Which energy suppliers have gone bust?

Last updated: 29 October 2022

The UK Energy Supplier Implode-O-Meter

Since August 2021 (when the UK energy crisis kicked off)

27

domestic UK energy supply companies have “imploded”*

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Since November 2016 (when the regulator Ofgem allowed literally any man and dog opetation to set up an energy supply business in the UK)

49

domestic UK energy supply companies have “imploded”

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* Note. This may not sound like much but it means that more than half of all UK energy supply companies have gone bust in the last year.

Bulb Energy bought by Octopus Energy

The saga of the largest energy supplier failure of 2021 (actually the largest UK energy supplier failure ever) is drawing to a close. It has been announced that Octopus Energy has reached a deal with the Special Administrators will acquire Bulb Energy for an undisclosed sum. That sum is rumoured to be between £100 and £200 million + a share of any profits that Octopus make from the deal over the next 4 years. The transaction is scheduled to complete in mid Nov 2022. From that point onwards, Bulb Energy customers will be transferred over to Octopus.

We will post more information as we get it. Check out our Bulb Energy Review for more information.

Energy supplier failures 2022

UK Energy Incubator Hub Limited (UKEIH) has had its remaining 3,000 customers accounts transferred to Octopus Energy. UKEIH operates under the under the 2 brands of Neo Energy and Northumbria Energy. Technically, this is not an energy supplier failure in the traditional sense, since the company has not ceased trading. Instead, it is the first order made under the new ongoing “fit and proper” requirement for energy suppliers. However, since it means that UK Energy Incubator Hub can no longer operate as an energy supplier it has the same effect from a customer persective. Therefore it is included here.

Together Energy (Retail) Limited, and its subsidiary Bristol Energy, have both ceased trading. That adds another 176,000 to the number of displaced energy consumers, making 4.44m since Jan 2021.

This follows on from the largest failure of last year, which was Bulb Energy. Bulb Energy, the 7th largest energy supplier with around 1.76 million customers, has gone into Special Administration. Taxpayers are on the hook for up to £2.2 billion to see Bulb just through the winter of 2021/2022. To learn more about why Bulb didn’t make it, take a look at Bulb Energy Financials.

If your energy supplier has just gone bust, and you are need advice on what to do, please check our handy guide What to do if your energy supplier goes bust.

In the table below we show a complete list of all domestic energy suppliers that have gone bust since November 2016.

Energy supplier failures 2021

26 domestic energy suppliers went bust in 2021

In 2021, 4.27 million households were affected by energy supplier failures. That is more than treble (+246%) the number of customers affected by energy supplier failures in 2018, 2019 AND 2020 combined.

While the number of energy suppliers now left is less than the number that failed in 2021, it does not mean that we are out of the woods yet. We expect more energy suppliers will go bust before the winter is out. Some gloom and doomsters have predicted that all but 12 energy suppliers will be left once we are out of this train wreck. We were not quite so pessimistic. But only becaue we expected government would step in with bailouts if that looked likely. However, (not for) Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has made it clear that the energy price cap will not be adjusted before 1 Apil 2022. Which means that, until then, energy suppliers are expected to incur huge losses supplying subsidised energy to consumers; something that they simply cannot afford.

It’s an ugly picture. However, with the next review of the energy price cap fast approaching, some relief for energy suppliers, in the form of much higher energy bills for consumers, is coming.

• 47 energy suppliers have gone bust since 2016
• 5.83 million customers switched to other energy suppliers

Some of the energy suppliers appointed by Ofgem to rescue “failed suppliers” have now gone bust themselves. Indeed, some poor customers will now have been with 2 or 3 failed suppliers.

Energy crisis? What crisis?

Full list of energy suppliers that have gone bust

On this page we provide a complete list of all domestic energy suppliers that have gone bust since November 2016.  This is shown in the Table below. The table is updated regularly, as soon as new information becomes available.. Please check back regularly (if you’re into that sort of thing). Or follow us on Twitter Follow @_energyscannerand pick up the info as soon as it breaks.

Some energy suppliers have managed to exit without going bust. These exits, usually a trade sale of the business or the customer base, are summarised in a separate table (also below).

