The UK Energy market

Notice

Switch Plan helps you navigate the complicated UK Energy Market by setting you up with the best energy deals available. The cheapest, the greenest, the historical, the up-and-rising… whichever is custom-fitted to your needs, your budget, your values. And we do that in minutes.
Last update: November 2022

The UK energy market has grown increasingly complicated since the dawn of privatisation in the early ‘90s. Energy infrastructures are maintained, managed and overseen by many different players. Some are quasi-autonomous organisations linked to the UK government (Quangos) others are private companies. In this post, we’ll explain who are these players and how you might interact with them.

Who are the biggest energy suppliers in the UK?

In getting to know the UK Energy industry’s major players and how they interact with one another, it’s probably beneficial to start with the one you have the most contact with… the UK’s energy suppliers. In the age of the free market, there has been an explosion in competition within the UK market. This is beneficial for consumers, as it means that they have more choice than ever in finding a supplier who meets their needs.

However, as there seems to be new suppliers popping up all over the place, it can be difficult to keep track of them. At present there are a staggering 57 active energy suppliers bringing hundreds of tariffs to the market.

Here, we’ve divided them into 3 categories.

The “Big 6”

The Big 6 are the 6 biggest energy suppliers in the UK. Between them they account for around 70% of the UK’s energy market, supplying 70% of the country’s electricity and 69% of our gas.

Yet, even a cursory price comparison reveals that they are rarely the best value for money. And even in terms of customer service, they are often found wanting. An independent consumer survey last year revealed that even the highest-rated of the Big 6 (SSE) came joint the 24th out of 33 suppliers.

The Big 6 suppliers are:

Why do people continue to choose these 6 suppliers when they have so many others to choose from? Reliability, brand recognition, a ubiquitous marketing presence and a simple lack of awareness of just how many suppliers there are among energy consumers all play a part.

Independent Suppliers

The age of privatisation has given rise to a huge array of smaller independent suppliers to rival the Big 6. These companies, unlike most of the Big 6, do not generate their own energy. Instead, they purchase it wholesale and sell it to end customers. These smaller suppliers may lack the marketing power of their larger counterparts, but they can invariably offer better tariffs and (in many cases) a greener energy mix too.

Some prominent Independent Suppliers with a growing presence in today’s market include:

So, why do so few of us gravitate towards these smaller companies. In some cases, it may be because we don’t know they exist. In others, it may be because we are worried that they won’t be able to provide good customer service. However, while some independent suppliers rank the worst in terms of Trustpilot reviews, others rank among the highest. It’s just a case of doing your homework before committing to a supplier.

Another potential reason why consumers are slow to trust smaller suppliers is the rate at which they go under. Many believe that they will experience a loss of supply if their supplier goes out of business. But rest assured that this is never the case. Either your supplier is bought out by a bigger supplier, in which case nothing changes. Or the regulatory body (Ofgem) will assign you to a new supplier who will get in touch within 14 days.

In short, you have nothing to lose by giving one of the smaller suppliers a try.

 

Renewable Suppliers

There are also a number of small to medium sized suppliers whose focus is on providing more renewable energy in their mix. These suppliers get their energy mix from renewable and / or carbon-neutral sources rather than the burning of fossil fuels.

Renewable electricity, for instance is usually generated by wind farming or hydroelectricity that harnesses the power of water motion. Many companies, even the Big 6, use up to 100% renewable electricity in their tariffs.

This is also supplemented by green, renewable or carbon-neutral gas sources. These generate natural gas (methane) from renewable sources like farm waste, crop by-products and even human waste. Alternatively, suppliers may offer carbon-neutral gas. This means that the carbon created from generating gas is offset elsewhere in the company’s operations. For example, conserving forests and planting or protecting trees that absorb and store the carbon in our atmosphere.

An energy supplier may offer renewable energy, green gas, carbon-neutral gas or a combination of both in their energy mix.

Popular renewable suppliers include:

Business Energy Rates: How are they different?

Most UK Energy Suppliers also provide tariffs for business customers. These typically have a different kind of meter to domestic customers and have more cheaper energy rates because they use so much more energy. The bigger the company, the more extensive their usage and therefore the more lucrative they are for the supplier. So energy companies are likely to give them better rates.

On average, businesses can expect to pay something along these lines:

  • Micro Businesses: 16.09 p/kWh
  • Small Businesses: 13.95 p/kWh
  • SMBs: 12.44 p/kWh
  • Medium Businesses: 11.51 p/kWh
  • Large Businesses: 11.25 p/kWh
  • Enterprise Level Businesses: 10.01 p/kWh

An average of roughly 11.66 p/kWh.

