Why has electricity increased so much over the past 20 years

It’s been more than two decades since Britain’s retail electricity market was opened to full competition in 1999. Before that, retail supply was provided by state-owned entities with regional monopolies. Today, all consumers, including households and businesses, are able to “shop around” for their electricity, switching to a different supplier or tariff to take advantage of better prices and services.

In principle, that is exactly what liberalised retail markets are supposed to provide: greater consumer choice and protections. But that’s only the case if it’s easy for consumers to switch suppliers and for new suppliers to enter the market. That’s how markets are supposed to stay competitive to deliver low prices and a high quality of service. That was the great hope of electricity policy in 1999, but after two decades, there’s little to celebrate.

To enhance competition, smaller suppliers have been exempt from contributing towards the cost of decarbonisation policies. Known as “the threshold obligation”, this encouraged the entry of smaller companies into Britain’s retail electricity market, but the increase from six suppliers in 1999 to more than 70 in 2019 came at a cost. Many new suppliers have gone bankrupt due to unsustainable business models, resulting in consumers footing unpaid industry bills

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