Energy consultants respond to proposed regulation changes

By Finance News On Sep 21, 2024

The UK Government has introduced new regulatory proposals aimed at increasing transparency and consumer protection in the energy market.

The government’s plans, designed to increase consumer protection and transparency in the energy market, include mandatory fee disclosure and clearer contract terms for third-party intermediaries (TPIs).

Chris Shaw, Chair of the Energy Consultants Association told Energy Live News: “We welcome direct regulation from an independent regulator like the FCA as opposed to back door regulation via Ofgem and other proposed parties.

“We see too many instances of poorly thought out remedies – due to a lack of understanding of how the broker market operates.

“Despite the constant soundboards of poor practice from brokers – the number of actual complaints to ADR remain very low – much lower than most regulated industries.

“Customers typically have high levels of trust in brokers – evidenced by brokers facilitating over half of all energy contracts.

“The government clearly aren’t aware that fee disclosure has been mandatory in Micro since 2022 and shortly mandatory across all non domestic contracts, nor that ADR is already in place – again shortly for a wider cohort of customers.

“We also welcome any opportunity to improve competition and foster innovation. Areas like brokers access to central data flows, reducing fraud and improving switching rates by reducing objections will all flow into lower broker fees to end customers.”