Consumers are increasingly participating in the energy market and their adoption of Consumer Energy Resources (CER) will play a pivotal role in meeting our future energy needs.
CER devices, including their installation and operation, are complex and consumers cannot be expected to ensure their safety, compliance or interoperability with the grid.
In this context, regulation is required to overcome the information asymmetry between industry (manufacturers, installers, retailers and others) and everyday consumers.
A regulatory framework should protect consumers from unsafe, unfair or poor practices by the industry that support the adoption of these technologies. Better technical regulation can reduce the cost of effectively integrating CER into the energy system, providing benefits for all consumers.
We support the national focus of the framework and the mandatory accreditation of installers and devices.
We recommend the CER Taskforce uses this opportunity to:
- Enable access to independent dispute resolution by requiring installers to become members of ombudsman schemes.
- Explore whether a consumer duty is suitable to the technical regulation of CER.
- Regulate installers beyond the technical elements of their role to include all interactions with the consumer.
- Share information with consumers through trusted, accessible sources.
- Protect consumers from buying devices not on the Accredited Device List and expand its scope.
