Energy Crisis

[SueEllen]

Going going - Bulb

https://news.sky.com/story/governmen...-bulb-12453948

The government is accelerating contingency plans for the collapse of Bulb, Britain's seventh-biggest domestic energy supplier - a demise that would mark by far the biggest insolvency of the crisis engulfing the sector.

Sky News has learnt that ministers and officials, along with the industry regulator Ofgem, believe that Bulb - which has around 1.7 million household customers - could collapse as soon as next week, amid diminishing expectations of a rescue deal.


Industry sources said on Friday that talks with a small number of potential buyers were ongoing, but that others had pulled out in recent days.

A solvent rescue remains a possibility, they said, but added that it was highly unlikely that Bulb could survive through November without new funding.

[d000hg]

I cancelled our DD to PP because I'm told this is OK, though nothing else is advised. Don't trust people with my DD
Got an email and text from PP's automated "we don't have a DD in place" service, clearly that part is still working!

[d000hg]

That would be good. I haven't looked at the details yet, and don't actually know what our recent unit rates on PP were, but it might actually be possible that we end up paying less than we would have because I think our PP tariff was variable (still capped? I don't know).

The cap is the most a supplier is allowed to charge so normally not a good rate. But wholesale rates are above this so the highest rate is cheaper than it costs the supplier to buy the energy. In 6 months the cap gets reviewed and is almost certainly going to rise.

[eek]

Same here. But you will be paying the same as everyone else. The price cap is effectively a huge 6-month discount as things stand.

Yep - the only way to save at the moment is to reduce your consumption which for me means upgrading the server in the garage so it consumes 100watts less an hour.

[mattster]

Same here. But you will be paying the same as everyone else. The price cap is effectively a huge 6-month discount as things stand.

That would be good. I haven't looked at the details yet, and don't actually know what our recent unit rates on PP were, but it might actually be possible that we end up paying less than we would have because I think our PP tariff was variable (still capped? I don't know).

[d000hg]

We've been shunted on to Shell Energy from Pure Planet, FWIW. Time to lube up I guess.

Same here. But you will be paying the same as everyone else. The price cap is effectively a huge 6-month discount as things stand.

[mattster]

We've been shunted on to Shell Energy from Pure Planet, FWIW. Time to lube up I guess.

[SueEllen]

So why is Ofgem doing the following.




Ofgem prepares for looming failure of a leading energy supplier | Energy industry | The Guardian

Supplier of last resort?

[d000hg]

In theory everyone could go bust I suppose!

[eek]

Under Ofgem rules someone will be forced to take them on.

So why is Ofgem doing the following.

A City firm has been put on standby to take control of a large energy company amid fears that one could collapse soon, overwhelming the existing safety net put in place by the regulator, Ofgem.

The management consulting company Teneo is understood to have held talks with the regulator about acting as “special administrator” under a government scheme, as yet untested, for handling large energy company failures.



In theory, the company would take on the operations of a failed energy supplier to ensure no interruption of service or supply to customers.

The backup option, first reported by Sky News, is being readied in light of mounting concern that Ofgem’s “Supplier of Last Resort” system, under which a healthy energy supplier agrees to take on customers from a collapsed rival, is at breaking point.

Ofgem prepares for looming failure of a leading energy supplier | Energy industry | The Guardian