NICCOLO ARE A RELIABLE CHOICE; WHO STOPPED WHEN WE KEPT GOING?
Niccolo Gas was formed on the 26th of February 2018; lots of suppliers have closed down since then. Not us, though.
The pressure of lockdown has only added to the pre-existing unpredictability of starting up a business, and not everyone has managed to make it through. The UK retail energy market has been carnage, recently.
In January alone 410,000 households have been moved to a new supplier after theirs went under.
That is already 90% more than the total amount of households affected in 2020.
Suppliers going under is inconvenient for customers as they are switched to a new supplier, and the unpaid, outstanding costs of the failed supplier are passed onto all energy customers to compensate for network losses.
There are still many well operated, highly rated and viable energy suppliers in the market – Niccolo being one – but this article details those who haven’t been so lucky.
A ROUND UP OF 2019
- 700,000 energy customers were forced to change their contracts,
- 14 domestic energy suppliers stopped trading,
Failure to prepare for, and then pay, the new Renewable Obligation (RO) payments resulted in many of these companies into failure. Additionally, all these companies had the same, the following characteristics:
- lack of profitability,
- poor management,
- insufficient funding.
A ninth company, URE Energy, had its supply license revoked by Ofgem for failure to make RO payments, too. This did not go through the formal transfer of customers process referred to as Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR). As a result it is unclear the impact this failure had on customers.
Many energy suppliers ‘sold out’ in 2019.
Somewhere in the region of 10 million customer accounts were taken over by new ownership as a result of corporate transactions (companies buying out others)
4 main domestic energy suppliers exited the market through trade sales:
Coop Energy bought by Octopus
Green Star Energy bought by Shell
npower acquired by E.ON
SSE Domestic acquired by OVO
The final two points are particularly notable as they have rearranged the dynamics of the so-called ‘Big 6’, now the Big 5:
- British Gas
- E.ON (acquired npower)
- OVO (acquired SSE)
- Scottish Power
- EDF
Some suppliers barely made it through 2019.
Robin Hood Energy was proposed a final order from Ofgem, also for not paying their RO costs.
The company was bailed out by its owner, Nottingham City Council.
The amount owed to Ofgem was £9.4 million, the amount they loaned was £9.5 million and so they were able to make the payment and stay afloat.
In 2020 the company sold its customer base to British Gas. As well as this 11 of Robin Hood Energy’s ‘white label’ suppliers will also cease trading and see their customers moved to British Gas:
- Angelic Energy
- Beam Energy
- Citizen Energy
- Ebico
- Fosse Energy
- Great North Energy
- The Leccy
- RAM Energy
- Southend Energy
- White Rose Energy
- Your Energy Sussex
There have been 22 domestic energy supplier failures; 14 of these were in 2019.
After reading this article, if your old supplier appears on this list then here is what you need to do.
When a company fails, their customer base gets sold to a company chosen by Ofgem – this is known as the supplier of last resort (SOLR). The new supply should honour your previous prices, but now is a good time to compare what you have been offered and shop around the market for the best deals.
The instability of the energy market recently shouldn’t put you off switching suppliers. There are many secure choices – such as us.
Read up for reviews about a new supplier and watch out for cut price deals from suppliers who ask for several monthly payments in advance.
SUPPLIERS WHO HAVE GONE BUST
*since 2016
| Date | Supplier | No. Of Customers Affected | New Supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Jan 2021 | Green Network Energy (Green Network Energy Ltd) | 360,000 domestic | EDF Energy |
| 27 Jan 2021 | Simplicity Energy (Simplicity Energy Limited) | 50,000 domestic | British Gas Evolve |
| 02 Dec 2020 | Yorkshire Energy (Yorkshire Energy Limited) | 74,000 domestic | ScottishPower |
| 06 Oct 2020 | Tonik Energy (Tonik Energy Ltd) | 130,000 domestic | ScottishPower |
| 03 Sep 2020 | Go Effortless Energy (Effortless Energy Ltd ) | 2,500 domestic | Octopus Energy |
| 18 Mar 2020 | GnERGY (Gnergy Ltd) | 9,000 domestic | Bulb |
| 18 Dec 2019 | Breeze Energy (Breeze Energy Supply Limited) | 18,000 domestic | British Gas |
| 23 Oct 2019 | Toto Energy (TOTO Energy Limited) | 134,000 domestic | EDF Energy |
| 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 |
| 13 Aug 2019 | Solarplicity (Solarplicity Supply Limited) | 7,500 domestic 500 business (approx.) | SSE |
| 9 Aug 2019 | Cardiff Energy Supply (Cardiff Energy Supply Limited) | 800 domestic | SSE |
| 11 Mar 2019 | Brilliant Energy (Brilliant Energy Supply Limited) | 17,000 domestic | SSE |
| 25 Jan 2019 | Our Power (Our Power Energy Supply Limited) | 31,000 domestic | Utilita |
| 8 Jan 2019 | Economy Energy (Economy Energy Trading Limited) | 235,000 domestic | OVO Energy |
| 10 Dec 2018 | One Select (One Select Energy Supply Limited) | 36,000 domestic | Together Energy |
| 10 Dec 2018 | Spark Energy (Spark Energy Supply Limited) | 290,000 domestic | OVO Energy |
| 21 Nov 2018 | Extra Energy (Extra Energy Supply Limited) | 108,000 domestic 21,000 business | ScottishPower |
| 15 Oct 2018 | Usio Energy (Usio Energy Supply Limited) | 7, 000 domestic | First Utility |
| Sep 2018 | Gen4U (Gen4u Ltd) | 500 domestic | Octopus Energy |
| 27 Jul 2018 | Iresa Iresa Limited | 90,000 domestic (approx.) | Octopus Energy |
| 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 |
| 26 Nov 2016 | GB Energy Supply GB Energy Supply Ltd | 160,000 domestic | Co-operative Energy |
The information in this table has been sourced by public domain sources ic. Ofgem, supplier websites and Companies House filings.
The ‘Supplier’ column’ shows the name of the failed energy supplier.
The ‘New Supplier’ shows the company appointed by Ofgem to take over the customer base. This is undertaken under the SOLR provisions.
ENERGY SUPPLIERS WITHDRAWING FROM THE MARKET
*those who exited in a more civilised fashion, without crashing and burning.
| Date | Supplier | No. of Customers affected | 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 |
As aforementioned, if your supplier fails you will be automatically moved onto another supplier’s tariffs. However, you do not have to stay there. Be sure to check if your tariff has changed and, if you’re in this situation, see it as an opportunity to shop the market and change your supplier!