Regulators and Reactors: How the UK’s Energy Market is Getting a Makeover—For Better or Worse

There’s a quiet revolution happening in the UK’s energy market, but you’d be forgiven for missing it amid the usual noise of economic forecasts, net-zero debates, and the latest geopolitical spats. Two seemingly separate developments—the approval of P415 regulation, allowing new players into the wholesale energy market, and the government’s push for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)—are setting the stage for a transformation.

But the real question is: will these changes actually deliver lower prices and greater energy security, or are we just setting ourselves up for another round of cost overruns and regulatory chaos?