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[itsnotoutthere]

EDF agrees to buy British Energy

French energy firm EDF has agreed to buy British Energy, the firm which operates the UK's eight nuclear power plants, in a £12.5bn deal.

In addition, British Gas-owner Centrica is in talks with EDF to take 25% of all power generated by British Energy once it is in French hands.

It will also take a 25% stake in all new nuclear plants built by EDF.

British Energy's power plants generate an estimated 14% of the electricity supply in the UK.

Full story :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7632853.stm

Extract from Wikipedia on Gordon Brown :-

Links with nuclear power industry

A link was reported between Brown's brother Andrew and one of the main nuclear lobbyists, EDF Energy,[58] given the finding that the government did not carry a proper public consultation on the use of nuclear power in its 2006 Energy Review.[59] Attention has also been drawn to the fact[60] that the father-in-law of Brown's closest adviser Ed Balls, Tony Cooper (father of the Labour minister Yvette Cooper) has close links with the nuclear industry. Cooper was described as an "articulate, persuasive and well-informed advocate of nuclear power over the last ten years" by the Nuclear Industry Association on his appointment as Chairman of the British Nuclear Industry Forum in June 2002. He is also a member of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and was appointed to the Energy Advisory Panel by the previous Conservative administration

link :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Brown#..._power_industry

There's a distinct wiff of rotten fish about this.

So basically in ten or so years time all our energy producing capability will be owned by the French. Am I the only one a little disconcerted by this?

Edited September 24, 2008 by itsnotoutthere

[Moon Monkey]

I am glad that the French government has a say in our nuclear power future as they have a much more sensible approach however under EU law how can they charge more, and increase prices faster, to us than the french consumer where increases are fixed to a maximum by law, thats the rotten bit as we will be subsidising french customers more than we already are.

Edited September 24, 2008 by Moon Monkey

[stevewinn]

A bit more of Britain PLC being sold off, it wont be long before we have a total clearance sale, where everything must go. maybe even a BOGOF day

its all about the master plan to tie us in to the EU permanently so we reach a tipping point where we wouldn't be able to cope without full EU membership. its a disgrace, British energy should be run by the British, all our Gas,Water, Leccy,oil should all be nationalised. its ours, not big business.

[War Eagle]

A bit more of Britain PLC being sold off, it wont be long before we have a total clearance sale, where everything must go. maybe even a BOGOF day

its all about the master plan to tie us in to the EU permanently so we reach a tipping point where we wouldn't be able to cope without full EU membership. its a disgrace, British energy should be run by the British, all our Gas,Water, Leccy,oil should all be nationalised. its ours, not big business.

lol! Bingo Steve.

We have that same problem over here with government slowly but ever so surely selling off all our resources/assets to 'overseas private' multinational companies. Then later ya have the ppl screaming shouting & scratching their as.. heads wondering wtf's going on with all the massive increases, sending a lot of families/small businesses to the wall.

They (governments) can sugar coat it anyway they like, bottom line; they're selling their own ppl down river with noway back or out in the future.

[stevewinn]

lol! Bingo Steve.

We have that same problem over here with government slowly but ever so surely selling off all our resources/assets to 'overseas private' multinational companies. Then later ya have the ppl screaming shouting & scratching their as.. heads wondering wtf's going on with all the massive increases, sending a lot of families/small businesses to the wall.

They (governments) can sugar coat it anyway they like, bottom line; they're selling their own ppl down river with noway back or out in the future.

so true. i cant understand why we put up with it. i long for the day when we have a rebellion,

[Bill Hill]

oh no, not the french. we're screwed.

Good detective work it'snotoutthere; this stinks.

[questionmark]

oh no, not the french. we're screwed.

Good detective work it'snotoutthere; this stinks.

Hmmm... so what is left that is British? Thames Water...German... Leccy French.... Whiskey Canadian....

and then there are still Britons being nationalistic......

[Moon Monkey]

One reason the French pay less than other European families — €0.0921 per kilowatthour compared with €0.125 in Britain and €0.143 in Germany — is that the state regulates electricity prices, so it would be political suicide for any Government to authorise a substantial increase. Last month, for example, there was outrage when EDF put up its prices in France. The increase was 2 per cent — well below inflation — compared with the 17 per cent rise the company imposed on its British customers.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle4821330.ece

[Bill Hill]

Hmmm... so what is left that is British? Thames Water...German... Leccy French.... Whiskey Canadian....

and then there are still Britons being nationalistic......

That's why we're screwed in this case; because the French are so Nationalistic. (See MoonMonkey's post)

They don't take any crap, so the french companies are going to make their money from the British (who do take crap)

Why? because some of our politicians believe we're part of a 'global magic land community.'

And yes we know Big Corporations don't care and never cared about national interests.

[Moon Monkey]

Hmmm... so what is left that is British? Thames Water...German... Leccy French.... Whiskey Canadian....

and then there are still Britons being nationalistic......

