In 1999 the GB retail energy market was open to competition for residential customers. In 2008 Ofgem began a series of regulatory interventions, notably a nondiscrimination condition and subsequently a restriction to four “simple tariffs”. This reversed its previous policy of minimal intervention. This paper explores the reasons for this change of policy, drawing upon the responses of economists and others to Ofgem and Competition and Market Authority (CMA) consultations. It argues that key factors were a significant increase in energy prices before 2008, the reduced involvement of economists in senior roles at Ofgem, and systematic changes in Government policy and the statutory regulatory framework. Finally, the paper examines what the CMA Energy Market Investigation had to say about this in 2016. The CMA found that these were inappropriate regulatory interventions, and laid part of the blame on arrangements for governance of the regulatory framework.

中文翻译：

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促进竞争并保护客户？GB-2008-2016年零售能源市场法规

1999年，GB零售能源市场开始向居民用户开放。2008年，Ofgem开始采取一系列监管措施，特别是实行非歧视性条件，随后限制了四个“简单关税”。这颠覆了其先前的最小干预政策。本文利用经济学家和其他人士对Ofgem与竞争与市场管理局（CMA）磋商的回应，探讨了这一政策变化的原因。报告认为，关键因素包括2008年之前能源价格的大幅上涨，经济学家在Ofgem担任高级职务的人数减少以及政府政策和法定监管框架的系统性变化。最后，本文探讨了2016年CMA能源市场调查对此要说的话。