The Gorbachev years seem very distant, not that his mission of liberalisation and freedom from the strictures of the Soviet Union went unchallenged but the reversion of Russia under Putin to a totalitarian, territorial regime finds a bedfellow in post war Soviet Union almost as if glasnost never happened. This ‘new’ Cold War however isn’t […]
£250m Big 6 Windfall Rocks Government
In an ‘unfortunate’ piece of political timing, government figures have revealed that the Big 6 energy suppliers will benefit far more greatly from changes in the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) than originally expected. The cuts to the scheme, announced in December 2013, focussed on reducing the burden of administering the £1.4bn per annum ECO scheme […]
Energy Supplier Customer Service Hits Rock Bottom
In the latest of Ofgem’s biennial survey’s on energy consumers’ customer satisfaction, the fourth edition, the report has highlighted that rather than improvement, all but one of the Big 6 energy suppliers have seen their performance worsen over the period. The key findings were: Across the industry, satisfaction has fallen from 40% in 2012 to […]
National Grid agrees demand reduction contracts in readiness for winter shortages
With energy shortages on the agenda for Winter 2014/15 National Grid has acted to implement their Demand-Side Balancing Reserve (DBSR). The DBSR, designed to find willing partners to reduce their demand at pick times over the winter, was launched in June this year, when National Grid was still outwardly confident that black-outs were of no […]
September SMI from Ofgem
Supply Market Indicators In our regular monthly review of Ofgem’s Supply Market Indicators we focus on September’s release from the energy regulator. The September 2014 SMI from Ofgem reported that: They estimate that the average annual dual fuel bill has fallen slightly for the next 12 months at £1,329 from last month’s £1,330 estimate They estimate average […]
nPower Escapes Ofgem’s Ultimate Sanction
In a surprise announcement, Ofgem has revealed that nPower met it’s first set of targets in August and as a result will be allowed to continue with its outbound telephone sales activity. As recently as June Ofgem had said: “Failure to meet monthly targets will result in nPower ceasing all proactive telesales to […]
Al Gore Invests in OVO Energy
Ovo Energy, fresh from its bizarre battle with UK energy regulator Ofgem has proven it has friends in high places after all after it was revealed that former US vice president and climate change campaigner Al Gore invested £8m in the business run by Stephen Fitzpatrick in January this year. The mezzanine finance deal made […]
Jail Time Beckons for Energy Market Fixers
Under new laws first proposed last October by Ed Davey Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change it will soon be a criminal offence to fix the price of energy at an artificial level or to use insider information to buy or sell energy on the wholesale market. In addition it would be an […]
The UK Energy Market, a Year in Words, from Miliband to CMA
12 months ago… It’s 24th September 2013 and Ed Miliband, leader of the Opposition Labour party is addressing his Brighton party conference; he announces his intention to invoke a “20 month freeze on household energy bills” if his party triumphs in the 2015 General Election. Cue some memorable and polarised quotes, a history making investigation […]
Labour Calls for Tougher Fracking Measures
With support for fracking falling once again the labour party are calling for tougher measures on controlling excessive shale gas drilling activity in tabling a series of amendments to the controversial infrastructure bill. According to the latest public opinion tracker from DECC support for fracking has dropped to just 24% (level with positive support) with […]