Retail Market
Many industries have been hit hard by the covid-19 crisis, including the energy sector, but energy supply businesses were in trouble even before the novel coronavirus struck. This year another five suppliers have disappeared - Tonik Energy, Gnergy and Effortless Energy all folded while, [...]
As we all enter the second week of the covid-19 lockdown, what is the impact of the crisis on the gas and electricity sectors?Retail markets: changing usage patterns and an increase in consumer vulnerabilityMore consumers are now vulnerableOne of the more urgent aspects of the [...]
While energy news has been dominated by talk of last week’s blackout, there have been some important developments in the retail space which are worth highlighting, and which underline the need for a new direction in retail energy regulation. Earlier this month Ofgem announced [...]
The need for reform of the retail energy market is increasingly clear – the past week has seen the failure of another new entrant supplier, bringing the total number of failures in since the beginning of 2018 to 17*. At the same time, suppliers [...]
Third party intermediaries or energy brokers are an important source of information for companies in their energy procurement and an important sales channel for suppliers; however the market is un-regulated, lacks transparency, and may be deterring customers at a time when rising prices mean [...]
It’s always interesting at this time of year to look back over the past year and ahead to what might be expected in the year to come. This time last year, I expected the retail price cap to be big news, alongside new nuclear, changes [...]
Today Ofgem has announced it is taking action against a number of challenger suppliers that have failed to make scheduled payments under the Renewables Obligation scheme. Suppliers had until 31 October to pay outstanding sums into the late payment fund however, a shortfall of [...]
There has been much hype of late surrounding the advent of “time-of-use” (“ToU”) energy tariffs for domestic consumers with some claiming consumers will be able to make large savings while others suggest consumers might be ripped off by “surge pricing” at times of high [...]
On the 11 October Ofgem published its second State of the Energy Market report, concluding that while there have been improvements in the retail market, with customers now having more energy suppliers and innovative deals to choose from, and the market share of the [...]
Following close behind Myth #1 about the profitability of the energy supply business, comes Myth #2, that the retail price cap will see the end of “rip-off tariffs” and save money for consumers. I have already written a number of posts on the price-cap [...]