MSE News: Big six energy companies told to help smaller firms compete

Former_MSE_Helen

Ofgem is to introduce new rules aimed at helping smaller firms break into the energy market..."

Read the full story:

Big six energy companies told to help smaller firms compete



Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

Consumerist

It all sounds a bit over the average consumer's head.

What's the point of giving a "regulator" more powers when it refuses to use those it already has until publicly criticised or embarrassed into doing anything.

Energy suppliers regularly ignore the regulations and they are secure in the knowledge that if Ofgem does anything at all, it will take forever to do it. Back-billing is a problem at the moment but it is not clear to me what, if anything, they are doing about it.

In this case, of course, it will be the independent energy suppliers who will do the complaining so there is an outside chance that Ofgem will take some notice; it certainly seems to take little notice of consumers - who cannot even complain directly to them because it must be done statistically through third parties such as watchdogs; nothing could be better calculated to take a long time.

My suspicion is that this will all be a huge waste of time and money - with energy consumers footing the bill as usual.

Ken68

Something doesn't add up in this report.
Surely buying prices are confidential. Part of the trading system.
How can a regulator force a company to help competitors.

Consumerist

Ken68 wrote: »

Something doesn't add up in this report.
Surely buying prices are confidential. Part of the trading system.
How can a regulator force a company to help competitors.

I think it's the selling prices that Ofgem wants more open declaration of.

There is the suspicion that the generators are selling energy to their own sister companies at prices determined by what profit that want to declare in which country rather than on the basis of supply and demand. There doesn't seem to be an open market in which all suppliers can bid for energy.