything is indicative of the attitude of a government which always puts profit before people.

We all accept companies need to make money to run an effective system.

Yet to allow companies to pay out dividends 700% higher than the high street norm is yet another example of the unacceptable face of uncontrolled capitalism.

It will be interesting to see if any real action is taken by government to address this imbalance going forward.

My guess is it would be wise not to hold your breath.

Dave Anderson, Middleton-in

-Teesdale, County Durham