The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), supporting the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA), is the government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain. It was formed by the merger of the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER) and Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas).

Powers and duties[link]

The Authority's powers and duties are largely provided for in statute (such as the Gas Act 1986, the Electricity Act 1989, the Utilities Act 2000, the Competition Act 1998, the Enterprise Act 2002 and the Energy Act 2004^[2], the Energy Act 2008^[3] and the Energy Act 2010^[4]) as well as arising from directly effective European Community legislation. Duties and functions concerning gas are set out in the Gas Act and those relating to electricity are set out in the Electricity Act.

Its primary duty is to protect the interests of consumers, where possible by promoting competition.^[5] The Authority‘s main objective is to protect existing and future consumers' interests in relation to gas conveyed through pipes and electricity conveyed by distribution or transmission systems. Consumers' interests are their interests taken as a whole, including their interests in the reduction of greenhouse gases and in the security of the supply of gas and electricity to them.^[6]

Structure[link]

The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority is governed by the Chairman Lord John Francis Mogg, executive members as well as non-executive members.^[7]
Lord John Francis Mogg was appointed for a second five year term as the non-executive Chairman of Ofgem in October 2008. In the same year he was also elected for a second term as Chairman of the European Regulators Group for Electricity and Gas (ERGEG), and as the President of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER).^[8] Lord John became a Life Peer ^[9] on 18th April 2008 and on the 28th May 2008 he was created Baron Mogg of Queens Park in The County Of Sussex.

Alistair Buchanan was appointed Chief Executive of Ofgem in 2003. He is also a member of the Business Energy Forum and the UK Energy Research Partnership (UKERP) and previously a Non Executive Director for the state-owned company Scottish Water.^[10]

Moreover, Ofgem is divided in Ofgem (Smarter Grids & Governance, Markets, Sustainable Development and Group Finance Director) and in Ofgem E-Serve containing Group Functions: Environmental Programmes, Operations/HR, Information Management and Technology, Finance and Risk Management, and Commercial: Offshore, Legal, Smart Metering Delivery, New Schemes Development.^[11]

Development of competition in the UK market[link]

The liberalisation and privatisation of the energy markets in the United Kingdom began with the Margaret Thatcher Government in the 1980s (often called the Thatcher-Lawson agenda, due to the key role of Nigel Lawson in the Thatcher government cabinet). Aspects of the Ofgem model have been adopted by EU legislation. ^[12]

Starting in the 1990s, the supply of electricity and gas to end consumers in the UK has been unbundled from the rest of the industry. At the time of privatisation, British Gas and one regional Public Electricity Supplier (PES) held a monopoly on supplying all domestic gas and electricity consumers respectively in Great Britain. Between 1996 and 1999, domestic energy consumers gradually got the freedom to choose their supplier, and finally in May 1998, the domestic gas market was fully opened to competition, closely followed by the domestic electricity market in May 1999. ^[13]

Before there was competition on domestic markets, Ofgem set price controls fixing maximum price that the monopoly suppliers could charge domestic customers. These price controls remained in place when markets started to get liberalised, and were then gradually removed between 2000 and 2002. Ofgem’s decision to remove price controls was based on the assessment that competition was developing well at that time and that the Competition Act 1998, being effective since March 2000, would deter companies from the abuse of market power, and provide Ofgem with sufficient power to tackle any abuse. Moreover, consumer surveys showed good awareness of the ability to switch, high and rising switching rates away from the former monopoly supplies, and substantial and continuing falls in their market shares. ^[14]

In 2000, the Social Action Strategy review Group was established and the Competition Act came into force. In 2003 the Wholesale Gas Probe was published. Two years after the removal of the last price controls, in April 2004, Ofgem published a major review of the state of competition in the domestic energy supply markets, concluding that supply competition had delivered substantial benefits for all consumers and that the markets were competitive, though not yet mature. In 2005 there was the EU Energy Sector Enquiry, as well as the Supply Licence Review. The Energy Supply Ombudsman was then established in 2006 and in 2008 the Energy Supply Probe was published.^[15]

Against the background of unprecedented increases in world fuel prices leading to record increases in wholesale and retail gas and electricity prices so that a typical household's energy bills more than doubled since early 2004 Ofgem undertook the Energy Supply Probe. The numbers of consumers in debt to their energy suppliers, average debt levels and disconnection rates were all rising. These energy price rises came at a time when household budgets were under pressure from the rising cost of food, petrol, mortgages and other essentials. Vulnerable consumers and those in fuel poverty were particularly affected. The Energy Supply Probe published the findings on the operation of the UK retail energy markets and set out a package of measures to tackle the issues raised.^[16]

