Were we ripped off?

The taxpayer built the British power stations and they were owned by nationalised industries. The coal was mined by a nationalised industry, supported by the taxpayer.

Government sold the power stations off to foreign interests.

Did they pay the money back to the taxpayer? Not on your life. The money was needed badly to meet growing Government expenditure. That's why they were sold.

Ripoff!

Why else would a government sell off the assets of the country? How about this one - they were not depreciated and no money was set aside for replacement. As the time came for replacement they were spending money like drunken sailors so none was available to replace even basic infrastructure. So, sell the family silver - obviously.

Ripoff!

What does the taxpayer end up owning? Not a lot.

Fuel
Total MW
UK %
Nuclear
12,097
0.0%
Coal
29,007
10.2%
Gas
28,523
9.8%
Oil
4,323
0.0%
Gasoil
1,311
0.4%
Hydro
4,236
1.7%
Wind
2,043
0.7%
Biomass
179
0.0%

Ripoff!

Coming next: A last word on power generation: Dounreay