Britain's power regulator wants more power. Ofgem's report on competition in the UK retail energy market contained little that we did not suspect already: consumers who are too lazy to switch or who prefer to pay by cheque are at risk of being overcharged. The market is not very transparent. Doorstep salesmen sometimes rip people off.

Much more telling was the regulator's acknowledgement of its own limitations. While the retail energy supply market was “fundamentally sound”, Ofgem was unable to give the entire industry a clean bill of health because it had limited powers to oversee the wholesale electricity and gas markets.

Alistair Buchanan, Ofgem's chief executive, is right to float the idea of greater powers to guard against possible market abuse. Britain's energy markets are evolving rapidly and Ofgem needs to keep pace.

With domestic gas supplies dwindling, more is being imported, but Ofgem has little insight into how those flows are managed offshore or how they influence UK prices. Meanwhile, the ageing mix of nuclear reactors and coal-fired power stations offers opportunities for market manipulation. The growth of wind power threatens to compound the problem, while the disappearance of British Energy, one of the last independent power generators, is unlikely to help.

Ofgem is already investigating allegations of manipulation of the network in Scotland. If the regulator is not properly equipped to identify such abuse and take action, it is consumers who ultimately will pay the price.

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