Ofgem has set new rules for owners of local electricity grids to open up competition in the electricity connections market.
It aims to improve the quality of service that customers receive and reduce the cost of connecting businesses to the grid.
The electricity connections market is worth more than £500 million per year, with hundreds of thousands of connections made every year, Ofgem stated.
Independent companies compete against Britain’s regional electricity distribution networks operators (DNOs) to connect new customers.
The DNOs in each region are still the sole providers of several essential services needed to make connections.
This limits competitors’ ability to control the delivery of their connections and can cause costly delays, according to Ofgem.
It added regional variations between services also create additional complexity for competitors.
The regulator has launched a code of practice for DNOs, which sets out what they must do to improve competition.
The new rules will be applied from 30th October.
Maxine Frerk, Senior Partner, electricity distribution, Ofgem said: “We want to see competition in the electricity connections market thriving. While some DNOs are helping to achieve this, many independent companies still face unnecessary delays and needless complexity.
“This has to stop and our Code of Practice will ensure that independent companies are treated fairly and consistently across the country. This means housing developers, businesses and other organisations will get real choice in who delivers their connections, leading to quicker completion and higher customer service standards.”
