The undermentioned are the main participants in the U.K. energy markets.

British Gas plc - The original publicly owned Gas Utility, which was privatised as Centrica and retails gas within the UK.

BG Group – the other half of the publicly owned Gas Utility which was privatised – this part conducts gas and oil exploration and operates world-wide using the British Gas brand name outside the UK

Ofgem – the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, is the independent regulator of the gas and electricity industries.

Energywatch - a government agency, which acts on behalf of the consumer as an independent watchdog for the gas and electricity industry.   Switching sites can apply to its code of conduct.

EDF - the French state owned utility which bought into the UK and operated as London Electricity, SWEB and Seeboard

Eon - the largest German utility which operates under the Powergen brand plus Norweb, East Midlands and Eastern

RWE - another German utility, which operates as Yorkshire, Northern and Midlands Electricity

Electricity Association – The representative body of the major UK electricity companies

It is interesting to note that the opening of the U.K. energy market brought in many competitors to the existing monopoly provider – British Gas. Whilst this appeared to usher in a new age of low energy prices this has in no way insulated the U.K. from the global rise in energy costs and household energy bills seem to rise year after year.

Another issue has been that the opening of local markets has not been repeated across Europe so competition has not evolved as expected. Also Energywatch constantly reports that consumers are not taking advantage of the lower price energy deals available and are paying too much for their gas and electricity. This is despite the online presence of many energy comparison sites and easy access to alternative energy quotes.