Utility Week

"I'm proud that we were able to put customers at the heart of the price review process, turn around the industry's poor record on complaints and bolster support for some of the most vulnerable households" Tony Smith announces his retirement as chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water. UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH NOVEMBER 2019 | 5 ENERGY Gnergy gets final demand over RO Ofgem has issued Gnergy with a final order over its failure to make its Renewables Obligation payment of almost £674,000 plus interest. The order compels the supplier to make the outstanding payments by the end of the month. If it fails to do so, further action could be taken. Under the government's Renewables Obligation scheme, suppliers have to demonstrate they have sourced enough electricity from renewable sources to meet their obligation by presenting Renewables Obligation certificates to Ofgem by 1 September. If suppliers have not met their obligation, they must make up the shortfall by paying into a buy-out fund by 31 August. Gnergy failed to meet either deadline and has not given Ofgem adequate assurances that it will meet the late payment deadline. Shortfalls in the late payment fund trigger mutualisation if the relevant threshold is met (£15.4 million for England and Wales, and £1.54 million for Scotland). ENERGY EDF takes on Toto Energy's customers as SoLR EDF Energy has been appointed supplier of last resort (SoLR) by Ofgem to take on the 134,000 customers of failed supplier Toto Energy. Toto last week became the eighth energy retailer of 2019 to collapse, and was the subject of more than 700 complaints to the Energy Ombudsman so far this year. It racked up a similar number of complaints in 2018. Its demise came just weeks a•er the supplier was named by Ofgem as owing £4.5 million in Renewa- bles Obligation payments. Philippa Pickford, Ofgem's director of future retail markets, said: "EDF Energy has agreed to absorb the costs of taking on these customers and outstanding credit balances, which means the extra costs will not fall on the industry or households. "EDF Energy will be in contact with customers over the coming days with further information. Once the transfer has been completed, customers can shop around for a better deal if they wish to." In August it was announced that EDF had been appointed to take on the 8,000 customers of Solarplicity, another failed energy retailer. Toto acquired the majority of Solarplic- ity's customers in July this year. The collapse of Toto follows those of Economy Energy, Our Power, Brilliant Energy, Cardiff Energy Supply, Solarplicity, Ever- smart Energy and Rutherford Energy. More than half of the UK's electricity needs should be supplied from wind power by 2030, according to a radical new decarbonisation blueprint drawn up for the Labour Party. The document, called 30 by 2030, has been prepared by a team of energy academics and experts and lays out detailed proposals for a fast track plan. Among its 30 recommendations are that 9,000 wind turbines should be installed by 2030. £267m Amount owed to energy suppliers leading up to winter, down by one-third on last year. 50MW The government is planning to drop the requirement for energy storage projects of 50MW or above to get special planning permission from the energy secretary. Book your table Table bookings have opened for this year's Utility Week Awards. The full shortlist is available at: https://utilityweekawards.co.uk

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