House of Lords written statement – made at on 12 November 2013.
Baroness Verma
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
An error has come to light in the answer to an oral question asked by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean.
The Hansard reference is 17 Oct 2013, column 646
As part of the answer the Minister said;
Lord Teverson (LD): My Lords, does the Minister agree that not enough determination has been shown by the official regulator, Ofgem, or by our competition authorities over the past decade to make sure that there is sufficient competition in the energy market, which would at last favour consumers? Would she nudge those organisations to grow some teeth and perhaps bare them, so that consumers get a fairer deal out of energy prices?
Baroness Verma: My Lords, my noble friend makes a very important point. We have seen the need for a robust regulator, which is why we have given Ofgem additional powers to investigate and penalise any market manipulation in the wholesale markets. We are also giving it extra powers to ensure that there is greater competition in the marketplace. I reassure my noble friend that under this Government there has been an increase in smaller generators being able to partake in the energy market, from three to seven. We want to see greater competition because we think that competition, not freezing energy prices, is the way to encourage lower prices.
The Minister should have said:
Baroness Verma: My Lords, my noble friend makes a very important point. We have seen the need for a robust regulator, which is why we have given Ofgem additional powers to investigate and penalise any market manipulation in the wholesale markets. We are also giving it extra powers to ensure that there is greater competition in the marketplace. I reassure my noble friend that under this Government eight new suppliers have entered the market. We want to see greater competition because we think that competition, not freezing energy prices, is the way to encourage lower prices.
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