London (Platts)--21Feb2013/853 am EST/1353 GMT

The UK government has promised to use new powers in the Energy Bill to enforce energy regulator Ofgem's retail market reforms, Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday.

Ofgem has tweaked its final proposals and is now preparing a consultation on their effect, the regulator said Thursday. This includes the detailed wording of the proposed license conditions putting the reforms in place.

"The package announced today is a huge step towards energy bills that are more fair for everyone," Cameron said. "Our aim is that consumers will get the best possible energy tariff -- no tricks, no loopholes -- and we will use the powers we gained in the Energy Bill earlier this month to make sure this happens. The Bill will support this package, and make sure that all energy customers are put on their supplier's lowest variable rate unless they choose otherwise."

Ofgem's statutory consultation on the reforms is to be published around the end of March and run for a month, it said. A decision on whether or not to implement the reforms will be published in May. If it decides to implement the reforms, suppliers will have 56 days to appeal to the Competition Commission.

If an appeal is not lodged, the reforms can begin to take effect this summer, starting with the enforceable standards of conduct. A cap on tariff numbers and other reforms would then come into force from next winter (2013-2014), Ofgem said.

There have been some changes to the reforms since Ofgem's updated proposals last October. These include clarifying how tariffs offered by supermarkets and other organizations will be affected.

Ofgem has also confirmed that at this stage suppliers will only be able to provide green tariffs as one of the four core tariffs they offer.

The reforms aim to simplify the current wide range of products on the retail market. Suppliers are to be restricted to offering no more than four simple core tariffs per fuel type (electricity and gas), and automatically to move millions of customers on poor value 'dead' tariffs to the cheapest standard variable tariff for them.

Clearer information and advice will have to be displayed on bills so consumers can easily compare prices between suppliers to switch to a better deal.

Ofgem Chief Executive Alistair Buchanan said: "We are now counting down to the most radical shake-up of the energy retail market since competition began. My message to the suppliers is -- don't wait for the legal process to take effect. Most have already embraced the reform agenda and now the way is clear for all of them to work with Ofgem to bring in reforms as soon as possible."

--Henry Edwardes-Evans, henry_edwardes-evans@platts.com

--Edited by Jonathan Dart, jonathan_dart@platts.com

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