Soon after praising the electricity industry for cutting prices for domestic and small business customers, OFFER is launching an investigation into price rises for big business users.
Energy regulator Callum McCarthy says he is prepared to change electricity trading arrangements if he finds that the market is operating unfairly.
Pool prices, the middle ground between generator and customer, were said to be twice the price this week compared to last week. Such price rises are of course likely to be passed on to the business consumer.
The generating industry blames a fall in capacity resulting from lines and equipment being taken out of service for summer-time maintenance. But McCarthy is sceptical: "whether this is an adequate explanation in any sense has to be discussed," he said.
This is not the first time the regulator has clashed with suppliers - and probably won't be the last, as de-regulation works its way through the system