Understanding the National Grid

While UK Energy Suppliers are responsible for delivering energy to consumers, they rely on an enormous network of wires, cables and pipes to ensure that this energy gets from the power stations that generate our energy to the UK’s homes and businesses.

Operating and maintaining that network is the responsibility of the National Grid– the network operator in England, Scotland and Wales. Many assume that the National Grid is maintained by the government, but National Grid PLC is a private company formed in 1990 from the split of the Central Electricity Generating Board. As of last year, it has 22,576 employees and an operating income of £3.442 billion. Much of the infrastructure that the National grid maintains has been around since the 1930s.

In its simplest terms, the National Grid’s responsibility is to ensure that the country’s homes and businesses have enough power. Within this network, there are a number of electricity distribution companies known as Distribution Network Operators (DNO). These operators are responsible for getting energy from the grid to local homes and businesses. Your DNO will depend on which region of the country you live or do business within.

Energy companies pay the National Grid to take power from the network and distribute it to their customers. How much they pay depends on their proximity to the centres of highest demand. Charges in Southern England, for instance, might be significantly less than those in Scotland.

On average, these charges account for around 4% of your household energy bill.

Ofgem: Who are they, and what do they do?

Ofgem is the regulatory body for the UK Energy industry. It was established by the UK government in 2000 to ensure that private companies operating within the UK operate in ways that benefit both energy consumers and the national interest.

As well as ensuring that the UK Energy industry is fair to consumers, they are also responsible for encouraging and incentivising energy suppliers to operate in innovative and renewable ways. They are essentially a go-between for the government and the private companies within the UK Energy sector.

Ofgem and energy suppliers

Ofgem expects Energy Suppliers to be profitable. But it also expects them to invest their profits in greater renewability and operational efficiency rather than simply feathering the nests of shareholders. As such, energy suppliers have a responsibility to report their annual profits to Ofgem, and share how they are used. You can find more information about this here.

Ofgem and the National Grid

As well as working with energy suppliers across the UK, Ofgem also works with the National Grid. Ofgem helps to create the most cost-effective deals possible for energy consumers by incentivising the National Grid to create savings and efficiencies within its networks. These reduce operational costs for the energy suppliers that they can pass on as savings to energy consumers.

The UK Energy Price Cap

What’s to stop energy suppliers from charging consumers whatever they like for their energy? Believe it or not, for a long time there was absolutely nothing. And, as you might suspect, this led to an exponential rise in energy prices in the years since privatisation. By the late 2010s Ofgem realised that it needed to intervene on behalf of energy consumers to protect them from potential profiteering.

As such, the Energy Price Cap was established in January of 2019. This places an upward limit on what energy suppliers can charge their customers per year for their energy. This changes every 6 months and is adjusted in line with energy suppliers’ costs and the state of the broader economy. As of 1st of October 2021, the Energy Price Cap stands at £1,277. You can see historical Energy Price Caps in the table below:

Date Energy Price Cap Amount
January 2019 £1,137
April 2019 £1,254
October 2019 £1,179
April 2020 £1,146
October 2020 £1,042
April 2021 £1,138
October 2021 £1,277

That price cap guides suppliers unit rates and guide the average energy consumption of the UK market.

The UK Energy Ombudsman Services

Where do you go if you have a complaint about your energy supplier? The UK Energy Ombudsman Services investigate complaints made by energy consumers and work with companies to achieve a satisfactory resolution. The UK Energy Ombudsman Service is an autonomous non-profit government body. Although they are approved by Ofgem, they are not part of it.

You can find out more about the Energy Ombudsman and what they do here.

wind mills

The UK Energy Mix: Where do our gas and electricity come from?

Up until recently, although great strides have been made in generating more renewable energy in the UK, most of our national supply was still made from burning fossil fuels. In 2020, however, renewables finally eclipsed other UK energy sources. Let’s take a closer look.

Where does our electricity come from?

As of Q1 2020, 44.6% of electricity came from renewables, with a further 29.1% from gas-fired plants. The remaining electricity production came from nuclear (15.3%), imports from overseas (7.3%) and coal plants (3.7%).

The majority of renewable energy in the UK comes from wind farming, although there is also some renewable energy from wave, marine, hydro, solar and biomass.

Where does our gas come from?

Most of the gas used by UK homes and businesses is produced in the UK, much of it offshore. According to a 2020 British Gas study:

  • 44% of the UK’s gas supply comes from offshore platforms in the North and East Irish Seas
  • 47% of our gas is pumped in from Europe through long-distance pipelines
  • The rest is imported from all over the world as Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)
  • Most of our gas is imported from Norway, the Netherlands and Qatar. A tiny amount comes from the USA and Russia.
  • A small but growing proportion of our gas supply, comes from renewable sources like landfill waste, farm waste and even human waste.

What about fracking?

