Retail Market
Today Ofgem has written to suppliers to outline its response to current market conditions. It is difficult not to conclude that the regulator is inhabiting some strange alternative reality in which the usual rules of economics don’t apply – its proposals to consult on [...]
The failure of GoTo Energy on 18 October brought the total number of supplier failures this year to 16, with 14 since August. Questions are increasingly being asked of Ofgem’s handling of the crisis, with many accusing the regulator of being asleep at the [...]
This week has seen the failure of three more energy suppliers: Pure Planet which supplies gas and electricity to around 235,000 domestic customers, Colorado Energy with around 15,000 domestic customers, and Daligas with around 9,000 domestic and non-domestic customers. This new round of closures [...]
Life continues to be difficult for energy suppliers. This week Omni Energy informed its customers that it expects to cease trading by the end of November, and is encouraging its customers to switch before it closes and a Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) is [...]
Today another three suppliers failed: ENSTROGA, Igloo Energy and Symbio Energy all announced they have ceased trading. ENSTROGA had around 6,000 domestic customers, Igloo had roughly 179,000 domestic customers, while Symbio supplied around 48,000 domestic customers and a small number of non-domestic customers. Igloo [...]
The energy market crisis is suddenly big news. It is impossible to open a newspaper or turn on the television or radio without hearing stories of rising bills and supplier bankruptcies. Energy is no longer a footnote in the business pages, with some outlets [...]
Today the Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has raised the prospect of nationalising parts of the electricity industry. Of course, it isn’t couched in those terms, but the Government has announced that it will appoint a Special Administrator to run any supplier that fails if [...]
I have been writing recently about the need for radical reform of the retail energy market, and predicted that this autumn would see more supplier failures. Today, another two energy suppliers announced their closure today: PfP Energy (formerly Places for People Energy) based in [...]
Last week I was invited to speak at the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum on the subject of smart energy markets. The transcript of my speech is below: Developing smart energy markets for suppliers and consumers - modernising entry rules, delivering smart [...]
The Government has finally announced a review of so-called “green tariffs” to assess whether suppliers are communicating appropriately with consumers, or whether they are engaging in “greenwashing”. According to the Government, 9 million British households are now on green tariffs, with over half of [...]