[Revisional_Sin]

The system works fine for electricity and gas, because the grid itself is maintained by the government. You have private energy producers competing to produce electricity, and private energy companies buying it off them and selling it to the consumer. Maybe it would be more efficient if it was maintained solely by the state, but it's not too bad.

Unfortunately, the water system doesn't work that way. It has been parcelled off to various private companies, giving them a natural monopoly.

[Nursie]

I’m not sure “works fine” is a great descriptor of the UK energy sector… people do get the energy they need, at least, but they have to be on the watch for better deals all the time and make sure not to become a ‘profitable customer’ aka sucker.

The price-discovery aspect of supply seems a bit broken as well - suppliers bid daily on their price to supply power, and the cheapest X units are selected (where X is the daily demand), then they all get paid out at the level of the most expensive provider in the selected mix. Seems to me that it leaves the consumer significantly overpaying, though it must be a nice little earner for those that can provide cheap power.

But you’re right that water is in a worse state due to the monopoly side of things.

[Revisional_Sin]

Huh, I did not know about the wholesale price issue, that's pretty bad.

It also incentivises avoiding cheap sources from dominating the market.