The CMA set out its provisional remedies in March, including a temporary price control for pre-payment customers, and the creation of an Ofgem-controlled database of disengaged customers.
Lloyd told Utility Week that some of the remedies are “interesting and useful”, but expressed concern that they cannot be tested in the time frame.
“I think it is on course to be a fairly damp squib. There are some interesting and useful ideas in there but where the CMA has got stuck is in proposing a whole range of ways in which consumers could be encouraged to engage in the market. None of those are tested and can’t be tested in the CMA’s time frame,” he said.
“I think from a demand-side; competition point of view we are going to end up with a bunch of proposals that will need really testing and interrogation by Ofgem, consumer groups and the industry to see what’s in there that could be made to work.”
Lloyd also claimed that consumers would question the impact of the investigation and would not notice much change as a direct result of the CMA’s remedies, “with the exception of what looks like a short-term piece of fairly short price regulation.”
“I’m not saying it has been a complete waste of time. But I think that anyone who hoped it would be the investigation to reform the energy market for the foreseeable future will be disappointed.”
The final remedies are due to be published next month.