Electricity retail

Smart meter installations down 86% over second quarter

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.

Mandating non-domestic smart meters ‘makes sense’

Ofgem reveals renewables obligation for 2019/20

Energy regulator Ofgem has revealed how many renewables obligation certificates (ROCs) it issued in the 2019/20 year. The renewables obligation requires licenced electricity suppliers to source a proportion of the electricity they supply to customers from renewable sources.

Coronavirus: 2.8m fall behind on energy bills

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.

Ovo to pay £1.2m over SSE smart meter failings

Centrica kicks off energy as a service bundle with Birmingham NEC project

Why back office automation is key to helping the vulnerable

Parseq's managing director Craig Naylor-Smith believes rethinking how payments are allocated can help utilities improve their customer experience and avoid reputational damage when supporting vulnerable consumers in the wake of Covid-19. He argues that while the channels customers use to interact with their suppliers have become more digital, the back office has fallen behind.

People’s Energy looks to roll out white label offer

Edinburgh-based challenger brand People’s Energy has struck a white label deal with a local authority to create East Lothian Energy. Speaking to Utility Week chief executive David Pike, who co-founded the company in 2017 with his wife Karin Sode, said the retailer was in talks with a number other councils in the UK over similar deals.

Energy market may be in for a ‘winter of discontent’

By August 2019 a total of five energy suppliers had entered the supplier of last resort process, with a further four to follow before the end of the year. However, despite the economic disruption seen so far in 2020, only one supplier has exited the market - with one other believed to be on the brink. To find out why, Utility Week speaks to industry experts.

Effortless Energy set to exit the market

Effortless Energy is set to become the first energy supplier to exit the market since the Covid-19 pandemic began, Utility Week understands. The Stoke-based retailer is understood to have put in a request to Ofgem last month to place its customers through the supplier of last resort (SoLR) process.

Eon’s restructure expected to help its UK recovery

Eon says it expects to see a “significant recovery” in the UK as a result of the restructuring of its supply business. According to the group’s financial results for H1 2020 Eon’s UK supply arm almost doubled its revenue in the first half of the year to more than £6.6 billion but adjusted pre-tax earnings were down £29.8 million to £38.9 million.

Making a market for PPAs

Energy advice must be ‘future proofed’ as market evolves

Help given to energy customers must evolve to reflect the changing nature of the market, Citizens Advice's interim head of energy policy has stressed.