As the energy supplier crisis deepens, Bulb announced yesterday that was put into special administration.
Hayden Woon, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bulb said: “We have made the difficult decision to support Bulb being placed into special administration.
“We have been working extremely hard over the last few months to avoid this outcome.”
A government spokesperson told ELN: “We have agreed with Ofgem on the appointment of special administrators for Bulb and are taking this forward in the quickest possible timeframe.
“The Special Administration Regime is a long-standing, well-established mechanism to protect energy consumers and ensure continued energy supply when a supplier fails.”
How did the industry react to this announcement from the seventh-largest supplier with 1.7 million customers?
What does the Special Administration Regime signify?
Energy UK’s Chief Executive Emma Pinchbeck said: “The news underlines the huge difficulties facing energy retailers at present. Record wholesale prices mean that suppliers are losing millions of pounds serving their customers right now and so, as well as Bulb planning to enter special administration, we cannot rule out well run, financially responsible companies exiting the market, in addition to those that have already left.
“The first use of the Special Administration Regime also shows that, in the current circumstances, suppliers are in no position to take on large numbers of new customers.”
Dark times for the energy sector
Commenting on the news that the energy supplier fell into administration, Robert Buckley, Head of Relationship Development at Cornwall Insight, said: “The failure of Bulb today marks dark times for the energy sector, with this being the biggest failure of a supplier since TXU Energy nearly 20 years ago.
“Bulb was challenging the industry’s status quo, building up its customer base from a small supplier into a larger one. It will be undoubtedly a sad and worrying time for anyone who works at the supplier.
“Bulb’s customers will not only be worried about the continuity of their energy supply but the costs of the energy they will have to pay.”
Serious questions must be asked
Gillian Cooper, Head of Energy Policy for Citizens Advice, commented: “When the country’s seventh-largest supplier fails, serious questions must be asked about the state of the market and how it’s regulated.
“It is clear reforms are needed to prevent consumers and taxpayers from paying the price for supplier failures in future.”
