Utility Regulator names Rosamund Blomfield-Smith as new chair
At a time of profound change for the sector, with local, national and international decarbonisation targets posing new challenges and opportunities, the Utility Regulator has welcomed its new board chair.
At the forefront of protecting Northern Ireland’s consumers of electricity, gas and water on the journey to net zero is the Utility Regulator. The economic regulator is the non-ministerial government body that regulates the supply, cost and quality of utilities in Northern Ireland.
Appointed by the Department of Finance in September 2024, Rosamund Blomfield-Smith takes on a seven-year appointment, marking the start of a new era for the regulator, and a new challenge for the chair herself.
Blomfield-Smith brings with her a wealth of experience in both utilities and regulation, earned throughout an illustrious career in Great Britain. An early career in merchant banking led to her appointment in 1995 as Director and Head of Utilities in Rothschild & Sons’ corporate finance department. Subsequent appointments included roles with some of the most prestigious names in investment banking, such as Morgan Grenfell & Co and Schroder Group.
In these roles, Blomfield-Smith recalls how she advised governments and companies worldwide on all aspects of utilities financing and regulation.
“I was responsible for advising on, and putting in place, economic regulatory regimes necessary to deal with monopoly private sector suppliers of utilities. As both my career and the industry itself progressed, I developed an expertise in corporate finance relating to renewable power projects,” she explains.
This expertise led to a succession of board appointments across the utilities sector and in regulation. Ranging from non-executive positions at Ofcom and Ofgem, “central involvement” in developing and implementing the framework for the landmark Thames Tideway Tunnel project, non-executive director roles at Natural England and the predecessor body to the Environment Agency, the National Rivers Authority, Blomfield-Smith is well-versed in the range of issues that make up the Utility Regulator’s work.
“The board chair position at the Utility Regulator plays to almost everything I have done over decades. When I saw the role, I felt that, to quite an unusual extent, I had relevant experience and expertise to offer,” she says.
Now in her second month as Chair, Blomfield-Smith reflects on her initial surprise at the high quality of energy and water regulation in Northern Ireland, which she feels compares favourably to elsewhere.
“The board chair position at the Utility Regulator plays to almost everything I have done over decades.”
“It has been evident to me that the Utility Regulator is a well-run organisation which is operating to a very high standard, and this has not, in my experience, invariably been the case elsewhere. I think it is fair to say that there are respects in which regulatory standards in Northern Ireland are higher than in many other places.”
In its latest Corporate Strategy, launched in April 2024, the Utility Regulator is clear on its commitment to supporting a just transition to net zero and enabling best in class energy and water companies, for the benefit of Northern Ireland’s consumers. Blomfield-Smith is committed to bringing this to life during her term.
“My primary ambition is to lead a regulatory regime which continues to take its place with the best and which helps all three sectors – gas, electricity and water – deal with the challenges of climate change, and the requirement to reduce carbon emissions.”
On the drive towards net zero, she reflects on the progress she has witnessed so far, and that which lies ahead as she takes on her new role: “I was first involved in renewable generation in the early 2000s, when there were just a handful of tiny wind turbines in England. It is amazing how much that has changed, and amazing how much more change is afoot as we push on to meet our renewables targets.”
This experience has formed in Blomfield-Smith an unequivocal belief that high quality utilities regulation is of critical importance to economic growth. Reflecting on the expertise gained during her time in finance, economic regulation and utilities, she is clear that the Utility Regulator has a vital role to play in ensuring high-quality regulation of an economically essential sector.
“Utilities are a fundamental part of economic growth and economic activity; they are absolutely central to economic wellbeing. This is one of the primary reasons that I want there to be top quality utilities in Northern Ireland – because that will drive the economy and drive wealth creation. A successful economy depends on successful utilities.”
As the Utility Regulator strives to deliver against its ambitious corporate strategy, including its commitment to enabling best-in-class utilities companies for Northern Ireland’s consumers, Rosamund Blomfield-Smith brings with her an intricate understanding of regulation and high ambitions not just for the regulator, but for Northern Ireland.
Her aim is to deliver a leadership that allows the Utility Regulator to continue work that she describes as “already up there with the best”, and to see both the regulator’s work and Northern Ireland’s renewables expertise recognised in Europe and beyond.
“I am still new, but it is already clear to me that we have standards and ways of doing things which we can and should be boasting about outside Northern Ireland,” she says.
“On issues where the Utility Regulator is at the forefront, I am very keen that this is recognised. Northern Ireland’s regulatory standards are something to be proud of.”
Rosamund Blomfield-Smith was appointed chair of the Board of the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation on 1 October 2024. She will serve a seven-year term.
T: +44 (0) 28 9031 1575
E: info@uregni.gov.uk
W: www.uregni.gov.uk
