Octopus Energy has become the largest domestic household energy supplier in Great Britain.
New data from Cornwall Insight shows that measured by total number of electricity and gas accounts on live supply, as of 31 October 2024, it held a 23.7% share of the available market, 0.6% higher than the supplier with the second-largest share of household energy accounts.
The supplier which only formed in 2015 now serves 12.9m households. Cornwall said this is the first time the top spot has changed since the 1990s.
The number of suppliers in the domestic energy market has greatly reduced since the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent energy crisis, with more than half of suppliers leaving the market.
Back to the Big Six
A decade ago there were the Big Six, now there’s still six energy companies with 90% of the household energy market, it’s just the names that have changed.
Cornwall’s report shows just 8.9% of the market is held by small and medium suppliers outside these companies. In 2019, that figure was 30%.
Dan Morris, CEO, at Cornwall Insight commented: “This is quite honestly the biggest development in the domestic retail energy market since it opened. Of course we must maintain an element of caution.
With the household energy market now once again dominated by six major companies – albeit a different set than the Big Six of old – some may argue that consumers aren’t benefiting from the same level of competition or deals seen in the years leading up to the crisis.”