Very little of our gas supply comes from on-shore hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Part of this is because of the environmental implications, but mostly because there simply isn’t that much frackable shale in the United Kingdom. As such, the only shale gas in the UK network is the gas that comes from overseas, most notably from the US.

UK Energy supply: Past & future

The History of UK Electricity

The history of UK Electricity generation goes right back to the late 1800s. Below we’ve compiled a timeline that shows you just how much our electrical infrastructure has grown in line with the growing demands of our modern times:

  • 1881- The first public electricity generator in Britain was installed in Godalming, Surrey.
  • 1900- Several Acts of Parliament are passed granting rights to power companies to supply electricity to authorised undertakings (mostly manufacturing and industry).
  • 1926- The Electricity Supply Act was introduced in an attempt to affect national coordination of the electricity supply.
  • 1935- The National Grid is completed.
  • 1960s- The National Grid’s capabilities are improved and transmission voltages almost doubled from 275 kV and then 400 kV. The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) runs this nationalised “Super Grid”.
  • 1990- The Nationalised UK energy sector is privatised and sold off to private companies. The energy industry as we know it today is created.
  • 2000- Ofgem is introduced as the regulatory body to ensure that UK energy companies act in the best interests of consumers.

The History of UK Gas

Our national gas infrastructure predates even our electricity grid. We’ve compiled this timeline to help readers better understand the history of UK gas:

  • 1792- William Murdoch becomes the first person to successfully light an entire house using gas.
  • 1805- The UK’s first commercial gas plants are installed.
  • 1920- The Gas Regulation Act is established, changing the charging method and establishing a baseline for testing and reporting the quality of gas.
  • 1944- In the wake of WW2 much of the UK’s gas infrastructure is devastated. It becomes clear that this private industry needs to be reconstructed.
  • 1948- The Gas Act of 1948 is enacted, nationalising the UK gas industry. The Gas Council is established.
  • 1960s- Gas starts to be brought in from the North Sea and imported as LNG.
  • 1973- The Gas Council is replaced by the British Gas Corporation.
  • 1986-1990- British Gas is privatised.

Energy Research & The Future of UK Energy

As the 21st century dawned it became clear that our reliance on finite fossil fuels for energy needed to change. As such, the Climate Change Act of 2008 was put into place. This act was geared towards incentivising energy companies to work with the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase research into renewable sources of gas and electricity.

The Committee on Climate Change published an interesting retrospective that you can read here. According to government projections, it’s estimated that by 2025 50% of our energy mix will come from renewable sources.

We already know about the role of wind farming, hydroelectricity, solar power and biogas in creating a more carbon-neutral energy sector. These are likely to become the backbone of a more sustainable future, as energy companies are incentivised to channel more of their profits into renewable and carbon-neutral infrastructures.

You can take a look at a report on the future of the energy sector here.

Need a hand choosing a new UK energy supplier? We’re here to help!

As we can see, the UK Energy sector is increasingly fast-moving, forward-thinking and competitive. But in an era where the vast majority of us are still paying too much for our energy, it’s important to remember that you have the luxury of choice.

Energy supply in your area

At Switch Plan we know what matters for you when it comes to energy is to find the best supplier at the cheapest price. In the following links you will find information specific to your area to help you find the best energy deal for your city:

Looking to compare energy suppliers?Leave your phone number to request a call back from us!

Find out more

Free Service

FAQ

How many energy suppliers are there in the UK?

At the moment there are 50 or so active energy suppliers all over the UK. These include the “Big 6”, smaller energy suppliers and renewable energy suppliers like Bulb, Ecotricity, Green Energy UK and Good Energy.

How is the UK Energy industry fighting climate change?

Climate change is a huge priority for the UK energy industry, which is why Ofgem incentivises energy suppliers to invest their profits into generating energy in ways that result in fewer carbon emissions. The goal is for the entire UK energy sector to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

Who regulates UK energy suppliers?

Ofgem is the regulatory body that oversees UK Energy suppliers. It was established in 2000. If you have a complaint about your energy supply, or your energy supplier you are advised to take it to the UK Energy Ombudsman.

I’m not happy with my current energy supplier. When can I switch?

Technically you can switch energy suppliers whenever you like! When you switch to a new supplier, they will contact your old supplier and the transition will usually take 17-21 days.

However, you may find that switching incurs an early exit fee for each fuel you switch. But if you want to avoid incurring this fee, you don’t necessarily have to wait out your contract. You can switch from 49 days before your contracts’ end without any fees!

Updated on 29 Jan, 2024

redaction Meet the content team
Redactor

Alex

Consumer Energy Expert

Redactor

Ilona

Switch Plan specialist

Comments

bright star bright star bright star bright star grey star

To find out more about our comments processing policy please visit our dedicated page here.