The UK government has outlined plans today (24 July) to provide households with better access to energy deals and boost competition in the energy market.
Plans include promoting tariffs that offer lower prices at certain times of the day, smart chargers that automatically put users on the lowest rate available to charge electric vehicles (EVs) as well as opportunities to buy shares in renewable energy in return for electricity bill discounts.
With specific measures to be released in due course, Amanda Solloway, energy consumers and affordability minister, assured that the measures would “boost competition and innovation in the energy market”.
She said: “The global rises in energy prices caused by [the] invasion of Ukraine shows why we need to bolster our energy security and strengthen our energy market, so families and businesses are protected, while getting a fair deal.”
“Over the winter, we provided unprecedented levels of support – including paying nearly half a typical household’s energy bill – and took decisive steps to stabilise the retail market.
“We now want to put power back in the hands of consumers, giving them greater options to cut their energy bills in a market fit for the future. Today, I’m calling on industry to work with us, and take up the opportunities of investing in low-carbon technologies and providing a first-class customer service.”
The government has been exploring a number of potential reforms in the energy market via its Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) consultation with the results having been released in March 2022.
Running from 18 July to 10 October 2022, the consultation was published online and invited views on the vision and objectives for future electricity markets proposed by the government as well as welcoming insights on how best to approach a reform.
Of the total 225 responses to the consultation, the majority were generators and developers at 55, followed by trade bodies with 33 respondents. Respondents were not required to answer every question and so total responses varied from question to question.
Current± summarised key points from the paper here.