Ofgem orders seven suppliers to pay £17.9m in unpaid Renewables Obligations payments
Press release
- Publication date
- Company
- Together Energy (Retail) Limited Delta Gas and Power Limited Ampoweruk Limited Entice Energy Supply Limited MA Energy Limited Neon Reef Limited Whoop Energy Limited
- Industry sector
- Supply and Retail Market
- Seven active suppliers have not paid or provided adequate assurances that they will make their Renewables Obligation payments by the late payment deadline of 31 October 2021
- Ofgem has issued the suppliers with final and provisional orders compelling them to pay £17.9 million in unpaid Renewables Obligations
- If the suppliers fail to make the payments, Ofgem could take further enforcement action which could include revoking a supplier’s licence
Ofgem has issued two suppliers with final orders and five suppliers with provisional orders, compelling them to pay £17.9 million in outstanding Renewables Obligation (RO) payments by 31 October 2021.
Earlier this month Ofgem consulted on issuing final orders for Ampower, Whoop Energy, Goto Energy, Home Energy Trading and Colorado Energy for unpaid RO payments.
Home Energy Trading has paid its obligation in full, whilst Goto Energy and Colorado Energy have since ceased to trade, and therefore the decision has been taken not to issue final orders to these suppliers.
Ampower and Whoop Energy have been issued with final orders and have until 31 October 2021 to make the outstanding payments, plus interest.
Ofgem also engaged with other suppliers which missed the initial compliance deadlines. Five additional active suppliers are yet to meet their obligation and were unable to provide satisfactory assurances that they will be in a position to make the necessary payments by 31 October 2021.
These suppliers are Delta Gas and Power, Entice Energy, MA Energy, Neon Reef, and Together Energy, and they have been issued with provisional orders
The five suppliers failed to pay into the buy-out fund or present the required number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) by the initial deadlines of 31 August and 1 September 2021.
They are now compelled to pay into the buy-out fund by 31 October 2021 with interest. If they do not pay, Ofgem could start the process of revoking their licences to supply energy.
Following the late payment deadline of 31 October 2021 and internal verification processes, Ofgem will publish a summary of suppliers’ RO payments, late payments and any payments which remain outstanding.
Notes to editors:
- The final and provisional orders have been issued to the suppliers.
- The amounts owed for each supplier are (excluding interest):
- The named suppliers are, in Ofgem’s view, likely to contravene article 7 of the Renewables Obligation Order and/or article 5 of the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order, following their failure to meet the 31 August and 1 September 2021 deadlines and possibly the 31 October 2021 late payment deadline.
- Provisional and final orders are made with the intention of bringing an end to a (or likely) breach of a licence condition or other relevant requirement. A provisional order, rather than a final order, is made to address an urgent need to remedy harm caused by that apparent breach.
- The Renewables Obligation schemes are government schemes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support large-scale renewable electricity projects in the UK. They place an obligation on UK electricity suppliers to source an increasing proportion of the electricity they supply from renewable sources. Ofgem administers the schemes on behalf of government.
- ROCs are certificates issued to operators of accredited renewable generating stations for the eligible renewable electricity they generate. Operators can trade ROCs with other parties. ROCs are ultimately used by suppliers to demonstrate that they have met their obligations.
- Suppliers can meet their annual obligation by presenting ROCs, making a payment into the buy-out fund or a combination of the two. The buy-out fund is the fund into which buy-out payments are made. We redistribute money held in the buy-out fund to suppliers in proportion to the number of ROCs each supplier presented to Ofgem for that compliance period.
- Shortfalls in the late payment fund for the Renewables Obligation scheme will trigger mutualisation if the relevant threshold (£15.4 million for England and Wales, and £1.54 million for Scotland) is met. This means that suppliers who have complied with their obligations in full or in part will be required to make up the shortfall.
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