Jonanthan Gaventa told Utility Week: “I think it makes sense for Ofgem to be given an explicit mandate to ensure regulatory compatibility between the UK market and broader EU market to try to de-politicise some of the decisions and changes that might be happening.”
He said the main priority for the energy sector following the vote should be “seeking early confirmation both from Cameron and other potential leadership candidates that there is preference given to trying to maintain the UK’s participation in the internal energy market”. The industry should make efforts to “try and pull it out of the inevitable horse trading at an early stage”, he added.
Gaventa said political leaders should also confirm their commitment to existing policies and targets to “limit the number of different uncertainty fronts that are being faced at the same time”.
He didn’t think the UK taking full control over its energy policy was likely to lead to major changes: “There were some grumbles from Andrea Leadsom about state aid compliance, but it’s pretty clear that some form of state aid regime would still need to apply if the UK wanted access to the internal energy market. So on the balance of interests I would expect continuity rather than change there.”
Read the initial reaction from the utilities sector to the Brexit vote here.