The collapse of Bulb took the total number of households affected by a failed energy supplier to more than 3.7 million this year, according to a briefing published by Green Alliance on 1 February 2022. The same briefing states that the record increase in energy bills has caused 21 suppliers to collapse since the start of September1.
Green Alliance, an independent organisation, published the figure in a briefing titled Protecting consumers from high energy bills. It attributes the pressure on the retail energy sector to soaring global gas prices in 2021, which left UK households and businesses facing higher bills, with high prices predicted to continue into 2022. The briefing says the knock-on effect has been felt across the retail market, with many smaller firms going bust and larger firms now affected too1.
"The record increase in energy bills has caused 21 suppliers to collapse since the start of September"
The briefing sets out the questions it addresses: what has caused the spike in energy prices, what needs to happen in the short term to protect consumers, what needs to happen to stop the crisis recurring, and public opinion on renewable energy investment and fossil fuel phase out1. It does not, in the text published, give a breakdown of the 3.7 million households by supplier, and no figure for the number of Bulb's own customers appears in it. The briefing also does not state how many of the 21 collapses occurred before September, or name the suppliers concerned.
Why it matters for households
When a supplier fails, its customers are moved to another company under the supplier of last resort process, which is set out in the rules on supplier licensing and supplier failure. The practical effect for a household is a change of supplier it did not choose, and the terms it lands on are not set by the household. The scale described here, more than 3.7 million households affected in a single year, is the context in which those transfers have taken place. For a home's energy independence, the relevant point is continuity: supply itself is not interrupted by a supplier's collapse, but the price paid and the company billed can change without the household deciding either. The wider picture of how failures sit alongside household control over supply is covered in energy suppliers and household energy independence, and the bill consequences in energy bills and energy independence.
What happens next
The briefing was published on 1 February 2022 and sets out questions on short term consumer protection and on preventing a repeat of the crisis1. It does not, in the text published, give dates for any measures or name the bodies that would act. No further steps are reported in it.
Sources1 cited
- Protecting consumers from high energy bills ยป Green Alliance, green-alliance.org.uk