Dermot Nolan: Ofgem must facilitate UK’s decarbonisation

That’s the call from Dermot Nolan, CEO of Ofgem, who spoke to ELN at Energy UK’s annual conference yesterday

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Ofgem must facilitate the UK’s decarbonisation.

That’s the call from Dermot Nolan, CEO of Ofgem, who spoke to ELN at Energy UK’s annual conference yesterday.

He stressed that while the regulator needs to ensure the energy market moves towards cleaner and greener business models, it also needs to avoid becoming a policymaker because it doesn’t have the mandate to do so.

Mr Nolan also suggested that it is important Ofgem doesn’t “shirk from difficult decisions”, even if that annoys stakeholders in the sector.

He went on to discuss the effects of the price cap, noting that while some suppliers are still making money, the majority are not – he told ELN he believes this “was the nature of the price cap” and said it provided an incentive to improve efficiency.

He also said spending public money to drive adoption of electric vehicles could widen disparities in wealth by effectively subsidising infrastructure primarily used by wealthier people with the money of poorer people.

He added this “could be seen as a transfer from the less well-off to the well-off” and noted it was a “significant issue” which needs to be addressed.

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