Five things we learnt from Energy Spectrum | 657

An increasing number of interventions, including new mutualisation events, are likely to cause shocks in energy third party charges in the coming years. That is the conclusion of this week’s Energy Perspective, in which we explore the current level of these costs for policy and networks, focussing on changes for the 2019-20 financial year.

As part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, BEIS announced measures designed to deliver one-third of UK electricity being generated from wind by 2030. In this week’s Policy section, we look at the deal and see what impact it could have on the sector. While reaffirming the government’s previous commitments to the sector, there was little new here offered that would drive much-needed renewables investment.

BEIS and Ofgem launched their joint retail market review, looking at how to support effective competition once the price cap comes to an end. However, the mood from Ofgem and BEIS on the day of the launch event suggested that price caps will remain until at least 2023.

Trade associations have concerns about the impact Ofgem’s proposed Targeted Charging Review could have on flexibility and storage. In this week’s Regulation section, we agree that Ofgem needs to look much more closely at the distributional impacts of its proposals on different technologies and types of participant in the long term.

Digital banking innovations could open up a new space for energy intermediaries, with digital bank Monzo’s partnership with Octopus Energy the latest in a series of developments. In this week’s Industry section, we start with the Monzo-Octopus Energy partnership and go from there to see how bill management and automated switching have the potential to radically alter the relationship between customers, suppliers, and the energy market in general.