Commentary on provisions of the Act Section 7: Review of competition for domestic supply contracts
Section 7 requires Ofgem to review the market for domestic electricity and gas supply contracts, to assess whether conditions for effective competition are in place. This review includes, among other things, the roll out of smart meters. It must then produce and publish a report on this, and make a recommendation as to whether or not it considers that the tariff cap conditions should be extended to have effect for the following year. The Secretary of State must consider the report and recommendation and publish a statement regarding whether the conditions for effective competition are in place. This process applies in the year 2020, and in the years 2021 and 2022 if the tariff cap conditions still apply in those years (see section 8).