Customers

Editor's Picks

Can DSOs put the customer first?

Can DSOs put the customer first?

SSEN’s advisory board chair is challenging DSOs to rethink how close they are to customers, as we round up our recent series of reports produced with the network on the future of the operator.

1 year ago

‘Why is Boris Johnson on the PSR?’

1 year ago

Smart meter installations fall to lowest level in years

1 year ago

Trust in water sector hits all-time low

1 year ago

Local energy plans must be funded to ensure a just transition

1 year ago

Latest

Clear north/south divide in energy switching

Data taken over a 20-year period shows a clear north/south divide between the households most likely to switch energy provider. The research, from Uswitch, shows eight northern towns and cities make up the top ten switching areas per 1,000 population.

5 years ago

SMETS2 installations hit 5m mark

5 years ago

White paper: Easing the challenges of next-working-day switching

5 years ago

Utility Week Explains: The future of stakeholder engagement

5 years ago

SPEN threatens CMA appeal if Ofgem doesn’t budge

SP Energy Networks (SPEN) has warned Ofgem it could appeal to the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) over the regulator’s “manifestly flawed” take on its business plan for the next price control. The electricity transmission company has demanded a revised draft determination by early October correcting what it claims are errors on Ofgem’s part and reversing a £15 million business plan penalty.

5 years ago

Octopus appointed as SoLR for Effortless Energy customers

Octopus Energy has been appointed as the supplier of last resort for the customers of Effortless Energy which recently became the second supplier to cease trading in 2020 and the first since the pandemic hit. Effortless was set up by Andrew and Melanie Burns after the couple became “frustrated and confused” by the deals being offered by incumbent suppliers.

5 years ago

Centrica buys Robin Hood Energy customers

Centrica has acquired struggling council-backed energy supplier Robin Hood's customer base for an undisclosed fee. The deal, which is set to complete on 16 September, will mean 230 staff at Robin Hood being made redundant. It will see 112,000 domestic customers and 2,600 businesses move across to British Gas over the next few months.

5 years ago

Generation Z has most favourable perception of water sector

Billpayers under the age of 24 have a more positive overall perception of the water sector than customers in other age bands, new research has found. The report also found that while environmental issues are high on their agenda, young billpayers' top priority is affordability.

5 years ago

SSE fined £2m for failing to publish inside information

5 years ago

Consumers still in the dark on low-carbon heat

5 years ago

Ofgem proposes extending restricted meter protections

Ofgem is proposing to extend protections for customers on certain types of restricted meters to 2025, in line with the updated timeframe for the smart meter rollout. Around 4 million customers in Great Britain have a restricted, or ‘profile class two’ (PC2), meters. They allow customers to be charged for electricity at different rates, depending on the time of day they use their energy.

5 years ago

Effortless Energy becomes second supplier of 2020 to fail

Effortless Energy (trading as Go Effortless Energy) has become the second supplier to fail in 2020, and the first since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Utility Week recently revealed that the Stoke-based supplier was looking to exit the market, having previously entered level two credit default with code administrators Elexon.

5 years ago

Charities brand Centrica’s treatment of vulnerable ‘unacceptable’

5 years ago

Smart meter installations down 86% over second quarter

5 years ago

Robin Hood acquisition bid led to ‘strained relations’

Robin Hood Energy (RHE) and Nottingham City Council faced strained relations after the latter prevented the supplier from making two acquisitions, a report has found. Nottingham City Council has accepted every recommendation made in auditor Grant Thornton's report into RHE's governance.

5 years ago

Mandating non-domestic smart meters ‘makes sense’

5 years ago

CMA ‘on track’ to deliver PR19 redeterminations next month

The Competition and Markets Authority has told Utility Week it expects to hit its deadline of mid-September to deliver its first take on the appeals by four water companies to Ofwat's final determinations on their AMP7 business plans. All eyes will be on any adjustments to WACC, what value is placed on customer input and the levels of investment permitted.

5 years ago

Kaluza launches combined flexibility service with WPD

Kaluza is providing Western Power Distribution (WPD) with a single, combined flexibility service using domestic storage and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) devices in what it claims is an industry first. As part of the network operator’s IntraFlex project, Kaluza is adding domestic electric vehicle smart charging and V2G optimisation in addition to the flexibility service it already provides to WPD through the optimisation of batteries.

5 years ago

Coronavirus: 2.8m fall behind on energy bills

5 years ago

The Big Switch: Finding the words to compare a market

Switching figures are a common gauge of the health of the energy retail sector, with the flow of big six to challenger and vice versa inevitably the focus. However, with several substantial mergers having drastically altered the make up of the "big six" and challenger brands now serving millions of customers, are these labels still fit for purpose? Adam John asks the experts.

5 years ago

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