E4B in Administration

Power company in administration

Electricity prices have risen sharply this year

An electricity company which supplies 40,000 small businesses has gone into administration, the BBC has learned. A buyer was unable to be found for Electricity 4 Business (E4B), which is based in Milton Keynes, energy regulator Ofgem confirmed.

Customers will not be disconnected, but will automatically be transferred to another supplier in a process organised by the regulator.

Customers' tariffs may change, but they will be free to switch supplier.

A spokeswoman for E4B said they would not be commenting on the situation on Wednesday.
The company had 140 members of staff, of which 100 were made redundant on Wednesday. The remaining staff will stay as the business is run down.

'Unusual'
Existing measures are in place for situations such as this. This will leave thousands of small businesses looking for new deals on their energy in an extremely volatile market
Federation of Small Businesses spokesman. Ofgem will invite other suppliers to take on the business's customers before appointing a supplier.

"This situation is very unusual but not unprecedented," said Philip Cullum, deputy chief executive of watchdog Consumer Focus, formerly Energywatch. "Ofgem has robust procedures in place to make sure that that these very small businesses are not left high and dry without an energy supply." An Ofgem spokesman said that a report regarding the future for customers would be released by the end of the week.

'Cutting costs'
On its website, E4B says that it is aimed at cutting electricity costs for small and medium-sized businesses spending less than £10,000 a year on electricity. It does not produce electricity.
Its customers include a number of sole trader businesses. They will be contacted by their new supplier.

"It is disappointing that E4B is gone," said a spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses.
"This will leave thousands of small businesses looking for new deals on their energy in an extremely volatile market. We would urge Consumer Focus to get involved immediately to ensure new deals offered to small businesses are fair." E4B signed businesses on to relatively long-term contracts which allowed them to pay in regular instalments throughout the year.
It bought electricity at wholesale prices, which have remained stubbornly high over the last year.
"The decision by the directors of E4B to place the company into administration comes as a result of volatility in the energy market," said Stuart Maddison, joint administrator and partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
"We will be working closely with Ofgem to ensure an orderly wind-down of the company's activities and would like to reassure E4B's customers that the administration will not affect their supply of electricity." - (From BBC)


Some Advice from Phoenix Energy

• Cancel direct debits immediately - E4B are in administration - don't pay them any more you will now get it back - let the dust settle and pay up later.
• Read your electricty meter and keep a copy - you may need this later to dispute how much you owe and who to.
• Beware 'the hawks' We believe that the customer database has been sold to marketing companies - customers will be bombarded with calls! - we have heard that these companies are claiming ' customers will be cut off if they don't switch to ....Energy ' - this is NOT the case. Other lies are 'that they have been appointed to help' - again a lie - BEWARE!
• Get independent advice - shop around - done make any rash decisions
• Phone your current broker or consultant - if you don't have one Phoenix Energy will be happy to assist - 0800 458 64 60

Phoenix Energy Business Customers

At Phoenix Energy we specialise in sourcing cheap electricity and gas for our customers. We deal with most of the major energy suppliers and organise new supply contracts for all types of businesses.

Our customers cover the whole spectrum of business users, we have 'no standing charge' products for our very low users and for 'landlord supplies' and for 'void' premises. We can organise electricity supplies for 01 / 02 domestic meters and for 03 / 04 small business meters. We have alternative suppliers who specialise in 05 / 06 / 07 / 08 supplies for larger users and we can organise 00 'half hourly' billed meter supplies for industrial customers.

We can also organise gas supplies and we can cover any amount of gas from 'domestic' quantities to large industrial users.

Please contact us on 0800 458 64 60 for a free no obligation quotation or visit http://phoenixenergy.co.uk/contactus.html for full contact details.


Some of our actual customers are shown below - is your business similar to any of these?
Call us for a free quote.



Farm Hair salon / cafe



Convenience store Public House




Religion Temple Office Block



Estae Agent Enterprise Centre


Call Centres Supermarket


Restaurant Garage





Large Office Small workshop



Our customers cover all business types, from sole traders to PLCs - will bills ranging from £1 to £100000 and everything in between.

Phone 0800 458 64 60 for a free quote or to arrange an appointment.

Estimated Bills

Energy bills 'often inaccurate'

Energy customer Roland Gilliam says bills are difficult to work out
Energy customers could be paying higher prices for gas and electricity used months earlier, the new watchdog Consumer Focus has warned.
The six biggest energy suppliers have raised gas and electricity prices by up to 34% since the summer.
But 16 million people could be charged a higher rate for energy used before the increase because of inaccurate estimated bills, says the group.
The Energy Retail Association denies the industry is profiteering.
Consumer Focus, which began work earlier this month, says about a third of customers will get estimated bills this quarter.
These bills will take into account energy used before the summer price rises and after, but they may not take into account the price rise.

PRICE INCREASES SINCE SUMMER
5 July - EDF EnergyGas up 22%, electricity up 17%
30 July - British GasGas up 35%, electricity up 9%
21 Aug - EonGas up 26%, electricity up 16%
21 Aug - Scottish & SouthernGas up 29.2%, electricity up 19.2%
29 Aug - Scottish PowerGas up 34%, electricity up 9%
29 Aug - NpowerGas up 26%, electricity up 14%

Ofgem urges more transparency in energy bills
This could result in a huge and possibly inaccurate catch-up bill down the line once the customer's meter is read, because the supplier will not know which units of energy were used before the price rise.
"Consumers could be paying higher prices for gas or electricity used in the past, while for companies it results in a very nice windfall," Robert Hammond, of Consumer Focus told the BBC.
Estimated bills
A colleague at the group explained that the situation would only really change when so-called "smart" meters were rolled out across the country.
These devices offer a two-way communication between the energy supplier and household, offering real-time information on gas and electricity use and giving more accurate bills.
They are currently being trialled by the energy regulator Ofgem.
In the meantime, Consumer Focus urges customers to check their bills for the letter "E" which means that the charge is estimated.
And if that is the case to take a reading of their meter and contact their supplier.
The Energy Retail Association said the industry was not profiteering from the practice but did warn customers not to rely on estimated bills.
"It's important to get a correct bill rather than an estimated bill," said Gary Felgate at the Energy Retail Association.
The best way of doing this is to take a reading of the meter on the first day of a price rise taking effect, Consumer Focus added.

For free advice on any energy related matters or information on how to read a meter or calculate a bill please contact Phoenix Energy at the e-mail address shown above or call 0800 458 64 60

Services for Polish Customers

At Phoenix Energy we pride ourselves upon meeeting the needs of our customers. We have identified the fact that many Polish people living in Britain are paying far more for utilities than they need to. This is often due to the fact that they don't understand the different options available to British consumers and also that they don't speak sufficiently good English to communicate with call centres.

We have a dedicated freephone 0800 number and a Polish member of staff who can take calls in English, Polish or Russian. If you need this service please call Jadzia on 08000 833 842.

If you need more information please download our information sheet.

http://www.phoenixenergy.co.uk/phoenix.pdf

New Website

The new Phoenix Energy website has now gone live. If you haven't been directed here from the site please visit my site - http://www.phoenixenergy.co.uk

The site was designed by Kevin McCourt of Colourbomb Design - please visit their website for more examples of their work. -http://www.colourbomb.co.uk

I wanted to put examples of my work on my website but Kevin wanted a more 'modern, clean, minimalist' look. I am delighted with the site and would highly recommend Kevin's work.

I intend to show photos on this blog, together with relevent news from the energy industry so please return regularly.