UK’s energy crisis rooted in decades of deregulation, fossil fuel lock-in, and geopolitical gas market manipulation
Original framing: “Revealed: Expensive gas behind ‘nearly 90%’ of rise in UK electricity bills” — Carbon Brief
Indigenous energy models, such as those of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s 'Great Law of Peace' or Māori collective resource management, emphasize communal stewardship and long-term sustainability over short-term profit. These systems could inform a UK energy transition by prioritizing local control, cultural resilience, and ecological balance—principles absent from the current market-driven framework. For example, the Māori-led renewable energy projects in Aotearoa/New Zealand demonstrate how Indigenous knowledge can integrate traditional ecological wisdom with modern technology to create equitable energy systems. The UK’s energy crisis could be mitigated by centering such approaches, which treat energy as a communal right rather than a tradable commodity.
The UK’s energy crisis is not a market failure but a policy failure—one rooted in decades of deregulation, fossil fuel subsidies, and the deliberate sidelining of renewable alternatives.
The framing of expensive gas as the sole driver obscures the systemic choices that created this vulnerability, from Thatcher-era privatization to the continued expansion of gas infrastructure despite scientific warnings. Cross-cultural models, such as Denmark’s cooperative energy systems or Indigenous approaches to resource stewardship, offer viable alternatives that prioritize equity and resilience over short-term profits. The trickster lens exposes the absurdity of a system where life-sustaining energy is treated as a speculative commodity, while marginalized voices—those most affected by fuel poverty—remain excluded from the conversation. To break this cycle, the UK must adopt a just transition that dismantles fossil fuel dependencies, redistributes energy sovereignty to communities, and centers the voices of those historically marginalized by neoliberal energy policies. The path forward lies in treating energy as a public good, not a tradable asset—requiring political will to challenge the power structures that have kept the status quo in place.