Marc Champion, Columnist

Will the U.K. Repeat California's Energy Disaster?

U.K. Labour leader Ed Miliband is proposing a freeze on energy prices, along with several other dubious ideas as he make a bid to show he has what it takes to lead the country.
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The U.K. is in the middle of its annual party conference season and today was the turn of Labour leader Ed Miliband to light up his bid to win elections in 2015. The result: It looks like Britons will be choosing between two brands of populism when it comes time to vote.

Miliband's headline-grabbing news was apledge that if Labour returns to government, it will impose a roughly 20-month freeze on natural gas and electricity prices; break-up the six dominant utility companies; and "reset" the industry under a powerful regulator that would ensure retail energy prices fall when wholesale ones do.