Chart of the week | Prices rise for SMEs as energy demand grows

Over the last six months our Pricing in the SME Gas and Power Markets reports have tracked a recovery in SME prices, following 5 consecutive quarters of price reductions. In this Chart of the week, we look at the trends in energy prices in the SME sector and how they might change in the near future.

To keep reading, please log in to your account

Related thinking

Home supply and services

Switching duck: electricity switches to remain subdued in the near future

In November 2021, switching levels plummeted in response to rising tariff prices and a lack of market choice. By January 2022, domestic switching reached its lowest level on record, falling 80% on January 2021. This 'Chart of the week' checks in with the options, if any, available to households wanting...

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...

Home supply and services

Ticking Clock

With the political debate regarding energy prices and their impacts on the cost of living – not to mention the economy at large – the default tariff cap announcement for Summer 2022 from Ofgem at the start of next month is the most anticipated since the cap’s inception.

Energy storage and flexibility

Minimum demand projections in Victoria

The surplus rooftop solar provides an enormous opportunity for additional flexible load, where this can be optimised during the day. Electric Vehicles acting at a distributed level (exactly where the surplus is arising) provide the perfect solution if utilised in conjunction with smart metering to assist in mitigating these issues....

Energy storage and flexibility

Spring is here, where are you?

With the onset of spring in September, we typically observe a drop in demand in NEM. However, this year the decline in demand has seen NEM and multiple states breaking several records for minimum operational demand in the middle of the day, which is largely driven by solar penetration in...

Business supply and services

SMEs (Small and medium businesses) experience record breaking prices

In Q321 the average SME gas contract was priced at the highest value since we started tracking propositions in 2012 (4.98p/th for 1-year acquisition contracts that assume a 25MWh annual consumption). Our Pricing in the SME Gas/Power Markets reports also shows SME electricity contracts seeing record highs, priced at 19.95p/kWh...

Power and gas networks

The rise of wholesale gas prices … the saga

It is certainly not a standard summer season for gas prices. Normally with demand for gas typically lower, we should see prices at the lowest levels of the calendar year. However, Summer 2021 gas prices are currently seeing bullish momentum with price points that we would expect to see in winter. In this ‘Chart of...