Energy Systems Catapult welcomes the opportunity to respond to this Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ‘Review of Ofgem: call for evidence‘.

This is an opportune time to reconsider how the energy sector is regulated, given the renewed focus on rapid decarbonisation. Ofgem’s mandate must be clarified in the context of other changes to sector governance.

Key points

Energy Systems Catapult recommends that:

• Government should reiterate the primacy of Ofgem’s duty to protect consumers’ interests.
• Ofgem should move to using an outcomes-based approach to regulation.
• Ofgem should adopt and/or develop tools that enable it to test new ideas in a safe environment and gain real-world evidence of consumer impacts.
• Ofgem should also look to embed digital thinking into all of its activities.
• Ofgem will need to work well with other regulators.

We provide a response to the detailed consultation questions below.