Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Targeted Charging Review proposals on the UK steel sector.

Network charging is a matter for Ofgem, as the independent regulator, and decisions on its Targeted Charging Review (TCR) are for it to make. Through the TCR, Ofgem is seeking to ensure all parties connected to the electricity network make a fair contribution to its fixed costs. This is consistent with Government’s views on the importance of an energy system that ensures a fair distribution of costs, with solutions rewarded where they contribute to reduced system costs.

Ofgem has published an analysis of the expected impacts of the TCR reforms at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/transmission-networks/charging/targeted-charging-review-significant-code-review . Ofgem is working to implement the reforms by April 2022 through code changes, with the final aspects of those code changes being consulted on shortly.

The Government continues to engage with Ofgem to inform our understanding of the reforms’ policy implications, and we will also give careful consideration to the related recommendations of the recent UK Steel report “Closing the Gap”.