The last year has seen a significant amount of CMA activity in the water and energy sectors. This Viewpoint explores the differences in the appeals regime in these sectors, the basis for the recent appeals and their implications for purposeful regulation. To address the challenges of net-zero and to facilitate the purposeful agenda, the appeals regime needs reform.
To help reduce the focus on legal processes, and increase transparency and trust, this paper makes three suggestions for how the regime could be improved in terms of: cost of capital; social and environmental initiatives; and major investments and efficiency.