Energy firm with 1.7 million customers latest to collapse

Energy firm Bulb is set to be placed into special administration, as the crisis engulfing UK suppliers deepened yesterday.

- BEN CHAPMAN

Energy firm Bulb is set to be placed into special administration, as the crisis engulfing UK suppliers deepened yesterday. The company will be by far the largest energy supplier to go into administration or out of business this year amid soaring wholesale prices.

Bulb will continue to supply its 1.7 million customers while the special administrators work out longer-term plans, which could include a rescue or the transfer of customers to other suppliers. Its collapse came after the government, energy regulator Ofgem and potential buyers failed to reach a deal following talks. More than 20 companies supplying around four million customers have gone bust this year.

Industry leaders said the news marked a “turning point” in the UK’s energy crisis and “dark times” for the sector, with reform now urgently needed to prevent more insolvencies and further costs for taxpayers. Labour accused the government of a decade of inaction which has left the UK “exposed and vulnerable as a country”. The UK has experienced larger swings in gas prices than many other countries, partly because a large storage facility was allowed to close down in 2017.