Consumers attitudes to energy system cost allocation and recovery - Spark Insights

Spark Insight Energy system cost allocation final report. 2.57 MB

Ofgem, the energy regulator, is exploring changing how the costs that make up our energy bills are shared. This could have implications for households and small businesses. At this early stage, Ofgem has proposed a wide range of options. We worked with Spark Insights to explore what people thought of various proposals. This involved speaking with 80 participants across Scotland, England and Wales between December 2025 and January 2026. The deliberative research involved a mix of three-hour face-to-face workshops and 90 minute online or telephone interviews. We have published the results of this research today.

There was no consensus on which options Ofgem should prioritise. While consumers understandably found the different trade-offs between options difficult to evaluate, some of the reflections and sentiment should help Ofgem and the UK government to design a system that is fair.