Ofgem’s Authority has powers under the Gas Act 1986 and the Electricity Act 1989 to carry out market reviews of activities connected with the generation, transmission and supply of electricity and the transportation and supply of gas.
Market investigations are carried out by the Competition Commission and aim to determine whether the process of competition is working effectively in markets as a whole.
They provide a framework for identifying, analysing and, where appropriate, remedying industry-wide or market-wide competition problems, which there is no adequate basis for addressing under the Competition Act 1998.
Under the Enterprise Act 2002, Ofgem may make a market investigation reference to the Competition Commission in relation to the gas and electricity markets, where it has reasonable grounds for suspecting that any feature, or combination of features, of a market in the United Kingdom prevents, restricts, or distorts competition in connection with the supply or acquisition of any goods or services in the UK or a part of the UK.