UK energy crisis

[Oblivion Knight]

There are no less than 25 energy companies that have gone bust in the UK since August 2021, and if reports are to be believed, more suppliers are in significant trouble and 2022 could potentially see the same amount of companies again going bust..

This is largely due to an imbalance between supply and demand of gas, and a substantial increase in the wholesale price.. The video below explains this pretty well, with a recommendation on what we should do as consumers at the moment if our tariffs are coming to an end - and the advice may be surprising!



I wish that I'd have seen this before my partner decided to renew earlier this month! Mind you, nobody has a crystal ball and things could get worse before they get better. Are you concerned? Have you renewed, are you waiting it out, or is your tariff still good for another year?

Are prices being affected in other countries?

 

[jamesyfx]

I was with one of those smaller energy companies that went bust and got moved by Ofgem to one of the 'big boys'. It was frustrating (but relatively painless to 'switch'...) but all of these small energy companies now have nowhere to go as they were probably being run at a loss all these years and the increase in wholesale price as a death knell to them all.

I'm reaaaallly not looking forward to the price increase when it happens.. it's gonna be monumental. I think it's expensive enough as it is!

 

[Oblivion Knight]

..and just as I post this, another supplier has gone bust! Together Energy.

Admittedly, I've never heard of the majority of these suppliers.. I can only think that they serve particular areas? As a whole though, it can only spell bad news by putting more demands on the suppliers that remain.

 

[Oblivion Knight]

I was with one of those smaller energy companies that went bust and got moved by Ofgem to one of the 'big boys'. It was frustrating (but relatively painless to 'switch'...) but all of these small energy companies now have nowhere to go as they were probably being run at a loss all these years and the increase in wholesale price as a death knell to them all.

I'm reaaaallly not looking forward to the price increase when it happens.. it's gonna be monumental. I think it's expensive enough as it is!

Presumably you got transferred on to the price cap then? I guess it's the only way to do it, to be fair.. it'd be wrong to force you in to a tariff with a supplier that you didn't choose.

 

[jamesyfx]

I was with one of those smaller energy companies that went bust and got moved by Ofgem to one of the 'big boys'. It was frustrating (but relatively painless to 'switch'...) but all of these small energy companies now have nowhere to go as they were probably being run at a loss all these years and the increase in wholesale price as a death knell to them all.

I'm reaaaallly not looking forward to the price increase when it happens.. it's gonna be monumental. I think it's expensive enough as it is!

Yep I was placed on a special tariff that was the exact same monthly cost as my old supplier. It was very cheap though (I tend to use services like uSwitch fairly regularly to get the best deal...). I'm worried its gonna ramp up massively. I was with Green Network Energy, one of the early casualties.

I mean.. I can handle it. But.. I'd rather not.

 

[Ash]

This Russian war on Ukraine can't be helping with this either. Amazing to think that we were looking forward to 2022 because of the end (sort of) of COVID 19 but then other problems just started to appear immediately.