Householders in England and Wales are using less energy compared to 2005, with a 24.7% drop on average. New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed energy consumption decreased from 12.2MWh in 2005 to 19.7MWh in 2011. Within England and Wales, the East Midlands had the highest household energy usage every year between […]

Energy companies are keeping consumers waiting on hold over the phone for as long as half an hour, new research reveals. An investigation by Which? found that on average, the consumer body was left waiting on hold for between 21 seconds (by energy firm Ebico) to 17 minutes and five seconds (by npower) before getting […]

Ofgem’s reforms published today “will fail” to help consumers pick out the best energy deal in the market. That’s according to consumer group Which? in response to the energy regulator’s detailed new rules for a simpler and clearer market for consumers. It made the comment following its recent research which revealed only three in ten […]

The Government’s plans to simplify energy tariffs for consumers to find the best deal are “still too complex”, according to a new survey. Consumer body Which? is calling for a single unit price for energy as its new research revealed only three in ten (28%) people got the right answer when asked to identify the […]

Energy supplier SSE has announced a rise in profits for the last 12 months due to the prolonged cold weather despite disruption to its services and a fine from regulators. Its year-on-year profits rose 27.5%, with retail operating profits up from £321.6 million to £410.1 million and reported pre-tax profits of £1.4 billion from April […]

Prospective homebuyers in the UK are “wary” of buying a property that has a Green Deal loan attached to it. Consumer body Which? has revealed nearly half of 2,070 people surveyed said they would want a Green Deal loan paid off before they bought a property and only a fifth would reconsider buying a home […]

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said he is “disappointed” that six energy firms did not meet the efficiency targets set by the Government last year. British Gas, SSE and Scottish Power were among the companies that missed their targets as revealed by Ofgem today, which is launching an investigation into what happened. Under two schemes launched […]

Ofgem’s plans to reform energy tariffs could lead to UK householders paying up to £55 million extra on their gas and electricity bills. The energy regulator has proposed the Tariff Comparison Rate (TCR), which aims to simplify energy tariffs and allow consumers to compare the prices across the market. Under the new proposals, consumers will […]

The Government’s energy policies will result in both winners and losers as they will only benefit householders that take advantage of efficiency schemes like the Green Deal. The comment from uSwitch.com follows DECC’s latest publication of the impact of energy and climate change policies on household bills. The analysis claims household energy bills will on […]

Energy supplier npower has announced a rise in profits last year just months after massive hikes in energy prices. The company saw a 25% increase in profits in 2012 at £390 million – up from £313 million the previous year. The news comes after the supplier increased its winter gas prices by 8.8% and electricity […]