Category Archives: Ofgem

SSE to pay near-£10m penalty over licence breach

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Sum follows Ofgem inquiry into firm’s power generation arm earning ‘excessive payments’ from National Grid

The energy regulator has said the power generation arm of Scottish energy company SSE will pay a near-£10m penalty for breaching the terms of its licence.

Ofgem said a detailed investigation had found that SSE Generation had secured “excessive payments” from the National Grid, the electricity system operator (ESO), during periods of what is known as “transmission constraint”.

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Energy bills could fall to average of £2,053 as Ofgem prepares to lower cap

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But campaigners say it will not give much relief to struggling households as government support ends

Household energy bills could fall to an average of £2,053 a year this summer as the regulator prepares to lower its cap on energy prices next week, according to analysts.

However, campaigners have warned that the lower cap on energy bills, to be announced on Thursday, is unlikely to provide much relief to households that struggled to pay their bills over the winter because the government’s support schemes have come to an end.

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Ofgem orders three energy firms to pay £8m compensation over late bills

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E.ON Next, Octopus and Good Energy did not supply final bill on time to many households that had switched

Three energy suppliers have been made to pay compensation totalling £8m for failing to supply a final bill on time to more than 100,000 households that had switched provider.

The energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, said E.ON Next was ordered to pay £5.5m to almost 95,000 customers because it did not provide them with a final bill within six weeks of moving to another supplier, nor did it pay compensation for the delay within 10 days of the missed deadline.

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Grid connection delays for low-carbon projects ‘unacceptable’, says Ofgem

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Watchdog’s chief writes to energy bosses as Grid sets out plan to cut waits by up to a decade

The energy watchdog for Great Britainwill label the decade-long wait to connect low-carbon projects to the electricity grid as “unacceptable”, amid tensions over a “blame game” for a mounting backlog of green power projects.

Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of Ofgem, has written to energy bosses to warn that the current system, whereby energy projects queue for their connection, could be replaced by new methods to match power generation with demand.

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Bulb bailout may cost UK government billions less than feared, says watchdog

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National Audit Office estimates bill of £246m for saving energy supplier as result of sharp fall in gas prices

The bailout of the bust energy supplier Bulb is expected to cost the government billions of pounds less than originally feared because of a sharp fall in wholesale gas prices, according to the National Audit Office.

The public spending watchdog said the government may end up spending £246m on saving the supplier, which has 1.5 million customers and was acquired by Octopus Energy late last year.

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Energy suppliers to be investigated over Britons forced on to prepayment meters

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Ofgem could look to take legal action if companies are not taking proper care of vulnerable households

Energy companies are to be investigated by the regulator Ofgem after the number of households struggling with their bills being forced on to prepayment meters has increased sharply.

Ofgem could consider taking legal action if it determines that the rise in the number of homes being forced on to prepayment meters is proven to show companies are not taking proper due care of vulnerable households.

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Warning over spate of UK house fires as residents try to cut energy bills

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Take care using candles and electric heaters, fire authorities warn, as Ofgem reveals gas and electricity bills are up by 86%

Fire authorities have urged householders to take care when using candles, wood burners and electric heaters to cut energy bills this Christmas after a spate of recent house fires.

Flat fires in Uxbridge and Harwich this month were caused by candles; fire chiefs in Cumbria, Hereford and Worcester reported more fires as householders used unswept chimneys and candles; and last month in Wakefield a blaze was caused by a tumble dryer being used overnight to save money.

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Ofgem tells energy network firms they must invest without increasing bills

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New electricity price controls from 2023 to 2028 will keep costs to customers at about £100 a year

The operators of Great Britain’s local energy networks will be forced to spend more of their profits on investing to future-proof the country’s electricity grid, after the regulator, Ofgem, said it would not allow any rises in household bills.

In a new set of price controls that will run from 2023 to 2028, the energy watchdog said it would keep costs to customers unchanged at about £100 a year.

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Energy firms accused of profiteering with ‘horrendous rates’ for care homes

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Exclusive: Care England calls for Ofgem investigation into suppliers’ practices in letter seen by the Guardian

Energy suppliers have been accused of profiteering by charging “horrendous and financially crippling rates” to care homes facing huge bills this winter.

