Ofgem refers energy sector to competition watchdog

MillicentBystander

Thoughts?


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10726037/Ofgem-refers-energy-sector-to-competition-watchdog.html

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

SSE have a well placed mole? :money:

UKParliament

Hello!

The Energy Market Competition Assessment as referred to in the Telegraph article the OP linked to is going to be discussed in a Statement this morning in the House of Commons.

It should take place at roughly 11.30am, and can be watched on Parliament TV Player

For those that might be interested in finding out more.

Thanks
DOT

WestonDave

I can't see this going anywhere that will please the chattering classes.


Even if we force profit per customer back down to the 2009 level (which I suspect is carefully chosen as a freak low year) of £8 per customer rather than the current £53, I doubt the £4 per month saving is going to have people cheering in the streets.


The fundamental issue seems to be that global energy prices are expensive, ours in the UK are relatively cheap by other comparisons but we waste too much of it leading to high bills. A bit of cosmetic tinkering by the powers that be won't change that to the extent that people start to think energy is cheap again.

smartn

I do wonder why we as taxpayers fund an organisation (OFGEM) with its 360 odd employees and £50 million budget to then refer things like this to another organisation. Am I missing something?

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

smartn wrote: »

I do wonder why we as taxpayers fund an organisation (OFGEM) with its 360 odd employees and £50 million budget to then refer things like this to another organisation. Am I missing something?

And 27 jobs vacant also, the very lowest is at the national average wage, but most are well above that.

Trebles all round!

smartn

WestonDave wrote: »

I can't see this going anywhere that will please the chattering classes.


Even if we force profit per customer back down to the 2009 level (which I suspect is carefully chosen as a freak low year) of £8 per customer rather than the current £53, I doubt the £4 per month saving is going to have people cheering in the streets.


The fundamental issue seems to be that global energy prices are expensive, ours in the UK are relatively cheap by other comparisons but we waste too much of it leading to high bills. A bit of cosmetic tinkering by the powers that be won't change that to the extent that people start to think energy is cheap again.

If we force the profit back down to £8 a customer I can see this ending in tears, SSE have already announced the shelving of 3 wind farms. We need more invested in Energy to protect future supplies, not less.

SuiDreams

smartn wrote: »

If we force the profit back down to £8 a customer I can see this ending in tears, SSE have already announced the shelving of 3 wind farms. We need more invested in Energy to protect future supplies, not less.

Sorry but I see the shelving of the wind farms as a good thing, we need other forms of energy generation, wind and solar won't supply our needs.

smartn

SuiDreams wrote: »

Sorry but I see the shelving of the wind farms as a good thing, we need other forms of energy generation, wind and solar won't supply our needs.

I actually agree with you regarding the wind farms and prefer other energy sources, it's more the fact that its an indication investment will be further reduced.

ollski

Lol ofgem??, they have managed to make more of a mess of the market in the last year than all the suppliers have managed together in the last decade.

Will anyone be looking into why my lpg is 2 / 3 times the cost of ng, and I'm tied for 2 years and I can't move and I cant switch and my price is just made up?, or are our voices not political point winners?

Smiley_Dan

The marketplace is inherently non-competitive because there are too few actors. The regulators and the Government have allowed this to happen.

The only way to make it more competitive is to have more competitors either by breaking up the existing firms or capping the number of accounts each firm is allowed to have and introduce new firms.

Also, reduce the friction in changing energy company, it's still too difficult, tedious or time consuming for most.