Written evidence to ESNZ Select Committee on LMP and progressive market reforms

In our submission, we restate the four key arguments that:

• LMP will increase investment and ongoing market risks, costing the consumer and delaying net zero.
• The benefits claimed for LMP have been greatly overstated. Its costs and inefficiencies have been underplayed.
• Those benefits, and others, could be achieved more quickly and effectively through a progressive package of reforms.
• Given the complexity, timescale, cost and risk of implementation, LMP does not have the cross-industry and stakeholder support that would be needed.

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Instead, we call on the Select Committee to back the rapid publication of the second REMA consultation, drop nodal locational marginal pricing as an option and move ahead with a progressive agenda for market reform targeting the four key priority objectives of REMA:

• Investing to create a renewables-based electricity system at pace
• Passing the value of low-cost energy through to consumers
• Transitioning away from unabated gas to a flexible, resilient and decarbonised electricity system
• Operating and optimising a net zero power system, cost effectively.

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