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Ofgem
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is the government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain. It was formed by the merger of the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER) and Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas). Ofgem's governing body is the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA), which is also referred to as the Ofgem board. Powers and duties The authority's powers and duties are largely provided for in statute (such as the Gas Act 1986, the Electricity Act 1989, the Utilities Act 2000, the Competition Act 1998, the Enterprise Act 2002 and the Energy Act 2004, the Energy Act 2008 and the Energy Act 2010) as well as arising from directly effective European Union legislation. Duties and functions concerning gas are set out in the Gas Act and those relating to electricity are set out in the Electricity Act. Its primary duty is to protect the interests of consumers, where possible by promoting competition. The Authorit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Six Energy Suppliers
The Big Six were the United Kingdom's largest retail suppliers of gas and electricity, who dominated the market following Office of Gas and Electricity Markets#Development of competition in the UK market, liberalisation in the late 1990s. By 2002, six companies – British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON UK, E.ON, Npower (United Kingdom), RWE npower, Scottish Power and SSE plc, SSE – had emerged from the 15 former incumbent monopoly suppliers (the 14 regional Public electricity supplier, public electricity suppliers and British Gas). In 2008, the Big Six still had over 99% of domestic and small business customers. They were Vertical integration, vertically integrated in electricity, owning sufficient generation capacity to supply all their customers; while in gas, only Centrica (British Gas) owned production facilities. By the third quarter of 2019, after efforts by the regulator Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, Ofgem to promote competition, their combined share in Great Britain wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Brearley
Jonathan Brearley (23 July 1973) is the chief executive officer of Great Britain's energy regulator Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, Ofgem. Early life Brearley grew up in Wiltshire. His father served in the Royal Navy and later became a chartered surveyor. He attended Gillingham School, a comprehensive school in Dorset, and then studied for a BSc degree in maths and physics at University of Glasgow. Later, he studied for an MPhil degree in economics at University of Cambridge. Career Brearley worked in Prime Minister Tony Blair’s strategy unit within 10 Downing Street from 2002 to 2006. He then transferred to work for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs while David Miliband was Secretary of State, where Brearley was tasked with setting up the Office of Climate Change. He then moved to the Department of Energy and Climate Change where he was director of electricity markets and networks. After leaving the UK civil service, Brearley ran a consultan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Gas
British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving around ten million homes in the United Kingdom, British Gas was the largest electricity supplier in the country until 2024 when it was overtaken by Octopus Energy. It remains the largest gas supplier. It is considered one of the Big Six dominating the gas and electricity market in the United Kingdom. History 1812–1948 The Gas Light and Coke Company was the first public utility company in the world. It was founded by Frederick Albert Winsor and incorporated by royal charter on 30 April 1812 under the seal of King George III. It continued to thrive for the next 136 years, expanding into domestic services whilst absorbing many smaller companies including the Aldgate Gas Light and Coke Company (1819), the City of London Gas Light and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centrica
Centrica plc is a British multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers of electricity, operating under the trading names British Gas in England and Wales, Scottish Gas in Scotland, and Bord Gáis Energy in Ireland. Centrica is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Predecessors The company has its historical origin in the Gas Light and Coke Company which incorporated in 1812. Over the next 137 years, it grew by acquisition of other gas companies to become the primary supplier of gas to Greater London. In 1949, under the Gas Act 1948 the ownership of the company transferred to a government agency, North Thames Gas Board. The various area gas boards were merged into the national British Gas Corporation in 1973. The Gas Act 1986 sold the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Gas Plc
British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving around ten million homes in the United Kingdom, British Gas was the largest electricity supplier in the country until 2024 when it was overtaken by Octopus Energy. It remains the largest gas supplier. It is considered one of the Big Six energy suppliers, Big Six dominating the gas and electricity market in the United Kingdom. History 1812–1948 The Gas Light and Coke Company was the first public utility company in the world. It was founded by Frederick Albert Winsor and incorporated by royal charter on 30 April 1812 under the seal of George III of Great Britain, King George III. It continued to thrive for the next 136 years, expanding into domestic services whilst absorbing many smaller companies including the Aldgate Gas Light and Cok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utilities Act 2000
The Utilities Act 2000 (c. 27) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that deals with the gas and electrical markets in the UK. It mainly modified the Gas Act 1986, the Gas Act 1995 and Electricity Act 1989. One of the greatest changes was that integrated electricity companies were required to have separate licences for each of their businesses such as supply or distribution. The act was originally supposed to deal with water and telecoms as well, but following industry pressure they were dropped. Section 105 of the Act is intended to protect national security; it prohibits the disclosure of certain types of information relevant to the energy sector, with penalties of fines and up to two years' imprisonment for breaches. The section has been used by Ofgem to threaten whistleblowers informing their managers and the National Audit Office of misspends of millions of pounds. The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that the law contravened the European Convention on Human ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-ministerial Government Department
Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are typically headed by British Civil Service, senior civil servants. Some fulfil a Regulatory agency, regulatory or inspection function, and their status is therefore intended to protect them from political interference. Some are headed by a permanent office holder, such as a Permanent Secretary or Second Permanent Secretary.Government Departments and Agencies , Government, Citizens and Rights, DirectGov. Overvi ...
