Independent electricity supplier Tempus Energy has closed its supply division less than a year after securing nearly £4 million of funding to support expansion plans, Clean Energy News can reveal.
CEN understands that the utility had been cancelling contracts with businesses and consumers in the wake of the Brexit referendum, which stood to significantly impact its business model.
Calls to the company are met with an answerphone message confirming that Tempus Energy’s supply business has now closed, and Tempus is yet to respond to requests for comment.
The tech start-up built its model around demand-side response and energy trading platforms which promised to supply businesses with the cheap available electricity at any given time, deriving its power from various sources – including renewables.
It was a central partner of the so-called ‘Sunshine Tariff’ trial launched in Wadesbridge, north Cornwall earlier this year which offered residents cheaper electricity during daylight hours due to the high concentration of solar assets in the local area.
Having raised more than £600,000 in the summer of 2015 via Crowdcube, Tempus Energy closed a new investment round in January this year, raising a further £3.8 million.
The financing valued the supplier at circa £23.8 million and saw John Coomber, former chief executive at the Pension Insurance Corporation, join its board.