While the recent flood of energy supplier bankruptcies has been triggered by the current energy crisis, and crystallised by the energy price cap, Ofgem’s laid back approach to energy supplier market entry really hasn’t helped any. Just saying…

Data sources on energy companies that have gone bust

We source the data from multiple public domain sources. This includes announcements from industry regulator Ofgem, cross-checked with energy supplier websites and Companies House filings.

The new supplier column shows the energy supplier appointed by Ofgem to take over the failed supplier’s customer base. This is undertaken under the SOLR (Supplier of Last Resort) provisions.

Note. Here we only count energy suppliers that supply domestic properties in the running total. Energy suppliers supplying business properties are listed in the table below but not counted towards the total. Business energy suppliers will be listed in a seperate table and separate page soon.

Date	Supplier	No. of customers affected (approx.)	New supplier	Customers affected cumulative (domestic apprx.)
09 Jul 2022	NEO Energy Northumbria Energy (UK Energy Incubator Hub Ltd)	3,000 domestic	Octopus Energy	5,837,250
18 Feb 2022	Xcel Power Limited (Xcel Power Limited)	274 business	Yü Energy	5,834,250
18 Feb 2022	Whoop Energy (Whoop Energy Limited)	50 domestic 212 business	Yü Energy	5,834,250
18 Jan 2022	Together Energy (Together Energy (Retail) Limited)	176,000 domestic	British Gas	5,834,200
18 Jan 2022	Bristol Energy (Bristol Energy Limited)	Included above	British Gas	5,834,200
1 Dec 2021	Zog Energy (Zog Energy Ltd)	11,700 domestic	EDF Energy	5,658,200
25 Nov 2021	Orbit Energy (Orbit Energy Limited)	65,000 domestic	ScottishPower	5,646,500
25 Nov 2021	Entice Energy (Entice Energy Supply Limited) (Simply Your Energy Limited)	5,400 domestic	ScottishPower	5,581,500
24 Nov 2021	Bulb Energy (Bulb Energy Limited)	1,700,000 domestic (approx)	SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION To be acquired by Octopus Energy late Nov 2022	5,576,100
16 Nov 2021	Neon Energy (Neon Energy Limited)	30,000 domestic	British Gas	3,876,100
16 Nov 2021	Social Energy (Social Energy Supply Ltd)	5,500 domestic	British Gas	3,846,100
3 Nov 2021	CNG Energy (CNG Energy Limited)	41,000 business	Pozitive Energy	3,840,600
2 Nov 2021	Zebra Power (Zebra Power Limited)	14,800 domestic	British Gas	3,840,600
2 Nov 2021	Omni Energy Ltd (Omni Energy Ltd)	6,000 domestic	Utilita	3,825,800
2 Nov 2021	Ampoweruk Ltd (Ampoweruk Ltd)	600 domestic 2000 business	Yü Energy Only part of the credit balances of business customers protected	3,819,800
2 Nov 2021	MA Energy (MA Energy Limited)	300 business	SmartestEnergy Business	3,819,200
1 Nov 2021	bluegreen (Bluegreen Energy Services Limited)	5,900 domestic	British Gas	3,819,200
18 Oct 2021	goto.energy (Goto Energy (UK) Limited)	22,000 domestic	Shell Energy	3,813,300
14 Oct 2021	Daligas (Daligas Limited)	9000 domestic and business	Shell Energy	3,791,300
13 Oct 2021	Pure Planet (Pure Planet Limited)	235,000 domestic	Shell Energy	3,782,300
13 Oct 2021	Colorado Energy (Colorado Energy Limited)	15,000 domestic	Shell Energy	3,547,300
29 Sep 2021	Igloo Energy (Igloo Energy Supply Limited)	179,000 domestic	E.ON Next	3,532,300
