The Government and Ofgem published a number of high impact policy documents towards the end of July that formed the basis for discussions. The Annual Energy Statement confirmed the Coalition Government’s policy programme, and set out the timeframe for legislative changes and consultation periods. Points of particular interest included the energy market reform work and proposals for the development of a carbon price.

The publication of the smart metering prospectus was welcomed, especially the proposals for deployment in the small business market, which appear to be less onerous than members were expecting. On a related point our external visitor was Belinda Littleton from Ofgem. Littleton was interested to hear member’s views on the state of the current metering market, to help the regulator form its views on possible future actions.

The other headline issue was the release of Ofgem’s liquidity summer assessment. Members agreed that there has been little in the way of improvement in market conditions from their point of view.

Other areas of discussion included:

• the soon to be implemented “connect and manage” transmission access regime;
• BSC and CUSC Panel updates; and
• the publication of the Big Six’s segmented accounting

The next meeting of the forum will be held on 8 September. For queries and comments, please contact us.