Regulation

Ofgem confirms mutualisation for third consecutive year

Ofgem urges CMA not to set regulatory precedents

ESO allowed to delay TERRE go-live until next year

RO buy-out shortfall hit £105m

There was a combined shortfall of more than £105 million in the renewables obligation (RO) buy-out funds due to suppliers not meeting the relevant deadlines, Ofgem has revealed. The regulator said 33 suppliers failed to meet their total obligations by the deadlines - 31 August for buy-out payments and 1 September for RO certificates.

Calls for greater clarity on CSO discharges

Appetite for switching has increased

Despite the most recent switching figures showing a declining rate, Ofgem consumer research has found more people are now inclined to change supplier than in the spring.

‘Significant increase’ in PPM customers using emergency credit

The number of prepayment meter customers using emergency credit has increased considerably, a new report has found. Since April Ofgem has been measuring the impacts of Covid-19 social distancing on domestic energy consumption, financial wellbeing and the concerns of energy consumers around managing bills.

Government urged to bring forward heat network protections

Fuel Poverty Action is urging the government to bring forward planned consumer protections for the customers of heat networks this winter. In a letter to energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng the charity urges the government to bring forward arrangements for compensation when district heating breaks down and to upgrade networks which repeatedly fail, on an emergency basis.

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.

UK needs clear strategy to take lead on hydrogen

Ofwat to set out innovation funding plans at Utility Week Live Online

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.

Fast and flawed: Pressure mounts on CMA’s PR19 stance

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.

CMA decision could cost households £3.7bn