29 Sep 2021	Symbio Energy (Symbio Energy Limited)	48,000 domestic	E.ON Next	3,353,300
29 Sep 2021	ENSTROGA (ENSTROGA Ltd)	6,000 domestic	E.ON Next	3,305,300
22 Sep 2021	Avro Energy (Avro Energy Limited)	580,000 domestic	Octopus Energy	3,299,300
22 Sep 2021	green.energy (Green Supplier Limited)	255,000 domestic	Shell Energy	2,719,300
14 Sep 2021	Utility Point (Utility Point Limited)	220,000 domestic	EDF Energy	2,464,300
14 Sep 2021	People's Energy (People's Energy (Supply) Limited)	350,000 domestic 1,000 business	British Gas	2,244,300
7 Sep 2021	PFP Energy (PFP Energy Limited)	80,000 domestic 5,000 business	British Gas	1,894,300
7 Sep 2021	MoneyPlus Energy Limited (MoneyPlus Energy Limited)	9,000 domestic	British Gas	1,814,300
9 Aug 2021	Hub Energy (Gas and Power Limited)	6,000 domestic 9,000 business	E.ON Next	1,805,300
27 Jan 2021	Green Network Energy (Green Network Energy Ltd)	360,000 domestic	EDF Energy	1,799,300
27 Jan 2021	Simplicity Energy (Simplicity Energy Limited)	50,000 domestic	British Gas Evolve	1,439,300
02 Dec 2020	Yorkshire Energy (Daisy Energy Supply Limited)	74,000 domestic	ScottishPower	1,389,300
06 Oct 2020	Tonik Energy (Tonik Energy Ltd)	130,000 domestic	ScottishPower	1,315,300
03 Sep 2020	Go Effortless Energy (Effortless Energy Ltd )	2,500 domestic	Octopus Energy	1,185,300
18 Mar 2020	GnERGY (Gnergy Ltd)	9,000 domestic	Bulb	1,182,800
18 Dec 2019	Breeze Energy (Breeze Energy Supply Limited)	18,000 domestic	British Gas	1,173,800
23 Oct 2019	Toto Energy (TOTO Energy Limited)	134,000 domestic	EDF Energy	1,155,800
15 Oct 2019	Uttily Energy (Rutherford Energy Supply Limited)	280 business	Total Gas and Power
6 Sep 2019	Eversmart Energy (Eversmart Energy Ltd)	29,000 domesic	Utilita	1,021,800
13 Aug 2019	Solarplicity (Solarplicity Supply Limited)	7,500 domestic 500 business	SSE	992,800
9 Aug 2019	Cardiff Energy Supply (Cardiff Energy Supply Limited)	800 domestic	SSE	985,300
11 Mar 2019	Brilliant Energy (Brilliant Energy Supply Limited)	17,000 domestic	SSE	984,500
25 Jan 2019	Our Power (Our Power Energy Supply Limited)	31,000 domestic	Utilita	967,500
8 Jan 2019	Economy Energy (Economy Energy Trading Limited)	235,000 domestic	OVO Energy	936,500
10 Dec 2018	One Select (One Select Energy Supply Limited)	36,000 domestic	Together Energy	701,500
10 Dec 2018	Spark Energy (Spark Energy Supply Limited)	290,000 domestic	OVO Energy	665,500
21 Nov 2018	Extra Energy (Extra Energy Supply Limited)	108,000 domestic 21,000 business	ScottishPower	375,500
15 Oct 2018	Usio Energy (Usio Energy Supply Limited)	7, 000 domestic	First Utility	267,500
Sep 2018	Gen4U (Gen4u Ltd)	500 domestic	Octopus Energy	260,500
27 Jul 2018	Iresa Iresa Limited	90,000 domestic	Octopus Energy	260,000
Jul 2018	National Gas and Power Limited	80 business	Hudson Energy
25 Jan 2018	Future Energy Future Energy Utilities Limited	10,000 domestic	Green Star Energy	170,000
26 Nov 2016	GB Energy Supply GB Energy Supply Ltd	160,000 domestic	Co-operative Energy	160,000
Source: energyscanner.com

Energy suppliers withdrawing from the market

For the record, here is a list of energy suppliers who have exited the market in a more orderly way (without crashing and burning).

