Member Article

Don’t get caught out: energy policy and regulation

CMA, FiT, RO – the minefield of political and industry acronyms can be enough to confuse even the most diligent energy market watcher. Yet changes in policy and regulation often have a direct or legally-binding impact on business operations, accounting and record-keeping. At E.ON we are here to help you navigate the energy policy landscape, digesting the key updates and changes that could impact your business; whether a family-run start-up or a multi-region corporation. From the Government’s review of the energy market to the latest Winter Outlook report, we have summarised the most important updates for your business from the last few months.

Is your tariff under review?

The CMA has announced it is to extend its energy market investigation timetable by six months to give it time to consider responses to its provisional findings from suppliers, consumer groups, government and regulators. The statutory deadline is extended from December 2015 to June 2016, although the regulator aims to deliver “well within” this timeframe. It is now planning to publish a provisional decision on remedies in January 2016, with a view to reaching a final decision by the end of April 2016.

Before this announcement, Ofgem issued a response to the CMA’s provisional findings. On whether a ‘safeguard’ tariff – a capped price tariff designed to protect customers who do not choose to leave default tariffs at the end of existing contracts – should apply to the microbusiness market, it said there were important differences between the domestic and microbusiness markets which added complexity to the safeguard tariff design. It added setting an appropriate level for the safeguard tariff in the microbusiness market could be “particularly challenging”. Ofgem also welcomed the CMA’s proposal to introduce further price transparency for microbusiness consumers.

Know the powers of the Energy Ombudsman

During Conservative Party conference, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd revealed that the Government is planning to work with industry regulator Ofgem and the Citizens Advice Bureau to enhance the role of the Energy Ombudsman, which investigates customer complaints. In her speech to conference, Rudd said the Ombudsman would be given “real teeth”, enabling it to identify and address “systemic industry-wide problems” where customers were mistreated by energy suppliers.

New faces of Labour

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn appointed former Shadow Charities Minister Lisa Nandy as the new Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary. Nandy has been MP for Wigan since 2010. Fellow MPs Alan Whitehead, Barry Gardiner and Clive Lewis will join her team. Former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Angela Eagle becomes the new Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills Secretary, with Merseyside MP Bill Esterson appointed as Shadow Small Business Minister. At Labour conference, Nandy and Whitehead stressed they were eager to engage with industry as they develop policy.

Gas metering changes

The start date for Project Nexus has been delayed: Ofgem has approved plans to delay the implementation of Project Nexus, a series of changes to the system which manages gas metering information across the energy industry including key customer data needed for switching and invoicing. The changes will now come into effect on 1 October 2016, not 1 October 2015.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Iain Walker .