Fairness in Retail Energy Markets? Evidence from the UK

Concern about fairness in the retail energy market is clear from media headlines and the passing of legislation to impose a ‘wide’ price cap in the retail energy market in 2018. ‘Fairness in Retail Energy Markets? Evidence from the UK’ provides extensive evidence from a range of disciplines to inform this important debate. This report does not attempt to define what constitutes fair or unfair, since this ultimately rests in the eye of the beholder. Nevertheless, its message is clear: development of the retail energy market in the UK can only be understood by  recognising the political economy around questions of distribution and fairness.

The report presents findings under five broad themes: (i) how long-term outcomes contextualise the retail energy market’s political salience; (ii) how distributional objectives feed into institutions; (iii) the multi-faceted nature of engagement with energy; (iv) the detailed experiences of those at risk of FP; and (v) how data/statistics can be improved.

Authors: Deller, D. and Waddams Price, C.