Ofgem

Ofgem

Protecting the interests of current and future electricity and gas consumers
1. Promote value for money, which includes competition issues
  1. Reduced the number of tariffs energy companies could offer to household to just four
    1. Made it compulsory for them to tell consumer if there was a tariff that would be cheaper over the next 12 months
  2. Aim to bring next-day switching
    1. Currently a month
  3. Fining firms that mis-sell
    1. Fines up to £10.5 million
    2. Money distributed to customers facing fuel poverty
  4. Transparency of costs, prices and profits
    1. Must publish seperate accounts for generation and supply
    2. Most publish whole sale prices 3 month in advance
      1. Helps small retailers who buy their gas and energy from the big-six
  5. Gas and electricity network operators are told the prices they are allowed to charge by Ofgem
2. Ensure security of supply
  1. Free market would fail to prevent black outs as extra capacity for peak demand is not cost efficient
  2. Strategic resource
    1. Cannot be stored
    2. Wind is unreliable
3. Promote sustainability , reducing energy consumption away from fossil fuels
  1. "Smart meters" provide constant reading oh household useage
    1. Due for every home by 2020 for free
    2. Pay for themselves by replacing meter readers
    3. Help consumers reduce their bills
    4. Allows energy companies to charge us more during peak periods of demand
      1. Ofgem settling on 30 minute charging period
  2. Annual competitions with up to £50 million prize more, for companies to find ways to reduce demand or become more eco-friendly
4. Implement government regulations
  1. Reducing UK emissions over 1990-2050 by 80%
  2. Growing proportion of renewable energy
  3. Buy energy from small scale producers, homes with solar pannels
  4. Reduce domestic consumtion, install insulation
  5. Discounts worth £300 million annulay to the fuel impoverished
5. Funded mostly from levy from companies (£83 million)
"Ofgem may have unwittingly contributed to the problem of weak competition and high prices"
1. Big-six profits up significantly since Ofgem started giving more frequent and detailed instruction

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