6
| 8TH - 14TH MARCH 2019 | UTILITY WEEK
A UtilityWeek c ampaign
Analysis
I
f anyone doubted how the winds of
change are sweeping through the cor-
ridors of the UK's utility regulators, they
should have snapped up one of the hotly
fought over tickets for Ofgem's Future of
Energy conference in January.
The energy regulator's chief executive,
Dermot Nolan, used his keynote speech to
proclaim that updating Ofgem's consumer
vulnerability strategy will be "the single
most important thing" the organisation will
do this year.
Mary Starks, recently appointed executive
director of Ofgem's consumers and markets
directorate, underlined the centrality of this
mission in a speech to fuel poverty cam-
paigners last month (February) in Cardiff.
She said: "Retail energy markets must
work well for most people, including those
in vulnerable circumstances, not just for a
savvy few. This means increasing the num-
The regulatory challenge
of our times
In the latest from our New Deal for Utilities campaign, David Blackman
asks if a new era of regulation can help plug the utilities legitimacy gap
while ensuring long-term certainty and investment.
JOIN THE DEBATE
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This is calling for a new social contract
between the industry and its customers in
which regulation will have a pivotal role.
And the campaign has coincided with
the launch of a review of utilities regulation
by the National Infrastructure Commission
(NIC), the terms of reference for which were
published just over a fortnight ago.
At a conference on utility regulation last
week held by Westminster Forum, Ofgem
chief economist Joe Perkins, recalled the
environment in which the existing regulation
system had evolved.
"The energy sector at the time of privati-
sation was a small number of stable firms,
both on the network and supply side, with a
fairly centralised model of transmission and
generation, and where technological change
was seen to be incremental rather than fun-
damental. All those assumptions don't really
hold now."
ber of people engaging in the market, and
ensuring that those who cannot engage get
the backstop protections they require."
It is against this backdrop of heightened
concern about less well-off energy and water
customers that Utility Week has been run-
ning its New Deal for Utilities campaign over
the past two months.