in July 2024 in the National:
THE boss of an energy company has said Scotland could have “the cheapest electricity in Europe” if the UK Government introduces regional pricing.
Eight months later BBC Scotland feel ready to acknowledge but to undermine the idea, with:
Could Scotland have Europe’s lowest electricity bills? The boss of one of the UK’s biggest energy providers says people living in Scotland could have the cheapest electricity in Europe. Greg Jackson, who founded Octopus Energy, wants the electricity market to be reformed to introduce zonal pricing. He argues that if prices were based on local generation, the high levels of renewable energy being produced in Scotland would keep bills low. But rival electricity firms say zonal pricing would create a postcode lottery and could lead to major infrastructure projects currently planned for Scotland being switched to other parts of the UK.
Major infrastructure projects currently planned for Scotland being switched to other parts of the UK? Does that remind you of something? 2012-2014? Major businesses to abandon Scotland if we vote for independence?
So these companies that need Scotland’s skilled workers, wind, tides and space will move to heavily populated parts of England with fewer skilled staff, less wind and no tides at all?
Who are the rival firms?
However, other energy companies – including Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE) – are opposed to the idea.
They sound like Scottish firms. Maybe they can be trusted and know what they’re talking about?
Scottish Power Limited, trading as ScottishPower, is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola.1
In January 2020, OVO Energy acquired Scottish and Southern Electricity, SSE’s domestic retail business (SSE Energy Services) for £500 million. The SSE brand will be used by OVO for a period of time under licence; however, it will eventually be phased out by the new supplier.2
OVO Energy is a major energy supplier based in Bristol, England.3
Sources:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Scotland in surplus in fuel and energy, and nearer the source pays more. No parity. A total tax (10%) on the whole Scottish economy. It Scotland was Independent Scotland would benefit from closer ties with Europe. EU. EU policies support renewable energy. Scotland received grants and loans and support.
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Energy prices are high in Spain but they do have better weather. Use less energy?
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What we desperately need is a separate national campaign similar to the SNPs ‘It’s Scotland’s Oil’ campaign from the 70s. It should cover all aspects of Scotland’s energy production and highlight to the people of Scotland how our energy production is being hidden and that we are being totally ripped off. The Labour Gov is going to try and ensure that Scotland gains little from our energy bonanza through Great British Energy.
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The campaign should be called ‘ Scotland the Possible ‘ it would mirror a campaign in America currently trying to make US citizens aware just how badly they are informed, how they are being lied to.
what’s possible in an independent Scotland.
publicly owned utilities, publicly owned oil, gas, minerals. Publicly owned land. Publicly owned ports and infrastructure, In reality all the money made from Scotland’s resources and and exports stays in Scotland and not in foreign bank accounts or tax havens.
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Golfnut
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Aye, noted that from Kevin Keane earlier https://archive.ph/AWH4u, clearly Jackson must be getting traction for such contrived piffle to be published… Just think about what those “major infrastructure projects” might be, to get the energy to England ??
So not so much reminiscent of 2012-2014 rather than 2016, “Give me what I want or I shoot myself”…
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Note also, from that BBC article, that Scottish Power (owned by Iberdrola) says:
So data centres can’t be built in Scotland where energy would be cheaper under zonal pricing. Data centres have to built in England where population is higher so that emails can arrive quicker.
Internet operates at near the speed of light BTW. In fibre optic cables, the light travels somewhere around 60% of the speed of light in a vacuum, so around 200,000 km/s or so. (Reddit)
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Aye, desperately contrived nonsense…
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I agree with Geoffc2357 that we need a campaign group or organisation to monitor all of these disparate decisions which syphon off Scotland’s energy resources and close down areas of growth and vital infrastructure such as Grangemouth.
For example the Labour government cancelled Edinburgh University’s planned £500m project to develop supercomputers even though the University had already spent c £30 million on the infrastructure. Data centres consume a lot of energy and developing them in Scotland would make sense, unless you want to remove all and every facility to be a sustainable independent country.
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“Major infrastructure projects currently planned for Scotland being switched to other parts of the UK”.
