900,000 domestic customers impacted by SoLR over last two years

Across 2020 and 2019, 887,000 domestic customers were supplied by a company which exited the market via the Supplier of Last Resort mechanism (SoLR). On average, this is around 1.7% of the market per year. In 2018, 551,000 domestic customers were supplied by a company which entered the Supplier of Last Resort mechanism (2.1% of the market). The proportion of suppliers using the SoLR mechanism has remained high: five of the nine domestic supplier exits (56%) which occurred across 2020 triggered the SoLR mechanism (compared to 60% in 2019; 54% in 2018).

To keep reading, please log in to your account

Related thinking

Business supply and services

Supplier of Last Resort true-ups confirmed by Ofgem

Ofgem has published its decision documents confirming the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) true-up claims submitted by energy suppliers and the amounts it has agreed as part of their SoLR levy claim. In this week’s 'Chart of the week', we review the SoLR true-up claims.

Home supply and services

A bumpy ride: Why rising wholesale prices are impacting NTS charges

Due to the current energy crisis, consumer energy bills have been exposed to substantial increases over the past year. The recent rise in wholesale prices has had knock-on effects in many non-commodity costs within consumer bills, some of which will be baked into charges for several years to come In...

Energy storage and flexibility

Unlocking REMA: emerging market views

Recent market events have continued to highlight the challenges of the energy trilemma, specifically the need to decarbonise the energy system while ensuring energy security and affordability. The government announced in April 2022 it would be undertaking a Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) to address these issues, and in...

Commercial and market outlook

Elevated Wholesale Price in the NEM: QLD on the verge of triggering Administered Price Cap (APC) again

The Administered Price Cap (APC) was triggered for the first state on 12 June at 6:55 am as a result of QLD breaching the Cumulative Price Threshold (CPT) of $1,359,100 for the rolling 7-day period. This caused the withdrawal of capacities by gas generators that could not recover fuel costs...

Home supply and services

Domestic Third Party Charges: 2022-23 outlook

The new energy price cap will come into effect from April, hitting a record high level which will see domestic consumers paying over 50% more per year in their energy bills. Although much of this increase is driven by rising wholesale prices, Third Party Charges (TPCs), reflecting non-commodity energy costs,...

Home supply and services

No easy fix: tariff prices remain high

In response to the unprecedented increases in global gas prices, Ofgem announced last week time limited measures “to help stabilise” the supply market. This includes a requirement for all domestic suppliers to offer existing customers the same tariffs available to new customers from 14 April, echoing changes made by the...

Home supply and services

Last Resort Supplier Payments: the impact on domestic electricity bills

The presence of a significant increase in commodity costs in 2021, combined with the Default Tariff Cap limiting the revenues that suppliers can recover in the domestic market, has contributed to a number of suppliers falling into insolvency in the last 9 months. The Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process...

Home supply and services

The default tariff cap: More questions than answers?

Throughout the recent period of wholesale and supply market volatility, the government and Ofgem have remained committed to the default tariff cap and continued to highlight its benefits to customers in protecting them from rising energy prices this winter. However, Cornwall Insight’s forecast of the default tariff cap for Summer...