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UK’s seventh largest energy supplier faces collapse

Bulb, the UK’s seventh-biggest energy supplier with over 1.7mn customers, went into special administration in mid-November and received a UK government bail-out at the end of the month.

On 22 November 2021, Bulb became the biggest UK energy supplier to be driven into financial difficulty by the surge in wholesale gas and electricity prices. In a very challenging market, 26 energy suppliers have collapsed since the beginning of September because the UK regulator Ofgem’s price cap prevented them passing on rising costs to customers.

Bulb has about 1,000 employees and accounts for around 5–6% of the market. The company was in talks with multiple parties but failed to secure funding until the UK government stepped in. The firm has been handled by a ‘special administrator’ with access to government funds to keep it running to continue to provide gas and electricity to 1.7mn homes.

On the announcement that the UK government is to invoke the supplier of last resort option and bail-out Bulb at a cost of £1.7bn to the taxpayer, the GMB energy union asks why the government ignored industry offers to help without public support. The union claims that at least two energy suppliers are thought to have offered rival plans to Bulb’s UK government bail-out.

News Item details


Journal title: Petroleum Review

Countries: UK -

Subjects: Gas markets, Electricity markets, Gas, Business management, Gas prices, Energy markets

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