ENER-G welcomes Ofgem’s call for more power

Salford-based energy purchasing company ENER-G has backed energy regulator Ofgem's call for extra powers to act against rogue energy brokers that mislead businesses.

Ofgem published a report on Sunday 3 February detailing why it needs more powers from government to tackle the misselling of energy deals to businesses.

The report, which can be viewed in full here, is part of Ofgem's wider action to protect small business customers.

Mark Alston, general manager of ENER-G Procurement, said: "We hope that the government will grant Ofgem the necessary powers to take enforcement action against rogue energy brokers who use high pressure sales tactics or mislead customers.

"It is vital that such bad practice is driven out of our market. We now supply our customers with a unique broker identification number to combat sharp practice by a minority of rogue brokers. This helps verify that we are their legitimate representative and gives them confidence that we abide by a rigorous code of practice.

"We also welcome the energy regulator's confirmation that it will review the practice of contract rollovers. It is alarming how many businesses we come into contact with who have failed to renew their contract in time before their renewal deadline and have been rolled over onto extortionate default or out of contract terms.

"We have argued strongly in favour of developing an industry-wide code of practice and are keen to work with Ofgem to raise standards among energy brokers. There is an existing code of practice developed by the Utilities Intermediaries Association, which we adhere to, and we believe that this can form the basis of Ofgem's proposed new code."

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