Closed call for evidence

Future of the energy retail market: call for evidence

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Summary

We're inviting views on how future government policy can best achieve the vision set out in the 'Energy retail market strategy for the 2020s', and how the lessons from recent market developments should inform this.

This call for evidence ran from
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Call for evidence description

Earlier this year, the government published an ‘Energy retail market strategy for the 2020s’. This strategy set out our vision for a market which enables net zero and where:

  • consumers should receive appropriate levels of protection, pay a fair price for their energy, and be able to easily engage with the market to exercise choice
  • energy companies should invest in innovative products and services to unlock the benefits of low-carbon technologies
  • consumer choice and active market competition contribute towards a lowest-cost flexible energy system, which gives the right price signals and drives the uptake of low-carbon products and services

This vision remains the right one. However, we also need to take account of the lessons from recent months to ensure that the energy retail market is resilient, sustainable, and continues to protect consumers as we move to a net zero energy system.

The government therefore intends to review these lessons as part of a wider refresh of the current energy retail market strategy, with the aim of publishing an updated strategy as soon as possible, once the market has stabilised.

Read the full statement by the Secretary of State.

Questions

We’re inviting views on how future government policy can best achieve the vision set out earlier this year, and how the lessons from recent market developments should inform this. We’re particularly interested in:

  • how the retail market can help achieve the best outcomes for consumers, no matter how they engage
  • how energy companies can help drive the private investment needed to achieve net zero
  • how the retail market, its underpinning regulatory framework and the energy price cap, may need to evolve to enable a lowest-cost, flexible and resilient energy system that continues to protect consumers

See the BEIS consultation privacy notice.

Updates to this page

Published 21 December 2021

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