DESNZ announces Review of Ofgem

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) announced a Review of Ofgem's duties, mandate, powers and approach to enforcement in December 2024¹. The review covers the regulator's remit and how it enforces its rules, and it was confirmed in Ofgem's Consumer Vulnerability Strategy, published on 15 April 2025¹.

Ofgem has said the outcome may affect its consumer protection work. In the foreword to that strategy, Tim Jarvis, Director General for Markets at Ofgem, welcomed the review, saying:

"I welcome the government's review of Ofgem's role. We have a shared goal with government to drive up standards for consumers and empower the market to build the innovative products and services we need for a low carbon future. It is a great opportunity to ensure we have the right powers to achieve this."

The strategy states that once the review is finalised and government has determined Ofgem's future role, the regulator will work through any implications for its Vulnerability Strategy, including its themes and outcomes¹. The review is listed in the strategy's timeline alongside other Ofgem work, including a framework consultation published in November 2024 and a February 2025 consultation on a zero price cap variant in the domestic retail market¹.

The strategy itself sets out four themes: improving identification and smarter use of data; supporting consumers struggling to pay their bills; driving improvements in customer service for vulnerable groups; and encouraging positive and inclusive innovation, with a fifth cross-cutting theme on working with others¹. Ofgem said it received 67 responses to its September 2024 consultation on refreshing the strategy¹.

The document also sets out the scale of the pressures on households. As of July 2024, approximately 5.6 million households in the UK were in fuel poverty¹. By the end of September 2024, individuals in arrears without a repayment plan owed an average of £1,568 for electricity and £1,324 for gas¹. As of March 2025, around 7 million UK adults were behind on at least one household bill, with approximately 1.4 million adults behind on their energy, council tax and water bills¹.

Source: Ofgem, Consumer Vulnerability Strategy¹

Why it matters for households

Ofgem's duties, mandate and enforcement powers shape the rules that energy suppliers must follow, including the protections that apply to households in vulnerable situations. The energy regulation and policy guide sets out how that framework fits together, and the Ofgem guide explains what the regulator covers. A change to Ofgem's remit could alter how standards are set and enforced, and therefore what a household can expect when something goes wrong.

For a home's energy independence, the practical effect runs through billing, payment arrangements and service standards. Ofgem's strategy notes that its work includes the Debt Strategy, the Warm Home Discount and the Energy Company Obligation 4, and that its definition of vulnerability will remain intentionally broad¹. The strategy also records that the new payment level of £40 per failure took effect from January 2025, and that on 10 April 2025 Ofgem published its decision to activate dormant supplier licence condition SLC 31G.3A(c), taking effect from 1 August 2025¹. The DESNZ guide covers the department that commissioned the review.

What happens next

The strategy states that once the review is finalised and government has determined Ofgem's future role, Ofgem will work through any implications for its Vulnerability Strategy, including its themes and outcomes¹. No date for the conclusion of the review has been reported.

Sources1 cited

1. Consumer Vulnerability Strategy, ofgem.gov.uk