Energy companies 'giving poor advice on best deals'

The number of energy tariffs available to householders is so vast and the options so complex that staff at energy companies have no idea which is the best deal, according to an undercover investigation.

Consumer body Which? called each of the six major energy suppliers 12 times in one week to get advice on the cheapest deal.

Despite being asked clearly for the lowest cost option in each case, in nearly a third of the calls, the firms failed to offer their cheapest tariff. Staff also gave questionable advice about potential savings, cashback deals and fixed prices.

The big six energy companies have about 400 tariffs on offer between them, with some only available to online customers, others offering cashback incentives and others with "bill free" months if a customer signs up for long enough.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/oct/13/energy-companies-poor-advice-deals?newsfeed=true

npower releases latest energy market update

npower has released its new energy market update, reporting that mild temperatures and good storage levels have resulted in a bearish prompt market.

http://www.ukprwire.com/Detailed/Business/npower_releases_latest_energy_market_update_268195.shtml

New UK & Norway Energy Agreement

UK and Norway Reaffirm Their Commitment on Energy Security and Climate Issues.

Just a day after Norwegian oil and gas producer Statoil threatened to stop selling its North Sea natural gas to the UK, unless our Energy Secretary, Mr. Chris Huhne, made more effort to increase the country’s use of renewable energy. Amazingly a joint Ministerial statement on climate change and energy security was signed between the two countries.

Read More: http://www.catalyst-commercial.co.uk/blog/latest-news/uk-norway-energy-agreement/

Opus Energy Ltd Celebrates The Sunday Times Top Track Listing with the Creation of 100 New Positions

Independent UK business-to-business energy supplier, Opus Energy, has today announced the creation of an extra 100 jobs. This follows the company’s recent feature in The Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 league table of the UK’s top mid-market private businesses.

Published on Sunday 16th October, the Top Track 250 league table ranks the UK's mid-market private companies by their sales. Opus Energy’s ranking in the Top Track 250 was achieved through a 31% growth in sales over the previous year; the sales figures for the year up until March 2011 show that Opus Energy achieved £198 million in sales.

Typical Top Track 250 companies are owned and run by entrepreneurs and established families, which have between 100 to 13,000 employees. Opus Energy employs 360 staff at both its Northampton and Oxford offices, but as the business has continued to see rapid growth during the first six months of the 2011 financial year it aims to create 100 new jobs by the end of 2012 to meet demand.

Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director, Opus Energy Ltd, states: “We are extremely pleased with this recognition of our performance over the last year but are now very much focused on the future. We are creating these new jobs to meet our continued level of growth.”

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8891404.htm

How SMEs can protect themselves from increasing energy costs

Making more money out of your business isn’t just about increasing sales. Taking control of your overheads can make a big difference to your profit margins too. After all, a pound saved is far more important than a pound earned because it goes straight to your bottom line. And with price increases for businesses of as much as 30% over the past 12 months, the cost of energy is one of the worst offenders for eating into profits.

Not for the first time this year have all the major suppliers announced that prices are going up again - by as much as 19% this time round for consumers. However, because businesses tend to pay for their energy on fixed price contracts lasting a year or more, the renewal quotes that we are currently seeing coming up are even higher. Rates suddenly doubling - eg from 8p/unit to 16p/unit for electricity - are not uncommon, often in cases where the business owners find themselves automatically locked-in to paying the new rates for another year before they’ve even realised what’s happened.

http://www.smeweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3105:increasing-energy-costs-for-smes&catid=55:features&Itemid=90

First Small Scale Renewable Energy Systems Insurance Cover

Naturesave, which won the Queen’s Award for Industry earlier this year, will provide the radical new policy from early October, which will cover Renewable Energy Installations for schools, small businesses and community organisations - and guarantee green energy revenues.

The only cover of its kind in the UK, the Small Scale Renewable Energy scheme has been set up to ensure that organisations and businesses, who have installed green energy systems, have access to realistic and affordable cover for the equipment and guaranteed protection for the revenues they earn in the event of mechanical breakdown or material damage, as well as public liability.

There has been increasing commercial interest in installing renewable energy systems, following the introduction in April 2010 of Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) for renewable energy. Technology is becoming more efficient and affordable, and businesses, community organisations and schools are now seeing the benefits of renewable energy in terms of cost savings as well as reducing their environmental impact.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8845505.htm

Anger over high energy bills is test of EU's commitment to renewables

The EU has set ambitious goals for its electricity and gas supply sectors. These goals involve decarbonisation, an increased share of renewables, improved security of energy supplies and a reduction of demand. Do these goals all point to higher prices per unit of energy? The answer is, quite simply, yes.

Reducing the carbon emissions from the energy sector necessarily means raising the price of carbon dioxide released from gas and from power production. This can happen through a combination of reducing the cap on the quantity of emissions traded in the EU emissions trading scheme, via higher carbon taxes or by higher emissions performance standards. Higher carbon prices (actual or implicit) are essential to underpin low-carbon investments.

Current projections for the UK suggest the price will rise from its current level of about £10 per tonne of carbon dioxide to £70 per tonne by 2030. For electricity, this would raise wholesale electricity prices by about 40% based on the impact on the cost of gas-fired power generation. If gas for domestic heating were also to be subjected to a charge of £70 per tonne of carbon dioxide, this would raise wholesale gas prices by 70%.

Increasing the share of renewables in electricity and heat is likely to be expensive for some time to come. Onshore wind is currently about 50% more expensive per unit of energy than conventional power sources, while offshore wind is about 250% more expensive. If half of UK electricity were to come from an equal combination of onshore and offshore wind, this would raise the wholesale price of electricity by 50%. Heat from other renewable sources, such as solar thermal or biomass, is likely to have significant cost implications for the price of heat.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/20/energy-bills-european-union-renewables?newsfeed=true