Electricity retail

Re-prompting campaign encourages increased energy switches

Customers who were re-prompted to change energy tariff following a collective switch (CS) trial by Ofgem were almost twice as likely to do so again, the regulator has found. Ofgem assessed whether the CS interventions as part of a trial held in March and April 2018 had a lasting or sustained impact on tariff switching in the following 17 months.

Government launches review into handling of Robin Hood Energy

Nottingham City Council will be subjected to a review over its handling of Robin Hood Energy, the government has confirmed. The rapid non-statutory review, which has been agreed by the council, will look into the “serious governance and risk management issues” associated with the council-backed energy firm, the customers of which were recently sold to Centrica.

Greenwashing investigation ‘should include energy retailers’

An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into misleading claims about eco-friendly products should be broadened to include energy retailers, the chief executive of Good Energy has said. The CMA said its investigation is a response to the growing number of products and services marketed as environmentally friendly, adding that £41 billion was spent on ethical goods and services – almost four times as much as people spent two decades ago.

WHD and social tariffs ‘could be used as vulnerability flags’

Schemes such as the warm home discount in energy or social tariffs in water could be used to flag potentially vulnerable customers to different sectors, a new report has recommended. National Energy Action’s ‘Surviving the wilderness’ report focuses on three sectors – energy, water and council tax. It concludes that common approaches to debt management can help customers to know what to expect at all stages of the process, and how to navigate the support options which may be available to them.

Western Power Distribution begins domestic flexibility pilot

Octopus continues growth with acquisition of Upside Energy

Initiative helps reach disengaged utility customers over debt

Utilities thought to be owed almost £300m in unpaid bills

There are “significant” lockdown bill arrears in the energy and water sectors, with consumers owing their suppliers almost £300 million, according to new research. Citizens Advice has released new projections about the level of debt based off its previous polling data which found 3 million adults had fallen behind on at least one of their water bills during the coronavirus pandemic, whilst 2.8 million had missed an energy payment.

Ofgem issues final orders over unpaid RO and FIT bills of £15m

Utilita CEO apologises ‘unreservedly’ after overcharging customers

Utilita’s chief executive has apologised “unreservedly” to all customers who were overcharged by the supplier and outlined how the company has rectified the underlying problem.. The challenger brand, which serves 800,000 customers, agreed to pay £500,000 after it was found by Ofgem to have overcharged almost 40,000 prepayment customers.

Utilita agrees payout after overcharging 40,000 prepayment customers

Challenger brand Utilita has agreed to pay redress of £500,000 after it overcharged almost 40,000 prepayment customers. Utilita first self-reported to the regulator that between May 2019 and September 2019 it had mistakenly overcharged prepayment customers.

Ofgem proposes to increase performance penalties for DCC

Auriga launches nationwide priority services portal

Covid is a moment of opportunity in the battle against fuel poverty

Anderson takes aim at ‘unsustainable business models’ and ‘greenwashing’