I wonder if there is merit in the free market model of utilities provision in most western countries. People have to spend an awful lot of time looking for comparison and even more time reading all the small prints, terms and conditions, compare hundreds of tariff from different providers and various tariff options from the same provider. Judging by the amount of profits that U.K. utility companies make, it is not hard to come to a conclusion that the most of the time, providers (the house) always win either through their the sophistication and complexity of their product/service's arrangements and its marketing.
This also extends to financial products where unsuspecting customers could be buying products without full legal knowledge of what they are buying. PPI, anyone?
Privatisation allegedly creates efficiency and customer choices that are absent in nationalised mode of operation. It is supposedly a win-win situation. But I am not sure it is the case when both companies and customers spend their time trying to outsmart one another. Worse still is when the government feels the need to intervene as is the recent case when U.K. government plans to mandate that utility companies offer the cheapest tariff to all. It seems to suggest that there will come a time when the free market model does not actually deliver in practice.
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