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OFGEM does not think so.
In case you have a credit balance (usually from a monthly budget plan) on your energy account and the supplier goes bankrupt, you may loose your money!
Therefore Ofgem has put in place a new safety net to protect consumers in the unlikely event their supplier goes out of business.
The credit balance will be transferred to the supplier of last resort who may recoup it’s cost through an industry levy.

However OFGEM has now confirmed to Alpine Utilities Ltd that this scheme only covers domestic customers.
While budget plans are less common in the commercial energy market, customers may still have a credit balance from an overestimated meter reading or security deposit paid.
There is currently no scheme in place to protect business energy customers from any losses should the supplier go bankrupt.
Customers should take this into consideration when procuring a utility contract.

Customer A just visited our office with electricity bills from his supplier amounting to £27’000! We checked the rates, readings and dates and all appear to be correct.
Buy hey! Among the various consumption figures it says 99’000kwh! The error: the previous reading was estimated at 60000 the latest reading was actual at 59000 – instead of calculating a credit of 1000kwh, the supplier billed for 99’000!
Alpine Utilities has now contacted the supplier on behalf of the customer and we are waiting for a revised bill.

It’s not just to find the cheapest price you need a professional broker – we make sure you are not unjustly ripped off by the suppliers!

OFGEM has published data which shows that in the first half of this year (Jan-June 2016) more than 3.8 million switches took place as people changed their energy supplier – around a million more than the same period last year (Jan-June 2015).

In the first half of 2016, around 1.6 million domestic customers switched gas suppliers and 2.2 million domestic customers switched electricity suppliers.

However, whilst there are more deals in the market to choose from, OFGEM’s data reveals that 66% of domestic customers are still on expensive standard variable tariffs.

Meanwhile, customers can save over £300 by ditching expensive standard variable tariffs for the cheapest deal, often a fixed-term tariff. The average standard variable tariff of the larger energy suppliers as of 28 July 2016 was £1,066. The cheapest tariff available on that date – a one year fixed tariff – was £758, a saving of £308.

Commercial Customers have an even bigger choice of suppliers and potential savings are obviously much bigger, too.

For a competitive quote and a professional service contact Alpine Utilities Ltd today.

David Lande from Alpine Utilities was disappointed to learn that Scottish Power have a very rigid process of re-applying for transfer after an objection. The system is automatic and will only re-apply 29 days after receiving the first objection. This can lead to customers paying unnecessarily excessive out-of-contract rates.
Following the intervention of Alpine Utilities with OFGEM, they have contacted Scottish Power and they agreed to will look to develop an override for the circumstances that you have described.
OFGEM thanked Alpine Utilities for bringing this issue to their attention.

Mr Lande said: It’s very encouraging to be able to flag a problem with a supplier and see OFGEM taking immediate action.

Recently a customer contacted Alpine Utilities Ltd as his previous supplier’s end read was much higher than the new supplier’s start read, which would cost the customer hundreds of pounds for double charged energy.

Alpine Utilities contacted the new supplier on the customer’s behalf and we are awaiting the final response from the supplier.

It is therefore important that customers always compare the previous supplier’s final bill with the new supplier’s first one.

Any discrepancy should be reported immediately and as a responsible broker we will pass on your complaint to the relevant department.

In the 2015 Autumn Statement, the Government announced its intent to reduce the impact of
renewables policies on the costs of electricity for the most Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs).
This proposal would see EIIs exempt from a significant proportion1 of the costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and the Small Scale Feed-in Tariff (ss-FiT), in order to ensure that they maintain their competitiveness internationally. EIIs are currently entitled to cash compensation from the cost of these schemes (i.e. they pay the costs but receive compensation from the Government). From April 2017, it is proposed that this would change to a direct exemption at source; however, this is subject to State Aid Approval.
Under this exemption, companies operating in sectors such as metal casting, heavy
manufacturing and mining will benefit, but non-exempt customers will pay extra to cover the cost of the exemptions. This cross-subsidy will put further upward pressure on prices for these non-EII customers.
Havenpower have published and information and Q&A sheet regarding this new policy, which you can access online @ http://www.havenpower.com/customer-information/energy-intensive-industry-eii-exemption-explained

As Alpine Utilities Ltd has experienced various serious problems with Extra Energy we welcome OFGEM’s investigation into that supplier’s performance.

We note that OFGEM has only acted once they have been informed of a highly level of complaints by the Citizens Advise Service and the Energy Ombudsman in March and April respectively.

Some energy brokers however have noticed serious problems in Extra Energy’s customer service and registration system several months earlier and stopped offering their contracts to clients already in late 2015.

We call on OFGEM to open a channel where energy brokers could raise their concerns to OFGEM well before the CAS and Ombudsman have registered a high number of complaints.

CMA findings as reported by Theenergyst.com highlight the problem of small firms doing nothing when their energy contract comes up for renewal.

The CMA said that suppliers were making high profits from disengaged small business customers (twice the margin they make in the domestic market and four times the margin made in the I&C market). On average, firms were paying around a third more on rollover tariffs for electricity than retention tariffs, and around a quarter more for gas, according to the CMA’s figures. Meanwhile those on deemed tariffs were paying at least two thirds more for electricity and gas than those on retention tariffs.

The remedie is obvious: contact your trusted energy broker like ALPINE UTILITIES LTD with your bills and we will search the market for a cheaper tariff and sort out your renewal next year.

With increasing calls to move away from nuclear power to green energy it was interesting to read a news item in the Swiss Review that BKW has announced it’s plans to decommission the Muehleberg nuclear power plant near Berne in December 2019.

This decision was taken for economical reason rather than to please the environmental lobby.

First the fuel rods have to be cooled down for 5 years.

After that they can start dismantling the plant of to make it free of nuclear materials expecting to take another 7 years.

The final demolition of the building should be completed by 2034.

15 years – 3 times as long as building it!

Estimated costs are CHF 800m with a further CHF 1.3 billion for disposal of nuclear waste.

ELN reports: Around 3.8 million energy customers were overcharged a total of £270 million due to billing errors last year.

That’s according to a report by uSwitch, which estimates it cost each household on average £72.

Around 9% of them are yet to receive any money back from their supplier and 12% waited more than two months before the issue was resolved.

We at Alpine Utilities Ltd have noticed a surge in billing errors recently, clearly indicating that many supplier’s system were not up-to their job.

We have asked OFGEM to monitor supplier’s performance and to check that that their operating systems and staff training is fit for purpose.

Unfortunately it can take years before OFGEM takes action and this must change.