Energy
What the manifesto says: Energy companies will be taken back into public ownership with central government control of transmission and distribution grids. There will be at least one publicly owned energy company in every region of the UK, that is a locally run, democratically accountable energy supplier, working to tackle fuel poverty and encouragement for community energy cooperatives.
Analysis: Labour promises to “ensure that the average dual fuel household energy bill remains below £1,000 a year”. The energy regulator Ofgem says the current average variable tariff is £1,086, so a cap of £1,000 would not be a big stretch for the providers. But without a fall in costs, the drop of £86 would rob them of their profits, which the regulator said averaged £47 per customer in 2015.
Labour would create a state-run energy supplier for each region to keep private operators honest. It would also take control of National Grid and the regulator to control this natural monopoly. National Grid is a private company and it is unclear how Labour plans to exercise control without nationalising it.
