Electricity retail

Price cap and nuclear outages lead to loss at EDF Energy

EDF Energy has reported a £294 million pre-tax operating loss in its financial results for 2019, blaming the price cap and nuclear outages, The company also announced the acquisition of a majority stake in electric vehicle charging company Pod Point.

Price cap hits Centrica as it aims to be cheapest supplier on market by 2022

Price caps, nuclear outages and falling natural gas prices have hit British Gas owner Centrica’s finances. Still, the company is aiming to become the cheapest energy supplier by 2022. Outgoing chief executive Iain Conn described the sector as being a “challenging environment” when the company unveiled its preliminary financial results for year ending 31 December 2019. Utility Week takes a look beyond the headline figures.

Centrica announces interim chairman as Berry takes leave of absence

Centrica chairman Charles Berry is taking a leave of absence due to an “unanticipated medical condition". The interim chairman is expected to be in place for the next few weeks.

Ofgem revokes order on Outfox the Market

Ofgem has rescinded the provisional order it placed on Outfox the Market which obliged the energy supplier to make a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) payment of nearly £603,000. Outfox has expressed its disappointment with the regulator for publishing a public release prior to the due date.

Customers to receive automatic compensation for mistaken switches

Outfox the Market handed provisional order over FIT payment

Weekend press round-up: Sambhi tipped as frontrunner for next Centrica CEO

British Gas owner Centrica is expected to report a dip in profits after being hit by the price cap when it posts its preliminary results on Thursday. Meanwhile there are reports that Sarwjit Sambhi, head of its consumer business, is the front-runner in the contest to take over from Iain Conn as chief executive.

Drop in wholesale costs sees price caps fall

Lower wholesale costs have seen a £17 reduction in both the default and pre-payment meter (PPM) caps, Ofgem has announced. The energy regulator has also provided a breakdown of how the cap is calculated.

Ofgem minded to allow SSE to claim £711,000 in SoLR costs

Ofgem has announced it is minded to allow SSE to claim a last resort supply payment of up to £711,000 for costs incurred when it took on the customers of failed supplier Brilliant Energy. The claim is, among other things, to cover the cost of customer credit balances.

Brearley steals a march on doubters

Utility Week magazine editor Suzanne Heneghan looks at what's in the in-tray for Ofgem's new chief executive and how his decarbonisation plan may be a signal of intent.

Flexible energy firms laud Ofgem’s net zero action plan

Ofgem pushes back plans for mutualisation protections

Ofgem says it is pushing back a consultation on its plans to demand suppliers protect a minimum of 50 per cent of customer credit balances. Other measures as part of a wider supplier licensing review will go to consultation in the Spring as planned. One industry source described the review as a detailed way to "lock the regulatory stable door well after the irresponsible small supplier horse has bolted".

New metrics to be included in Citizens Advice star ratings

Citizens Advice is proposing to include email and social media response times into the customer service metric for its star ratings table for energy retailers. The charity issues a quarterly star ratings table which measures the customer service performance of energy suppliers.

Price cap successor needs ‘considerable’ assessment

Citizens Advice has set out a number of options for a potential successor to the default price cap in energy. They include mass opt-out collective switching, the creation of a backstop supplier for disengaged customers and the implementation of a “price to beat”

Why energy needs to be higher on retailers’ shopping lists

This year, the UK will host arguably the most important climate summit since the landmark