water privatization

[rf...@sonic.net]

Hello. Forwarded only for the possibility that CA may at some point consider privatization - whether it's water or electricity.

Excerpted from the Financial Times of May 27, 2026: "For failing utilities, nationalization is no longer a dirty word"

"...The battle to keep England hydrated has become a case study in the failure of the for-profit control of essential services.  Privatization of the country's water boards, beginning in the late 1980s, has resulted in debt-ridden entities and deteriorating quality - to the extent, in the case of Thames Water, of pumping effluent into rivers.  Thames Water's miserable predicament is not an inevitable result of privatization - there can be merits in harnessing the experience and entrepreneurship of the private sector....

The problem comes when oversight is missing.  Water watchdog Ofwat failed to call time on practices that prioritized dividends over investment, and was one of four regulators overseeing the sector....

For now, Thames Water creditors remain locked in talks with the regulator and government to fend off re-nationalization, forking out hefty fees to lawyers in the process.  In this scenario, nationalization looks to be the better option...".