See also[link]

• Energywatch (consumer watchdog)
• Electricity market
• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Energy switching services in the UK
• Price controls
• Fuel prices

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The role of energywatch and Ofgem
• Sustainable Development Commission in-depth review of Ofgem
• OFGEM Sentinel

v t e Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom Ministerial departments Attorney General's Office · Cabinet Office · Department for Business, Innovation and Skills · Department for Communities and Local Government · Department for Culture, Media and Sport · Department for Education · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Department for International Development · Department for Transport · Department for Work and Pensions · Department of Energy and Climate Change · Department of Health · Foreign and Commonwealth Office · Government Equalities Office · Her Majesty's Treasury · Home Department (Home Office) · Ministry of Defence · Ministry of Justice · Northern Ireland Office · Office of the Advocate General for Scotland · Office of the Leader of the House of Commons · Office of the Leader of the House of Lords · Scotland Office · Wales Office Non-ministerial departments Charity Commission for England and Wales · Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt · Crown Estate · Crown Prosecution Service · Food Standards Agency · Forestry Commission · Government Actuary's Department · Her Majesty's Land Registry · Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs · Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills · Office of Fair Trading · Office of Gas and Electricity Markets · Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation · Office of Rail Regulation · Office of the Parliamentary Counsel · Ordnance Survey · Public Works Loan Board · Serious Fraud Office · The National Archives · Treasury Solicitor's Department · UK Statistics Authority · UK Trade & Investment · Water Services Regulation Authority Category ·  Commons

v t e Energy in the United Kingdom   Companies Coal Anglo American · Asia Energy · B9 Coal · BHP Billiton · Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation · Rio Tinto Group · UK Coal · Xstrata Oil and gas Integrated BG Group · BP · Royal Dutch Shell Exploration and production Afren · BHP Billiton · Cairn Energy · Centrica · Dana Petroleum · Desire Petroleum · Emerald Energy · EnQuest · Essar Energy · Falkland Oil and Gas · Hardy Oil and Gas · JKX Oil & Gas · Melrose Resources · Perenco · Premier Oil · Regal Petroleum · Rockhopper Exploration · Salamander Energy · SOCO International · Star Energy · Tullow Oil · Xtract Energy Supply Greenergy · Murco Petroleum Support Abbot Group · AMEC · Ensco · Expro · Hunting · Petrofac · Qserv · Score Group · Weir Group · WesternGeco1 · Wood Group Utilities Generation and  supply Integrated Centrica · EDF Energy1 · E.ON UK1 · RWE npower1 · Scottish Power1 · SSE Generation Drax Group · Falck Renewables · Horizon Nuclear Power1 · International Power · Vedanta Resources · Wind Prospect Supply Ecotricity · ESB International · Firmus Energy · First Utility · Good Energy · Green Energy · Opus Energy · Ovo Energy · Phoenix Natural Gas · Telecom Plus Distribution Electricity  Electricity North West1 · Northern Powergrid1 · SP Energy Networks1 · SSE Power Distribution · UK Power Networks1 · Western Power Distribution1 Gas Firmus Energy · National Grid · Northern Gas Networks · Phoenix Natural Gas · Scotia Gas Networks · Wales & West Utilities1 Transmission Electricity  National Grid2 · Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission · SP Energy Networks1 Gas National Grid Other Aggreko · APX-ENDEX · Aquamarine Power · Ecogen · EnServe · Geothermal Engineering · Mark Group · Wavegen Companies with headquarters and/or registered office in the UK but no applicable energy operations within the country shown in italics 1Ultimate parent company is not UK-based 2Integrated in the United States, no generation or supply activities in the UK   Energy sources Coal Coal Authority · Coal-fired power stations · Coal mines · Coal mining regions · Confederation of UK Coal Producers · Greenhouse gas emissions · History (Miners' strike · National Coal Board) · Open-pit coal mining Electricity Association of Electricity Producers · BritNed · East–West Interconnector · Energy switching services · Economy 7 · Economy 10 · Electricity billing (Data collector · Meter operator · Meter Point Administration Number · Meter serial number) · Green electricity · GTMA · HVDC Cross-Channel · HVDC Moyle · HVDC Norway–UK · Isle of Man to England Interconnector · National Grid (Control of the National Grid · National Grid Reserve Service · Registered power zone · TV pickup) · New Electricity Trading Arrangements · Power stations · Timeline of the electricity supply industry Nuclear Advanced gas-cooled reactor · Franco–British Nuclear Forum · Magnox · National Nuclear Laboratory · Nuclear Decommissioning Authority · Nuclear Liabilities Fund · Nuclear power stations · Office for Nuclear Regulation · Sellafield · United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Oil and gas BBL Pipeline · Dash for Gas · Forties pipeline system · Fuel protests · Gas infrastructure · Greenhouse gas emissions · Hydrocarbon oil duty · National Transmission System · Natural gas fields · Natural gas-fired power stations · North Sea oil · Oil & Gas UK · Oil fields · Oil-fired power stations · Oil infrastructure · Oil refineries · Petroleum revenue tax Renewables Biofuels Biodiesel · Biofuel power stations · National Non-Food Crops Centre · Renewable Fuels Agency · Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Geothermal Geothermal power stations Hydroelectricity Hydroelectric power stations · Severn Barrage · Wave farms Solar power Wind power List of offshore wind farms · List of onshore wind farms · North Sea Offshore Grid · Wind power in Scotland   Government and regulation Organisations Carbon Trust · Cenex · Committee on Climate Change · Consumer Focus · Department of Energy and Climate Change · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Energy Saving Trust · Environment Agency · Office of Gas and Electricity Markets · Sustainable Development Commission Legislation and initiatives Carbon Emission Reduction Target · Climate Change Act 2008 · Climate Change Agreement · Climate Change Levy · Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 · CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme · Display Energy Certificate · Energy Performance Certificate · Fossil Fuel Levy · Low Carbon Building Programme · National Industrial Symbiosis Programme · Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation · Planning Act 2008 · Renewable Heat Incentive · Renewables Obligation · United Kingdom Climate Change Programme   Non-governmental organisations Charities and pressure groups Ashden Award · BioRegional · Campaign against Climate Change · Centre for Alternative Technology · National Energy Action · Stop Climate Chaos · Tyndall Centre Industry bodies Combined Heat and Power Association · Energy Institute · Energy Networks Association · Energy Retail Association · Green Power Forum · RenewableUK · Utilities Intermediaries Association Research Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology · Energy Technologies Institute · Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research · NaREC · Oil Depletion Analysis Centre · UK Energy Research Centre   Energy conservation Association for the Conservation of Energy · British Energy Efficiency Federation · Close the Door campaign · Code for Sustainable Homes · Double Glazing & Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme · EcoHomes · Energy efficiency in British housing · Energy Saving Trust (Energy Saving Trust Recommended) · Greenhouse gas emissions · HTB · National Home Energy Rating Category ·  Commons

