Green Party conference votes AGAINST energy nationalisation

The Green Party conference has voted in favour of a motion opposing nationalisation of “the five largest energy supply companies”.

Despite the party currently having over 215,000 members, the motion passed with just 478 members voting in favour of it. 192 opposed it, and 15 didn’t vote.

Polls have consistently shown that the vast majority of the UK agrees with public ownership of energy companies, and that this opinion has increased in recent years. This is in no small part because of the devastation of the cost of living crisis.

No nationalisation of ‘electricity retail’ or ‘electricity generation and storage’

The motion called for the deletion of a previous commitment that:

The five largest energy supply companies will be nationalised.

Instead, it called for the insertion of:

As natural monopolies with, at present, high profit margins, electricity national transmission and regional distribution will be brought into public ownership.

And it wanted to insert a position that “electricity generation and storage” are not natural monopolies and should therefore:

have diversity of ownership including private, public, municipal and community schemes

Likewise, it argued that “electricity retail” has “low profit margins” and is not a natural monopoly. Therefore, it sought to add a statement that:

electricity retail will not be nationalised and consumers will have a choice between diverse retailers operating with fair competition.

In reality, as one speaker at the conference insisted, people in vulnerable positions often find it very difficult to find the best deal when choosing between “diverse retailers”.

An amendment that didn’t pass sought to add “as a first priority”, so the new motion would read:

electricity retail will not be nationalised as a first priority

And accompanying this was a note that:

Electricity retail will be more effectively regulated, ensuring fair treatment of vulnerable customers.

What do Green Party members think?

Nuance and policy decisions relating to careful investigation of evidence absolutely matter.

But would the 215,000+ Green members really agree that removing a pledge to nationalise energy giants is the right way to go?

If they disagree, involvement in conference procedures will need to increase in the future.

Featured image via BestforBritain