New Coalition guidelines, homed in on diminishing energy prices, could actually result in millions of households shelling out more cash, as per the assessment of consumer watchdog Which?. The Ofgem recommendations, meant to reduce energy bills, could be too perplexing, with those customers presently shelling out low prices likely to move to higher energy costs. This is expected to be the impact of the new Ofgem energy guidelines, in accordance…

ABB is all set to acquire Power-One for $1bn (£656m) to expand its presence in solar inverters market. ABB announced that it will pay $6.35 (£4.17) per share in cash, financed out of the Swiss firm’s own funds. The deal includes Power-One’s net cash of $266m (£173m). The Switzerland-based company which is the world’s biggest supplier of industrial motors and power grids is looking to tap a market forecast to…

Npower has become the latest firm to be embroiled in tax avoidance scandal following Starbucks, Amazon and Google, while admitting to have dodged corporation tax for over three years despite making heavy profits of £766m by hiking the electricity and gas bills. The tax dodge by Npower which was done by bending a ‘simple UK accounting rule’ is the cause of fresh outrage among MPs and public. Npower tax avoidance…

Centrica and Qatar have tied up for a £650m joint venture to acquire Canadian natural gas assets of Suncor Energy in a move that reiterates Centrica’s plan to secure more gas supplies by developing its resources internationally, which would reduce its exposure to price movements in the wholesale gas market. The deal is the first joint investment for Britain’s biggest energy supplier and the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter since they…

General Electric (GE) has announced that it will acquire oilfield services provider Lufkin Industries for $3.3 billion (£2.17bn) to boost its presence in the energy industry. Lufkin will broaden GE’s artificial lift capabilities beyond electric submersible pumps. Lufkin shareholders will receive $88.50 (£58.11) per share in cash, and the deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2013. The proposed takeover is among the three largest of…

SSE has been slapped with a whopping £10.5m fine by Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, for mis-selling gas and electricity to customers. The fine is the largest ever imposed on an energy supplier by Ofgem. In a report, the UK regulatory revealed that SSE had failed customers with misleading sales practices which had lead to “prolonged and extensive mis-selling” by the energy supplier between 2009 and 2011.

Centrica has entered into a landmark deal to import gas from the US in a £10 billion supply deal that will help provide gas to 1.8 million UK homes. The deal with Cheniere Energy Partners for 89 billion cubic feet of annual liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes is the first time that the UK has entered into a formal gas import agreement with the US. The British Gas owner said…

BP has announced $8bn (£5.26bn) share buyback following the sale of its stake in TNK-BP, the oil group’s joint venture in Russia with the Kremlin-controlled oil group Rosneft. The share buyback is being implemented to return shareholders’ money that was invested in the complicated Russian venture. BP agreed to sell back its 50% stake in TNK-BP to Russia’s Rosneft in October in return for $17.1bn (£20.14bn) in cash and shares.

Vattenfall has announced 2,500 job cuts by the end of 2014 under its cost-cutting drive with most of the cuts concentrated in Germany, as a result of low electricity prices and production overcapacity. The Swedish energy giant job cuts would be required to reduce costs by 4.5 billion kronor (£470 million). Vattenfall job cuts will affect its administrative divisions, with 1,500 people to be laid off in Germany in in…

British Gas is set to create 1,000 skilled jobs over the next three years, all of which would be filled by unemployed youth across the UK. The job creation initiative, being undertaken by a partnership between environment charity Global Action Plan, British Gas and Accenture, is the result of an recent report by the Work Foundation which finds that since the start of the recession, youth unemployment in the UK…