v t e Economy of the United Kingdom World economy Companies Co-operatives Employee-owned companies FTSE 100 Index FTSE 250 Index FTSE Fledgling Index FTSE SmallCap Index Government-owned companies Currency, governance and regulation Bank of England Governor of the Bank of England Budget Company law Competition Commission Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Financial Services Authority Gilts HM Revenue and Customs HM Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer Monetary Policy Committee Office for Budget Responsibility Office of Fair Trading Pound sterling Banknotes Coinage Taxation UK Debt Management Office UK Statistics Authority UK Trade & Investment History 1926 general strike 2008 bank rescue package 2009 bank rescue package Agricultural Revolution Big Bang Black Wednesday Corn Laws Economic geography Free trade Gold standard Great Depression Industrial Revolution Late-2000s recession List of recessions Long Depression Marshall Plan Nationalization Navigation Acts New Imperialism Panic of 1796–1797 Privatization Second Industrial Revolution Winter of Discontent Nations, regions and cities England Atlantic Gateway Birmingham Big City Plan Bristol Cornwall Croydon Croydon Vision 2020 Devon Expansion plans for Milton Keynes Fishing Leeds List of counties by GVA Liverpool London East London Tech City London Plan M4 corridor M11 Corridor Manchester Reading Sheffield Silicon Fen Thames Gateway Tourism Transport Northern Ireland Belfast Transport Scotland Aberdeen Agriculture Edinburgh Fishing Oil and gas Renewable energy Silicon Glen Tourism Transport Whisky Wales Cardiff (Cardiff Bay) Swansea Tourism Transport People and labour Billionaires Businesspeople Demography Income Poverty Labour law Equal opportunities Minimum wage Working Time Directive Pensions Trade unions Trades Union Congress Unemployment Sectors Agriculture Cinema Construction Education Energy North Sea oil Renewable energy Forestry Gambling Healthcare Internet Manufacturing Aerospace Automotive Pharmaceuticals Media Television Mining Science and technology Telecommunications Tourism Transport Aviation Financial services Baltic Exchange Banking Canary Wharf The City Euronext.liffe Glasgow International Financial Services District Insurance Lloyd's of London LCH.Clearnet London Interbank Offered Rate London Metal Exchange London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market Trade and business organisations Business and employer associations British Bankers' Association British Chambers of Commerce Confederation of British Industry EEF the manufacturers organisation Federation of Small Businesses Industry trade groups Institute of Directors UKPA Category  Commons

