Customers of the six recently failed Energy companies assigned new suppliers

Under the regulator’s SoLR scheme customers of failed suppliers are transferred to other still trading suppliers. With the record number of closures occurring in the last two months concerns are growing that the scheme is under intense pressure.

The collapse of smaller suppliers however appears to be manageable currently but all eyes will be looking warily at Bulb who many analysts are forecasting could announce its exit from the market this week.

Also read: What Is A Supplier Of Last Resort? (SoLR)



Who’s taking on what?

Five energy suppliers have been chosen to take on the customers of recently failed businesses that include; CNG Energy, Omni Energy, Bluegreen Energy, Zebra Power, MA Energy and Ampower.

Specifically-

• British Gas will gain an extra 20,700 customers after agreeing to take on the customers of Bluegreen and Zebra Power.

• Utilita will gain an extra 6,000 customers after being assigned Omni Energy’s customers

• Pozitive Energy will take on the 41,000 non-domestic customers of CNG Energy and CNG Electricity

• Smartest Energy will grow by 300 after taking on MA Energy’s customers

• Yu Energy will grow by 2,600 after taking on Ampowers customers

Also read: Energy Suppliers blame Ofgem for the crisis in the energy market

From disaster, opportunity?

As the famous saying goes,’ The night is darkest before the dawn’ the same applies to the current situation in the energy retail market.

More energy suppliers are expected to be forced to exit the market over the next few days and weeks and it may seem like an apocalypse in the market, but from disaster, there could be opportunities for businesses willing to bide their time.

It may seem like the worst time ever to try and start an energy supply business but that’s only if you intend to launch and enter the market now.

Eventually, wholesale energy prices will stabilise, tighter regulations will come into force and lessons will be learnt from the current crisis. This is why now is a good time to begin the process and ensure that your energy supply business has everything in place to ride out future storms and be better prepared and financed.

Patience is a virtue and in this case that could prove very true. A new market entrant could use the current situation to their advantage just as some of the small suppliers already are doing by snapping up the customers of those who were less well prepared or poorly managed.

Getting a solid framework in place, ensuring you have the technology, skills and finances in place could allow a new market entrant to grow quickly when Ofgem hikes the price cap next April.

Those suppliers that are battling the current crisis will no doubt hike their prices offering a window of opportunity for new entrants to both attract new customers with cheaper but still financially viable tariffs.

Our consultancy team are highly qualified to deal with your questions and needs throughout the process, and offer comprehensive guidance before, during, and after creating an energy supply business.

Also read: UK Energy Market Entry