Sadly, after months of volatility, the news that Bulb has gone under is not unexpected. It continues the hugely concerning trend that has seen many small and medium sized energy suppliers go bust in recent months due to the exponential rise in wholesale gas prices globally.
The Government were warned about the possible collapse of Bulb months ago, and were warned that the Supplier of Last Resort mechanism would not be able to cope with such a large company (the UK’s 7th biggest supplier) exiting the market.
Be in no doubt that it is key government failures that mean our energy system is not resilient enough. While wholesale gas prices play a large part, the origin of this crisis is firmly in the government’s own wild west energy company liberalisation of 5 years ago.
And yet it is the public that pay the price. Again. Families are being hit by an unprecedented cost of living crisis and as things stand the Government seem to have no plans to bring spiralling bills under control. To say they need to step up is an understatement.
As estimations show high prices are set to remain into 2023, the Government & regulator have serious questions to answer about how they will support all customers through this winter and beyond. We must see serious reforms that enable a sustainable retail market in future.