WIREDGOV

Following the article ‘Energy chiefs lash out as Ofgem looks into trades’ (3rd February) I would like to make clear that Ofgem and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) make no apologies for asking energy companies to provide the right level of information to assist with the first of the annual assessments of competition in the energy market. At a time when suppliers need to restore trust in the energy market it is important that these companies comply with these requests rather than sniping at the regulators for doing their job. Ofgem and the OFT take a proportionate approach to gathering information and we have not asked for information on every single trade. However, no one should be in any doubt that we will not hesitate to acquire the information we need for our review.

This is a wide ranging review looking at how well competition in the markets for gas and electricity is serving the interests of households and small firms, and we are carrying it out with the OFT and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Energy companies were required to provide us with the information we requested using powers in the Gas and Electricity Acts, and have now done so.

Yours faithfully

Andrew Wright
Interim Chief Executive
Ofgem