Consultation published on ‘Back billing in the NI Retail Energy Market’ project

Today the Utility Regulator publishes a consultation as part of its ‘Back billing in the NI Retail Energy Market’ project. Back bills have the potential to cause significant financial hardship, as well as subjecting the recipients to varying degrees of inconvenience and stress. Where customers are not at fault, it could be argued that they should be afforded some protection from long-term back bills.

This consultation is seeking views on a proposal to limit back bills to 13 months for gas and electricity. This would be applicable to domestic consumers and micro businesses across all fuels and payment types; where the customer is not at fault in causing the back bill.