Home supply and services

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | COVID-19 research findings published ahead of strengthened consumer protections

    This 'Chart of the week' comes from Ofgem’s latest research on the impacts of COVID-19 measures on energy consumption and customer’s financial wellbeing. Published on 6 November, the findings presented come from the third wave of this research, with fieldwork being conducted in April, May, and October. While those reporting...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Takes time to make time: When will we have time-of-use tariffs?

    Time-of-use (ToU) tariffs could be a key tool in supporting system decarbonisation and ensuring consumers see the benefits of the energy transition. Research for our latest edition of the Connected Homes Insight Service has found suppliers and consumers both taking tentative steps in exploring ToU pricing, with ambitious innovation and...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Take on me: market share impacts of domestic supplier trade sales

    This week, we look at the market share impacts of recent mergers and acquisitions among domestic energy suppliers. Over the last year, the headline changes saw incumbent suppliers, npower and SSE, exit the domestic supply market with customers going to E.ON UK and Ovo Energy, respectively. The consolidation has resulted...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | One in (half) a million: Domestic medium supplier growth

    Ten medium suppliers now hold a 23% share of the domestic energy market, based on data from our Q220 Domestic Market Share Survey. In the three months to the end of April, we noted strong growth by the medium suppliers (adding over half a million energy accounts) and changes to...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Road to recovery: COVID-19 and the smart rollout

    The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the smart meter rollout is uncertain, although modelling from BEIS and Ofgem has provided early indications of future installation levels. In this week’s Chart of the week we compare these assessments against pre-pandemic expectations. With the introduction of social distancing and lockdown...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Switcheroo: COVID-19 sees dates shift for Faster Switching

    Like most industry workstreams, the Switching Programme has experienced a delay due to the reprioritisation of activities under COVID-19. This 'Chart of the Week' looks at how the programme had to slip to allow parties relief from its requirements.

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | What’s in it for me? Household grid balancing

    The current dearth in energy demand and high renewable generation has brought the need for flexible consumption sharply into focus. Last weekend, Octopus Energy paid thousands of smart meter customers to use energy. Industry is now seriously looking at how households will be supported in their participation in demand side...

  • Business supply and services

    Australian Chart of the week | Retail applications on track for another year of big growth

    Its been 8 months since we last took a look at the new registrants in the retail electricity sector in Issue 2 of our Chart of the Week. This week we look at whether the growth in retail licence applications has continued and what sectors new retailers are focusing on....

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Challenger suppliers: started from the bottom, now we here

    We recently published our Domestic Market Share Survey for Q1 2020 (reporting date of 31 January 2020). This week's Chart of the week shows a shake-up of the rankings, unprecedented in the survey to date. Challenger brands now sit among the largest suppliers in the domestic energy market. This is due to...

  • Business supply and services

    Chart of the week | Energy demand falls amid coronavirus outbreak

    Since the government imposed restrictions on movement in the UK on 24 March, demand for power has fallen around 11% March 2019 levels. Comparatively, demand for gas has been less affected due to the dominance of the domestic heating market on gas demand. In this Chart of the week, we...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Suppliers struggle for profitability

    This week many suppliers have agreed to a series of measures to ameliorate the effects of the Coronavirus on vulnerable consumers. This is no doubt the right thing to do but will come at a cost. In what position are they to take this cost? This Chart of the Week...

  • Business supply and services

    Australian Chart of the week | Competition on the rise in residential retail electricity supply

    We have previously noted a range of new entrants into the electricity retail spaces for small business and commercial and industrial (C&I) supply. This Chart of the week takes a closer look at how competition is developing at a national and local level.

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | One fifth of suppliers offering cheapest tariff have exited

    Since 2017, 15 suppliers have exited the domestic energy market through Ofgem’s Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process. While the exits stem from a range of reasons, many of these companies are likely to have experienced problems in cashflow. These problems are often heightened by very cheap tariffs. This Chart...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Better together: consolidation in domestic retail

    The last 12 months have been a tumultuous time for the domestic retail market and its energy supply. In particular, the high-profile sale of SSE’s domestic supply business to Ovo Energy has radically altered the market landscape. As well as the transfer of npower customers to E.ON UK. This Chart...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Connected technology on the home stretch

    The market for connected home devices is set to grow substantially over the next five years. Ownership of connected devices is projected to grow from 20% of households to 40% by 2023, and our research has identified increasing levels of entry and investment from both start-ups and established companies. The...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | A short guide to RO mutualisation