For me its not a question of nationalism (I hardly live in the Uk any more),I don't really care who owns what, its more a question about why the EEC (or the common market which we signed up to) always seems to screw the UK. How can a company charge substantially more to customers in different regions of a common consumer zone ? Surely that was the whole point. Let the UK charge a higher rate of income tax and NI to non-UK born workers and give lower benefits to them and see what happens.

The UK government should wait for the deal to go through, totally signed, sealed and irreversible, with investment guarantees provided, and then sign similar legislation to that used in France and watch EDF bleat as their cash-cow suddenly doesn't seem so creamy.....the french cannot say anything as they already have the same laws. But the nincompoops in Westminster will keep bending over.

Edited September 25, 2008 by Moon Monkey

[questionmark]

the french cannot say anything as they already have the same laws. But the nincompoops in Westminster will keep bending over.

But that is what I have been trying to get across the whole time: You cannot have a common market without common laws, and common laws mean a common for of governance. Who ever thought that joining the EEC would be anything different was either not informed or had his head up his a$$ at the time.

Joining an economical system is not raisin picking, you have to take the whole cake or you'll be loosing out every time... that simple.

[Moon Monkey]

But that is what I have been trying to get across the whole time: You cannot have a common market without common laws, and common laws mean a common for of governance. Who ever thought that joining the EEC would be anything different was either not informed or had his head up his a$$ at the time.

Joining an economical system is not raisin picking, you have to take the whole cake or you'll be loosing out every time... that simple.

The germans took the whole cake and they are getting screwed for EDF energy prices worse than us.

[stevewinn]

ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls children of all ages, The way to solve our problem is to re-nationalise the the water leccy and gas. these are essentials and should have never been privatised in the first place,

Revealed: Europe drives up UK gas bills

Energy prices are rising faster in Britain than almost anywhere in Western Europe because foreign suppliers are rationing our own gas

As major users told MPs that European power monopolies were effectively holding Britain to ransom, the extent of the UK's suffering was spelled out by the respected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

It said UK energy prices have jumped 13.6% in the past year, adding hundreds of pounds to domestic bills. This compares with 9.5% in Germany, 12% in France and just 2.8% in the Netherlands.

And there are warnings that UK household bills could rise by a further 25% this autumn.

The problem stems from the fact the country is no longer self-sufficient in gas from the North Sea and has become reliant on imports during the winter.

Foreign power firms are buying cheap North Sea gas from Britain in the summer and putting it into vast storage facilities on the Continent.

They then refuse to pipe it back to the UK when it is needed in the winter, effectively rationing supplies and pushing up prices.

The UK is vulnerable to these strong-arm tactics because we have such tiny gas holding facilities that we cannot store cheap North Sea gas in the summer for use in the winter.

There is enough storage to supply the country with gas for only 13 days, compared with 99 days in Germany and 122 in France.

Yesterday large scale gas users warned the Commons Business and Enterprise Select Committee, which is investigating the reasons behind the price rises, that Britain's energy needs were at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

Jeremy Nicholson of Energy Intensive Users Group told the MPs that foreign energy companies are failing to sell gas to the UK when we need it. 'That leaves us very vulnerable,' he said.

UK wholesale prices for gas to be supplied a year ahead is 16% higher than in Europe, while the figure for electricity is 20% more.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/consumer/bill...;in_page_id=510

[questionmark]

The germans took the whole cake and they are getting screwed for EDF energy prices worse than us.

The getting screwed in Germany has nothing to do with EDF, in fact they only supply 1-2% of the electricity consumed in Germany, it has to do with the fact that the German market, though by law liberalized, is in fact controlled by three companies (two German one Swedish, where one of those German is the same who own Thames Water) who operate like a monopoly because they own all high power lines. If there was a real competition, like with EDF and Iberduero barging into the market, the prices could fall by 30%. But the three aforementioned know how to avoid that by overcharging on the power line use.

That cannot be blamed on the EU because they are demanding that the power line ownership should be split from the electric companies to give all fair access (just as you should not pass the ownership and control of highways to a car company). So far no EU country wants to do that.

[Moon Monkey]

I think we are talking about 2 different things. I am taking EDF as an example of different member states being charged different rates for the same product from the same supplier, there are many other examples. A common market should be exactly that.

BTW BT did exactly what the EU wantt with it's cables, what is the difference with power lines ?

[questionmark]

I think we are talking about 2 different things. I am taking EDF as an example of different member states being charged different rates for the same product from the same supplier, there are many other examples. A common market should be exactly that.

BTW BT did exactly what the EU wantt with it's cables, what is the difference with power lines ?

That is a question you have to ask national governments, and yes, almost all telephone companies have spun off their cable units within Europe, so I don't understand it either.

And what you seemingly see as different prices, the price at the generator that EDF charges is the same for everybody, as soon as it reaches the power lines it changes, a maybe small but not insignificant detail.