While British retail customers have the right to change supplier, the wholesale market did not until recently have the same flexibility. A 1997 government review - when the wholesale market operated under the Pool arrangement (set up after privatisation in 1990) - found that it was "flawed, uncom-petitive and susceptible to manipulation". Since the UK wholesale market is worth £7 billion (US$9.8 billion) a year and wholesale costs make up 50 per cent of domestic customers' electricity bills, it was thought a shake-up in the trading conventions between generators and suppliers was bound to have a beneficial effect on consumers' pockets.
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