Is this another way of the BBC communicating (threatening) some people in Scotland would be better to STFU or else .
I mean if we are talking “Energy” and “losing out” well the Labour Energy Secretary, Ed Milliband, tweeted this on 21 March 2025:
“Great British Energy is coming to you. Our publicly-owned energy company is rolling out solar panels for schools and NHS sites across England. Cutting bills and saving money for frontline services”.
“Coming to you” ?
Like coming to the country where the HQ of GB Energy is based, as in , it is coming to Scotland ?
No.
“Cutting bills” ?
Like “cutting bills” in Scotland ?
Also No.
Ed also linked a video to his tweet and he clarified where, as in which specific country within the UK, GB Energy’s “First project” would be located.
As in the “First project” for GB Energy was not to be in Scotland , that is the same Scotland that Keir Starmer previously referred to as being “the heart of the energy sector” and that would also then house GB Energy’s HQ.
Nope not in Scotland.
Ed confirmed GB Energy’s “First project” was to be in England.
As we, Scotland, had the HQ nameplate in Aberdeen but we were not to be the beneficiary of either GB Energy’s “First Project”, or in fact see anywhere or anyone in Scotland getting their energy bills “cut” or indeed see the supposed thousands of jobs being created here , as in the ones that were promised by Labour for Scotland via GB Energy Ltd, as pledged by them prior to the 2024 GE……
So we, Scotland, house GB Energy’s HQ, but not it’s Chairman , who as the GB Energy Chairman prefers to be based at “the heart” of where all of the actual benefits seem to be going, which currently is in England.
GB Energy is a prime example of Scotland being ‘sold yet another pup’ by yet another UK political party, where what we were promised and what we actually , so far, have received, is very much the equivalent of absolutely nothing tangible that is providing any real benefit to our lives or any “Change” from what we had before when the Tories were previously in power.
I think that if even the UK Energy secretary is admitting where all of the benefits and projects are currently going to, as in not to Scotland but only to England, then it is safe to assume that once again Labour have pulled yet another ‘fast one’ on Scotland, all done just to win (undeserved) votes in Scotland in the 2024 GE.
So where are all of the 37 Labour (so called and self named) Champions for Scotland who promised to do so much for Scotland and their Scottish constituents ?
I suspect they are all doing what they are telt by Labour HQ (forget rebel rebel Brian Leishman as he may moan but he still sits as a Labour MP, so all talk and no action means Jack S*** to his betrayed constituents).
Labour MP’s always put ‘Party before country’ (as in the country, which was Scotland, where people elected 37 of them in 2024 as their Labour MP to represent them in WM).
Which is also now known and referred to as being a wasted vote in Scotland.
Vote SNP in 2026 as a first step to make it all stop…for us anyway.
Liz S
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Note also that SSE, which is now no longer a retail supplier of electricity, is still a major Electricity generator and according to Wikipedia
“In November 2019, SSE moved its UK business into a new Swiss holding company, confirming that it had done so following the Labour Party’s pledge to take it into state ownership.[23] It said the move was:
an additional safeguard, which SSE does not believe would be required in practice, should SSE’s electricity networks businesses and interests in SGN become the subject of proposed legislation for nationalisation.”
According to Co-Pilot:
SSE’s decision to establish a Swiss holding company has several implications (note particularly items 1 and 3):
1.Protection Against Nationalization: The move was primarily a safeguard against potential nationalization plans proposed by the Labour Party. By transferring ownership to a Swiss entity, SSE could make it more challenging for the UK government to acquire its assets at a discounted rate.
2.Investment Stability: SSE stated that the restructuring supports long-term investment in low-carbon infrastructure, ensuring the company’s core businesses remain financially stable.
3.Shareholder Interests: This step aligns with SSE’s fiduciary duty to protect shareholder interests, especially in the face of political uncertainty.
4.Operational Continuity: SSE emphasized that the change does not affect day-to-day operations or provide tax advantages, maintaining its commitment to fair practices.
Roger Colkett
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The investment that would be effected would be the pylons and undersea cables to be inserted to get the power down south.
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