British Gas and Npower announce price rises

adminBusiness Electricity, Business Gas, International, Utilities Market Regulation, Wholesale Utilities Markets

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

All of the Big Six end auto-rollover contracts

adminBusiness Electricity, Business Gas, Utilities Market Regulation

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

Is public opinion on shale gas changing?

adminBusiness Gas, Utilities Market Regulation, Wholesale Utilities Markets

Shale gas is an environmental and political hot potato. This article studies how the country’s feelings towards shale gas have evolved. It’s probably the hottest topic in energy at the moment – ‘fracking’ for shale gas. As with any new source of energy, it has drawn protests from hard left groups at exploratory drilling sites and the HQ of energy … Read More

Labour slams Big Six profits

adminBusiness Electricity, Business Gas, Utilities Market Regulation

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