Esb treble profits - appalling!

more like a smartphone to a walkie talkie!

I think you have misunderstood me. People should pay for any costs including maintaining the infrastructure. But all costs should be variable - there should be no fixed costs.

BTW I'm not some sort of left wing looney lamenting about profiteering in business. Businesses are there to maximise profit. The government is there to set some boundaries / frameworks within which those companies can do business. Like it is entirely up to the government and their bodies to forbid a standing charge if they so decide.

Surely as esb networks provide the network, the majority of any standing charge must make it's way to them.

It's ok saying change provider but if networks are putting increased costs into the system's it's pretty certain I would have thought that they will all be increasing standing charges.

Personally I think government via esbn should be offering direct fit solar pv to every household, with current grant funding used that way instead of the current system. Payment for those systems over 10 years as part of energy bill which should make it very sensible for everyone to do given that there should be big saving on energy use.

You sound like John Maynard Keynes. Hey sure let's double social welfare sure most of it will come back to the tax man anyway in the form of VAT on everything they buy, excise duty on their fags and booze, etc. so doing this doesn't really cost much 😂

But yeah obviously you are right indirectly.

I think Mary Lou is Keynes' granddaughter 😉 so no, I hope I do not sound like either of them! I'm more of a neoclassical economist myself. Although far from a fanboi of complete laissez-faire.