Third Party Intermediaries in the Energy Market Consultation

Today, the Utility Regulator publishes a consultation paper on ‘Third Party Intermediaries in the Energy Market’. 

The consultation initiates a project which aims to ensure that both non-domestic consumers and micro/small generators engaging with Third Party Intermediaries (TPIs) are adequately informed and protected.

In 2023/24, we undertook a programme of research as part of our Review of the Regulation of the Non-domestic Energy Retail Market, which identified several areas that require further investigation, one of which was the operation of TPIs. 

As a result, our Consumer Protection Programme 2024-2029 included a project to develop our understanding of the operation of TPIs in  Northern Ireland’s non-domestic energy retail market. 

This consultation paper examines potential measures concerning TPIs in the energy retail market and invites views on these options.

These measures aim to increase consumer understanding of TPIs and ensure a sufficient and consistent level of protection.

The project also aims to develop our understanding of the activity of TPIs operating in the wholesale market between suppliers and micro/small scale generators, via Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). 

We have posed questions to allow us to gather more information on TPI operations in this area.

We welcome comments from all stakeholders on these proposals by 17:00 on 6 November 2025. 

Additional information:

• Your response may be made public by the Utility Regulator. If you do not want all or part of your response or name made public, please state this clearly in the response by marking your response as ‘CONFIDENTIAL’.
• If you want other information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this, it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential.
• Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 2018.
• As stated in the GDPR Privacy Statement for consumers and stakeholders, any personal data contained within your response will be deleted once the matter being consulted on has been concluded, though the substance of the response may be retained.
• Copies of all documents can be made available in large print, Braille, audio cassette and a variety of relevant minority languages if required.

Ways to respond