Ms Aoife MacEvilly:

I have huge confidence that our organisation is playing and will play a role in the transformation needed to deliver on our climate aspirations. This is at the heart of our mission, our vision, our strategy and our public sector ethos, which is about protecting customers. Specifically, our vision is focused on the provision of safe, secure and sustainable supplies of energy and water for the benefit of customers now and in future. We deliberately added reference to the future because it is so important that we make the right decisions today to ensure we can deliver on the scale of change required. I have great confidence, faith and a real belief in our organisation's role in supporting and, frankly, driving some of this change.

It is something that is important for all our of team as well. They are very much motivated by the work they do in support of climate action.

We must look at how we evolve and change things, using the tools of economic regulation to support that required change. On the network side, for example, we believe we must invest in our networks and drive innovation. This is not just about doing the same things on a larger scale; we must do things differently. For that reason, we have tried to drive home, through the price control process and the incentives and innovation regimes, the need to radically change the approach to network investment and the available offerings for customers.

As an economic regulator, we also believe that competitive markets, where they are appropriate in the generation and supply of energy, bring in the kind of innovation and change that a monopoly situation simply would not. In that context, we think that well-designed markets are a tool to deliver change. They will allow this change to be delivered at the least cost to consumers and to be delivered faster. Equally, well-designed markets will bring in the required innovation to allow things to be done differently and for a different type of thinking.

We absolutely believe that energy provision is an essential service. We must keep our customer protection focus, especially for our more vulnerable customers who may not be ready, equipped, or empowered or who, frankly, may not have the money to engage in some of what we are offering. In addition, we must also provide those innovations through smart meters. Customers' ability to be part of the transition is going to be crucial. We see much of the work we are doing as being at the heart of that. Perhaps my colleagues would like to add to what I have said or give other examples of what it is we do in this context.