Companies going bankrupt/into administration

[PS_RalphW]

I think ecotricity and some other green suppliers invest directly in renewable production, and will have long term contracts for most of their consumption, so will only be paying over the selling price for the small percentage of their supply which they buy on the open market. They will be doing quite well I expect, unless the government forces them to take on a lot more customers, and they then need to buy the energy they will need to support them at full market price.

[adam2]

Another energy supplier has bust, blue green energy. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59125866

[clv101]

A few more gone:
Omni Energy, with about 10,000 customers
Zebra Power (14,800 households) and
AmpowerUK (600 households)

Takes total to 18 according to Bloomberg's Javier Blas.

[clv101]

EUROPEAN ENERGY CRUNCH: Interesting note from @CornwallInsight about the British energy retail market.

At the start of the year, the UK had 47 domestic natural gas and electricity retailers. Today, that has fallen by nearly half with only 25 suppliers remaining.

[kenneal - lagger]

I just wonder if we actually needed 47 energy suppliers. After all hardly any of them were actually producing any energy. They were mostly just buying stuff at a wholesale rate, seeing how much they could shave off their margin and then shipping it on hopefully cheaper than their competitors. All those redundant staff can now go and chase one of the many thousands of jobs that are free at the moment.

[adam2]

I agree, nothing wrong with competition, but 47 energy suppliers seems excessive, especially when most of them do not/did not actually produce any energy. Not certain how to limit the numbers without preventing competition.

I have been known to describe the lesser energy suppliers as "meter reading and billing subcontractors" since they dont do much else. They do not in general produce electricity, neither do they distribute it, so what DO they do ?

[Potemkin Villager]

Well up until the music died they made money doing nothing more
than shuffling numbers around spread sheets.

Nice money whilst you could get it!

I suspect an astonishing amount of modern economic activity involves such
essentially unproductive activities.

Look out for the Bulb blowing and see how big a fuse it takes out.

[clv101]

They are retailers. How many shops on your high street make what they sell? How many websites can you order a TV from these days? Nothing wrong with lots of retailers - only the efficient will survive, and for something important like domestic energy suppliers a decent regulator is needed.

[adam2]

CNG Energy now gone, they supplied energy mainly to businesses.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-y ... e-59154894

[cubes]

Yes, at work we were with them. I know business energy prices aren't capped but the supplier of last resort has put us on a tarriff of 150p/day standard charge and 15p/kwh for gas. Time to change asap lol.

[adam2]

Two more energy retailers have ceased trading, Neon reef and Social energy supply.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59311551

[clv101]

Bulb's blown! 1.7 million customers, by far the biggest so far:

https://bulb.co.uk/blog/bulb-special-administration/

[adam2]

And another two smaller ones gone. Entice, and Orbit, energy retailers have gone bust.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59414799

[adam2]

Another energy retailer has ceased trading, Zog energy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59488818

[Potemkin Villager]

Calling a company Zog was always asking for trouble!

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dicti ... planet-zog