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Price Controls
Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of goods even during shortages, and to slow inflation, or alternatively to ensure a minimum income for providers of certain goods or to try to achieve a living wage. There are two primary forms of price control: a price ceiling, the maximum price that can be charged; and a price floor, the minimum price that can be charged. A well-known example of a price ceiling is Rent regulation, rent control, which limits the increases that a landlord is permitted by government to charge for rent. A widely used price floor is minimum wage (wages are the price of labor). Historically, price controls have often been imposed as part of a larger incomes policy package also employing wage controls and other regulatory elements. Although price controls are routin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electricity Market
An electricity market is a system that enables the exchange of electrical energy, through an electrical grid. Historically, electricity has been primarily sold by companies that operate electric generators, and purchased by consumers or electricity retailers. The electric power industry began in the late 19th century in the United States and United Kingdom. Throughout the 20th century, and up to the present, there have been deep changes in the economic management of electricity. Changes have occurred across different regions and countries, for many reasons, ranging from technological advances (on supply and demand sides) to politics and ideology. Around the turn of the 21st century, several countries restructured their electric power industries, replacing the vertically integrated and tightly regulated "traditional" electricity market with market mechanisms for electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and retailing. The traditional and competitive market app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BG Plc
BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory and shareholder agreement. The sale was completed on 15 February 2016. Prior to the takeover, BG Group was listed on the London Stock ExchangeBG.L and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In the 2015 Forbes Global 2000, BG Group was ranked as the 583rd largest public company in the world. Prior to its acquisition by Shell, BG Group had operations in 25 countries across six continents and produced around 680,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It had a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) business and was the largest supplier of LNG to the United States. As at 31 December 2009, it had total proven commercial reserves of of oil equivalent. History Origins The company was created in 1997 when British Gas plc divested Centrica and became BG ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce a particular thing, a lack of viable substitute goods, and the possibility of a high monopoly price well above the seller's marginal cost that leads to a high monopoly profit. The verb ''monopolise'' or ''monopolize'' refers to the ''process'' by which a company gains the ability to raise prices or exclude competitors. In economics, a monopoly is a single seller. In law, a monopoly is a business entity that has significant market power, that is, the power to charge Monopoly price, overly high prices, which is associated with unfair price raises. Although monopolies may be big businesses, size is not a characteristic of a monopoly. A small business may still have the power to raise prices in a small industry (or market). A monopoly may als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Electricity Supplier
Public electricity suppliers (PES) were the fourteen electricity companies created in Great Britain when the electricity market in the United Kingdom was privatised following the Electricity Act 1989. The Utilities Act 2000 subsequently split these companies between distribution network operators and separate supply companies. In England and Wales the CEGB, Central Electricity Generating Board had been responsible for the generation and transmission of electricity, with the twelve area electricity boards (AEBs) formed under the Electricity Act 1947 responsible for the distribution and supply of electricity to consumers. In Scotland the structure was different, with all aspects of generation, transmission, distribution and supply being carried out by two vertically integrated companies. History England and Wales On 31 March 1990 the AEBs were changed into independent regional electricity companies (RECs) and the CEGB was split into four, three generation companies and the Nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
