UK: Ofgem appoints new chairman

Regulatory economist Martin Cave has been selected as the UK’s energy regulator’s new chair just months before it is due to impose a price cap on energy bills, reported The Guardian.

A Whitehall source said, “This appointment would send a clear signal to retail energy bosses that the government wants a strong regulator to design and bring in the cap ahead of the winter and protect millions of households from unfair price rises.”

The decision to appoint Cave, who is the preferred candidate of the business secretary, Greg Clark, makes clear there will be no rowing back on plans for a cap.

Cave, who specialises in competition law, was deputy chair at the UK Competition Commission and deputy panel chair of the Competition and Markets Authority from 2012 to January this year. He was the competition watchdog’s lone voice arguing for a price cap, nearly a year before the Conservatives adopted the policy as a flagship election pledge.

Full Content: The Guardian

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