Privatisation : Coming Back to Bite in the UK?

In the UK, prior to the mid-1980's, the 'utilities' (electricity, gas and water/sewage) were nationalised. Margaret Thatcher's government was, however, obsessed with privatisation, claiming that competition would produce efficiencies and drive prices down. They also claimed to want to widen share ownership. Government had been warned that 'natural monopolies' in private hands, would invariably be exploited for excessive gains. Utlities are natural monopolies. Government chose, however, to ignore this observation. Britsh Gas was privatised in 1986. The England and Wales water companies followed in 1989 and the 12 regional electricity companies were privatised in 1990. Small shareholders rapidly sold up. The companies have subsequently been largely operated to maximise dividends for major shareholders (often to the detriment of the public e.g. sewage discharges into rivers). David Hall (University of Greenwich) observes that the UK is currently facing two urgent problems. These are the 'cost of living crisis' and the climate emergency (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/18/bills-private-sector-uk-energy-market-france). Hall maintains that, as the private sector runs every aspect of the UK energy market, it difficult/impossible in this countr, to reduce the cost of energy or to rapidly transition to renewable technologies (e.g. wind turbines) for electricity generation. He contrasts the UK situation with tahat of France, where the major energy provider is Electricite de France (EDF). EDF is 85% owned by the French state. The French Government, consequently, have been able to quickly limit price rises for its electricity users. EDF shares (the other 15% of the business) have taken a hit. The UK's private ownership of utlities, also hinders making the transition to renewable energy. One of the best ways of rapidly doing this, is to encourage the development of off-shore 'wind farms'. In the UK, contracts for these are invariably given to large publically-owed European companies, largely based in Denmark or Norway. In other parts of Europe, there appears to be much more scope for local 'green' initiatives. Perhaps the privatisation of utilities in the UK wasn't such a great idea?