One of Scotland’s most strategic corporations is being auctioned off to a foreign corporation. As foreigners continue to snap up UK businesses, economic sovereignty is snapped up as well. It makes one wonder: Where are all those loyal sons of Scotland who charged the fields at Bannockburn to repel foreign invasion?

The latest major foreign raid upon a UK corporation is being made by Spanish energy corporation Iberdrola. The $22 billion (₤11.6 billion) takeover of Scottish Power will give the Spanish conquistador 5.2 million customers and 6,200 megawatts of power-generation capacity within the UK. Iberdrola will then control 10 percent of the energy market in the UK, making it the fifth-largest energy provider for the British Isles.

Scottish Power is one of the last Scottish-owned and -headquartered corporations of any significance left in Scotland, says member of Scottish Parliament and economic affairs spokesman Jim Mather. “Scottish Power is one of only 19 companies employing more than 5,000 people with their headquarters in Scotland, and is the biggest industrial company in the country,” he said (Sunday Herald, November 12).

Scottish Power has a well-diversified asset mix, including natural gas, coal and wind power located in both the U.S. and the UK. This makes it an economic jewel. At a time when natural gas prices are high and expected to continue to rise, this diversification is key. As natural gas prices have risen over the past couple of years, Scottish Power has been able to react to changing market conditions and generate a greater proportion of its energy from coal, which is much less expensive than natural gas.

Being able to switch power generation from natural gas to coal is a huge advantage for any energy company, but especially for those in the British Isles, where demand drove natural gas inventories to near record-low levels this past year. Current natural gas supplies in the UK will only supply approximately two weeks’ worth of consumption. In contrast, natural gas storage levels in France and Germany are enough for approximately two months.

In times of high natural gas prices, Scottish Power’s wind energy also becomes a lucrative investment, and it is one of the largest wind power generators in the U.S. and UK. This, in fact, could be one of the driving factors behind the Iberdrola takeover. The combined company will become the world’s largest producer of electricity from wind.

The potential sale of Scottish Power is just one example in a hoard of foreign takeovers hitting Britain’s energy utilities. German energy giant rwe Power owns Britain’s third-largest energy supplier, NPower, which supplies electricity and gas to approximately 6 million customers. Another German energy giant, E.On, owns even more of Britain’s energy distribution system. Through its subsidiary Powergen, E.On provides power and gas to 9 million British customers, making it Britain’s second-largest electricity and gas provider. edf Energy, the French state-owned energy giant, is Britain’s fifth-largest electricity and gas provider. If the rumors are correct, both Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom and the Italian utility Enel may be seeking to take over Centrica, Britain’s largest gas utility, supplying gas to 13 million homes.

Sadly, few question the wisdom of putting Britain’s heat and electricity in the hands of foreign corporations, even when so many strategic industries in the UK have already been snapped up.

There is a reason, besides the fact that the nation has among the most liberal takeover laws on the planet, that Britain is losing so many of its largest and most strategic corporations. To better see the extent and underlying cause, read “Selling Britain’s Corporate Crown Jewels.”