Our Insights
Our comments on energy industry updates to help inform you of the news and events surrounding the UK gas & electricity market and its impact on your business.
Simpler switching for tenants
Switching energy supplier, a relatively simple process for homeowners, is a hassle for tenants, more than three-quarters of whom have decided not to bother, says Gillian Cooper of Utility Week. There are 4.4 million households in the private rented sector and 3.9 million in social housing in England. Over three-quarters of tenants who pay their bills (77 per cent) say they have never switched energy supplier. Those tenants with prepayment meter pay £226 a year more for their energy than those on online direct debit tariffs. If you are a...
read moreResidentially – Independent Energy Suppliers growing market share
Residentially – Independent Energy Suppliers growing market share According to Cornwall Energy’s latest market share survey, independent energy suppliers are continuing to rapidly gain customers from the major suppliers. Their collective market share now stands at 11.2% (up from 10.5% in April), which is higher than three of the major suppliers. The quarter May-July has seen the continuation of bearish commodity prices that has allowed independent suppliers to pass through competitive deals and respond quickly to changes in wholesale...
read moreBusinesses warned to be gas safe
Businesses warned to be gas safe British Gas has warned small and medium sized enterprises to take gas safety seriously during Gas Safety Week as a survey revealed one in five firms have experienced health and safety issues with boilers or gas appliances. 17% of businesses don’t have their gas appliance checked at least once a year 41% would switch off the electrics if they smelt gas on their premises 16% would try to work out which appliance was leaking gas 1% would shut all windows and doors to keep the gas inside the building ...
read moreNew Energy Cost for Businesses
The energy industry is preparing for a major change in the way some meter profile classes are going to be billed. The change takes effect in April 2017 and will mean certain meters will require an additional contract for the maintenance of those meters and the collection of the consumption data. Such arrangements will mean usage is collected remotely every 30 minutes via a GSM signal or telephone line. Ofgem has initiated the change and called it P272 – Mandatory Half-hourly Settlement for Profile Classes 5-8. The idea behind the change...
read moreSummer Switching Reaches New Heights
Energy UK publishes electricity switching report for July 2015 Switching continues to grow with the highest numbers for July in recent years. Customers switching electricity supplier topped 270,000 in July. The latest electricity switching data shows 273,122 customers chose a new supplier in July 2015, which is the highest figure on Energy UK records for the period. Smaller suppliers gained 74,405 electricity accounts, which is 27 per cent of all switches. This is in line with the average for the year so far. Lawrence Slade, chief...
read moreFAB 2…has Lady Penelope a new motor?
Perhaps in homage to the return of Thunderbirds to the small screen Ofgem are using FAB and FAB2 as the references for two of the three new interconnectors connecting the UK to the wider European power grid and have not used the icon reference FAB 1. The projects set to move ahead include two power links to France totalling 2.4GW and a 1GW link to Denmark. Currently, the UK has 4GW of capacity in place, half of which links the country to France through one power link. A second 1GW cable connects the UK to the Netherlands and two 500MW links...
read moreCampaign boosts switching…you could save £312.00
A government campaign to encourage switching has seen a dramatic increase in the number of consumers changing energy supplier compared with the same period last year. An 80% increase in switches compared with the same period last year; a total of 130,000 switches in the past month. That’s a 193% increase in total consumer savings equal to £38 million or an average £312 saving for a dual fuel switch. Lots of Easter eggs this year then! Story in numbers from Utility Week
read morePerhaps the reason we aren’t switching energy supplier is we think they are all the same?
The CMA is suggested the energy competition is weakening. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has offered the first clues as to where its energy sector investigation will focus. Although no conclusions have been reached, the investigators compared the average standard variable tariff against forward-looking costs in its initial work. It pointed out in its statement that the gap between average tariffs and underlying costs appears to widen in particular since 2009. “We will seek to assess to what extent the ‘rockets and feathers...
read moreSo did you switch supplier as a result of ‘The Power to Switch’ campaign?
If you have you are more likely to have opted to use a new market entrant than one of the Big Six. Only 24 per cent of energy consumers considering a switch say they would move to one of the big six suppliers, a survey by Ernst & Young has revealed. In contrast, 37 per cent would choose to move to an independent energy supplier. The survey of 2,000 consumers showed that 24 per cent have switched supplier in the past year, and 22 per cent said they would “probably” switch in the coming year. Tony Ward, head of power and utilities at Ernst...
read moreHave you seen The Power to Switch campaign?
The government is looking to encourage the nation to switch supplier and collectively save £2.7 billion in the process. The Power to Switch campaign, launched this week by energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey, will run for four weeks, with national, regional and online advertising informing people they can save an average of £200 a year. Visit www.BeAnEnergy- Shopper.com to learn more about the campaign.
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