Government and EDF Energy finally agree rate of £92.50 per megawatt-hour. The agreed rate is more than double the going rate for wholesale electricity, meaning the energy generated from the new plant will be extremely expensive compared to other nuclear power plants. The new Hinkley nuclear reactor in Somerset will be built, and should be operational within 10 years.
British Gas and Npower announce price rises
Three of the Big Six have now announced winter price increases of between 8 and 11 per cent. Npower and British Gas have joined SSE and Co-op on the list of energy companies that have already announced price hikes this winter. Both suppliers blamed the hikes on higher prices on the global energy markets, higher costs of transmission, and increases … Read More
SSE announce winter price rise
The energy supplier’s price rise will affect 7 million domestic customers, and signals price rises for businesses too. The increase will be around 8.2%, and come into effect on November 15. In the South East, customers will see hikes as high as 9.7% while in the North and southern Scotland people will face a smaller 7% rise.
All of the Big Six end auto-rollover contracts
None of the six major energy suppliers will continue to roll business customers into new contracts without their explicit consent. The “Big Six” all promised to stop the tactic, although they are essentially only pre-empting new rules being put in place by Ofgem, the energy regulator, as part of their ongoing Retail Market Review. We recently reported that three of … Read More
SSE to stop auto-rollover contracts
Scottish & Southern Energy have become the third major energy supplier to announce an end to automatic contract rollovers for businesses. They join British Gas and E.ON Energy UK, with half of the Big Six now stating their commitment to not automatically locking customers in at the end of their fixed term if they don’t terminate their contract within a … Read More
Labour slams Big Six profits
Figures released by the Labour party last week show that the largest energy suppliers have notched up £3.3 billion in profits since the Conservative-led Coalition came into power. The combined profits of E.ON, EDF Energy, ScottishPower, British Gas, Scottish & Southern and Npower have gone up 73% in the last three years, according to Shadow Energy And Climate Change Secretary … Read More
Two of Big Six to end rollover contracts
E.ON and British Gas are to stop rolling their business energy customers into new contracts automatically at the end of their agreed term. Most organisation have experienced it. You receive a letter near the end of your electricity or gas contract informing you that there is only a few weeks or months left of your fixed-price agreement. It isn’t urgent … Read More
Centrica plans oil and shale gas exploration
The parent company of British Gas is seeking to generate more of its own energy, due to its increasing reliance on foreign imports. Centrica, owner of British Gas, has announced a new 2 year partnership with Cuadrilla Resources to extract shale gas at 7 wells across Lancashire. Fracking will take place at 6 new wells, as well as the one … Read More
Wind farms continue to get massive subsidies
Ministers increase “strike price” paid to onshore and offshore wind farms for each megawatt-hour of electricity they generate. Onshore and offshore wind farms are to receive subsidies on the energy they generate of at least £100 and £155 per megawatt-hour (MWh) respectively, with the going rate for electricity currently at around £50/MWh. The subsidy will be in place for the … Read More
Has the oil market been rigged to raise prices?
BP, Shell & Statoil suspected of deliberately manipulating markets and exacerbating the recession. Three energy giants may have “colluded in reporting distorted prices to manipulate the published prices for a number of oil and biofuel products”. If these allegations are true, it could have had an impact on not just petrol. Everything is linked to the price of oil somehow … Read More