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Ofgem has named the four energy suppliers which missed the deadlines to meet their Renewables Obligation (RO) and has revoked the licence of one which remained completely non-compliant.
Last month the energy regulator revealed that for the first time in six years the mutualisation of missed RO payments will not take place after confirming that for the 2022-23 obligation year, four suppliers failed to meet their total obligations by the 1 September deadline, resulting in a combined shortfall of more than £7.2 million in the buy-out funds. These suppliers consequently owed late payments.
In a further update published on Friday (8 December) Ofgem named the four non-compliant retailers and how much they owed. These are:
Three suppliers met their obligations in full by the 31 October late payment deadline while a fourth, UK Energy Incubator Hub, failed to do so.
It owed close to £100,000 in total across the England and Wales RO and the RO Scotland. As it failed to comply by the 31 October late payment deadline, the supplier has had its licence revoked.
“We are unable to pursue enforcement action against suppliers which have ceased trading and had their licence revoked. We will seek to recover outstanding payments due from such suppliers through the organisations’ administrators where appropriate,” the regulator said.
The domestic energy retailer served approximately 3,000 customers and operated under two brands, Northumbria Energy and Neo Energy. It had a turbulent history and ceased trading last year.
In May 2022 Ofgem successfully applied for a court injunction against the supplier after it failed to comply with the conditions of a provisional order.
The legal action taken against UK Energy Incubator Hub was only the second time the regulator has applied for an injunction against a supplier, with the first being against Npower in 2018 in relation to a collective switching trial.
Ofgem revealed last July that it was seeking to force the company to remove one of its senior directors in what would be the first use of its ‘fit and proper’ requirements introduced in 2021.
UK Energy Incubator Hub eventually failed and entered the Supplier of Last Resort process where its customers were acquired by Octopus Energy.
Ofgem has also confirmed that it redistributed the 2022-23 RO late payment fund on 5 December.
It paid more than £7.1 million to suppliers who presented Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs). They received £6.81 per ROC presented after the redistribution of the buy-out fund. From the redistribution of the late payment fund, they have received an extra £0.07 per ROC. This means that the final recycle value for 2022-23 is £6.88.
Source: Ofgem.
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