The Robert Hull Fleming Museum is a museum of art and anthropology located at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. The museum's collection includes some 25,000 objects from a wide variety of times and places.^[1]

According to the Vermont Encyclopedia, the museum is a cultural center for the community and "attracts a diverse audience from UVM, area colleges, and the general public."^[2] The current director of the museum is Janie Cohen.^[3]

History[link]

The University of Vermont began to acquire a collection of art, artifacts, and other objects in 1826, when a society of faculty and others formed the College of Natural History, a society separate from the University but housing its collections at the Old Mill building on the University Green, in order to begin "the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge in every department of natural history, and the accumulation of books, instruments and all materials which can advance these ends." Among the museum's initial collections were "fossils, stuffed birds, a sperm whale tooth, and a cannon ball that a local resident found while gardening."^[4]

When the collection outgrew its Old Mill space, it was relocated to Torrey Hall in 1862. Less than ten years later a third story was built at Torrey Hall for the university's fine arts collection, and the space became known as the Park Gallery of Fine Arts. The collection remained at Torrey Hall in the late 1920s, when it was outgrowing its space there.^[4]

The formation of the modern Robert Hull Fleming Museum came in 1929, when Katherine Wolcott, the niece and only heir of Robert Hull Fleming, traveled from Chicago to Burlington, intending to establish a scholarship in honor of her late uncle, who had graduated from the University of Vermont in 1862 before becoming a wealthy Chicago grain merchant. Wolcott met with university president Guy Bailey, who proposed a new museum building in memory of Fleming. Wolcott accepted Bailey's proposal and donated $150,000 for the construction of the Fleming Museum. Soon afterward, the museum received another large contribution from James B. Wilbur of Manchester, Vermont, who donated $100,000 and his large collection of books and papers - including the papers of Ethan Allen - related to the history of Vermont to the museum.^[4] These two gifts funded the $300,000 cost of construction the museum, and Wolcott donated an additional $150,000 for an endowment soon after.^[4] The university was one of the first to include a room specifically for children, and placed an emphasis on community service and education, including free movies, lectures, and workshops every Saturday, a traveling exhibit program for schools, and an adult education program with evening lectures and classes. The museum states that in the mid-1930s between 25,000–30,000 people visited the Fleming Museum annually, at a time when the population of Burlington was estimated at 27,000.^[4]

The museum also had an impact on the University of Vermont; the university's studio art and art history departments began at the Fleming Museum, and in the 1950s, the museum director was also the chair of the university's Art Department. In the 1950s, the university shifted the museum's focus to make it an art museum, and many original artifacts from "cabinet of curiosities" were moved to a number of university departments to free space for newly-acquired objects.^[4]

A $1.4 million renovation to the museum was completed in 1984.^[4]

Collections[link]

The Fleming Museum includes several collections:

• African. The museum's African collection consists mainly of West and Central African sculpture. Among the museum's important Africa pieces are premodern pieces such as a Queen Mother sculpture head from Benin (18th century), Ashanti gold weights, a Mende sowo mask, and southeast African beadwork and carved wooden pieces (19th-century) as well as more recent works, including "a telephone-wire basket from South Africa and plastic Ibeji figures from Nigeria."^[5]

• American. The museum's American art collection emphasizes "19th-and 20th-century landscapes; early 20th-century prints, drawings, and photographs; early Rookwood pottery; Vermont wedding gowns; and works in a variety of media by Vermont artists active from the mid-19th century through the present." The museum lists John James Audubon, Albert Bierstadt, Ilya Bolotowsky, Margaret Bourke-White, Charles Demuth, Charles Louis Heyde, Lewis Hine, Winslow Homer, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Sol Lewitt, Glenn Ligon, Florine Stettheimer, Alfred Stieglitz, Claire Van Vliet, Andy Warhol, and Kara Walker as some of the artists represented.^[6]