The chief executive of Care England, the largest body representing independent providers of adult care, has accused gas suppliers of being “unduly onerous” in their practices.

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Rising energy bills put millions of UK households at risk of winter catastrophe

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Experts say 80% price cap increase will plunge people into destitution and cause avoidable deaths

Millions of households are bracing for a winter catastrophe of rising energy bills that experts say will plunge people into destitution and cause an increase in avoidable deaths without urgent government support.

After Britain’s energy industry regulator confirmed an 80% rise in the consumer price cap from October that will take a typical household’s gas and electricity bill to £3,549 a year, there were stark warnings about its potentially devastating effects.

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Truss and Sunak clash on energy costs at penultimate Tory hustings

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Truss remained loath to ‘bung money’ at those struggling to afford spiralling bills, Sunak said millions may be forced into destitution

Liz Truss has doubled down on her reluctance to “bung more money” at those who will struggle to afford spiralling energy costs this winter while Rishi Sunak said millions may be forced into destitution without extra support, as the pair clashed at the penultimate hustings of the Conservative leadership race.

With energy regulator Ofgem expected to raise the price cap to £3,500 a year from October for the average dual-fuel tariff, Truss warned the issue of spiralling fuel costs was not a short-term one. “If people think this problem is going to be over in six months they are not right. This is a long term problem,” she told the audience in Norfolk.

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Recall parliament early to tackle soaring energy bills, Labour urges PM

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Letter to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak calls for action to help households before price cap rises

Labour has urged Boris Johnson to recall parliament next week so the government can offer more help to struggling households before the announcement of the new energy price cap.

The opposition has written to the prime minister and both Tory leadership candidates warning that it is a “crucial deadline” for government action to tackle soaring energy bills, after inflation topped 10% for the first time in 40 years.

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Power firms must ‘up their game’ after Storm Arwen failures, says Ofgem

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Regulator berates network operators for ‘unacceptable’ time taken to restore power to thousands of homes

Power companies must “up their game” after thousands of households in Britain faced “appalling conditions” when they were left without power for more than a week after Storm Arwen hit last year, the industry watchdog has said.

Publishing its full report into the response of power distributors to the storm, Ofgem said they were underprepared and provided an “unacceptable service” to customers, with nearly 1m homes losing power and 4,000 of those cut off for longer than a week.

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Watchdog urged to step in as UK’s poorest turn off energy supply

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Spate of self-disconnections reflects rising costs, punitive debt collection and disproportionately high charges, says charity

A food bank charity has called for the energy watchdog to intervene after a spate of reports of penniless families self-disconnecting from their gas and electricity, leaving them unable to wash clothes, use cookers or even switch on lights.

Feeding Britain said people on low incomes who used prepayment energy meters were increasingly being pushed into destitution by rising costs, punitive debt collection rules and disproportionately high standing charges.

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Business minister bids to calm crisis fears as UK gas prices soar

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No cause for alarm now, says Kwasi Kwarteng as energy discussions are likened to early Covid crisis talks

The government was scrambling on Saturday night to reassure Britons that rising gas prices would not plunge the country into an energy crisis, as ministers held a series of emergency meetings with energy companies and regulators to establish whether the nation could keep the lights and central heating on this winter.

A senior industry insider likened the meetings held between the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and energy industry leaders to the early crisis talks held following the outbreak of Covid-19.

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UK energy watchdog demands answers after major power cut

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Outage caused travel chaos and cut electricity to almost 1m people in England and Wales

The energy watchdog, Ofgem, is demanding answers from the National Grid after a power cut left people stuck in trains for up to nine hours and cut electricity to almost 1 million people in England and Wales.

The biggest power outage in a decade caused widespread disruption on the rail network during the evening rush hour on Friday. Traffic light systems stopped working, causing gridlock in some areas, and Newcastle airport was left in darkness. Power had been restored to 900,000 customers by Saturday, but the rail network was struggling to get services back to normal.

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