Ofgem has, as expected, raised the energy price cap from £1,971 to £3,549 a year, starting in October. They ominously add:

“Although Ofgem is not giving price cap projections for January because the market remains too volatile, the market for gas in Winter means that prices could get significantly worse through 2023.”

Ofgem chief Jonathan Brearley says “it’s clear the new Prime Minister will need to act further”.

Given digging through the archives of Liz’s former policy views is popular at the moment, Guido thought he’d go back through some of her old sit-down sessions with think tanks to see what else he could unearth. One policy proposal from the then-Chief Secretary to the Treasury seems particularly relevant at the moment, given the ongoing debate about energy and water. In 2018 Liz called for a single utilities regulator. 

Speaking to a fringe meeting of the IEA and Taxpayers’ Alliance, Liz said:

“In terms of regulations on businesses we’ve seen a build up over the years. One example I’d use is utility regulation, we’ve got all these different utilities regulators, they go into immense detail. I’d like to see a single regulator so you could have more free competition and just focus on the key economic regulation and monopolies rather than the infinitesimal detail they go in to.”

During the leadership race, the FT has revealed Liz is eyeing up a merger of three different financial regulators – the Financial Conduct Authority, Prudential Regulation Authority and Payments Systems Regulator – into one single body. Vince Cable says this policy would be “dangerous“. Centralised or decentralised regulation? Tough one, probably not the key priority facing the nation…