Blackmail is an Ugly Word

We progress, do we not? Only yesterday the ermine-clad élite in the House of Donors discovered, after a mere several decades of rampant market forces, that firms which are set up for private profit tend to focus their efforts on private profit; and today the energy watchdog has resolved to pursue those profiteers who manipulate the market for their own nefarious ends. So rigorous are the present rules that companies are permitted to point out, as times of peak demand approach, that it would certainly be a shame if certain power plants just happened to get turned off, and then offer to keep them running in return for a small consideration. Now that spring is on the way and there is no risk of lowering winter fuel bills more than absolutely necessary, the watchdog has whined a little about prohibiting the cartel from "manipulating the balancing mechanism in this way for excessive financial gain." Precisely how much pressure the toothless gums will eventually exert remains as yet unclear.