National Grid files winding up petition against Eversmart Energy

Manchester-based supplier Eversmart Energy has had a winding up order issued against it by National Grid.

The petition is scheduled to be heard at the High Court on 16 September.

Another supplier which recently had winding up petitions filed against it was Solarplicity, which has since ceased trading.

Utility Week has contacted Eversmart for a response, but none had been received at the time of publication.

The challenger energy brand was one of several suppliers which failed to pay its renewables obligation (RO) payments by the late payment deadline last year. It owed £367,149.82 and was ordered to pay in instalments by 31 March this year.

Speaking in April Eversmart’s chief executive Barney Cook said the company had by then paid its obligation in full.

In an interview with Utility Week in November last year Cook insisted Eversmart had a handle on its risks.

“We recognise our risks and we recognise how we can be sustainable. Although we have seen growth in certain months it doesn’t mean we are growing at an accelerated rate every month, so we are very measured in how many customers we take on. A big driver in our customer acquisition is our smart meter rollout.”

Another supplier which was given until 31 March to pay its remaining obligation was URE Energy, which has since had its licence revoked by Ofgem.

In total 34 suppliers failed to meet their obligation by the initial 1 September 2018 deadline. Of those, 20 fully discharged their obligation by the late payment deadline at the end of October.

In November, the regulator announced a mutualisation process would be triggered for the first time ever after the outstanding payments following the final deadline exceeded a threshold known as the relevant shortfall.

The level of the shortfall was confirmed at £58.6 million.

A number of suppliers named as owing RO payments beyond the 31 October late payment deadline have ceased trading.

You can read Utility Week’s interview with Barney Cook here