Ofgem E-Serve will focus on administering environmental programmes and the delivery of sustainability projects like offshore wind, smart meters, the proposed carbon capture and storage levy, and feed-in tariffs, the regulator said.
Ofgem E-Serve already runs £3.9 billion worth of government environmental programmes and offshore transmission, up from £150m in 2001.
A further vote of confidence in Ofgem E-Serve’s ability to run environmental programmes has been made by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), which has reportedly given the organization a key role in the introduction of smart meters to Britain’s 26m homes and in setting up feed-in tariffs for microgeneration.
The other business unit within the new Ofgem group, which acts as the industry regulator, will continue to be known as Ofgem. It has been restructured to give a greater focus on sustainability and the need to ensure Britain’s high-voltage networks can meet the challenge of connecting more renewable generation.
Alistair Buchanan, group chief executive of Ofgem, said: “Energy customers are concerned about climate change as well as the cost of energy. Ofgem has already demonstrated through its energy probe that we will root out any malpractice in the energy market. Now with the creation of Ofgem E-Serve and the restructuring of Ofgem we can play an even greater role in helping to deliver Britain’s emission targets.”
