Can Regulatory Reform Unlock the UK's Clean Energy Future with Georgina Mills (Ofgem)

Sep 11, 2025

Georgina Mills, Director of Energy Systems Management & Security at Ofgem, discusses the critical role regulation plays in the UK's clean energy transition. She highlights the trade-offs between consumer protection and encouraging investment in clean infrastructure. The conversation dives into the need for agile regulatory frameworks that promote innovation while ensuring reliability. They explore evolving perspectives on energy billing, the impact of consumer behavior on energy flexibility, and how regulatory decisions can facilitate advancements in battery storage and electric vehicles.

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ANECDOTE

Cross-Sector Regulator Experience

Georgina moved between government and regulators, including Ofwat and New Zealand's Commerce Commission.
That cross-sector experience informs her view on transferable regulatory lessons.

INSIGHT

Energy's Unique Regulatory Challenges

Some regulatory tools transfer well across sectors, but energy has unique network and system operator roles.
Markets play a larger role in energy than in water, shaping different regulatory approaches.

INSIGHT

Peak Demand Drives System Costs

The energy system is built to meet peak demand, so total system costs are driven by rare peak events.
Shifting demand away from peaks could reduce the scale and cost of network investment required for net zero.

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Delivering a decarbonised power system isn’t just about building more renewables and storage, it’s also about regulation. The rules that shape investment, protect consumers, and manage risk are critical to whether the UK can hit net zero on time.

But regulation comes with trade-offs. How do you keep bills affordable while ensuring enough capital flows into clean infrastructure? How do you encourage innovation without compromising reliability? And how can Ofgem strike the right balance between investor certainty and consumer protection in a period of huge change?

In this conversation, Ed speaks with Georgina Mills, Director of Energy Systems Management & Security at Ofgem about the regulator’s role in the UK’s energy transition. They discuss the frameworks that shape investment in networks, the need for agility in a fast-changing market, and what regulatory innovation might look like as we build a net zero system.

Key topics covered include:

Why regulation is central to delivering net zero on time.
The trade-offs between consumer protection and investor certainty.
How Ofgem is adapting frameworks to enable flexibility and innovation.
The role of regulatory signals in unlocking clean energy investment.
What the future of energy regulation could look like in a net zero world.

About our guest

Georgina Mills is Director of Energy Systems Management & Security at Ofgem, where she leads reform of network charging and facilitates low-carbon investment across Great Britain’s electricity system. With experience spanning regulatory roles in both the UK and New Zealand, Georgina oversees initiatives that balance consumer protection with system resilience

About Modo Energy

Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage solutions understand the market - and make the most out of their assets.

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