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UK: Ofgem proposes price cap on energy tariffs

By  |  September 6, 2018

On Thursday, September 6, Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem proposed a price cap on default energy bills to save households about a billion pounds a year and aims to implement it in time for winter following a government promise to tackle “rip-off” prices.

Consumer groups cautiously welcomed the cap, even though it fell slightly short of the £100 (US$129.36) cut to bills Prime Minister Theresa May had targeted ahead of last year’s election, reported The Financial Times.

The government tasked the regulator in July with calculating a marketwide ceiling for what energy providers could charge following accusations the market was broken, with customers being penalized for sticking with energy providers. The cap represents the biggest state intervention in the UK energy market since privatization in the 1980s.

Just this June, regulatory economist Martin Cave had been selected as the new chair of the UK’s energy regulator.

Full Content: Reuters

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