• Ancient Art and Archaeology. The museum's collection includes a number of objects from antiquity, with artifacts in the collection coming from the Near East, Egypt, the Mediterranean, and prehistoric Vermont. Notable pieces include a Assyrian bas-relief from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II, dated as 3,000 years old. Other objects in the collection include "Sumerian cuneiform tablets, Greek pottery, Coptic textiles, and more than 400 Egyptian objects, including a late Dynastic mummy and coffin."^[7]

• Asian. The museum's Asian collection includes a number of objects, including "Shang Dynasty bronze vessels, Tang Dynasty Tomb figures, and Qing Dynasty textiles from China; East Asian bronzes; and Korean ceramics, as well as Japanese lacquerware, calligraphy, and prints." The highlight of the museum's Japanese print collection is a complete set of Hiroshige's Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō. Sculpture and decorative art pieces from Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma, acquired from the Doris Duke Collection, are also represented in the collection, along with a number of works of Indian art.^[8]

• Europe. The museum's European collection includes a variety of works, with an emphasis on Northern European paintings and prints of the 16th and 17th centuries and British portraits of the 18th century. The museum also hold a complete edition of the Description de l'Égypte, the result of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt. Among the oldest items in the collection are 13th-century illuminated manuscripts. According to the museum, European artists represented in the collection include Max Beckmann, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Honoré Daumier, Albrecht Dürer, Hendrik Goltzius, Francisco Goya, William Hogarth, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and Auguste Rodin.^[9]

• Native American. The museum's indigenous peoples of the Americas collection is housed in the James B. Petersen Gallery of Native American Cultures, which reopened in 2006 following renovation.^[10] The collection includes some 2,000 objects dating from c. 800 CE and originating in a variety of places in North and South America. Notable items include the Ogden B. Read Northern Plains Collection, which includes beadwork and quillwork; Southwestern objects, including ceramics, baskets, and textiles; and Pacific Northwest Coast objects, including masks, carvings, and a Chilkat blanket. The museum also holds the "Colchester Jar," a ceramic vessel dated to around the year 1500 and representative of the St. Lawrence Iroquoian style, which was found in Vermont in the early 19th century.^[11]

• Oceanic. The museum's collection of artifacts from Oceania includes objects from New Guinea, Easter Island, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, the Trobriand Islands, aboriginal Australia, and the Marquesas Islands. Significant objects include "Tatanua ceremonial masks from New Ireland, a Trobriand shield, and contemporary Aboriginal paintings from Australia."^[12]

• Pre-Columbian. The museum holds a number of artifacts from the pre-Columbian era, including textiles, ceremonial stone carvings, and ceramics, including jars, bowls, and effigies of humans and animals.^[13]

Museum architecture[link]

The Fleming Museum building was designed by William Mitchell Kendall of McKim, Mead & White, a prominent New York architectural firm in the early 20th century. Several other University of Vermont campus buildings were designed by McKim, Mead & White, the earliest being the Ira Allen Chapel (1926) with the last being the Waterman Building (1940–41). The Fleming Museum building is in the Colonial Revival style with red bricks and boarding wood trim bordered white. Architectural elements in the museum building include pediments, pilasters, entablatures, and balustrades.^[4]

The Marble Court was the museum's original entrance, and includes a two-story central courtyard with columns supporting a balcony on the second floor. The concept was the idea of the museum's first benefactor Katherine Wolcott, who drew a sketch of the design based on the Isaac Delgado Art Museum, which is now the New Orleans Museum of Art. William Mitchell Kendall had built a similar space for the Cohen Memorial Fine Arts Building at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee. The Marble Court uses marble from Italy, France, and Vermont for the grand staircase, columns, and floors of the space.^[4]

A second important space in the museum is the Wilbur Room, which includes walnut wall paneling, a groin-vaulted white plaster ceiling with decorative scrolls with the names Ira Allen, Thomas Chittenden, Ethan Allen, and Stephen R. Bradley, four people who influenced Vermont's early history. The room also has an enormous brass chandelier.^[4] The Wilbur Room is named after Museum benefactor James B. Wilbur of Manchester, Vermont, and the room originally housed Wilbur's collection of historical manuscripts, whilewere later moved to the university's Bailey/Howe Library and today are the foundation of the Library's Special Collections.^[4]

Renovations to the museum in 1984 reoriented the building's entrance, moving it from the front to the rear of the building and making it handicapped-accessible, and include building additions designed by the Watertown, Massachusetts-based Crissman and Solomon Associates. New additions included a climate control system, corridor display cases, a new reception area, a museum store, and an altered gallery floor plan that allowed made exhibition space more flexible. The renovations preserved the original building's brick rear wall as an interior wall of this addition.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website