Consumer Protection Programme 2024 – 2029 (CPP24) – Final decision paper
| Published date | 27 March 2024 |
| Year | 2024 |
| Energy Sector | Electricity retail |
Consumer Protection
Programme
2024 – 2029
Final Decision Paper
27 March 2024
About Utility Regulator
Utility Regulator is the economic regulator for electricity, gas and water in Northern Ireland. We
are the only multi-sectoral economic regulator in the UK covering both energy and water.
We are an independent non-ministerial government department and our main duty is to promote
and protect the short-and long-term interests of consumers.
Our role is to make sure that the energy and water utility industries in Northern Ireland are
regulated, and developed within ministerial policy, as set out in our statutory duties.
We are governed by a Board of Directors and are accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
We are based at Queens House in Belfast. The Chief Executive and two Executive Directors lead
teams in each of the main functional areas in the organisation: CEO Office; Price Controls,
Networks and Energy Futures; and Markets and Consumer Protection.
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Abstract
Audience
Consumer impact
Utility Regulator’s (UR) Consumer Protection Programme (CPP) plays a pivotal role in
ensuring Northern Ireland consumers are protected. The CPP is a central element of UR’s
Corporate Strategy and is our principal vehicle to deliver positive outcomes for electricity, gas
and water consumers in Northern Ireland.
The new programme, which will be delivered across a five-year period between 2024-2029
(CPP24), will run alongside our new Corporate Strategy. It includes a suite of bespoke
projects aimed at enhancing consumer protection for all consumers. In addition, CPP24—for
the first time—outlines our intended approach to enhance protection for non-domestic
consumers as well as domestic, consumers in vulnerable circumstances and ‘future’
consumers.
We have developed a structured plan for years one to three which will take the programme
up to a review period. We intend to be sufficiently agile within CPP24 and therefore at the
end of year three we plan to conduct a mid-term review of the programme to ensure that we
can develop workstreams and projects for the remaining two years that are relevant and
responsive to consumer needs as they emerge.
This document is likely to be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders; including domestic
consumers, non-domestic consumers, consumer bodies, advice and protection agencies,
business representative organisations, energy suppliers and the wider energy industry.
This is expected to have a positive impact on domestic and non-domestic electricity, gas and
water consumers. The costs and benefits of each project will be identified during the scoping
phases of the individual projects.
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