News

Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, more bad news for the energy supply business arrived on February 19^th.  The energy watchdog Ofgem announced that we can all look forward to higher business energy prices, and this time they put the responsibility squarely at the door of the UK energy supply industry.  The UK’s capacity for producing energy is falling, as carbon resources dry up and the country’s creaking, aging - and above all, polluting - power stations are decommissioned.   New power stations are planned but not yet built, and at the current rate of closures, energy capacity could fall by 10% even by April of this year. The previous governmental response was a grand plan to invest in renewable sources… nuclear, wind and water.  However, the financial crisis formed a sucker punch to the guts of the economy.  So at the same time as energy sources run low, the cash ran out as well.  Shale gas has been one potential source, but that industry is in its infancy in the UK, and is not without its critics.  Instead, the UK has been forced to turn to the international market to import gas, and at a time when many other countries seeking to tap the same supply.   And that means only one thing… demand drives up the price.  Reports suggest things could get extremely tricky in three to five years time.  There’s no suggestion that the lights will go off, but certainly businesses need to help by making sure they revisit their energy usage. It would seem high business energy prices are a stark reality that companies will need to get used to.  And this latest announcement from Ofgem suggests things are going to get worse before they get better.  Whilst businesses will look to roll these increased costs into their own budgets, they can also act to implement whatever energy saving measures are possible, and also use a broker such as Utility Helpline to ensure that at the very least, they are on the right tariff possible, and paying no more than is absolutely needed.