Arthur Downing, a historian and director of strategy at Octopus Energy, argues in his new book Power and the People: A History of British Energy that Britain's fragmented, import-dependent energy system is a direct result of decades of privatisation, and that reversing this could help deliver a faster, fairer transition to clean power. Writing in a personal capacity, Downing contends that ownership fundamentally shapes which technologies get built and who benefits, challenging the prevailing orthodoxy that private ownership is inherently more efficient and innovative than public ownership.

Downing points to the nationalised gas industry of the 1940s–1980s, which installed gas boilers in homes across the country at no direct cost and was, for three decades, among Britain's most dynamic and efficient industries. He notes that between 1926 and 1979, state-owned enterprises built major infrastructure, including hydroelectric plants, faster and more cheaply than today's private firms, even as the UK has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% since 1990. His book traces four historical phases of energy ownership over 200 years, beginning with the largely public and municipal model of the late 1880s to 1920s, arguing this history offers lessons for reforming today's system.