Brearley: The job of regulators is changing

Ofgem’s chief executive has said he wants to “bottle the spirit of co-operation that supported our industries through the pandemic and use that collaboration to drive our progress to net zero”.

Writing on the subject of regulating for a green, fair future, Jonathan Brearley said he recognised the need for his organisation to adapt to changing priorities.

He said: “We’re not starting a technological revolution; we’re in the middle of one. To make sure we can protect our customers’ interests and drive that transition to net zero we will need to be fast, responsive, and reactive. We will need to build collaborative relationships with the industries, energy companies and wider sectors that we work with to be successful.”

Brearley stressed the need for regulators across the globe to share best practice in a bid to find solutions to the challenges of net zero. He cited the need to design new market and regulatory arrangements to manage power systems that look completely different to today’s with fragmented sources of energy, variable generation and the need to flex demand to better match supply.

He pointed to the example of electric vehicles, saying costs to consumers will be significantly higher if action is not taken to design markets to support smart charging.

However, he underlined the need to keep in mind the impact of investment decisions on those least able to pay and the issue of inter-generational fairness.

On the need for Ofgem to evolve he said: “In the struggle to support consumers through the ongoing Covid crisis, regulators have already had to be exactly what we need to be in the future. We moved fast, adapted quickly, and we focused on our customers’ needs, working across our sector with governments and with NGOs. I want to say thank you to all those in our sector, companies, regulators, NGOs and governments for the way we worked together to protect customers’ needs.”