Date	Supplier	No. of customers affected (approx.)	Exit type	New supplier
15 Jan 2020	SSE	3.5 million	Trade sale	OVO
29 Nov 2019	Green Star Energy	200,000	Trade sale	Shell Energy
18 Sep 2019	npower	3.8 million	Trade sale	E.ON
29 Aug 2019	Co-operative Energy	300,000	Trade sale / Strategic partnership	Octopus Energy
5 Feb 2019	Sainsbury's Energy	Not disclosed	Withdrawal from market	British Gas No change to supplier as customers already supplied by British Gas
31 Aug 2018	Affect Energy	22,000 domestic	Trade sale	Octopus Energy
25 Jan 2018	Flow Energy	230,000 domestic	Trade sale (at distressed prices)	Co-operative Energy
21 Dec 2017	Brighter World Energy	Unknown	Orderly wind down	Robin Hood Energy

Yorkshire Energy goes bust

Yorkshire Energy ceased trading on 2 Dec 2020.  The company that actually went into administration is called Daisy Energy Supply Limited – don’t ask. Yorkshire Energy was a trading name. It was the fourth domestic energy supplier to go bust in 2020.

The now bust energy supplier had approximately 74,000 domestic customer accounts. These were moved over to ScottishPower. Scottish Power did not publicly announce which tariffs these customers landed on.

What caused Yorkshire Energy to crash and burn?

Joe Malinowski, founder of energyscanner.com noted.

“Yorkshire Energy were making decent progress and seemed to know what they were doing – by energy supplier standards anyway which, to be fair, aren’t particularly demanding. They even managed to get decent customer service reviews. At the point of failing, their revenue run rate would have been around £60m per annum.”

“Their problem, like so many other failed energy suppliers, seems to have been their business model. Losing money by selling energy below cost in a market where everyone else is losing money by selling energy on the cheap, was never going to end well. So it’s adios to another energy company.”

According to the latest published financials statements of Yorkshire Energy (Daisy Energy Supply Limited). In the year ended 31 March 2019;

Revenue:             Not published

Loss:                     Not published – energyscanner estimate £2.6m

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2019

Net Assets           (£3m) – ie negative £3m

Company Announcements

And here is the sorry story in pictures….in reverse chronological order.

Breeze Energy goes bust

Breeze Energy is the latest domestic energy supplier to go bust. It is the 16th domestic energy supplier to fail and the 8th to fail in 2019.

Toto Energy

If you were a Toto Energy customer and want to check the EDF Energy deal you’ve been offered (Welcome Apr20) call us to get a comparison over the phone…

0800 083 2819

Eversmart Energy

Eversmart Energy seem to have been so keen to exit the market they haven’t even bothered to keep their website live. Anyone who was with Eversmart Energy and needs to contact them well, I’m afraid you are all out of luck.

If you were an Eversmart Energy customer and don’t like the Utilita deal you’ve been offered….

…. pop your postcode into the box below to check online.

Solarplicity

Cardiff Energy Supply

Brilliant Energy

Our Power

Millions of pounds of public funds were wasted on this doomed venture.

Economy Energy

One Select

Spark Energy

Extra Energy

Usio Energy

Gen4U

Iresa

Future Energy

GB Energy Supply

GB Energy Supply spectacularly imploded in November 2016. It was the first of the failures of the group of domestic energy suppliers that entered the UK energy market under Ofgem rules which allowed energy suppliers to get a license with little if any capital, and with no relevant industry experience.

That’s all for now. More to follow we’re sure.

Remember, you do not have to accept any new energy deal you are offered by the new supplier who takes over your supply. What you absolutely should do is a comparison to see how that deal stacks up. If necessary, leg it out of there. Pop your postcode into the box below to check online.

Got a story you’d like to share?

If your energy supplier has gone bust and you have an interesting story you’d like to share then please get in touch. You can either leave a comment or get in touch via our Contact Form. Adding comments is subject to our Terms and Acceptable Use Policy.

Read more … 

  – What to do if your energy supplier goes bust

  – Energy price cap forecast 2022

  – Green Network Energy goes bust

  – Simplicity Energy goes bust

  – ToTo Energy goes bust

  – Breeze Energy goes bust

  – Brilliant Energy goes bust

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