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Western Power Distribution has launched a new domestic flexibility trial that will see households paid to keep their electricity usage at or below a pre-agreed level during weekday peaks in demand. This is in contrast with most previous flexibility services which usually require providers to reduce their consumption by a specified amount.
5 years ago
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.
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.
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.
Unite Union has revealed it is in “restructuring” talks with Eon Energy which could result in job losses. In a statement, the Unite officer with responsibility for Eon retail, Katie Morris, said the talks are set against the backdrop of the harmonisation of services following the company’s acquisition of Npower.
iSupply Energy is to pay more than half a million pounds in redress after almost 23,000 of its customers were blocked from switching over an eight-year period. The company is in the process of being wound down after EDF Energy acquired its more than 190,000 customer accounts from the Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall in March this year.
In our latest review of sector coverage across the national newspapers, pollution of waterways has come under scrutiny along with the Environment Agency’s handling of pollution by farmers and water companies in recent years; an alliance of gas and oil giants has formed to speed up the decarbonisation of industry and power; Cadent pledges 40,000 meals for school children.
Energy regulator Ofgem says it is postponing the publication of its annual State of the Market report for this year due to the pandemic. In an announcement, the regulator said it has had to reprioritise its work load due to Covid-19.
London Power says it hopes its “renewed communication push” will attract more customers this autumn, after signing up fewer than 4,000 in its first nine months of operating. In July the Greater London Authority said due to the pandemic it was scaling back its marketing plans for the supplier, which is powered by Octopus Energy.
In the final part of the series, Adam John speaks to the winners of the Young Energy Professionals awards about how their generation considers the net-zero challenge.
Increased emotional hardship on both consumers and customer service staff means the energy sector has a huge leadership challenge on its hands, the chief executive of the Energy Ombudsman has said.
