Posts Tagged ‘OfGem’

Business electricity supplier makes charity donation to avoid fine for rule breach

2 June 2010

EDF Energy, one of the ‘big six’ business electricity suppliers in the UK, breached the rules by failing to properly record customers’ complaints, an investigation by OfGem has found.

The breach occurred between October 2008 and March 2009 and has now been fixed. The rules were introduced by OfGem in 2008 to improve energy companies’ customer service.

Under the rules, all customer complaints must be properly recorded so that customers only have to explain disputed bills, meter readings and so on only once.

The EDF problem came to light following an audit by OfGem. EDF have since changed their practices, and have made a donation of £200,000 to charities that help consumers, thus avoiding a fine.

For help and advice on business electricity, including handling disputed bills and switching supplier, contact Energy Advice Line.

Read the full story at the BBC.

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Commercial energy customers’ concern over predicted power outages in 2016

21 April 2010

The lights could go out for business electricity customers by 2016, OfGem warns

The lights could go out for business electricity customers by 2016, OfGem warns

Business energy customers could be among the first to suffer if power cuts predicted by 2016 are allowed to happen.

Industry regulator OfGem issued a stark warning to the government and domestic and commercial energy customers today that demand for gas and electricity could outstrip supply in the not too distant future. They have depicted a worst case scenario in which levels of supply could fail at peak times, particularly in the winter months.

This will set alarm bells ringing for commercial gas and electricity customers, many of whom will be on interruptible energy contracts. Interruptible contracts mean that these customers can be forced to stop using gas and electricity first should a shortage arise. Many business gas customers were affected by disruptions to supply in January 2010.

According to OfGem, there could be power cuts of up to 40 minutes for a household in 2016, further increasing to 120 minutes in 2017 if nothing is done. This comes on the same day that the Environmental Industries Commission warned that the three main political parties’ manifestoes did not go far enough in supporting green energy generation.

Business electricity prices will rise sharply if alternative energy sources are not utilised. Last week, energy supplier E.ON opened a large offshore windfarm, while several other projects have been approved for the sea off the north coast of Scotland.

With the election just weeks away, commercial electricity customers will wait with anticipation to see which party is returned to power. All are aware of the need to tackle the dual concerns of energy and climate change, as domestic and commercial energy customers continue to struggle with increasing prices.

For advice on business energy and business electricity comparison, contact Energy Advice Line.

This independent advisory service can help you find the best prices for commercial gas and electricity.

Read the full business energy blackout warning in the Daily Telegraph.

And read the New Energy Focus story.

Picture credit – CCA: Spooky Lightbulb by Dyanna from Flickr

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Conservatives may break up OfGem

18 March 2010

E-Serve supports investment in renewable energy programmes.

E-Serve supports investment in renewable energy programmes.

Business electricity customers have in the past raised concerns at OfGem’s perceived back-track on measures to protect small and medium sized businesses from automatic contract roll-over and assumed renewal tactics when their contracts were due to be renewed.

Now it emerges energy regulator OfGem could be split in two by the Conservative Party if they win the next general election. E-Serve is a self-financed division of the regulator that administers government-based environmental programmes and it gets its money by levying fees on utility companies generating renewable energy, for example with wind farms.

Because of the pledge to cut carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020, E-Serve looks likely to be a profitable business. It runs schemes including the Renewable Obligation Certificate, which supports investment in wind and marine energy developments, and the feed-in tariff, in which household and business electricity customers are encourage to undertake their own small-scale electricity generation via such things as solar panels.

The Conservatives also plan to reduce the role of OfGem as a strategic advisor to the Government, with the aim of creating a more stripped down market regulator and protection body for consumers of domestic and business energy.

Of course, the question this raises for business energy customers is whether this will mean OfGem will do more to protect SMEs from tactics such as contract roll over – bringing the protection into line with that afforded to domestic electricity and gas customers.

Assumed renewal was frowned on by business customers for many years. The initial proposal written by OfGEm for industry consideration in summer 2009 did not allow the supplier to assume the contract renewal, but this was amended in the final release in October after the industry had an opportunity to counteract the proposal.

New rules came in to effect on 18 January 2010, giving some protection but seen by many business energy customers as a “watered down” version of the original recommendations.

Business energy customers now have to be contacted a minimum of 30 days before the end of their contract with an explanation of advice available, and key terms and conditions must be explicit before entering into a contract.

For impartial advice on your business energy contracts and to find the best price for your business gas and business electricity, contacting an independent advisor such as Energy Advice Line can help.

Energy Advice Line’s advisors are also on hand to help with any queries you may have about business energy contracts.

Do you think the plans to split OfGem could be good news for business energy customers? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Read the full story about the Conservatives’ plans in The Times.

Picture credit – CCA: Off-Shore Wind Farm Turbine by phault from Flickr

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Small businesses losing out on business energy deals

1 March 2010
Manufacturing consumes a lot of business energy and many SMEs are worried about the increasing overheads incurred.

Manufacturing consumes a lot of business energy and many SMEs are worried about the increasing overheads incurred.

Small business owners are being urged to shop around for their business energy after the latest figures from the Department for Energy and Climate Change showed they were losing out to big business in terms of business energy prices. A report by the Forum of Private Business produced some grim statistics for SME owners.

In figures released last week, average business electricity prices for SMEs showed an average increase of 15 and 17 per cent between the third quarter of 2008 and the same period of 2009. For larger businesses that figure was between 9 and 11 per cent, while the UK’s largest firms saw an increase of just 5 per cent.

For business gas, while the smallest business’s gas bills increased by 8 per cent, larger customers saw their bills drop by between 14 and 52 per cent.

While these figures are disappointing, I have to say I don’t find them surprising. A lot has been made in the media in recent weeks of energy suppliers making huge profits and not passing on cuts in wholesale energy to domestic customers. But for business energy customers the story has been even worse.

The FPB’s report showed that for the manufacturing sector, one of the biggest consumers of energy, business electricity prices rose by an average of 138 per cent between 2003 and 2008.

Business gas prices rose by by 162 per cent in the same period. It comes as no surprise, then, that 84 per cent of businesses surveyed by the FPB said that the rising cost of business energy was an area of “major concern.”

In January, industry regulator OfGem introduced new measures aimed at protecting small businesses from being taken advantage of by energy companies. However, as I reported in January, while these measures are a good first step, they don’t apply retrospectively and only affect existing customers when contract renewal comes around.

Julian Morgan, Director of Energy Advice Line, said: “Although OfGem have made steps to afford a greater level of protection for Micro-Business customers in the UK they could have done more to alleviate issues that business energy customers face around the contract renewal period.

“The wholesale price of electricity and gas rose significantly during the summer months of 2008. However, on a positive note we at the Energy Advice Line are now quoting at a level that we witnessed prior to the massive rises. I would advise business electricity and gas customers to review their options now as industry analysts are, unfortunately, predicting rises later on this year. Call us now free on 0800 915 1800 and speak to an independent EAL advisor to help secure the best business energy deal.”

Picture credit – CCA: Conveyor Belt by Shane Gorski from Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanegorski/2312850300/

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