    On 7 November Ofgem confirmed that the mutualisation for the Renewables Obligation (RO) has been triggered for 2018-19 (Compliance Period (CP) 17), the second consecutive year this has happened.  With an initial shortfall in the buy-out payments of £206.0mn, this week’s Chart of the Week takes you through the RO mutualisation process...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Suppliers adopt winter weighting to reduce debit balances

    Typically, 75% of gas demand and 57% of electricity demand is in the winter months. Over the last two to three years we have seen an increase in the number of suppliers implementing a winter weighting to their direct debit payments, whereby they charge customers more for energy over the...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Spook-tacular changes in the Domestic Energy Market

    In this week’s Chart of the Week, we explore how the domestic energy market share has changed so far, and what the future may bring for large suppliers and challenger brands. The Chart follows our latest publication Domestic Market Share Survey, which calculates the national account holdings and respective market share for all suppliers...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | I want to break free – Ofgem’s Collective Switch results

    On 27 September, Ofgem published the final results of its five collective switch trials, which was administered by energyhelpline, held between February 2018 and April 2019. The trials were designed to test switching among disengaged customers and assess the impact of the default tariff cap on switching.  Our Chart of the Week explores...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Better late than never: smart rollout gets new targets

    Last week BEIS announced that the rollout of smart meters will continue past the original 2020 deadline to 2024. In this Chart of the Week, we will look at some of the implications of delays to the smart meter rollout and highlight four key industry programmes that may be affected. Government has described...

  • Home supply and services

    Pixie Chart of the week | BEIS publishes latest ECO data

    On 19 September, the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published its latest figures on the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Scheme. As illustrated in this week’s Chart of the Week, July recorded the most monthly installations under ECO3. However, July 2019 achieved the lowest total installations of a July...

  • Business supply and services

    Australian Chart of the week | I think I can, I think I can: Can new retailers make it in the NEM?

    Electricity retail registrations have exploded since 2016. In this time, the Australian Energy Regulator awarded 30 new electricity retail licenses. This represents an increase of 70% since 2016. In this week's Chart of the week, we look at the annual market entrants from 2012. We also explore the benefits of...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Could have had it all: enrolling in the DCC

    Earlier this week, the Smart Data and Communications Company (DCC) announced the installation of the two millionth SMETS2 meter. The installation was reportedly carried out by British Gas in a house in Surrey. However, with less than 15 months until the smart meter rollout deadline, and around one-third of household...

  • Business supply and services

    Australian Chart of the week | Retail markets: the biggest shake-up since deregulation?

    The energy retail sector in Australia is undergoing a significant shake-up. This is largely due to regulatory intervention, ongoing rule changes and market entry. Consequently, there have been concerns over retailers who charge disengaged households and small businesses higher rates and generally rising retail prices. As a result, two default...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Fix Up, Look Smart – SMETS installation dates on the horizon

    Energy suppliers have a licence obligation to take all reasonable steps to install smart meters in homes and microbusinesses by the end of 2020. When installing meters, suppliers must comply with the Installation Validity Periods (IVPs) set out in the Smart Energy Code. They specify when meters complying with the...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Domestic supply: Highest highs and lowest lows

    The last 12 months have been difficult for many energy suppliers. Volatile wholesale prices, caps on tariffs and challenges managing cashflows have put the pressure on and lead to 12 domestic supplier exits between July 2018 and July 2019. Nine were through Ofgem’s Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) auctions, two...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Beautiful butterfly? Ofgem plans out Retail Energy Code

    More clarity has been provided on how the Retail Energy Code (REC) is set to evolve over time to support the move to faster and more reliable switching. In this Chart of the Week, we look at Ofgem’s recent consultation on its plans for this new code

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | RO mutualisation to return in 2018-19?

    As generators are receiving their final Renewables Obligation Certificates (Rocs) for generation during compliance period (CP) 17 (2018-19) of the Renewables Obligation (RO), eyes will soon be turning to suppliers regarding the upcoming compliance deadline this summer. Our Chart of the Week highlights our current forecast shortfall in the CP17 buy-out fund,...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Northern Soul: smart installs fall as SMETS2 picks up

    The domestic energy market is now 18 months away from the smart meter rollout deadline. With the install rate declining, the recent change in technology to SMETS2 is having wide-felt impacts. In this week’s Chart of the Week, we consider whether the change in technology may rebalance regional penetration of smart meters.

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | How low can you go? The price cap to fall by £77/year

    Just over two months after the default tariff cap was increased for summer 2019, our thoughts have turned to Ofgem’s 1 October winter 2019-20 adjustment to the cap. The start of May marked the start of the second half of the data window for wholesale costs in the cap formulas....