UK energy system described as a 'dysfunctional hybrid' as foreign state-owned enterprises buy critical infrastructure while domestic public ownership debate intensifies

A Guardian interview published on 2 September 2026 with Arthur Downing, director of strategy at Octopus Energy and author of a new book on British energy history, sets out a pointed argument about the UK's energy ownership paradox. Downing argues that the UK's privatised energy system is in practice heavily dependent on foreign state-owned capital. In February 2026, Engie, the French electric utility in which the French government is the largest shareholder, bought UK Power Networks (UKPN), which owns and maintains electricity cables across south and east England. Downing notes that on the day of that deal, French government bond yields fell and Engie's share price rose, meaning French citizens captured value from UK infrastructure that British citizens did not. He describes the current energy system as a "dysfunctional hybrid": privately owned but feeding off state subsidies, combining the costs of both models without the benefits of either. He traces the problem through four phases of British energy history from the 1880s to 2010, arguing that state-owned enterprises built the National Grid and gas network faster and more cheaply than the private sector has managed since privatisation. He also notes that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's VAT cut on electricity bills was a positive early signal, while the broader transition to renewables faces structural complexity as an already fragmented and subsidy-dependent system attempts to decarbonise.